IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINED METALLIC CHAIRS AND SLEEPERS FOR RAILWAYS
Year: 1885

page_text: I PETER KIRK of Bankfield Workington in the County of Cumberland Iron
and Steel Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINED METALLIC CHAIRS AND SLEEPERS FOR RAILWAYS
to be as follows:-
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My Invention relates partly to a former Invention for which on the twenty
second day of November in the year 1884 I made application for the grant of
Letters Patent. In the specification of my said former Invention I proposed to
roll steel or iron sleepers with recessed rolls so as to produce the sleepers with
parts of increased thickness at the places which would come below the rail and in
these thicker parts I punched slots and riveted or welded jaws or chairs to the
said thicker parts. In my present Invention I pursue the same method of operating
so far as the rolling of the sleeper is concerned and I thereby obtain sleepers having
parts or places of increased thickness at the desired points but in place of welding
or securing chairs or jaws to the sleeper, I form the holding jaws or clips out of the
substance of the sleeper at the thicker places by cutting slitting or punching the
metal and by pressing out parts of the same which are only partly detached from
the body of the sleeper so as to form clips or jaws which are made of forms
suitable to the section of the rail which is to be held. In some cases the parts
to form the jaws or clips are turned up and over and toward each other and
pressed or moulded into form. In other cases the said parts are simply raised
above the top of the sleeper and shaped into form either by the punching operation
or by a subsequent operation. I may obtain the increased thickness by welding
or pressing on pieces at the required places.

page_text: $5
Improvements in Combined Metallic Chairs and Sleepers
for Railways.
1 PETER KIRK of Bankfield Workington in the County of Cumberland Iron
and Steel Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN COMBINED METALLIC CHAIRS AND SLEEPERS FOR RAILWAYS
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying drawings:-
My Invention relates partly to a former Invention for which on the twenty
second day of November in the year 1884 I made application for the grant of
Letters Patent In the specification of my said former Invention I proposed to
roll steel or iron sleepers with recessed rolls so as to produce the sleepers with parts
of increased thickness at the places which would come below the rail and in these
thicker parts I punched slots and riveted or welded jaws or chairs to the said
thicker parts. In my present Invention I employ suitable means and methods of
operating to obtain sleepers having parts or places of increased thickness at the
desired points but in place of welding or securing chairs or jaws to the sleeper,
I form the holding jaws or clips out of the substance of the sleeper at the thicker
places by cutting, slitting or punching the metal and by pressing out parts of the
same which are only partly detached from the body of the sleeper so as to form
clips or jaws which are made of forms suitable to the section of the rail which is to
be held.
In the accompanying drawings examples are given of the forms in which these
holding jaws or clips may be made. In the said drawings Fig. 1 represents a
longitudinal section of part of a cross sleeper with a rail in position as when
secured to the sleeper and Fig. 2 is a plan of the same parts. In the said Figs.
a is the sleeper and a¹ are the parts which are made to be of increased thickness.
In practice I prefer to obtain the increased thickness by rolling in the manner
and by means forming the subject matter of an application for Letters Patent
made by me on the twenty-ninth day of August last but any suitable method
of rolling, welding or pressing may be used. The holding jaws are represented
by b. c. These jaws are produced by a punching operation the punch being so
formed as to sever the metal on three sides of a rectangle without cutting the
fourth side. The punch and die are so formed as to press this partly severed
part outward from the face of the sleeper and to curve and shape it into the
required form as represented in the drawing or into any other form suitable
to the requirements. It may be necessary or desirable to complete the shaping
of the jaws or clips by a subsequent pressing or shaping operation especially in
the example illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2 wherein the parts to form the jaws have
to be turned over and bent inward toward each other. In Figs. 3 and 4 the
formation of the jaws or clips is simplified. It will be seen that in this case the
parts to form the jaws are only pressed outward and at the same time shaped into
form. This method is the one I prefer to adopt for the indicated section of rail as
the shaping of the jaws is more readily effected. To secure the rail of the indicated

page_text: form to the improved sleeper it is only necessary to drive a key & between the foot
of the rail and the jaw c. In the example this key is split at one end so that it
can be expanded to prevent accidental loosening of the fastening. I do not confine
myself to the exact forms of the jaws b. and c. nor to the rectangular form of the
thickened parts of the sleeper. I may make the thicker parts extend entirely
across the width of the sleeper and be either of uniform thickness or be tapered
down to the thickness of the inain body of the sleeper. In the examples illustrated
by Figs. 5 and 6 the thicker parts of the sleepers are in each case made in the
form of a swelling which dies out gradually at each end to the general thickness
of the sleeper top and which may or may not also die out toward the sides of the
sleeper in the same manner. The same Figs. illustrate variations in the form of
the jaws which hold the rails the said jaws being made comparatively thicker and
longer or larger so as to give support to the vertical web of the rail. In Fig. 6 the
jaws are shaped into forms suitable to the retention of an ordinary double headed
rail which is indicated in section by e. The rail is secured by means of an
ordinary wooden key f. as in the cases of ordinary chairs but any other suitable
means for securing the rail may be adopted. I do not claim as novel the method
of forming the holding jaws or clips excepting when the sleeper is made thicker at
the required places so as to obtain jaws of a suitable strength as jaws so formed
in a sleeper made of the usual thickness throughout would be much too weak for
their intended purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
.
1. The sleeper with holding jaws or clips b. c. for holding a rail formed out of
the metal of the sleeper the sleeper being made thicker at the places where the
jaws or clips are to be formed substantially as and for the purpose set forth and
indicated.
2. A steel or iron sleeper for permanent way made thicker in two places in its
length and having parts of these thicker portions punched or cut so as to be partly
separated and raised or pressed out so as to form jaws or clips to answer as chairs
to hold rails or a rail substantially as set forth and indicated.