Improvements in Metallic Sleepers, Chairs, and Fastenings for Railway and Tramway Rails.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Apr., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 30th Jan,, 1890-Accepted, 5th Apr., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Metallic Sleepers, Chairs, and Fastenings for
Railway and Tramway Rails.
I, THOMAS AIREY of No. 2, Cliffe Terrace, Darlington, in the County of Durham,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My said invention has for its object an improvenient in the form or shape of metallic
sleepers which is shewn on the accompanying drawing Fig. 1, and which
represents a cross section through the body of the sleeper, and for convenience I will
call it the hat section; and to suit the various forms of rails I can make the sleepers
with the ribs a, a, and without the ribs; the ribs being for the purpose of holding
in position a cushion or seperate bearer between the rails and sleepers for such cases
as where the rails are not suited or intended to rest directly on the sleepers
themselves; the loose bearers may also be held in place by a recess formed in the
top of the sleepers.
The hat section form of sleeper is selected with the object of obtaining the greatest
possible strength out of the quantity of material in the sleeper itself, at the same time
making a sleeper easy to pack and when once filled with ballast to retain or hold the
ballast in position and keep the road in as permanent a state as possible.
The chairs are made in seperate halfs and can either be bolted or rivetted to any
sleeper, I also provide on the top of any sleeper raised projections to act as abutments
and prevent the half chairs from spreading outwards; the chairs together with the
ordinary wood keys are only intended to support and hold the rails in gauge and
position; the weight of the rails and load to rest either on the seperate bearers
under the rails or on the sleepers direct, the object being to prevent the moving
load working the chair fastenings loose on the sleepers.
For flat bottomed rails I also use half chairs and the ordinary wood key for
holding the rails in position, and the rails can either rest direct on the sleepers or
on seperate bearers.
When flat bottomed rails are fastened to the sleepers with clamps on the bottom
flange of the rails I also use raised abutments on the sleepers for the clamps to abut
against; and when metallic keys are used for fastening the rails in the ordinary
clamps or jaws I make the back of the key angular, and secure it from working out
by a pin hole in the key and a loose pin.
The top member of metallic sleepers I perforate with any quantity of special holes,
for the purpose of drainage and for ascertaining the state of the ballast under the main
bearing part of the sleeper so as to place the packing of metallic sleepers under
control.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Metallic Sleepers, Chairs, and Fastenings for
Railway and Tramway Rails.
I, THOMAS AIREY of Linton View, Lancaster Road, Harrogate, in the County of
Yorkshire, Engineer, (formerly of No. 2, Cliffe Terrace, Darlington, in the County of
Durham,) 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 :—
My invention relates to improvements in the form or shape of metallic sleepers,

page_text: and in the chairs, clamps and nuts for fastening rails to sleepers; and I will describe
the same referring to the accompanying four sheets of drawings.
Fig. 1, a, b, c, and d, are cross sections through the bodies of transverse sleepers ;
and Fig. 2, is a cross section through the body of a longitudinal sleeper. The sections
of the sleepers show a flat top, (or they may be made approximately flat) and with sides
or webs at right angles thereto for a certain depth, from which they curve outwardly.
The sides, therefore, are as near as possible rectangular to the top in order to
obtain the greatest vertical strength from the material used; while the outwardly
curved, but narrow base, of each web, makes a form of sleeper having collectively a
large bearing surface, easy to pack with ballast. When the sleeper is once filled
with ballast, it will retain or hold it firmly in position.
As the traffic passes over the sleepers, the tendency is for them to work up and
down; thus alternately compressing and exhausting the air within the sleepers, in
addition to the settlement or shifting of the ballast. The first action draws water
beneath the sleeper from the damp ground, and this assists in the shifting of the
ballast. To avoid this difficulty, and also to facilitate inspection of ballast beneath
the sleeper as well as for drainage-I make one or more special holes win the
upper part of metallic sleepers; and this may be done in the case of others than those
described herein.
Fig. 3, is a transverse section through a sleeper, Fig. 4, is a longitudinal section,
and Fig. 5, a plan of the same with an ordinary cast iron chair e, for a bull-headed
rail to rest in. I make the base of the chair with bevelled ends f, to fit between the
raised abutment pieces g, which I form on the sleepers to hold the chairs in position.
The chairs I fasten to the sleepers with ordinary bolts 1, with the heads upwards;
and the nuts i, on the lower ends of the bolts, I make with tongues to fit into the
recesses under the abutment pieces g, to prevent the nuts from working loose. In
tightening up the nuts, the bead of the bolt has to be turned and the bolt screwed
into the nut; and the inclination of the rail is given in the ordinary way in the chair
itself.
Fig. 6, is a longitudinal section through a sleeper, Fig. 7, is a plan of the same,
showing a flat bottomed rail fixed between half chairs k, the rail resting on the sleeper
direct, with the chairs abutting against the raised abutment pieces g. The chairs are
fastened to the sleepers with bolts h, and tongued nuts i; and the part of the sleeper /
the rail rests on, between the abutment pieces g, I form with a bevelled surface to give
the rail the necessary inclination.
Fig. 8, is a transverse section through a sleeper, Fig. 9, a longitudinal section, and
Fig. 10, a plan of the same, showing a flat bottomed rail resting on the sleeper direct,
and secured by clamps m, abutting against raised abutment pieces g, and fastened
by bolts h, with tongued nuts i, and the part of the sleeper the rail rests on, I form
with bevelled surface to give the necessary inclination.
Fig. 11, is a longitudinal section of a sleeper, and Fig. 12, is a plan of the same
showing a flat bottomed rail resting on a bevelled bearing plate n between the rail
and sleeper, and which is also bevelled at the ends to fit between the abutment
pieces g. The rails I secure with clamps m, which are made to abut against the
bevelled ends on the bearing plate n, and are fastened by bolts h, with tongued nuts i,
to the sleepers.
Fig. 13, is a cross section through a longitudinal sleeper on line o, and showing
the tie bar p. Fig. 14, is a section on line q, showing the clamp fastenings m, Fig. 15,
is a section through the tie bar p on line r, and Fig. 16, is a plan of a longitudinal
sleeper and of the tie bar p. The clamps m,
I make to abut against ribs
which are
formed on the top edges of the sleepers; and both the clamps and tie bars are fastened
to the sleepers by ordinary bolts t, with square nuts u, which I place inside of
the sleepers. The nuts are prevented from working loose by resting against the
sides of the sleepers; the bolts I screw into the nuts from the outside or head of
the bolt.

page_text: 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 :
1. The improved form of metallic railway sleeper substantially as herein described
and shown in the drawings.
2. The forming of abutinent pieces on a metallic sleeper combined with the forming
and using of chairs, clamps, or bearing plates to abut against the
same, substantially
as herein described and shown in the drawings.
3. In combination, a metallic sleeper with exterior abutments and corresponding
interior depressions, a chair, clamp or clamps fitted thereon and against an abutment
to hold the rail, a fastening bolt adapted for screwing down from the outside, and a
nut fitted thereto and prevented turning by its engagement with an interior depression
substantially as herein described and shown in the drawings.
4. A metallic railway sleeper provided with one or more special holes in the top
thereof for the purpose of inspection, drainage, or establishing atmospheric equilibrium;
substantially as and for the purposes herein described.
Date this 10th love of Cannon 1800
THOMAS AIREY.