IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PER- MAKENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Brockett, of Sydenham, in the County of
Kent, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PER-
MAKENT WAY OF RAILWAYS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Brockett at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
November 1864.
I, HENRY BROCKETT, of Sydenham, in the County of Kent, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
In carrying out my improvements in the permanent way of railways the
sleepers, which are of cast iron, are in form quadrangular at their bases, and
thence they rise somewhat bell-shaped to their upper parts, where they
support the rails, thus forming a deep internal chamber, into which the
ballast may be forced from the under edge. In order to give additional
strength to these sleepers they have internal ribs, by which this internal
chamber is divided into several compartments. In applying these sleepers
they are laid so that their opposite angles may be in the line of the rails.
When a chair or part of it is formed with the sleeper I form the upper part
of such sleeper with an extended bearing surface or bed for the rail to rest
When the rail is held to the sleeper on one side by a loose plate secured
by a screw bolt and nut, I form a groove in the sleeper at right angles or

page_text: nearly so to the line of the rails to receive the head of the screw bolt. The
form of this groove and of the head of the screw bolt I prefer to be dovetail
or wedge shaped, the edge of the plate held thereby rests against suitable
projections on the sleeper. I also make use of the heads of these screw bolts
as the means of retaining in position the tie rods connecting opposite sleepers
of a line of rails. For this purpose each tie rod is formed with a head at its
opposite ends, and one of these heads with part of the rod rests in a corre-
spondingly formed recess in each sleeper under the place for the head of the
screw bolt. This method of forming the screw head in relation to the groove
for it is applicable to chairs having loose jaws when formed separately from
the sleeper.
Another method of securing tie rods to sleepers is by forming the sleeper
under the rail with a recess across an aperture, through which the tie rod is
passed, adapted to receive a key or cotter, which by also passing into a notch
formed for it in the tie rod holds that tie rod and the sleeper correctly
together, whilst the key or cotter is held in position by the rail. Keys for
bolding rails in position in their chairs, with elastic pressure, are formed each
in two parts, one of which is recessed to receive a portion of the other part,
and between the bottom of the recess of the one and the projection of the
other I apply a thickness of prepared or vulcanized india-rubber, or other
suitable elastic substance of thickness adapted to the amount of elasticity
desired to be obtained. The internal surface of the chair next the key, and
that surface of the key to rest against it, may be serrated or of other form
adapted to aid in keeping the key in position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Brockett in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th May 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BROCKETT, of Sydenham, in the County of Kent, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Brockett, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Brockett,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
-Brockett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree

page_text: 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 PER-
MANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Henry Brockett, 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 Henry Brockett, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say :-
In carrying out my improvements in the permanent way of railways I
employ cast-iron sleepers of a quadrangular form at their bases, rising thence
somewhat bell-shaped to their upper parts where they support the rails, thus
forming a deep internal chamber into which the ballast may be forced from
their under edge. In order to give additional strength to these sleepers they
have internal ribs, by which this internal chamber is divided into several com-
partments. In applying these sleepers, they are laid so that their opposito
angles may be in the line of the rails. When a chair or part of it is formed
with the sleeper, I form the upper part of such sleeper with an extended
bearing surface or bed for the rail to rest on. When the rail is held to the
sleeper on one side by a loose plate secured by a screw bolt and nut, I form
a groove in the sleeper at right angles or nearly so to the line of the rails to
receive the head of the screw bolt. The form of this groove and of the head
of the screw bolt I prefer to be dovetail or wedge-shaped; the edge of the
plate held thereby rests against suitable projections on the sleeper. I also
make use of the heads of these screw bolts as the means of retaining iu
position the tie rods connecting opposite sleepers of a line of rails. For this.
purpose each tie rod is formed with a head at its opposite ends, and one of.
these heads with part of the rod rests in a correspondingly formed recess in
each sleeper under the place for the head of the screw bolt. This method of.
forming the screw head in relation to the groove for it is applicable to chairs
having loose jaws when formed separately from the sleeper.
Another method of securing tie rods to sleepers is by forming the sleeper
under the rail with a recess across an aperture through which the tie rod is

page_text: passed adapted to receive a key or cotter, which by also passing into a notch
formed for it in the tie rod, holds that tie rod and the sleeper correctly
together whilst the key or cotter is held in position by the rail. Keys for
holding rails in position in their chairs with elastic pressure are formed each
in two parts, one of which is recessed to receive a portion of the other part,
and between the bottom of the recess of the one and the projection of the
other I apply a thickness of prepared or vulcanized india-rubber or other
suitable elastic substance of thickness adapted to the amount of elasticity
desired to be obtained.
In order that the Invention may be better understood, I will, by the aid
of the accompanying Drawings, proceed more fully to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews by a plan view, and Figure 2 by an end view a pair of
sleepers and parts connected thereto according to parts of my Invention;
Figure 3 shews a side view; Figure 4 an under side view, and Figure 5, a
section of one of the sleepers; Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 shew some of
the parts more in detail, in order that their various forms may be the better
upderstood. Figures 9, 10, and 11 are drawn to a larger scale than the
other Figures; in each of these Figures the same letters indicate corre-
sponding parts wherever they occur.
The sleepers a, a, are by preference of a quadrangular form, but this may
be varied; they rise considerably from their base a¹ to their upper parts a²,
where they support the rails 6 in order thereby to form a deep internal
chamber c, into which the ballast may be forced from their under edge in
order to give increased stability to the permanent way. a³, a³, are ribs
dividing this internal chamber c into compartments, and giving additional
strength to the sleeper. In the arrangement of sleeper indicated by these
Figures the rail is supported and held thereto on one side by means of one
part of the chair a' being formed with the sleeper and on the other side by a
loose plate & secured by a screw bolt e and nut e'. The form of the loose plate d
will be best understood by reference to the separate views of one of them at
Figures 11. The edge d¹ of this plate d rests against the projection a³ from
the upper side of the sleeper a, whilst the other edge d³ thereof rests on the
rail. The head e² of the screw e is formed dovetailed or wedge-shaped, and
it is applied by being passed into the correspondingly-formed groove a³ in
the upper surface of the sleeper. f represents one of the tie rods by which
the opposite sleepers of the line of rails are connected together and retained
in position; these tie rods are formed at each end with a head f', which

page_text: with part of the rod is, on connecting the parts together, received into a cor-
respondingly formed recess as in the sleeper under the groove formed for the
head of the screw. This method of forming the screw head in relation to the
groove, for it is applicable to connecting together chairs having loose jaws
formed separately from the sleeper. Increased bearing surface is obtained for
the rails by their being permitted to rest on the extended parts a', a', of the
sleepers.
Figure 12 shews a plan view; Figures 13 and 14 two side views taken at
right angles to each other, and Figures 15 and 16 two sectional -views shewing
a modified form of sleeper together with other parts according to my improve-
ments, and Figures 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 other views by which the
various parts may be more fully understood. In this case the form of the
sleeper is slightly varied so as to assume more of a bell form, and the sleepers
and connecting rod are made fast together by each end of the rod f being
passed through a hole formed for it in the sleeper and the sleeper at the part
of it under the rail and over a portion of the tie rod passing through is
recessed to receive a plate g, which by passing across the tie rod f and into a
recess of such rod, serves as a key or cotter to retain the parts in position
whilst that key or cotter is held in position by the rail.
Figure 23 shews a side view, Figure 24 an end view, and Figure 25 a
section of a key, arranged according to my Invention, for the purpose of
holding rails in their chairs with elastic pressure; Figures 26, 27, and 28
shew parts separately; each of these keys is formed in two parts A and B.
The part A is recessed at A¹ to receive a projection B¹ from the part B, and
between the bottom of the recess A' and the projection B' I apply a thickness
of prepared or vulcanized india-rubber C or other suitable elastic substance of
thickness adapted to the amount of elasticity in the material so employed in
relation to that desired to be obtained. The internal surface of the chair
next the key and that surface of the key to rest against it may be serrated as
indicated by the separate view of a portion of a key at Figure 29, or of other
form adapted to aid in keeping the key in position.
Having thus described my improvements and means which I adopt in
carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details shewn and described, as these may be varied, but
what I do claim is,-
First, the mode of forming railway sleepers quadrangular at their bases
and rising considerably, so as to form a deep internal chamber or series of
chambers for the reception of the ballast, as shewn and described.
Secondly, I claim the forming sleepers with grooves to receive the heads of

page_text: screws by which plates, for aiding to hold the rails in position are made fast,
and the forming the head of the screw to correspond with the shape of such
groove, in manner substantially as explained.
Thirdly, I claim the method of securing the tie rods and sleepers together,
in manner substantially as explained in respect of Figures 1, 2, 3,-5, 6, 7, 8,
9, and 10.,
:
Fourthly, I claim the method. of connecting together the tie rods and,
sleepers, in manner substantially, as, explained in respect of Figures 12, 13,
14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22.
Fifthly, I claim the method of forming keys for holding rails in position
in their chairs, substantially, as explained in respect of Figures 23, 24, 25,
26, 27, 28, and 29.
In witness whereof, I, Henry Brockett, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord: One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-five.
HENRY BROCKETT: (L.S.)