IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DIVIDING RAILS OR RAIL ENDS INTO SECTIONS" PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Britten of Sheffield in the County of York for
an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DIVIDING
RAILS OR RAIL ENDS INTO SECTIONS"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Britten at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th June 1883.
•
HENRY BRITTEN of Sheffield in the County of York. IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DIVIDING RAILS OR RAIL ENDS INTO. SECTIONS.
This Invention relates to. improvements in Machinery or apparatus for dividing
rails, or rail ends into sections.
"
The ordinary process of dividing rails or rail ends into sections for the purpose
of rolling them. down. into bars. hoops. wire. &c. is to heat them and slit. them
whilst hot by a pair of slitting rolls in an ordinary, rolling mill, this process being.
expensive and disadvantageous for some purposes as the fracture of the metal
cannot be examined and the various "
tempers sorted and classed. By my
improved machine the rail can. be divided in two or more parts transversely, that
is to say in a. double headed rail the web can be separated from each head or in a
flat bottomed rail the web can be. separated from the head and foot. the fracture
being clean and straight.
This invention consists essentially of a pair or set of nicking cutters. between
which the rail or rail-end. is passed for the purpose of nicking it on both sides
where it is desired to break it, and a pressing roll or. press under or in which the
rail is broken where it has been previously. nicked.
According to one construction a pair of. nicking cutters is mounted on a pair of
shafts at such a distance apart as that when the. end of the rail is entered the
cutters will nick it at each side to the required depth, for instance one. sixteenth
of an inch deep. for a rail of ordinary section; the shafts are carried in pedestals
or housings and are geared together by a pair of spur wheels. The bottom shaft
has a large spur wheel which is, driven by a pinion on a first, motion. shaft. carried.

page_text: by the lower part of the framing of the machine or otherwise; this first motion
shaft. has a fast and loose pulley for. the driving belt. The top shaft. is prolonged
and has a bearing. in the outer frame or housing and carries an eccentric which
either. acts directly on the rail to break it or acts on the rail through a slide or its
equivalent as in an ordinary rail straightening machine
5
The rail can either be drawn. through the nicking cutters by the pressure of the
rotating cutters or. the rail can be drawn through the cutters by a chain or its.
equivalent attached to one of the. shafts and to the end of the rail or to a sliding
frame in which the rail is fixed, or the rail can be drawn through by any equivalent
arrangement of mechanism and in this modification the cutters can be rotated in a 1
direction contrary to that in which the rail travels and be grooved or. serrated.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry Britten in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th December
1883.
HENRY BRITTEN of Sheffield in the county of York
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DIVIDING RAILS OR RAIL ENDS INTO SECTIONS
"
This Invention relates to improvements in machinery or apparatus for dividing
rails or rail ends into sections for rolling into bars, wire-rods, hoops and other
forms.
The ordinary method of dividing or slitting rails or rail ends, is to beat them in
a furnace and whilst hot slit them in an ordinary rolling mill with a pair of slitting
rolls; the disadvantages of this system being firstly the cost of heating the rails
and secondly the absence of a fracture by which the "temper" of the steel can be
ascertained.
By my improvements, the rail ends or rails are nicked cold and broken into
sections at less cost and with a fracture by which the "temper" of the steel can
be ascertained.
My Invention consists essentially of a machine with a pair or set of circular
cutters for nicking the cold rail and a press for breaking the cold nicked rail
The accompanying drawings illustrate my Invention in which the cutters and
press are combined in one machine. Fig. 1 is a front view in elevation of the
machine showing a rail being nicked by the cutters and also one being broken by
the press. Fig 2 is a plan or top view of the machine. Fig 3 is an end view in
elevation looking from right to left of Fig. 1. Fig 4 is an end view in elevation
looking from left to right of Fig. 1. Figs 5 and 6 are cross sections in elevation of
separate beds which hold the rail to be broken. Fig. 7 is a cross section of a bed
which is a combination of those shown in Figs 5 and 6 and a rail in position for
breaking
The same letters of reference in the different views refer to the same detail part
of the machine.
A is the framing of the machine, E is the first motion shaft with fast and loose
driving pulleys B. B, and fly-wheel C.; D is the second motion pinion and G the
wheel on shaft F. geared therewith Fis the bottom cutter shaft having an eccentric
formed with or fitted thereto for raising and lowering the slide R; H is the top
cutter shaft having fixed thereon the wheel S which is driven by wheel T on
shaft F. U is a guide in which the slide R reciprocates. J and K are two pairs
of circular nicking cutters with distance blocks: M is the rail in position for
nicking and breaking; O and P are beds for holding the rail during the operation
of breaking and N is a double bed for the same purpose.
In using the improved machine, the cold rail M is passed through the nicking
cutters J, K, the rail being thereby nicked in four places to the depth of one
eighth part of an inch more or less as shown in Fig 7, the cold nicked rail is then
placed in the bed O and the slide R and punch attached thereto is brought down
on to it and the rail is broken at the junction of the flange and web. In breaking
the web from the head, the bed P (Fig 6) is placed under the slide R and the web
of the rail is inserted in the groove (as shown in dotted lines in Fig 7) and the
punch and slide R are brought down on to it, the head of the rail being broken off
from the web where nicked. By the use of the double bed N (Fig 7) the operation
of breaking is more quickly performed
The beds O, P and N can be made to suit various sections of rails other than the
one illustrated

page_text: As a modification, one pair only of circular cutters can be employed and the rail
be nicked and broken in the centre or otherwise
As a further modification one or more circular cutters fixed on one of the shafts
(for instance the shaft H) can be employed in combination with a friction wheel
fixed on the other shaft (for instance on the shaft F) the rail being thereby nicked
on one side only
The circular cutters can be changed by raising the shafts H and F from their
bearings and drawing them off endways or the machine cau be so constructed that
the cutters can be drawn off without raising the shafts from their bearings
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature and objects of my
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore
in part recited Letters Patent is :
Improvements in machinery or apparatus for dividing rails or rail ends in a cold
state into sections for rolling down into bars, hoops, wire rods and other purposes
by the construction of apparatus consisting firstly of one or more circular cutters
for nicking the rail or rail end and secondly a rotary or reciprocating press for
breaking off the parts of the rail where nicked substantially as herein before
specified and described and substantially as illustrated by the accompanying
drawings
In Witness whereof I the said Henry Britten have hereunto set my hand and
seal this eighteenth day of December in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and eighty three