IMIROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILROADS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Adrien Bonneville, of the British and Foreign
Patent Offices, 24, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the Empire of
France, and 38, Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, in the County of
Dotant Acont for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN
Sealed the 18th May 1866, and dated the 9th December 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henri Adrien Bonneville
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th December 1865.
I, HENRI ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices,
24, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the Empire of France, and 38, Por
chester Terrace, Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMIROVEMENTS IN THE
PERMANENT WAY OF RAILROADS," communicated to me by Achille Philippe
Cyprien Legrand, a person residing at Mons, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
to be as follows:-

page_text: This Invention consists in forming the sleepers and chairs of railway lines of
one single piece or bar of iron or steel bent in such a way as to form sleeper
and chair or bearing alone. This is done by bending the bar so as to embrace
the rail more or less closely. Under the double curve which forms the chair
may be placed a pad or slab of wood, india-rubber, or other elastic or semi-
elastic material, or an iron rod or bar may be placed under the chair and
bolted on either side of the same to give it greater strength. Ribbed or
angle iron may be employed for greater strength and lightness, or an iron
or steel bar may be enclosed in the piece of cast iron from which the
whole is formed, which bar would take the form of and greatly strengthen
the chair. At suitable distances bolts may be passed through the rails
and the double bends forming the jaws of the chairs, or the rails may
be wedged in any suitable manner, or both means may be employed in
conjunction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henri Adrien Bonneville in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th June 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRI
ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices, 24, Rue du
Mont Thabor, Paris, in the Empire of France, and 38, Porchester Terrace,
Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, Her special licence that I, the said
Henri Adrien Bonneville, my executors, administrators, and such others
as I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should in any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILROADS," communicated to me
by Achille Philippe Cyprien Legrand, a person residing at Mons, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the

page_text: said Henri Adrien Bonneville, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and - in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to-
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
This Invention consists in forming the sleepers and chairs of railway lines of
one single piece or bar of iron or steel bent in such a way as to form sleeper
and chair or bearing alone. This is done by bending the bar so as to
embrace the rail more or less closely. Under the double curve which forms
the chair may be placed a pad or slab of wood, india-rubber, or other elastic
or semi-elastic material, or an iron rod or bar may be placed under the chair
and bolted on either side of the same to give it greater strength. Ribbed or
angle iron may be employed for greater strength and lightness, or an
iron or steel bar may be enclosed in the piece of cast iron from which
the whole is formed, which bar would take the form of and greatly
strengthen the chair." At suitable distances bolts may be passed through
the rails and the double bends forming the jaws of the chairs, or the rails
may be wedged in any suitable manner, or both means may be employed in
conjunction.
And in order to make the said Invention more fully understood, I will now
proceed to describe the same with reference to the accompanying Drawings,
in which Fig. I is a side elevation of a sleeper and chairs made in one piece;
Fig. 2, a transversal section of the same; Fig. 3, view of a chair separate;
Fig. 4, side elevation of a sleeper with pad or slab on left side; Fig. 5 is a
cross section of the same; Fig. 6, side elevation of part of a sleeper cast with
a half chair, to which a separate half chair is applied; and Fig. 7 represents
a sleeper to which are applied two half chairs cast separately. In. these
Figures the same letters of reference indicate similar parts.
A is the sleeper; B, B, chair; C, C, upper and lower slabs or pads;
D, bar, that may replace the lower pad or slab; E, piece covering the lower
slab; F, F, bolts connecting the slabs or pads with the rail and the chair;
G, G, inside bands of steel or iron; H, rail; 1, bolt connecting the jaws of
the chair with the rail; K, chair cast alone; L, wooden wedges. The iron

page_text: I may
and steel thus employed offer the necessary strength and lightness for super-
seding the wood and cast iron in ordinary use. When I employ cast iron
I place inside it during the casting one or more bands of iron or steel to give
greater strength. This mode of making sleepers and chairs may be applied
to all kinds of rails, and suitable forms be given to them. The different
parts are joined by bolts, screws, rivets. or other known means.
interpose between the rail and the chair, between the chair and the ground,
and between the sleeper and the chair when made separate slabs or pads of
wood, cork, or india-rubber, card, cords, or other material, to give greater
elasticity to the sleeper c, Figs. 1. 4. The lower slab is partially enclosed in
the cavity of the sleeper formed by the ribs c, Fig. 1. The pads or slabs may
be used together or separate; they are held in place by means of bolts passing
through the sleeper. The use of the lower pad or slab thus bolted at each
.side of the jaws of the chair gives them greater strength. I can also to
strengthen the chair place in the hollow of the sleeper before making the
chair one or more bands of iron which would take the place and form of
the chair G, Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7. When the lower slab or pad is not used
I connect the two parts of the sleeper below the chair by a red or bar of iron
bolted at each side of the chair, see D, Fig. 1. I may bend the iron or
steel bar or sleeper so as to form chairs or half chairs also, .see Figs. 4 and 6, or
I may cast them with a bar of iron or steel inside to strengthen them, Figs. 4,
6, and 7. When the bar has only been bent to form a half chair I apply on
This
the opposite side another half chair made in the same way, K, Fig. 6.
half chair, which is placed on the inner side as in Fig. 6, is bolted to the
sleeper, and is thus astride of the sleeper and places itself under the rail,
which by its weight holds it solidly in place. The bolts I which pass through
the jaws of this chair and the rail take the place of the wooden wedges now in
use. When the sleeper does not form a chair (Fig. 7), two half chairs are
placed on it. These halves are astride of each other, so that the rail
presses with all its weight on the two half chairs; they are connected to
the sleeper by bolts, and the wooden wedges are thus done away with.
The required curves are
The jaws of the chair are bolted to the rail.
obtained by increasing or diminishing the thickness of the chairs or of the
pads or slabs.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details above given and represented in the
accompanying Drawings, which may be modified without changing the

page_text: principle of my Invention; but what I claim is the manufacture of sleepers
and chairs for railway lines, in a single piece or separate, of wrought or rolled
iron, chilled iron, rolled steel or cast iron, with or without ribs.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
H. BONNEVILLE. (..s.)