Improvements in Chairs or Supports for the Permanent Way of Railways
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 11th Nov., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 8th Aug., 1898-Accepted, 1st Oct., 1898
Improvements in Chairs or Supports for the Permanent Way of
Railways
I, MAURICE LEWIS, Farmer, of West Grove, in the County of Chester and
State of Pennsylvania, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to chairs for the support and connection of railroad-rails
with the sleepers or cross-ties and has for its object to provide a novel device of
the indicated character which will afford a sufficiently elastic cushion between
the rails and sleepers to neutralize the shocks due to the rapid travel of heavy
trains over the rails and thus conduce to the longevity of the railroad as
well as that of the rolling-stock which traverses the same. A further object
of the invention is to provide a cheap and highly efficient cushioned chair for
railroad rails and which is especially well adapted for service where stone sleepers
are utilized as a part of the road-bed, the improved rail chairs obviating the
objectionable rigidity and percussive action between the rolling stock and the
rails incidental to the employment of stone sleepers or masonry as part of the
road bed.
The invention consists in the employment of superposed metallic sheets or
plates as a cushioning medium for each chair and further consists in the peculiar
construction and combination of parts as is hereinafter described.
In carrying into effect the features of improvement the sleepers may be formed
of any suitable stone of natural formation or they may be composed of matter
of an appropriate character moulded into form so as to produce artificial stone
or composition sleepers of proper strength, dimensions, and form. As usual in
the construction of railroads, two series of parallel rails are provided and the sloepers
are arranged at spaced intervals on the road bed. One of the novel rail chairs
presently to be described is located between a rail and each sleeper, the chairs
being provided in sufficient number for such purpose.
Each of the improved chairs mainly comprises a superposed series of rectangular-
contoured thin metallic sheets or plates upon which is imposed a substantial
metallic cap-piece which may advantageously be furnished with depending side
flanges. The cap piece is of such relative dimensions with regard to the sheets
that the flanges will loosely embrace the side edges of the upper sheets and the
length of these assembled parts should be sufficient to permit the complete chair
to project a proper distance at each side of the rail-base. The cap piece and plates

page_text: or sheets have aligned perforations formed therein, one perforation being near
each end of the same. Suitably spaced perforations are produced in each sleeper
near each end for the reception of clamping bolts which pass upwardly through
the sleeper and also through the perforations in the chair. The bolt holes formed
in the sleeper are somewhat larger in diameter than the thickness of the clamping
bolts so as to leave an annular space around each bolt body for a purpose which
will presently be explained. The upper end portions of the clamping bolts
project above the chair cap piece adjacent to the side edges of the rail when the
latter is in correct position on the chairs and sleepers and over these ends of the
bolts which are threaded and provided with threaded nuts clamping plates are
placed whose outer ends rest upon the cap piece while at their inner ends said
plates bear upon the base flange of the rail. The portions of the clamping plates
seated upon the rail are preferably offset whereby a shoulder is formed on each
of said plates adapted to bear upon the outer edge of the base flange of the rail
and hold said rail from lateral displacement when the nuts are adjusted to draw
the clamping plates forcibly upon the rail base and the cap piece.
In the production of metallic sheets such as described there are always slight
inequalities of pits and projections thereon which prevent the compression of a
series of such sheets into a solid condition so that the support afforded the track-
rails by the chairs which have been described is of a slightly-elastic nature, the
resilience of the piled sheets as a mass being sufficient to absorb the percussive
shocks resulting from the imposed weight and rapid movement of the rolling
stock traversing the railroad.
The spaces surrounding the bodies of the bolts when the latter are inserted in
the perforations of the sleepers are filled solidly with melted lead or sulphur which
will hold the bolts in place and exclude moisture therefrom so that oxidation of
the bolts is prevented. The sheet metal plates composing each chair may be
protected from corrosion by any preferred means such as surface-coating them
with zine-paint or metallic varnish.
I am aware that prior to my invention attempts have been made to provide a
cushioned chair for railroad rails but the material being wood blocks or veneers
of wood soon become useless for the desired purpose. I therefore do not claim
a chair cushioned with one or more pieces of wood.
Dated this 11th day of November 1807
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Chairs or Supports for the Permanent Way of
Railways.
I, MAURICE LEWIS, Farmer, of West Grove, in the County of Chester and
State of Pennsylvania, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of
my invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Baxter
. i.
This invention relates to chairs for the support and connection of railroad-rails
with the sleepers or cross-ties, and has for its. object to provide a novel device of
the indicated character which will afford a sufficiently elastic cushion between
the rails and sleepers to neutralize the shocks due to the rapid travel of heavy
trains over the rails, and thus conduce, to the longevity of the railroad, as
well as that of the rolling-stock which traverses the same.

page_text: A further object of the invention is to provide a cheap and highly-efficient
cushioned chair for railroad rails, and which is especially well adapted for service,
where stone sleepers are utilized as a part of the road-bed, the improved rail-chairs;
obviating the objectionable rigidity and percussive action between the rolling..
stock and the rails incidental to the employment. of stone sleepers or masonry as,
part of the road-bed.
The invention consists in the employment of a series of superposed metallic
sheets or
plates as a cushioning medium for each chair, and further consists in
the peculiar construction and combination of parts, as is hereinafter described,
and defined in the appended claim.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this
specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in all the figures.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a railroad having the improvement
applied;
..
Figure 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view essentially on the line 2-2
in Figure 1; and
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line 3-3 in Figure 1.
In carrying into effect the features of improvement, A. indicates a railroad-rail,.
and B the sleepers or cross-ties, which are formed of any suitable stone of natural-
formation, or they may be composed of matter of an appropriate character moulded
into form so as to produce artificial-stone or composition, sleepers of proper
strength, dimensions and form.
11+%
As usual in the construction of railroads, two series of parallel rails are provided,
and the sleepers are arranged at spaced intervals on the road-bed.
may
advan-
One of the novel rail-chairs presently to be described is located between a rail A
and each sleeper B, the chairs being provided in sufficient number for such purpose."
Each of the improved chairs mainly comprises a superposed series of rectangular-
contoured thin metallic sheets or plates a. On the series of sheets a composing
each chair a substantial metallic cap-piece b is imposed, and which
tageously be furnished with depending side flanges b. The cap-piece b is of such
relative dimensions with regard to the sheets a that the flanges 6 will loosely
embrace the side edges of the upper sheets, and the length of these assembled
parts should be sufficient to permit the complete chair to project a proper distance
at each side of the rail-base, as shown in Figure 2. The cap-piece band plates
or sheets a have aligned perforations formed therein, one perforation being near
each end of the same.
Suitably spaced perforations are produced in each cross-tie B, near each end
for the reception of clamping-bolts C, which pass upwardly through the sleeper
and also through the perforations in the chair, as clearly represented in
Figure 2.
The bolt-holes formed in the sleeper B are somewhat larger in diameter than
the thickness of the clamping-bolts C, so as to leave an annular space e around
each bolt-body, for a purpose which will presently be explained.
The upper end portions of the clamping-bolts Cproject above the chair cap-
piece b, adjacent to the side edges of the rail A, when the latter is in correct
position on the chairs and sleepers, and over these ends of the bolts, which are
threaded and provided with threaded nuts D, clamping-plates E are placed, the
latter being perforated intermediately of their ends to facilitate such a disposal
of the clamping-plates. The outer ends of the clamping-plates E rest upon the
cap-piece b, and at their inner ends said plates bear upon the base-flange of the
rail A.
The portions of the clamping-plates E seated upon the rail A are preferably
offset, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, whereby a shoulder is formed on each of said
plates, adapted to bear upon the outer edge of the base-flange of the rail and
hold said rail from lateral displacement when the nuts D are adjusted to draw
the clamping-plates forcibly upon the rail-base and the cap-piece b.

page_text: In the production of metallic sheets such as a there are always slight inequalities
or pits and projections thereon, which prevent the compression of a series of such
sheets into a solid condition, so that the support afforded the track-rails A by
the chairs which have been described is of a slightly-elastic nature, the resilience
of the piled sheets as a mass being sufficient to absorb the percussive shocks
resulting from the imposed weight and rapid movement of the rolling-stock
traversing the railroad.
The spaces c surrounding the bodies of the bolts C when the latter are inserted
in the perforations of the sleepers B are filled solidly with melted lead or sulphur,
which will hold the bolts in place and exclude moisture therefrom, so that oxida-
tion of the bolts is prevented.
The sheet-metal plates a composing each chair may be protected from corrosion
by any preferred means, such as surface-coating thein with zinc paint or metallic
varnish.
I am aware that prior to my invention attempts have been made to provide a
cushioned chair for railroad-rails, but the material being wood blocks or veneers
of wood soon become useless for the desired purpose. I therefore do not claim
a chair cushioned with one or more pieces of wood.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
The combination with a perforated sleeper or cross-tie, bolts secured therein,
and nuts on the threaded upper ends of said bolts, of a railroad-rail, a cushioned
chair therefor, comprising a series of superposed, thin metallic sheets, a cap-piece
therefor, and clamping-plates resting their heels on the cap-piece, and their toes
upon the base-flange of the rail, said clamping-plates receiving the threaded
ends of the bolts and being held in clamping condition by the nuts on said bolts,
substantially as described.
Dated th: 01
5000
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.