Year: 1886

page_text: I, JOHN WINHILD FLYNN, of Bordentown, Burlington Co, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
My invention relates to an improvement in railway ties and chairs, and it
consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices that will be more
fully set forth hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.
In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my invention, partly in section. Fig. 2 is a top
plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an elevation of my invention as applied to the
main rail and guard-rail of a railway switch.
A represents a cross tie, which may be made of wood, iron, steel, or any other
preferred material, and is provided on its upper side, at one edge, with recesses B,
in which are located chairs C. These chairs are made of cast or wrought metal,
and are provided at their outer ends, on their upper sides, with projections D,
having the shoulders E, which bear against the outer sides of the rails, so as to
prevent the latter from being moved laterally from each other.
F represents bolts, which pass through openings made in the chairs C and the
tie. That portion of the shank of each bolt which passes through the tie is made
rectangular, so as to prevent turning therein, and the upper ends of the bolts,
which project above the upper sides of the chairs are screw threaded.
G represents. locking plates which are placed on the upper side of the chairs, at
the inner ends thereof, the said locking plates having depending ends g¹ which
bear against the inner ends of the chairs, the outer ends of the said locking plate
being curved upwardly sufficiently far to enable them to clear the bottom flanges
of the rails and bear against the inner sides thereof. The function of these locking
plates is to prevent the rails from moving inwardly towards each other. Openings
are made in the plates G to receive the upwardly projecting ends of the bolts F,
and nuts H are screwed on the upper ends of the said bolts and bear downwardly
upon the locking plates, thus securing the latter firmly in position, and also
securing the chairs firmly in the recesses of the tie.

page_text: In Fig. 3 I illustrate my invention applied to the main rail a and the guard
rail 6 of a railway-switch. When thus employed, the recess in the tie is made
sufficiently long to receive two of the chairs placed end to end. The rails bear
against the shoulders of the said chairs and the locking bolt passes up through the
tie between the meeting ends of the chairs and through a locking plate I, the ends
of which are bent or curved upwardly and caused to bear against the opposing
sides of the main and guard rails, as shown, thus securing the said rails very firmly
in place.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The combination of the tie having the recesses B in its upper side, near the
ends, the chairs secured in the said recesses and having the projections D and
shoulders E bearing against the rails, and the plates G bolted on the upper sides of
the chairs and bearing against the lower flanges of the rails on the sides opposite
the shoulders E, for the purpose set forth, substantially as described.
2. The combination, with the tie having the recesses B in its upper side, near
the ends, of the chairs secured in the said recesses and having the shoulders bearing
against one side of the rails, and the locking plates G secured on the chairs and
bearing against the sides of the rails opposite the shoulders of the chairs, and
having the depending ends g¹ secured between one end of the chairs and the
opposing end of the recesses in which the chairs are located, substantially as
described.