IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd March 1870.-A communication from abroad by Daniel Rice
Pratt, of Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT
WAY OF RAILWAYS," a communication, to be as follows:-
The said Invention relates mainly to railway rails formed with
longitudinal projections or grooves or with both projections and grooves
extending throughout the web or middle portion of the rail. It also
relates to ribbed or grooved fish plates and chairs to be used in com-
bination with such rails.
•
The said Invention is designed for application to what are known
as solid rails, whether the same are of the ordinary double-headed
transverse section, or of the kind known as T rails. The web of the
rail may be formed with rectangular longitudinal ribs or projections
on both sides, or it may have a projection on one side and a groove
or depression on the other side, and there may be one, two, or more

page_text: of such projections or grooves or both, the edges of the same being either
rectangular, inclined, or curved. The fish plates which I use in .com-
bination with the aforesaid rails are formed with longitudinal projections
and grooves to fit the projections or depressions of the rail, and this
method of construction may be applied to fish plates which only cover!
the web or intermediate portion of the rail, or to fish plates which
are extended to cover the sides or both the sides and bottom of the
rail. By constructing the rail with these longitudinal projections and
depressions I obtain a better bearing for the fish_plates, joints, or
_connections, and-am-enāblēd to secure the rails and fish plates more
firmly together than has hitherto been practicable. When properly
fastened by suitable bolts and nuts the rails and fish plates are so
incorporated together with the projections on the one fitting the dc-
pressions or grooves of the other that no shearing action can be excrted
upon the bolts, which are thus relieved of all strain except that exerted
in a direction parallel with their axis. The rails are preferably formed
with two of the longitudinal projections or ribs on each side, one being
near the upper head and the other near the lower head or bottom
flange, and these ribs are usually made about one quarter of an inch
in breadth and depth. The fish plates may be made with separate
narrow grooves to receive these ribs, or with one broad groove or
depression to enclose both of the said ribs. If desired the rail may
be formed with one central projection on cach side of the web, which
'projection should be much broader than those above described; or I
may form the rail with one such central projection on one side, and a
corresponding depression or groove on the other side.
It will be readily understood that the chairs for securing the rails
to the sleepers or bearers may also have their sides ribbed or grooved
to fit my improved rails in such a manner as afford the rail a more
solid support than could be obtained with ordinary rails and chairs.