IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CROSS SLEEPERS FOR RAILWAYS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Léopold D'Aubréville, of 60, Boulevart de Strasbourg,
Paris, in the Empire of France, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CROSS SLEEPERS FOR RAILWAYS."-A com-
muuication from Pierre Quantin, residing at Bordeaux, in the Empire
of France.
Sealed the 31st October 1862, and dated the 9th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Léopold D'Aubréville at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th May 1862.
I, LÉOPOLD D'AUBRÉVILLE, of 60, Boulevart de Strasbourg, Paris, in the
Empire of France, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said:
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CROSS SLEEPERS FOR RAILWAYS," &.
communication from Pierre Quantin, a person resident at Bordeaux, in. the
Empire of France, to be as follows:-
The new metallic cross sleepers (communicated to me by Mr. Quantin)
are composed of two wrought or sheet iron plates of about ten inches wide,.
with one inch edge on each side bent downwards at right angle. The said.
plates are from fifty to fifty-four inches long.. Holes are punched through.
them corresponding to those of the chairs, and pieces of wood about four:
inches thick are inserted betwixt the plates and chairs. The two plates of a
5 same sleeper are connected together by an iron rod bolted together with the.
plates, chairs, and wooden soles so as to form solid cross sleepers of the
required length for laying on the permanent way.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Leopold D'Aubréville in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEOPOLD
D'AUBREVILLE, of. 60,. Boulevart de Strasbourg, Paris, in the Empire of
France, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Leopold D'Aubréville, Her special licence, that I, the said Leopold
D'Aubréville, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such otliers
as I, the said Leopold D'Aubréville, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and
at all times thereafter, during the term therein expressed, should' and'lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and, Isle of Man, an, Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CROSS SLEEPERS FOR RAILWAYS," (a communication
from Pierre Quantin, a person resident at Bordeaux, in the Empire of France,)
upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the said Leopold, D'Aubréville,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describo and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to, be, filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said.
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Leopold D'Aubréville,, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described, and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawing, hereunto
annexed, and to the figures and letters of reference placed thereon.
The improved railway metallic cross sleepers, forming the subject of this
Invention, are composed of two plates or sheet iron pieces about ten inches
wide, fifty to fifty-four inches long, and from two to three-eighths of an inch
thick, the edges of the said plates are bent at right angle so as to form
flanges to the longest sides of the plates, these flanges being turned down-
wards. Two holes are punched through the plates to correspond to those of
the cast-iron chairs for the bolting or fastening of the said chairs. A piece

page_text: of wood about four inches thick is inserted betwixt the plate and chair, and
they are bolted fast together (this wooden sole must be of the same size as
the seat or sole of the chair, or a little longer). Two chairs adjusted in the
same manner are connected together by means of a flat iron bar of a suitable
thickness and the required length for the breadth of the way.
The annexed Sheet of Drawing forming part of this my Specification shews
a cross sleeper constructed according to this Invention drawn to the scale of
one-fifth. Figure 1 is the elevation, the right and coloured part thereof
shewing section taken through the line a, y, Figure 2. Figure 2 is a top
plan view, and Figure 3 a cross section of the iron plate through the line
u, v, of the top view. A, wrought or sheet iron plate; B, wooden sole laid
over the first one; C, cast-iron chair; D, cast-iron bar connecting together
two chairs to form a sleeper; R, rail secured in the chair C by the wedge
J; the plate A, wooden sole B, connecting rod D, and chair C are bolted
fast together by bolts b, b. A transom iron rod E, suitably shaped with holes
punched through the ends, is nailed fast under the plates A to prevent the
said plates and chairs from parting, and keep them at the regulated distance
from one another.
The Invention being now described, I claim the exclusive right of making
railway cross sleepers in the way herein specified and illustrated by the
annexed Drawing, that is to say, with two plates of wrought or sheet iron
connected together by an iron bar of the required length and wooden soles
inserted betwixt the plate and chair, the whole being bolted fast together and
the plate being further connected below by another rod nailed fast under the
wooden soles essentially as above described and shewn in the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Leopold D'Aubréville, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Signed and sealed in the presence of
J. MAUROS.
L. D'AUBRÉVILLE. (L.S.)
C. E.