An Improved Attachment of Rails to Iron Sleepers.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Sept., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 11th May, 1892-Accepted, 18th June,
1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Attachment of Rails to Iron Sleepers.
I HUGO ALEXY of 79 Kerepescher Strasse Budapest in the Empire of Austria
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as follows:-
The present invention relates to the attachment of rails to iron sleepers and its
object is to produce a reliable and durable attachment of the rail to the sleeper in
such manner, that the former may have a certain amount of lateral play but at the
same time to employ bolt holes, into which the bolts fit exactly and not to produce
the said play by means of slots for the fastening bolts and ties as heretofore the
case. Thus the loosening of the joints at the bolts and wear and tear of the sleeper
hole are effectually prevented.
The device consists mainly of two jaws gripping the foot of the rail on each side,
an inserted wedge shaped plate, and the top plate of the sleeper the latter being
provided with slots through which the jaws extend gripping under the sleeper.
These jaws are firmly held in place by means of a cotter and a wedge provided
with a nut by means of which it may be tightened up said wedge being inserted
between the back of one of the jaws and the cotter.
One of the jaws is provided with a shoulder at its back which rests on the top
surface of the sleeper when the jaw is inserted in the slot in the latter. The wedge
shaped sole plate is provided with two slots corresponding to those of the sleeper
and between which the rail is located.
In order to fix the joint, the wedge shaped sole plate is first inserted under the
rail so that the slots in the same correspond with those of the sleeper. The
shouldered jaw is then passed into its respective slot gripping under the sleeper
over the thick end of the sole plate and on to the foot of the rail. On the
opposite side of the rail the sole plate is provided with a lower shoulder, which
grips into the slot of the sleeper. The second jaw is now inserted and grips under
the sleeper round the sole plate and onto the foot of the rail at the opposite side.
The jib is then placed into the same slot at the back of the jaw and the cotter at
the back of the jib in such manner as to bring the shoulder of the cotter on to the
top of the sleeper and against the interior end of the slot of the sole plate.
It is obvious that on tightening up the nut of the jib the attachment will be
fixed and the rail held securely in place. In order to vary the gauge of the rails
the width of the jaws or the cotter may be varied, thus if the gauge is required to
be somewhat narrower the inside jaw may be slightly narrower and the outside one
made broader or the width of the cotter may be varied. The shoulder under the
sole plate can also be varied in the length. In the latter case, in order to avoid
making the shoulder of various lengths it is advisable to leave the same off the
plate and insert a small angular piece which may then be made of any required
length.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Attachment of Rails to Iron Sleepers.
I, HUGO ALEXY of 79 Kerepescher Strasse Budapest, in the Kingdom of Hungary
in the Empire of Austria, do hereby declare the nature of my said invention and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, to be particularly described in
and by the following statement :——
The present invention relates to the attachment of rails to iron sleepers and its
object is to produce a reliable and durable attachment of the rail to the sleeper in
such manner, that the former may have a certain amount of lateral play but at the
same time to employ bolt holes into which the bolts fit exactly and not to produce
the said play by means of slots for the fastening bolts and ties as heretofore the
case. Thus the loosening of the joints at the bolts and all wear and tear of the
opening in the sleeper are effectually prevented.
Fig. 1, 2, 3 represent my improved attachment in elevation with rail and sleeper
in section, adapted to three different guages.
Fig. 4 is a side view,
Fig. 5 a top view with the rail in part section.
Fig. 6, 7, 8 represent the bed plate in top view, side view and cross section.
Fig. 9 & 10 represent the cotter in rear and front elevation.
The device consists mainly of two jaws bb' gripping the foot of the rail on each
side, an inserted wedge shaped plate a with slots al a² and the upper part of the plate
of the sleeper the latter being provided with slots ee through which the
jaws bb extend gripping, under the sleeper e, the slot a' of the plate a corre-
sponding with the slot e and the slot a with the slot of the sleeper. These
jaws b, bare firmly held in place by means of a cottero and a wedge or jib d
provided with a nut by means of which it may be tightened up said wedge or
jib d being inserted between the back of one of the jaws 6 b' and the cotter c.
One of the jaws is provided with a shoulder b' at its back which rests on the top
surface of the sleeper e when the jaw b is inserted in the slot in the latter,
whilst the nose grips the foot of the rail. The wedge shaped base plate a is
provided with two slots a' a³ corresponding to those of the sleeper and between
which the railf is located.
In order to fix the attachement, the wedge shaped base plate a is first inserted
under the railf so that the slots in the same correspond with those of the sleeper.
The shouldered jaw b is then passed into its respective slot gripping under the
sleeper e over the thick end of the base plate a and on to to the foot of the rail f.
On the opposite side of the rail the base plate is provided with a lower or
depending shoulder, a', which grips into the slot of the sleeper. The second
jaw 6' is now inserted through the slots ae and grips under the sleeper e round
the base plate
a by means of the claw 6 and onto the foot of the rail at the
opposite side with its claw 6. The jib d is then placed into the same slot at the
back of the jaw b' and the cotter c at the back of the jib d in such manner as to
bring the shoulder of the cotter c on to the top of the sleeper and against the
interior end of the slot e' of the base plate a.
It is obvious that on tightening up the nut of the jib d the attachement will
be fixed and the rail held securely in place. If it desired to remove the attaches
ment the jib d must be loosened so that the cotter o can be withdrawn the other
parts being removed in reverse order to their insertion as aforedescribed.
In order to be able to readily remove the cotter the head of the same is
widened as shown in Fig. 9, 10. In order to vary the gange of the rails the width
of the jaws b-b¹ or the cotter may be varied, thus, if the gauge is required to be
somewhat narrower, the inside jaw may be slightly narrower and the outside one!
made broader or the width of the cotter o may be varied.
Fig. 2 for instance shows the rail with the base plate a in normal central

page_text: position. In Fig. 1 both are moved to the right in which case the dimension 3 of
the jaw b and a of the nose a of the plate a is increased, the dimension y of the
cotter e decreased Fig. 3 represents the rail and base plate a shifted to the left
in which case the parts a and B are decreased and y alone increased in size.
The rule for the variations in size of a ẞ is that the total of both remain constant
the dimension of a increases or decreases according to the amount of shifting of the
parts.
The shoulder a' under the base plate can also be varied in length. In the latter
case, in order to avoid making the the shoulder at of various lengths it is advisable
to leave the same off the plate a and insert a small piece of metal a³ of T or
other suitable form which may then be made of any required length (Fig. 6, 7
& 8).
These pieces or members a' lay with their broader upper part in the extension
of the slot a of the base plate whereas the lower part a takes the place of the
nose a in the slot e of the sleeper e. In this case only the dimension of the
pieces or members a³ are varied, that of the base plate a remaining constant.
Having now particularly described the nature of this invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed I declare, that what 1 claim is :
1) The attachement of rails to iron sleepers by means of clamping jaws such
as bb, in such manner that the foot of the rail resting on a base plate a will be
securely clamped by means of a clamping jaw b passing through the slot a² of the
base plate a and slot e' of the sleeper on the one side and by the clamping jaw b¹
passing through the slot a³ of the base plate a and the slot of the sleeper e on
the other hand, whereby the latter jaw can be securely fixed by means of the
wedge or jib d and cotter e passing through the slot a³ of the base plate a and
slote of the sleeper, substantially as described in the foregoing Specification and
shown in the drawings.
2) In attachement of the kind abovementioned in Claim 1, adjustable fixing the
base plate a to the sleeper e by the nose a entiring the slot e' of the sleeper e or
by inserting a piece or member a in the slot of the sleeper e and the slot a² of
the base plate a substantially as described in the foregoing Specification and shown
in the drawings.
3) My improved attachement of rails to iron sleepers substantially as described
in the foregoing Specification and shown in the drawings.
Dated 11th M 1900
GEO.
DOWNING,
8, Quality Court, London, W.C., Agent.