A NEW OR IMPROVED FASTENER FOR SECURING THE COVERINGS OF RAILWAY AND OTHER WAGGONS OR VEHICLES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Gilbert and Daniel Sinclair, both of Dundee,
in the County of Forfar, North Britain, for an Invention of " A NEW OR
IMPROVED FASTENER FOR SECURING THE COVERINGS OF RAILWAY AND
OTHER WAGGONS OR VEHICLES,"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Gilbert and Daniel
Sinclair at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th October
1881.
EDWARD GILBERT and DANIEL SINCLAIR, both of Dundee, in the County of
Forfar, North Britain. "A NEW OR IMPROVED FASTENER FOR SECURING THE
COVERINGS OF RAILWAY AND OTHER WAGGONS OR VEHICLES."
The object of this Invention is to provide a speedy, safe, and economical means
of holding in or releasing from their places tarpaulins, sheets, or other coverings of
railway or other waggons, lorries, carts, or other vehicles by tightening and
fastening the securing cords of the coverings, and the easy and instantaneous
loosening of the same, and this object is effected by the use of a new or improved
construction of fastening device or fastener fixed to the vehicle framing and to
which the cords of the waggon coverings are attached, whereby much time and
labour are saved in the fastening and releasing of such coverings, and waste of
cordage avoided, as compared with the modes and means heretofore employed in
fastening such coverings.
In securing tarpaulins or other coverings on to waggons it has hitherto been the
practice to tie the cords with hard and fast knots to simple hooks or catches fixed
on the waggon, so that when the coverings required to be removed, much time and
labour was requisite in untieing the knots, or the cords must be cut away and
destroyed. By the use of the improved fastener or device the cords while being
properly secured do not require to be knotted, and can be released instantaneously
and with great ease.
The improved fastener consists of a strong spike of iron or other metal, which
in one modification is driven into the sides of the longitudinal beams of the

page_text: waggon or vehicle, and is formed with a fluke or feather projecting at a slight
angle to the longitudinal centre of the spike from the head part or spike-head,
preferably at the right hand side, to within an inch or so of the surface of the
waggon beam. The cords of the tarpaulin or covering are each wound round the
head of a spike of this form, and the end of the cord passed into the angular or
wedge-shaped space between the spike and the fluke or feather, and drawn tight,
to be securely wedged therein, while also bearing hard on or over the part of the
cord leading up from the spike to the usual eye in the tarpaulin or cover.
In a modification of the improved fasteners the spikes are driven into the under
side of the waggon beam, and formed with a T head and angled spur or feather on
one side or with a claw hammer head, having the head to the right hand side and
the angled claw or feather to the left hand side. The ends of the cords of the
waggon covering are wound or turned round the solid head, led across the upper
portion of the cord by the side of the spike, and drawn through the claw part
and thereby secured, the cord end being wedged in the claw and held tightly
thereby.
The spikes are by preference tapered and rebated, so that when driven into
the waggon beam they may not be easily withdrawn; or a flange may be formed
on the spike, and the fastener secured by screws through the flange, or partly
by the flange and partly by the point of the spike being driven into the waggon
beam.
The novelty essentially consists in dispensing with all knots, loops, or hitches
on the binding cords, and in making a simple headed spike or fastener with a side
angled slit and feather by one, two, or more simple turns of the cord round the
head to the right or left, the loose end being drawn round the leading on part of
the cord into the angled binding slit between the feather and the stem of the
fastener, and thus firmly securing the whole, but free to be easily drawn out and
completely released.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edward Gilbert and Daniel Sinclair in the Great Seal Patent 3
Office on the 29th March 1882.
EDWARD GILBERT and DANIEL SINCLAIR, both of Dundee, in the County of
Forfar, North-Britain. "A NEW OR IMPROVED FASTENER FOR SECURING THE
COVERINGS OF RAILWAY AND OTHER WAGGONS OR VEHICLES."
The object of our said Invention is to provide a speedy, safe, and economical means 3
of holding in or releasing from their places tarpaulins, sheets, or other coverings
of railway or other waggons, lorries, carts, or other vehicles by tightening and
fastening the securing cords of the coverings, and the easy and instantaneous
loosening of the same, and this object is effected by the use of a new or improved

page_text: construction of fastening device or fastener fixed to the framing of the vehicle,
and to which fasteners the cords of the waggon coverings are secured or attached,
by the use of which much time and labour are saved in the fastening and releasing
of such coverings, and the waste of cordage avoided, as compared with the modes
and means heretofore employed in fastening such coverings.
In securing tarpaulins or other coverings on to waggons it has hitherto been the
practice to tie the cords with hard and fast knots to simple or ordinary hooks or
catches fixed on the waggon, so that when the coverings required to be removed
much time and labour was requisite in untieing the knots, or the cords must be cut
away and destroyed. By the use of this new or improved fastener or device the
cords while being properly secured do not require to be knotted, and therefore can
be easily and instantaneously released.
In order that the full nature and novelty of our said Invention and the mode
of putting it into effect or practice may be properly understood, we shall now
proceed to describe the same with reference to the several Figures on the Sheet of
Drawings which has been hereunto appended for that purpose, the same reference
letters indicate the same or equivalent parts in the different Figures.
Figure 1 is the side elevation of a railway luggage waggon or truck X, Y, Z, z,
showing our new or improved fasteners applied thereto at z for securing the
tarpaulins or coverings x by their cords y and for freely and easily releasing them
again, all in a simple and efficient manner in accordance with my Invention.
Figures 2 and 3 are a side elevation and plan of two constructions of our new or
improved cord fastener of the T form, to a larger scale than shown in Figure 1,
to show the construction and mode of securing the ends of the cord thereto, more
clearly than it can be in that Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side view and plan of a
straight or spike form of our said new or improved fastener.
Our new or improved fastener under one modification consists of a strong T spike
of iron or other metal A, B, C, Figures 1 to 3. The stem A is sharpened and
barbed at the point a, and driven preferably vertically from below into the side
frames or longitudinal beams z or Z of the waggon or vehicle X, Y, Z, z. In this
case the crosshead B is formed at one end 6 with a small knob or head to prevent
the cord y slipping off, and at the other end it is formed with an angled cleft or
gripping jaw or fluke C. The securing stem A of the fasteners may either be
pointed and barbed or jagged at a, so as to have a firmer hold when driven either
vertically or horizontally into the waggon beams or Z, as shown on the Drawings,
Figures 1 to 3, and therefore not easily loosened or withdrawn ; or these fasteners
may be secured in other suitable ways.
The fasteners A, B, C, are fixed to the longitudinal and transverse beams Z, x,
of the waggon or other vehicle, as above described, and shown in the Drawings
in positions to correspond as nearly as possible with the eyes in the covering
sheet x, x, through which the securing cords y are passed. Each cord y is brought
tightly down and turned twice or more times round the head B of the T fastener
between the spike A and the knob b, and crossed and pressed tightly against that
part of the cord y immediately above the first turn, and then inserted and drawn
tightly down into the cleft c between the jaws C on the other side of the fastener,
and is there firmly jammed and held, all without knots, as stated and shown in
Figures 1 to 3 of the Drawings, yet with the end of the cord free to be easily
loosened again with a simple tug or pull. In Figure 2 the angled cleft c is formed
by welding the spur or jaw C on to one side of the head part B of the holder;
while in Figure 3 this is formed by slitting the one end of the head in the centre,
somewbat like the head of a claw hammer.
Referring to the modification of the improved fastener, shown in Figure 4, this
is made in a straight form without the crosshead B, the knob b being formed on
the outer end of the stem A, and the angled cleft c formed further in by welding
the spur or jaw C on the one side of the stem A sufficiently off the wood beam Z,
into which the spike end a is driven (indicated by the dotted line Z- - Z in the
large views, Figures 2 to 6) to allow of the free admission and release of the end

page_text: of the cord y. In this modification the stem or fastener is driven or secured hori-
zontally into the beams Z of the waggon, and the cord y drawn tight and wound
twice round the head near the knob b, and then drawn tight across or partially
round the first leading-on turn back and down into the cleft c, C, at the one side
of the stem A, where it is drawn and jammed so tight that the end cannot get
loose until pulled out again, as nearly all the strain on the cord is received by the
turns round the head of the fastener, and the gripping cleft or jaw c, C, has only
to hold or keep the end of the rope from slipping with little or no strain on it.
These fasteners may be secured in other ways than as a spike driven into the
wood, as herein described in reference to Figures 1 to 4, as by forming a flange or
shoulder A on the stem A, and be secured by screws to the frames Z of the
waggons, as shown in side and end views in Figures 5 and 6, or otherwise, as
shown in dotted lines in Figure 5, the stem A may be formed with a screw and nut
at the end A³, so as to be passed through the waggon beam Z as a bolt, and
Becured by the nut on the other side; or the stem A might be formed with a
coarse thread at the point and screwed direct into the wood instead of being driven
into it.
The novelty of the Invention essentially consists in dispensing with all knots
or hitches on the binding cords y of the coverings x, x, to be secured, and in
making a simple or T headed spike or fastener A, B, C, with a side-angled jaw or
feather C by one, two, or more turns of the cord round the head part B to the
right or left, the loose end being drawn partly round or across the leading-on part
of the cord into the angled binding cleft or slot c between the jaw or feather C and
head B or stem A of the fastener, thus firmly securing the whole, but at the same
time leaving the cord free to be easily drawn out and completely released.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, we have to state that what we consider novel and original
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is, the construction and use of simple fasteners (A, B, C,) for
securing the cords (y) of the coverings or tarpaulins of railway waggons and other
goods vehicles without the use of knots or hitches, all in the manner and for the
purposes herein described in reference to and shown in the accompanying Drawings,
or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edward Gilbert and the said Daniel Sinclair,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Second day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty-two.