IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINTS FOR UNITING AND SECURING THE ENDS OF RAILWAY RAILS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Fisher Ibbotson and Alfred Buckingham
Ibbotson, of the Firm of Ibbotson, Brothers, and Company, of
Sheffield, in the County of York, Steel Manufacturers, for the
Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINTS FOR UNITING AND SECURING THE
ENDS OF RAILWAY RAILS,"
Scaled the 3rd December 1869, and dated the 6th September 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Fisher Ibbotson
and Alfred Buckingham Ibbotson at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 6th September
1869.
We, SAMUEL FISHER IBBOTSON and ALFRED BUCKINGHAM IBBOTSON,
of the Firm of Ibbotson, Brothers, and Company, of Sheffield, in the
County of York, Steel Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINTS FOR UNITING AND SECURING
THE ENDS OF RAILWAY RAILS," to be as follows:-
Our said Invention relates partly, to further improvements in the
railway fastenings described in the Specification of an Invention for
which Provisional Protection has been obtained by the said Alfred
Price 8d1

page_text: Buckingham Ibbotson, dated the Seventh day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
The object of these improvements, which are designed to provide the
means for securely and conveniently uniting and fastening together
the ends of railway rails, is effected by the employment of peculiarly
formed clips of steel, iron, or other suitable metal, which may be
employed either with or without certain plates, pieces, or parts herein-
after described.
The nature of the said Invention consists chiefly in the peculiar
construction of the clip or fastening. The said clip which may be of
steel, iron, or other suitable metal, and is made in one piece, is so shaped
as to pass under the bottom of the rails and extend upwards and embrace
their two sides rising high enough on each side to come in contact with
the under surface of the heads of the rails and afford support to the
same. The sides of the said clip are turned or bent over outward and
extended downward to increase the number of the vertical parts of the
joint, and thus augment the vertical and lateral strength of the same.
These doubled or turned down sides of the clip joint may be formed to
enclose fish plates or fishing pieces of steel, iron, or other metal, which
may be driven and fitted tightly into the spaces between the inner
and outer vertical sides of the clip. These fish plates may be driven
in either before or after the said clip is placed in its position. Instead of
using the fish plates driven in between the vertical portions of the clip
the turned down portions of the sides of the said clip may be carried
down far enough to rest upon those parts of the clip which cover the
bottom flanges or shoulders of the foot of the rails (or the sloping
shoulders of the lower head when doubled headed rails are used), the
bottom of the said turned over portion having a solid and firm support
or bearing upon the said lower part of the clip. When the downwardly
extending sides are not thus made to rest upon the lower part of the
clip and when fish plates are not used in connection with the said
improved clip as above described it may be desirable to secure the
same with bolts and nuts of any suitable form. The nuts may be driven
into the space between the two vertical parts of the clip on one side,
and corresponding plates or washers through which the bolts may pass
may be inserted into the space on the other side. When the fish plates
or pieces of steel, iron, or other metal are driven between. the vertical
portions of the clip as herein-before described the joints may be further

page_text: The
strengthened and secured by the use of one or more bolts and nuts, or of
screws tapped into or through one or both of the said fish plates.
joint, however, will be strong enough for all ordinary traffic without
these bolts and nuts or screws. The clip may be kept from moving
along the rails through vibration by introducing through the clip and
rail or rails one or more metal pins, bolts, or pieces of the same length
as the thickness of web of rail and clip combined. These pins, bolts,
or pieces may be inserted after one of the fish plates or fishing pieces
has been driven into its place, so that when the other fish plate is driven
in the pin, bolt, or piece will be enclosed between the two plates, and
all the parts of the joint will then be held immovably and the same
will require no further attention, particularly if the fish plates are made
somewhat shorter than the clip, so that the corners of the clip may
be clenched over each end of the plates after they are driven in.
A similar result may be obtained by forming upright oval holes in
the inner vertical portions of the clips and corresponding holes in the
rails, into which holes are inserted pins, bolts, keys, or gibs, having at
one or both ends a long head of such a form that when presented length-
wise to the said holes it can be passed through them and can then be
turned horizontally across the hole, the sides of the clip being compressed
with a suitable implement to allow such turning of the pin, bolt, or key,
which will then fit and hold and bind the clip tightly against the rails.
Over these heads we may place fish plates or fishing pieces grooved or
channelled on their inner sides to allow them to pass over the said heads.
When the latter are turned into a horizontal position the said fish
plates are driven in at the ends of the joint at each side thereof,, and the
same is thereby rendered permanently secure. The pins, bolts, or keys
may also be formed with a cotter or slot hole through one or both ends
and secured by cotter pins. We may also use any ordinary bolts and
nuts, the heads being such as may be conveniently passed over and
so secured by the grooved fish plates.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Fisher Ibbotson and Alfred Buckingham
Ibbotson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd March 1870.
5
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Fisher Ibbotson and Alfred Buckingham
Ibbotson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd March 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
FISHER IBBOTSON and ALFRED BUCKINGHAM IBBOTSON, of the Firm

page_text: of Ibbotson, Brothers, and Company, of Sheffield, in the County of
York, Steel Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Samuel Fisher Ibbotson and Alfred
Buckingham Ibbotson, Her special license that we, the said Samuel
Fisher Ibbotson and Alfred Buckingham Ibbotson, our executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Samuel Fisher
Ibbotson and Alfred Buckingham Ibbotson, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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 JOINTS
FOR UNITING AND SECURING THE ENDS OF RAILWAY RAILS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Samuel Fisher Ibbotson and Alfred
Buckingham Ibbotson, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 Samuel Fisher Ibbotson, on behalf
of myself and of the said Alfred Buckingham Ibbotson, do hereby
declare the nature of our 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 accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
Our said Invention relates partly to further improvements in the
railway fastenings described in the Specification of an Invention for
which Provisional Protection has been obtained by the said Alfred
Buckingham Ibbotson, dated the Seventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
The object of these improvements, which are designed to provide the
means for securely and conveniently uniting and fastening together

page_text: the ends of railway rails, is effected by the employment of peculiarly
formed clips of steel, iron, or other suitable metal which may be
employed either with or without certain plates, pieces, or parts herein-
after described.
The nature of the said Invention consists chiefly in the peculiar
construction of the clip or fastening, and in order that the same may
be clearly understood we have illustrated various modifications thereof
in the accompanying-Drawing, which-we-will-now-proceed to describe..
Figures 1 to 7 are transverse sections of our improved joint, each
having slightly different peculiarities of construction; Figure 8 is a
side elevation of the clip and rails shown in Figure 7; Figures 9 to 16
illustrate various details of the plates and fastenings employed in con-
nection with our improved clip.
Like letters indicate. the same parts
throughout the Drawing.
The clip B, which may be of steel, iron, or other suitable metal, and
is made in one piece, is so shaped as to pass under the bottom of the
rails A and extend upwards and embrace their two sides, rising high
enough on each side to come in contact with the under surface of the
heads of the rails and afford support to the same. The sides b of the
said clip are turned or bent over outward, and these turned over
portions b' are extended downward, as shewn in Figure 1, to increase
the number of the vertical parts of the joint and thus augment the
vertical and lateral strength of the same. These double or turned down
sides of the clip joint may be formed to enclose between them fish plates
or fishing pieces C of steel or iron or other metal, as in Figure 2, which
may be driven and fitted tightly into the spaces between the inner and
outer vertical sides b, b', of the clip. These fish plates C may be driven
in either before or after the said clip is placed in its position. Instead
of using the fish plates driven in between the vertical portions of the
clip the turned down portions b' of the sides of the said clip may be
carried down, as in Figures 3 and 4, far enough to rest upon the parts b³
of the clip which cover the bottom flanges or shoulders of the foot of the
rails (or the sloping shoulders of the lower head when double-headed
rails are used), and it is obvious that in this form of the joint the
bottom of the said turned over portion 6' will have a very solid and firm
support or bearing upon the said lower part 2 of the clip. When
the downwardly extending sides b¹ are not thus made to rest upon the
lower part of the clip, and when the fish plates are not used in

page_text: connection with the said improved clip as above described it may be
desirable to secure the same with bolts and nuts or other fastenings such
as we have shewn in the Drawing or of any other suitable form.
The
nuts D may be driven into the space between the two vertical parts b, b',
of the clip B on one side thereof, and corresponding plates or washers D'
through which the bolts e are passed may be inserted into the space
in the other side, see Figure 5. When the fish plates or pieces C of
steel, iron, or other metal are driven between the vertical portions b, b',
of the clip as herein-before described the joints may be further
strengthened and secured by the use of one or more bolts and nuts
or of screws tapped into or through one or both of the said fish plates.
The joint, however, when these fish plates are employed will be strong
enough for any ordinary traffic without these bolts and nuts or screws.
In order that the clip B may be kept from the endwise displacement
along the rails A which might be occasioned by the vibration, we
introduce through the clip and rail or rails one or more metal pins,
bolts, or pieces f whose length is equal to the thickness of the web
of the rail and that of the clip combined, see Figure 6. These pins,
bolts, or pieces f may be inserted after one of the fish plates or fishing
pieces has been driven into its place, so that when the other fish plate
is driven in the pin, bolt, or piece f, will be enclosed between the
two plates, and all the parts of the joint will then be held immovably
and the same will require no further attention particularly if the fish
plates C are made somewhat shorter than the clip so that the corners
or ends of the clip at b¹ may be clenched over each end of the plates C
after they are driven in.
A similar result may be obtained by forming upright oval holes
through the inner vertical portions of the clips and corresponding holes
through the rails, as shewn in Figure 8, into which holes are inserted
pins, bolts, keys, or gibs having at one or both ends a long head of
such a form, that when presented lengthwise to the hole it can be
passed through the same and can then be turned horizontally across
the hole. In Figures 11, 12, 13, we have shown various forms of keys
or gibs g, which in one form are shown in place in the joint in
Figure 8. The said keys are passed through the holes h, h¹, in the
position shown at h, and then turned over horizontally into the position
shown at h¹, the sides of the clip being compressed with a suitable
implement to allow such turning of the keys, the heads g¹ of which will

page_text: then fit and hold the clip B, tightly binding the same against the rails.
Over these heads we may place fish plates or fishing pieces C, such
as are illustrated in Figures 9 and 10, the same being a side view and
transverse section of the said plate. In this modification of our In-
vention the fish plates are grooved or channelled on their inner side,
as shown, to allow them to pass over the heads g¹ of the keys only when
the latter are turned into a horizontal position.
The said fish plates
-are-driven-in-at-the-ends-of-the-joint-at-each-side-thereof,-as-shewn-
in Figure 7 which is a transverse section on the line x, x, Figure 8
and the said joint is thereby rendered permanently secure.
The pins,
bolts, or keys may also be formed with a cotter or slot hole through
one or both ends, as shown in Figures 14 and 15, and secured by cotter
pins. We may also use any ordinary bolts and nuts whose heads are
such as will allow the grooved fish plates to pass conveniently over
them.
Having thus fully described our said Invention, and shown how
the same may be conveniently and advantageously carried into practice,
we claim,
First. A clip of steel, iron, or other suitable metal which is formed
to embrace the sides of the rail and support.the head thereof, and whose
said sides are turned over and bent downward, and either with or
without the bolts or other fastenings, substantially as, and for the
purposes set forth.
Second. The combination of the said clip with fish plates inserted
between its inner and outer vertical sides and with or without the bolts
pins, keys, or other fastenings herein described, substantially as and for
the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Fisher Ibbotson, on behalf
of myself and of the said Alfred Buckingham Ibbotson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Second day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
SAMUEL FISHER IBBOTSON. (L.S.)