AN IMPROVED METHOD OF SECURING OR HOLDING FLAT-BOTTOMED OR BRIDGE RAILS."
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Jackson Vincent, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
SECURING OR HOLDING FLAT-BOTTOMED OR BRIDGE RAILS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Jackson Vincent
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th May 1866.
I, GEORGE JACKSON VINCENT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OF SECURING OR HOLDING FLAT-BOTTOMED OR BRIDGE RAILS," to be as follows:-
According to my Invention I provide a wrought-iron bolt of the proper
length and diameter, having a cupped head and square neck. A square
fanged plate or washer (by preference about 3×4 in.) having its corners
turned up at right angles, or nearly so, for the purpose of obtaining a better

page_text: hold or grip upon the bottom of the sleeper, as herein-after explained. The
said flanged plate or washer has a square hole punched through its centre
corresponding in size to the neck of the bolt for which it is intended. A cast-
iron clip (by preference about 3x11 in.) is now provided, having a circular
hole in its centre suited to the diameter of the bolt with which it is intended
to be used. Upon the under side of the said clip and on its outer edge are
four fangs. On its inner edge is a recessed space, intended to fit upon the
flange of the rail to which it may be affixed.
My Invention is carried into effect as follows:-A hole being bored through
the sleeper the bolt is passed through it from the under side, the wrought
fang plate or washer having been previously placed in its proper position upon
the neck of the bolt. The clip is now placed upon the bolt and allowed to
fall into its proper position upon the flange of the rail. A circular washer of
any ordinary description is then placed thereon, and upon this a square nut of
suitable strength is screwed down to its proper bearings by means of a plate-
layer's wrench, or by any other convenient means.
The advantages of my Invention are, first, that it holds the metals in their
proper position without the necessity of punching them, which, as is well
known, considerably weakens the flange of the rail; and, second, that from
its peculiar construction a plate layer may at any time easily tighten the grip,
and so always keep the metals in order.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said George Jackson
Vincent in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th February 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
JACKSON VINCENT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Jackson Vincent, Her special licence that I, the said George Jackson
Vincent, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said George Jackson Vincent, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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 "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF SECURING OR HOLDING FLAT-BOTTOMED OR BRIDGE RAILS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Jackson Vincent, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office on
or before the Thirteenth day of February, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-seven.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Jackson Vincent, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say) :-
According to my Invention I provide a wrought-iron bolt of the proper
A square
length and diameter, baving a cupped head and square neck.
fanged plate or washer (by preference about 3xins.) having its corners
turned up at right angles, or nearly so, for the purpose of obtaining a better
Lold or grip upon the bottom of the sleeper is then provided, as herein-after
explained. The said fanged plate or washer has a square hole punched
through its centre corresponding in size to the neck of the bolt for which it
is intended. A cast-iron clip is now provided, having a circular hole in its
centre suited to the diameter of the bolt with which it is intended to be used.
Upon the under side of the said clip and on its outer edge are four fangs.
On its inner edge is a recessed space, intended to fit upon the flange of the
rail to which it may be affixed.
My Invention is carried into effect as follows:-A hole being bored
through the sleeper, the bolt is passed through it from the under side, the
wrought fang plate or washer having been previously placed in its proper
position upon the neck of the bolt. The clip is now placed upon the bolt
and allowed to fall into its proper position upon the flange of the rail. A
circular washer of any ordinary description is then placed thereon, and upon
this a square nut of suitable strength is screwed down to its proper boarings
by means of a platelayer's wrench or other convenient means.
The advantages of my Invention are, first, that it holds the metals in their
proper position without the necessity of punching them, which as is well
known considerably weakens the flange of the rail; and, second, from the

page_text: peculiar construction of the fastening a platelayer may at any time easily
tighten the nut, and so always keep the metals in order; and, third, it is
almost impossible for the bolts to get loose without it being at once apparent.
That my Invention may be better understood I have annexed Drawings
thereof, which I now proceed to describe..
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are cross sections of sleepers shewing rails
fastened to them in the manner described by my Invention. Similar letters
of reference refer to like parts in the several Figs.
Fig. 1 shews the Invention applied to a contractor's or flat-bottomed rail.
The fanged washer 6 in this case is tapped, and forms the nut. It is held
firmly in its position by the fangs e, e, whilst the bolt is being screwed tight,
the fangs c, c, of the iron clip a serving to hold the said clip firmly, and
preventing it from turning; Fig. 2 is also a contractor's or flat-bottomed rail,
but the washer in this case has a square hole punched through it to fit the
neck of the cup-headed bolt h; Fig. 3 is similar to Fig. 2, except that the
corners of the clip are rounded off and the head of the bolt h is made square;
Fig. 4 shews a similar arrangement (except that the clip is the same as
shewn in Fig. 2) applied to a bridge rail; Fig. 5 shews the cast-iron clip held
down by a wood screw k instead of the bolt h; Fig. 6 shews the same
arrangement as Fig. 1, with the addition of a projection m formed upon the
inside of the fanged washer or nut b, for the purpose of strengthening it;
Fig. 7 shews a square washer or nut used in the same manner as in Fig. 6,
but without fangs, the said washer or nut having two raised edges, which take
into the sleeper, and in this case the projection m is placed upon the under
side of the said washer or nut.
Fig. 8 is a plan and end elevation of the cast-iron clip a, shewing the
circular hole for the bolt at h; is the recessed space which fits upon the
flange of the rail; c, c, c, c, are the four fangs.
Fig. 9 is a plan of the fanged washer used in combination with the clip and
bolt; g is the square hole of a suitable size to fit the neck of the said bolt.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be performed, I desire it to be understood that I
do not wish to make any claim either for the fang bolt (or wood screw) or
the washer herein-mentioned and shewn in the several Figs., except in com-
bination with the clip, as herein-after explained; but what I do desire to
claim as the Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is, the improved method of securing or holding flat-bottomed
or bridge rails by means of the combined fastening, consisting of a cast-iron

page_text: clip secured in its proper position by means of a wrought-iron fang bolt (or
wood screw) and washer, substantially as herein-before set forth and described
and illustrated in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Jackson Vincent, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
FRED. GRIZZELL,
Clerk to Mr. G. R. Holland,
Birmingham.
GEOB. J. VINCENT. (L.B.)