CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CON-- NECTING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS AND IN SUPPORTING THE SAME
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Morris, of Clapham, in the County of
Surrey, Gentleman, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CON--
NECTING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS AND IN SUPPORTING THE SAME."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Morris at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th June 1857.
I, JAMES MORRIS, of Clapham, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS-
IN CONNECTING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS AND IN SUPPORTING THE SAME," to be as.
follows:-
This Invention consists in having at each side of the rail, near the junctions
or ends of each length thereof, cheek pieces, placed in the channels of the rails,.
and secured together by pins or bolts passing through such plates and also
through the rails, and also having one of these cheek pieces slotted near the
centre to receive a corresponding screw bolt, which has an enlarged blank part
passing through a slot formed between the joint of the rail; by bringing
together two grooves or cuts made in each of the ends of the lengths of rail;.
the screw end of the said screw bolt passing out at an orifice provided in the
other cheek piece and being there secured by a screw nut, makes a firm
junction of the lengths of rail, securing the same from shifting vertically or
horizontally.

page_text: For supporting the rail I have a chair, which may or may not be applied
immediately beneath the junctions thereof. The peculiarity of this chair is,
that the inner projections of the chair are made angular, so as to grip or cut
into the bottom flange of the rail, and fastened by a corresponding key or
wedge.
The above is a statement of the nature of the Invention, indicating also the
manner of effecting the same, but the details might probably be varied
practice.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Morris in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MORRIS, of Clapham, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Morris, Her special licence that I, the said James Morris, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Morris, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CON-
NECTING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS AND IN SUPPORTING THE SAME," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Morris, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument 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 James Morris, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement

page_text: My Invention or improvements consist in effectually securing the ends of
the rails on railways at the joints thereof, and in chairs for supporting the
same, the nature and application of which is described as follows, with reference
to the illustrative Drawings hereto annexed, that is to say:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
(Sheet 1.) Fig. 1, view of the end of a rail, provided with a curved notch
at the end and a circular hole through the rail, as hereafter described; Fig. 2,
two ends of such rails, provided as aforesaid, as they appear when brought
together by joining and securing thereof; Fig. 3, two ends of such rails, pro-
vided as aforesaid, and also provided with side plates, secured together by
pins and by a screw bolt in the middle; Fig. 4, view of one of the side plates,
the plate here shewn having an oblong opening with curved ends through the
middle, and two orifices, one near each end; Fig. 5, view of another of the
side plates, the plate here shewn having three circular orifices; Fig. 6, view
of the screw bolt which passes through the middle of the side plates, also
shewing the screw nut thereon.
(Sheet 2.) Fig. 7, plan of a supporting chair; Fig. 8, side view thereof;
Fig. 9, chair key; Fig. 10, section of chair key; Fig. 11, plan of chair
and key.
(Sheet 3.) Fig. 12, end view of a high backed chair with a rail fitted and
secured in it; Fig. 13, end view of another high backed chair with rail fitted
and secured in it; Fig. 14, view of another form of chair with rail fitted and
secured in it; Fig. 15, plan of bottom of the chair; Fig. 16, view of another
form of chair, and key, and rail.
In these Figures all the parts hereafter referred to are denoted by the
letters of reference after mentioned, which are placed upon all repetitions of
the same parts.
A hole, inch, or thereabouts, is drilled in the centre of the webb or
channel of each rail between the flanges, about 1 inch from the end thereof,
and the piece between such hole and the end of each rail is cut away,
thereby forming a curved slot (A), so that where the ends of the rails are
brought together an oblong round-ended hole will appear at the joint (see
Fig. 2). Another hole (B), 2-inch, or thereabouts, is also drilled in the centro
of the webb of each rail, about 2 inches from the back or round end of the
fore-mentioned slot (A), which is also to be slotted about one-sixteenth of
an inch towards the joint or end of the rail. Two cheek plates or washers
(Figs. 4 and 5,) are prepared, one about one inch thick, the other
either of wrought or malleable cast iron. If of wrought iron, two
inch thick,
inch pins

page_text: (C, D,) are to be rivetted into the thicker joint plate (Fig. 5) at such distance
as will match the outside of the slightly slotted holes in the webbs of the
rails, and a 4-inch hole (E) is also to be drilled in the centre of such plate or
washer, to come opposite the centre of the oblong round-end hole at the
joints of the rail aforesaid. If of malleable cast iron, such pins and plate
may be cast in one piece and the centre hole left open. In the back or balf-
inch plate (Fig. 4) two holes are drilled, to match the front plate (Fig. 5), and
allow the ends of the pins aforesaid to come through when the two plates are
fixed to the rail, and an oblong round-ended hole (E) is to be made in the
centre to match that (A) in the joints of the rails. If of malleable cast iron,
holes may be left in the casting. Lastly, a 2-inch, or thereabouts, flat screw
bolt F, with a head Fx and nut G (Fig. 6, Sheet 1,) is to be prepared of
wrought or malleable cast iron, having a tang F** thereto, to be screwed to
receive the nut. The flat part at F is round-edged, and made to fill the
oblong round-ended hole (A) at the joint of the rails when the two ends of
such rails are close together. In fixing the rails, the ends being brought
together, the front plate is placed with its two pins passing through the webb
of the rail, such pins projecting about inch, upon which projections the back
plate is placed; the flat screwed bolt is then passed through the oblong hole
and firmly tightened up with the nut. In fixing the rails, the slight slots in
the holes through which the pins pass in the webb of the rail will permit the
ends to be a little parted, so as to allow for the expansion and contraction of
the rails.
The chair (Figs. 7 to 16, Sheet 1,) which is fixed under the joint is cast
with a hollow (*) in the back cheek (H), if for a double-headed rail (Fig.
12, and 14, Sheet 3), with a square projection at the bottom, see Fig. 12,
Sheet 3, at ✗, the corners of which catches the underneath part of the bottom
flange of the rail, whilst the top part of such hollow, being also left square,
catches by its corner the upper part of such flange. The front cheek (I) is
left so far apart as that when the flange of the rail is placed in the hollow of the
back cheek the rail can be set upright, resting upon the bottom of the chair.
The said front cheek (1) of the chair is also cast with a similar hollow (at I),.
but the back of such hollow is a little sloped, so as to be about of an inch
wider at one end than the other, thereby leaving sufficient drift for a key or
wedge (K); the upper or overhanging part of such hollow to be similarly
sloped.
The said key or wedge (Figs. 9, 10, 11,) is made of malleable cast iron,
left rough from the sand (or of any other preferable material). The back

page_text: part of such key or wedge is rabbetted from the upper side sufficiently deep to
fit freely into the hollow in the cheek, and tapered both at the back and the
upper part of the rabbet, to fit the sloping part of the chair, which hollow it
should fill till such wedge comes nearly through to the opposite end of it. The
front of such key or wedge, which is to be made thin enough to fill the space
between the flange of the rail and the cheek of the chair), is to be made with
a square hollow, similar to that in the back cheek of the chair, so that its
corners may catch the flange of the rail, so that when such key or wedge is
driven up the bottom flange of the rail is caught by the four corners described,
two in the back cheek of the chair and two opposite in the key of the wedge,
and firmly fixed in its position; the drift being in the back part of the hollow
of the chair, and in the back part of the key or wedge to match, makes the
front part of such key or wedge come up square for its whole length to the
flange of the rail. For curves or other parts of a line of railway where there
is much lateral pressure, I use a similar chair (Figs. 12 and 13), with the
exception that the back cheek (a) is as high as the webb of the rail, and is
used to fasten the rails in place of the back plate or washer, the flat screw
bolt (F) and pins, the same as described with reference to Figs 1 to 6, Sheet 1,
passing through it in a similar manner, or, two inch pins (M, Fig. 13,)
about inch long may be cast in this high cheek and two holes drilled half
way through the webb of the rail (and slotted, as already mentioned,) to take
those pins, in place of the pins in the front plate passing through, as described.
I also use a key or wedge (N, Fig. 14,) having a high cheek to take the
webb of the rail on the side opposite to the high cheek (a) of the chair, and
to be driven into the groove, as before stated, and in using which I dispense
entirely with the flat screw bolt and nuts and the plate and pins before
mentioned, also the pins in the high cheek of the chair; this key or wedge
being sufficient for all fastenings, and by the use of which drilling holes in the
rail will be avoided, the rail being laid in the same state in which it is received
from the foundry.
In all cases I use vulcanized india-rubber (or some other elastic material)
between the joints of the rails, about inch thick, or thereabouts, as mentioned
in my Patent, No. 852, of 26 March 1857, to yield to the expansion and con-
traction, whereby the joints can be laid close in instead of having a space left
for that purpose, as heretofore; and I recommend a piece of the same mate-
rial to be placed under the bottom flange of the rails (O), by which the ringing
sound of the rail passing over the rail is deadened.
.
For rails which have flat or square flanges (see P, Fig. 13,) at the bottom,
the hollows in the chairs must be cast to fit such flanges at the back, whilst

page_text: the key or wedge is made with a rabbet at the back part, similar to the fore-
going, and a rabbet from the bottom of the front part to lap over and catch
the flat or square part of the flange of the rail.
It may be proper to remark that these keys or wedges should be made
sufficiently thick as when driven "home" they will merely touch the square
of the nut at their upper part; thus, when the nut is screwed "home,"
and one square thereof brought parallel with the bottom of the rail and
the wedge driven underneath it, there will be no possibility of the nut
getting slack, the key being a perfect preventive to its turning.
In Fig. 16 the key or wedge (A*) is formed so as to support the top. and
bottom flanges of the rail, and the jar of chair B is formed in a similar manner,
so that when the wedge A" is driven into place the rail is held securely. The
wedge A is made to bear on the said flanges, and has the sides a and a¹ next
the chair formed with inclined surfaces, made at a small angle, and fitting into
corresponding surfaces in the chair, so as to act as a wedge.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the adaptation of a con-
necting joint, composed of cheek or side plates, secured by pins and screw
bolt, as described.
Also I claim the supporting of rails by a chair or chairs and wedge or
key, wedges or keys, with or without screws or bolts, as described with refer-
ence to the Drawings (Figs. 7 to 16). And, lastly, I claim the supporting
by chairs, and the modes of securing described with reference to the Drawings
(Figs. 12 to 16).
In witness whereof, I, the said James Morris, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
JAMES MORRIS. (L.S.)
Signed and sealed in my presence,
F. W. CAMPIN, Patent Agent,
156, Strand.