IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINING SUPPORTING AND STRENGTHENING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Francis Joyce, of Birmingham, in the County.
of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
JOINING SUPPORTING AND STRENGTHENING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 16th January 1857, and dated the 20th November 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Francis Joyce.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th November 1856.
I, THOMAS FRANCIS JOYCE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN JOINING, SUPPORTING, AND STRENGTHENING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS," to
be as follows:
My Invention consists of a casing to be applied to the lower head and body
of the ordinary double-headed rail, for the purpose of forming an effectual
junction of the ends of two rails, as well as for supporting and strengthening
rails at points where the said rails require strength or support.
In carrying my Invention into effect, I form plates of iron of such a figure,
that when two of them are bolted together, by flanges made on them for that
purpose, the space between them has the figure of the lower head and body
of an ordinary rail.
In applying my Invention to rails, I place the two plates on the sides of
the rails respectively; I bolt or rivet together the flanges on the plates them-
selves, and also pass bolts through those parts of the plates which lie against
the body of the rail; the last-mentioned bolts pass also through the body'
of the rail and firmly secure the said plates and rail together. I sometimos

page_text: dispense with the flanges on the bottoms of the plates; and I sometimes also
make my Invention of one piece of netal, rolled or otherwise fashioned into
the requisite shape. Although I have described my Invention in connection
with the ordinary double-headed rail, yet my said Invention is applicable to
rails of other forms.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Francis Joyco in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th May 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
FRANCIS JOYCE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Пer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Ierself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Francis Joyce, Iler special licenco that I, the said Thomas
Francis Joyce, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Francis Joyce, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree 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 JOINING, SUPPORTING, AND STRENGTHENING THE RAILS OF
RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, tho said Thomas
Francis Joyce, 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 Thomas Francis Joyce, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by tho
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the method herein-after described, and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, of joining, supporting, and strengthening the
rails of railways.

page_text: The
Figure 1 represents in side elevation and Figure 2 in transverse section,
one method of carrying my Invention into effect. a, b, is a casing, applied
to the lower head and body of the rail. The said casing consists of the two
pieces a and b, placed respectively on the opposite sides of the rail c.
figure of the said pieces a, b, is such that they fit the lower head and body
of the rail when placed against it, as represented. Flanges marked a', ', are
made on the lower edges of the pieces a, b, respectively. The pieces a, b,
are secured to the rail c by screws d, d, passing through the said pieces, and
the rail and nuts e, e, engaging on the ends of the said screws; the flanges
a', ', are also secured together by screws f and nuts g. I sometimes carry
my Invention into effect in the manner illustrated in the transverse section,
Figure 3, that is to say, I employ two plates h, i, similar to those represented
at a, b, Figure 2, excepting that the plates h, i, Figure 3, have no flanges
on their lower sides. The said plates h, i, are secured to the rail / by screws
and nuts m passing through them and the rail k. The said plates are un-
connected at their bottom edges.
I sometimes carry my Invention into effect in the manner illustrated by
the transverse section, Figure 4, that is to say, I bend a plate of iron into
the form represented by n, and slip the same on the end or ends of the rail
or rails o, to which the plate n is to be applied; I fasten the plate n to the
rail o by screws p and nuts q.
My Invention is applicable to the joining of rails, as represented in the
elevation, Figure 1, at r..
My said Invention is applicable to the strengthening or supporting of rails
where there is no junction, as shown in Figure 5.
My Invention is particularly applicable to the supporting or strengthening
of rails where there is a curve in the line of railway.
Although I prefer to make the plates a, b, h, i, and n of wrought iron,
fashioned by rolling or otherwise, yet I do not confine myself thereto, as cast
iron, or the annealed cast iron commonly called "malleable iron," or other
metal or alloy, may be used in carrying my Invention into effect.
Although I have described and represented the method which I prefer of
securing the plates a, b, h, i, and n to the rails, or the plates a, b, to one
another, yet I do not limit myself thereto, as pins with cotters, rivets, or other
well-known fastenings may be employed with the same or nearly the same
effect.
Although I have only described my Invention in connection with the
ordinary or double headed rail, yet my said Invention is applicable to rails
of other forms, as illustrated in Figures 6 and 7.

page_text: As I believe my Invention will be sufficiently understood by the description
herein-before given with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, I do not
think it necessary to describe the said Figures 6 and 7. I am aware that
it has been proposed to join the ends of rails by placing a plate on either side
of the ends of the rails; and connecting the said plates together by a bolt
or pin passed through them under the rails. The ends of the rails are thus
held by the said plates in a manner similar to that in which articles are
held by an ordinary vice.
My Invention differs from that referred to in the respect that the plates
are in my Invention bolted to the rails, and may be left unbolted underneath
the rails; and my said Invention does not require the flanges to be prolonged
below the rails further than is necessary for the reception of a bolt when it is
preferred to bolt under the rail. The rails are held by a mechanical action
wholly different from that of the Invention referred to.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but
I claim as my Invention the improvements in joining, supporting, and
strengthening the rails of railways, herein-before described, and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, joining, supporting, and strength-
ening rails by the use of a support, or plate or plates fitting or nearly fitting
or passing round the lower part of the rail, and lying against the sides of
the said rail, and fixed on the rail by being rivetted or bolted thereto by rivets
or bolts passing through the said rails, whether the said support be in one
or more pieces, or whether the said pieces where two are used bo rivetted or
bolted together through their flanges under the rails or be left unrivetted.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Francis Joyce, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
· THOMAS FRANCIS JOYCE. (L.B.)
Clerk to George Shaw.