IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF FASTENING RAILS TO SLEEPERS BY MEANS OF CLAMPING LEVERS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Georg Schwartzkopff, Engineer, residing in Berlin,
Prussia, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF FASTENING
RAILS TO SLEEPERS BY MEANS OF CLAMPING LEVERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Georg Schwartzkopff at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th February 1882.
GEORG SCHWARTZKOPFF, Engineer, residing in Berlin, Prussia. IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MODE OF FASTENING RAILS TO SLEEPERS BY MEANS OF CLAMPING-
LEVERS.
This Invention relates to the mode of fastening rails to sleepers by means of
clamping-levers described in the Specification of the British Letters Patent No. 613,
A.D. 1879, and the improvements consist in the adaptation of the clamping-levers
to various kinds of rails and of sleepers.
While in the Specification of the said Patent the uso of the clamping-lovers was
restricted to the combination of a rail having the shape of an inverted U, and a
longitudinal sleeper consisting in a single bar of iron and provided with a head
being concave on one side, I have now adapted the said levers to rails of various
sectional forms and to the securing of such rails to sleepers of different descriptions,
whether longitudinal or transverse or consisting in separate supports.
In the first place the rails may be of similar form as those described in the
aforesaid Specification. In this case the sleeper must be longitudinal, but it may
be made of one or of two or more parts, and it may have any suitable sectional
form, the only condition being that it be provided with a head or rib of dove-
tail shape to which the rail is to be fastened, but the side of the head or rib against
which the levers bear, may be flat, and even vertical. If preferred, the rail may be
made with curved flanges, in which case the head or rib of the sleeper has to receive
a corresponding profile at least on one side.
Instead of providing the rail with a groove and the sleeper with a rib, the
arrangement may be inverted, and a dovetail or other suitable rib formed on the
underside of the rail, while the groove is in the sleeper. Also a rail having a flat

page_text: foot may be fastened by clamping levers to a sleeper provided with two ribs
constituting a flat dovetail groove, somewhat wider than the foot of the rail, or
with lugs or jaws, which may be formed by pressing or punching, and which are
inclined towards the rail. The lugs on one side may overlap the foot of the
rail.
When iron transverse sleepers are employed, flat dovetail recesses adapted to
receive the foot of a rail may be pressed into them by suitable means, or lugs or
jaws are formed on their upper surface, similar to those already mentioned, by a
punching operation so carried out that the portion of the metal which is to con-
stitute a lug or jaw, is separated from the sleeper on three sides only, and is
simultaneously bent upward in such a manner that it will keep down the foot of
the rail when the same is pressed against it, while a similar jaw formed on the
other side of the said foot, serves to take the point of the clamping-lever.
Another modification consists in using sole-plates rivetted or screwed to the
sleepers and provided with jaws. These plates may be cast or rolled with the jaws
on them, or the jaws are formed by punching or pressing or other similar process.
These sole-plates may also be applied to wooden sleepers.
In case the rails are to be laid on detached or separate supports, i.e. on sleepers
which do not cross over from one rail to the other, (but which may be connected
by transverse bars or plates) the construction and arrangement of the parts to which
the rail is secured, is substantially the same as described in respect to the transverse
sleepers or the sole-plates attached thereto.
The clamping-levers have, in every special case, to be adapted to the form of the
rail or sleeper, and they are tightened by being drawn with their outer end either
towards the rail or the sleeper, or pressed away from them (as the case may be) by
means of a bolt or a screw, the purpose always being to cause the operating end of
the lever to firmly clamp the rail and the sleeper together. If preferred, a clamping-
lever may be applied to either side of the rail.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Georg Schwartzkopff in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th August 1882.
GEORG SCHWARTZKOPFF, Engineer, residing in Berlin, Prussia.
"IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MODE OF FASTENING RAILS TO SLEEPERS BY MEANS OF CLAMPING-
LEVERS."
This Invention relates to the mode of fastening rails to sleepers by means of
clamping-levers described in the Specification of the British Letters Patent No. 613,
A.D. 1879, and the improvements consist in the adaptation of the clamping-levers
to various kinds of rails and of sleepers.
While in the Specification of the said Patent the use of the clamping-levers was
limited to the combination of a rail having the shape of an inverted U, and a
longitudinal sleeper consisting in a single bar of iron and provided with a head
being concave on one side, I have now adapted the said levers to rails of various
sectional forms and to the securing of such rails to sleepers of different descriptions,
whether longitudinal or tranverse or consisting in separate supports.
On the annexed two Sheets of Drawings Fig. 1 represents in section and in
elevation a clamping-lever of the simplest form, such as is, for instance, required
in the connection of a rail and a sleeper according to Fig. 2. This form has to be
adapted in every special case to the particular form of the parts to be combined.
After having been inserted with its end a into the space left for the purpose
between the rail and the sleeper, the clamping-lever is tightened by being drawn
with its end b either towards the rail or towards the sleeper (as the case may be)
by a binding-screw or a screw-bolt, or the tightening is effected by a set-screw
working in a screw-threaded hole in the end of the lever.
The Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 represent rails having the same form as those
shown in the above-mentioned Specification. The sleepers to which they are
fastened, must, in this case, be longitudinal, but they may be made of one or of
two or more parts and they may have any suitable sectional form, the only condition
being that they be provided with a head or rib of dovetail shape, to which the rail
can be fastened, the side of this head or rib against which the levers bear, may
however be flat, or even vertical. If preferred, the flanges of the rail forming the
dovetail groove, may be made curved on the inside, in which caso the head or rib
of the sleeper has to receive a corresponding profile on the side against which the
rail bears. Moreover, clamping-levers may be applied on either side of the rail and
the sleeper.
In Fig. 2, where the sleeper, consisting of a single bar of iron, has a web free
on both sides, the clamping-lever is drawn tight by a bolt passing through the said
web, but the side of the head of the sleeper against which the levers bear, is flat.
According to Figs. 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 binding-screws inserted into screw-threaded holes
in the sleepers, are used. Which of these arrangements is to be employed, depends
upon the shape of the parts to be united, or the advantages which either mode of
connection presents in any special case.
In respect to their outward profile the rails arranged and to be secured as
described, may be variously formed. They may, for instance, have a groove on their
upper side for taking the wheels of a carriage, in order to be applicable to tramways.
Or the rail may be rolled with an upright flange (see Fig. 2a) serving to guard
trains from running off the line on bridges and embankments, in tunnels, in curves
of short radius, or at other dangerous points.
Instead of providing the rail with a groove and the sleeper with a rib, the

page_text: arrangement may be inverted, and a dovetail or other suitable rib formed on the
underside of the rail, while the groove is in the sleeper, as shown by Fig. 6. The
lever is, in this case, tightened by a pressure or set-screw.
Fig. 9 shows an ordinary rail with a flat foot fastened by clamping-levers to a
longitudinal sleeper provided with two ribs constituting a flat dovetail groove
somewhat wider than the foot of the rail, the levers being secured by bolts passing
through the web of the rail. Fig. 9 is a modification hereof inasmuch as the lever
is bent with its outer end downward and provided with a set-screw pressing on
the flange of the sleeper.
While in Figs. 9 and 9 the ribs on the sleeper between which the rail is clamped
are continuous, Fig. 10 shows a sleeper having jaws formed at suitable intervals on
its upper surface by a punching-operation so carried out that the portion of the
metal which is to constitute a jaw, is separated from the sleeper on three sides only,
and is simultaneously bent upward, by means of suitable dies, in such a manner
that it will keep down the foot of the rail when the same is pressed against it,
while a similar jaw formed on the other side of the said foot serves to take the end
of the clamping-lever. The latter may be fitted as in the said Figure or in other
suitable style. If the thickness of metal of the sleepers as ordinarily made, should
not be considered sufficient for the jaws, the sleepers may be rolled with thicker
strips from which the jaws are cut.
Lugs or jaws such as described, may also be used with transverse sleepers, as
shown by Fig. 11, in section and in plan. Or the jaws may be formed as well in
longitudinal as in transverse sleepers according to Fig. 12 where one lug overlaps
the foot of the rail, or according to Fig. 13, where the jaws are produced by bending
over towards each other the parts severed in a suitable manner on three sides from
the top of the sleeper. In transverse sleepers the operation of forming the said
jaws may be combined with the pressing of the requisite inclined bearing-surface
for the rails.
The Figures 14 to 17 show transverse iron sleepers having dovetail grooves or
The rails
recesses for the foot of a common rail entirely pressed into them.
in Figs. 14 and 16 are fastened by clamping-levers on one side only, whereas in
Figs. 15 and 17 levers are applied on both sides.
Another mode of applying my Invention consists in using sole-plates provided
with the requisite jaws, and rivetted or screwed to the sleepers, as shown by
Figs. 18 to 20 and 22 to 25. These plates may be cast, forged or rolled with the
jaws on them (see Figs. 18 to 20) or the jaws are formed by punching or pressing
or other similar process as has been supposed in the sole-plates Figs. 22 to 25. The
rails may be secured by clamping-levers on one or on both sides and in the different
manners shown in Figs. 18, 19 and 22; and, when levers are applied on one side
only, the jaws on the opposite side may overlap the foot of the rail as in the pre-
ceding cases. In the Drawing the upper bearing surface of the sole-plates is shown
inclined to the lower surface, but these surfaces may be parallel, as the requisite
incline of the foot of the rail may be produced by making the surface of the sleeper
inclined at the points where the plates are to be fixed, especially when wooden
sleepers are used.
In case the rails are to be laid on detached or separate supports such as shown
in Fig. 21, i.e. on sleepers which do not cross over from one rail to the other
(but which are or may be connected by transverse bars or plates) the construction
and arrangement of the parts to which the rail is secured, is substantially the
same as described with reference to the transverse sleepers, or the sole-plates
attached thereto. Where an increase of width between the rails is required in
curves, the known meaus may be applied therefor in my system of fastening. When
levers are used on both sides of the rails the increase may, however, also be obtained
by clamping-levers of different thickness or by means of plates or pieces of metal
of the requisite thickness inserted in the place of a lever. In case the rails are
fixed on sole-plates, the same purpose may be attained by suitably shifting the
rivet-holes thereof, the holes in the sleepers being all punched or drilled uniformly.

page_text: The increase of gauge corresponding to such shifting should be marked on the
plates.
Having thus described the nature and object of this Invention, and the manner
in which it is to be carried out in practice, I wish it to be understood, that I do
not broadly claim the system of fastening a rail to a sleeper by means of clamping-
levers, as the same has, in part, already been described in the British Patent
Specification A.D. 1879 No. 613 but what I claim as my Invention is the
following:
1., The combination of a rail provided on its underside with a dovetail groove,
of a longitudinal sleeper having a head tapering from the top downward, and of
clamping-levers by which the rails are secured to the sleepers, the head of the
sleeper being flat on the side against which the lever bears when the sleeper
consists of a single bar, substantially as described with reference to Figs. 2, 3, 4,
5,7 and 8.
2., The combination of a rail provided with a dovetail rib or with a foot of a
transverse or longitudinal sleeper, or a separate support or sole-plate having ribs or
jaws inclined towards each other and adapted to take the rib or foot of the rail,
and of clamping-levers by which the rails are secured to the said sleeper, support or
sole-plate, substantially as described with reference to Figs 6 and 9 to 25.
In witness whereof I, the said Georg Schwartzkopf, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Twenty eighth day of July in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
GEORG SCHWARTZKOPEF