Improvements in Packing Railway Sleepers, and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Jan., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 3rd May, 1892-Accepted, 4th June, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by ELISHA GILBERT PATTERSON, of Titusville,
Pennsylvania, United States of America, Petroleum Producer.]
Improvements in Packing Railway Sleepers, and in Apparatus
therefor.
I JAMES JOHNSON of 4 Clayton Square, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
In the use of all forms of rail-bearers when through inequalities in tamping the
ballast under or within the bearers become unequally depressed in use by the
weight of passing trains, thus causing unevenness in the track surface, the practice
heretofore has been to remove or disturb the ballast near the sides of the tie or
other bearer sufficiently to expose its lower surface or edge, then to raise the tie or
rail-beam to the required degree and support it in that position while fresh ballast
is forced in or under the tie by means of metallic tamping tools operated by hand.
This method is open to serious objections, among which are the unavoidable
breaking up, by the tamping tools, of the solidified ballast under or within the
bearer and also the disturbance of the settled ballast around the bearer, which
exposes it to the absorption and passage of water until it again becomes solidified ;
the impracticability of equally tamping under or within each bearer and the
unnecessary expenditure for tools and labor in track surfacing.
The object of my improved method of packing is to convey the ballast needed
to raise depressed' ties or other form of rail-bearers to the desired elevation without
the drawbacks above set forth.
The method which I employ consists in first raising the depressed cross tie,
string-piece, or other rail supporter, to the desired level and supporting it
temporarily in that position in any convenient manner, leaving a cavity thereunder
to be filled with ballast, and then conveying and compacting the requisite amount
of ballast into and within such cavity and under or within the cross-tie or rail-
bearer by means of a blast of compressed air.
The apparatus which I employ consists of an air compresser or blast machine, a
pipe or flexible tube leading therefrom to an injector provided with an aperture or
valve, and a nozzle preferably placed at an angle thereto, a combination with a
feed pipe communicating with a ballast hopper and with the injector.
Dated the 8th day of January 1892.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Packing Railway Sleepers, and in Apparatus
therefor.
1, JAMES JOHNSON of 4 Clayton Square, Liverpool in the County of Lancaster,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
In the use of all forms of rail bearers when through inequalities in tamping the
ballast under or within the bearers, such bearers become unequally depressed in
use by the weight of passing trains; thus causing unevenness in the track surface,
the practice heretofore has been to remove or disturb the ballast near the sides of
the tie or other bearer sufficiently to expose its lower surface or edge, then to
raise the tie or rail-bearer to the required degree and support it in that position
Prine 7

page_text: while fresh ballast is forced in or under the tie by means of metallic tamping tools
operated by hand. This method is open to serious objections, among which are
the unavoidable breaking up,-by the tamping tools-of the solidified ballast under
or within the bearer; the disturbance of the settled ballast around the bearer,
which exposes it to the absorption and passage of water until it again becomes
solidified the impracticability of equally tamping under or within each bearer
and the unnecessary expenditure for tools and labour in track surfacing.
The object of my improved method of packing is to convey the ballast needed
to raise depressed ties or other form of rail bearers to the desired elevation which
in railroad parlance is denominated surfacing the track without the drawbacks
above set forth.
The method which I employ consists in first raising the depressed cross-tie,
string piece or other rail supporter to the desired level and supporting it
temporarily in that position in any convenient manner, leaving a cavity thereunder
to be filled with ballast, and then conveying and compacting the requisite amount
of ballast into and within such cavity and under or within the cross tie or rail
bearer by means of a blast of compressed air.
The apparatus which I employ consists of an air compressor or blast machine, a
pipe or flexible tube leading therefrom to an injector provided with an aperture or
valve, and a nozzle preferably placed at an angle thereto in combination with a
feed pipe communicating with a ballast hopper and with the injector.
In the accompanying drawings:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved apparatus.
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional elevation of the injector detached from the air
compressor.
Figure 3, is a detached view in perspective of a modified form of nozzle.
Like letters of reference denote the same parts in each of the figures.
a is the air compressor which may be of any desired construction, being adapted
to force a current of air through a pipe or tube. The air from the compressor is
conveyed by means of a pipe or by a flexible tube a, into the upper end of the
injector tube b, the upper end of which is preferably of larger diameter than the
lower end so as to increase the pressure of the air at the nozzle or exit, and has an
aperture or valve h for a purpose hereinafter stated. The lower end of the injector
or nozzle pipe c is preferably placed at an angle to the middle portion d, so that the
nozzle g may be introduced in a horizontal or approximately horizontal position
into the cavity to be filled with ballast. e is the feeding pipe having a funnel top
communicating with a vessel containing the ballast, the feed pipe being preferably
vertical, excepting at the lower end e', where it enters the nozzle pipe c of the
injector, which is inclined in the direction of the blast. The point where the lower
end e of the feed pipe e enters the nozzle-pipe c, is in front of the contracted
portion of the nozzle piece, for the reason that the ballast is fed by gravity
rather than by suction; a detachable nozzle g is used at the end of the nozzle
pipe c the shape of which may be varied to suit the shape of the aperture through
which the ballast is to be inserted, and may be conical as at g¹, or wide and flat as
at gl, or other convenient shape, but the area of the orifice at g' or g¹¹ should be
equal to that of the injector pipe at f. The injector thus constructed for the
injection of solid material I term a distributor.
The method of using this apparatus is as follows:-The railroad rail and
depressed bearer is lifted to the desired level and temporarily supported in that
position, the ballast being removed from the end of the bearer so as to expose the
vacancy to be filled and to admit of the sufficient introduction of the distributor.
Ballasting material of a texture which will readily pass through the pipes of the
distributor and into the vacant space beneath or within the bearer (such for
example, as gravel) is fed into the hopper of the distributor from which it descends
through the pipe e and as it enters the nozzle pipe of the injector is carried by the
air blast generated by the air compressor, through the nozzle of the distributor
and into the cavity under the rail supporter with a force depending on the pressure

page_text: generated by the air compressor, if the valve or opening at the top of the air
pipe of the distributor is closed. If however the valve h is more or less opened
to admit the outward passage of air, the pressure of the blast of air from the
compressor is correspondingly reduced as the air from the compressor finds a
greater or less vent at the valve h. The valve h may be a simple opening in the
pipe and may be conveniently operated by opening or closing the aperture by the
hand of the operator. The operation is continued until the vacancy under the bearer
is filled. In the case of double or treble track railways or where large numbers
of trackmen are employed on each section it is possible-instead of the air blast-
to use a jet of steam or the expansive force of any elastic aeriform fluid or the
explosive force of naphtha to deposit the ballasting material as herein described,
but for general use I prefer the portable air blast as more economical and con-
venient, and as not interfering with the usual traffic of the railway nor increasing
the size of the section force.
In filling under depressed metal cross bearers or longitudinal metallic bearers, the
bolt holes in the top table or other apertures may be utilized in the introduction
of the ballasting material which will prevent the necessity of removing the ballast
from the side or end of the bearer. Where timber longitudinal bearings have to
be raised, it is evident that the ballast on one side must be removed sufficiently to
place the distributor in position, and this will have to be done in the case of solid
bearings at a sufficient number of points to insure the perfect filling of the existing
vacancy; and may also be readily and advantageously practised, in surfacing
wooden cross ties, when it is inconvenient to fill the cavity from the end of
the tie.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
First. The method of forcing and compacting ballasting or tamping material to
and within the cavity or cavities under rail bearers, by the propulsive and com-
pressive action of an aeriform fluid applied substantially in the manner hereinbefore
described.
Second. The method herein described of conveying ballasting material to and
depositing and compacting it within a cavity or cavities under the bearers of
railroad rails, consisting in forcing it into such cavity or cavities by means of an
air blast, substantially in the manner herein set forth.
Third. The method herein before described of surfacing the rails of railroads
when depressed in use, which consists in raising the bearing to the desired level
and temporarily supporting it in the desired position, and then injecting into the
cavity thus formed under or within the bearing the necessary amount of ballasting
material by the propulsive and compressive force of air or other elastic aeriform
fluid substantially as described.
DLM 1900