A NEW APPARATUS FOR TESTING THE QUALITY AND CONDITION OF MATERIALS USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF AND IN CONNECTION WITH RAILWAYS
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Frank Wirth at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 29th October 1877. A communication
by Alexius Von Szent Györgyi, Chief Engineer of the Royal Hungarian Stato
Railways, of Budapest, in the Kingdom of Hungary.
*
FRANK WIRTH, of the Firm of Wirth and Company, Patent Solicitors, at
Frankfort-on-the-Main, in the Empire of Germany. "A NEW APPARATUS FOR
TESTING THE QUALITY AND CONDITION OF MATERIALS USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF AND IN CONNECTION WITH RAILWAYS." [A communication by Alexius Von
Szent Györgyi, Chief Engineer of the Royal Hungarian State Railways, of
Budapest, in the Kingdom of Hungary.]
This Invention relates to an apparatus for testing the quality and condition of
materials used in the construction of and in connection with railways.
The testing of materials used in the working of a railway, such as rails, wheels,
axles, journals, brasses, springs, lubricators, and the like, is generally performed,
either mechanically or chemically, under certain conditions; these methods of
testing give certain results, upon which the wearing capabilities of the said articles
may be calculated; these results however generally differ to a great extent from
the real wearing qualities of the materials when tested by actual working. The
testing of materials however by actual work is not easily done, and much time and
trouble has to be expended if the results are to be at all satisfactory.
The said Invention is designed to provide means for testing railway running
materials in any required place where some suitable power is at hand, the said
materials being thereby subjected to the same mechanical wear as they would be
when in use. The apparatus constructed according to this Invention I call a
rotatory railway rail.
By using the said apparatus, all railway materials may be tested, undergoing
exactly the same mechanical wear as they would when in actual use, and the effect
can even be increased, as required. This may be effected in a short time, and the
effect of the testing observed constantly. This rotatory rail consists of two discs

page_text: On
fixed on a common axle provided with three or more speed pulleys and a driving
band wheel in connection with a line of running shafting, causing a continual
rotation. The speed may be easily regulated by the said speed pulleys.
the outer periphery of the two said discs, rails are fastened by wedged screw
bolts and anchor screws in such a manner as to correspond with their relative
position on a railway. The rails being thus driven on a horizontal axle and having
resting on their upper edge a pair of wheels, which are prevented from moving away,
drive the latter round with them as they rotate; thus the same effects are pro-
duced by a rotatory rail and wheel held upon its surface as a wheel rotating over
a fixed line of rails.
Inequalities which are always met with on a line of rails and which have the
effect of causing the rolling stock to wear out quicker than if they were not there,
may be produced by artificial means in carrying into practice my said Invention.
First. The shocks caused when a wheel runs from one rail to another, widening
of the gauge, bulging and bending of rails, faults and defects in the axle boxes and
brasses, and the like, may all be reproduced in my apparatus.
Secondly. The pairs of wheels placed on the said testing apparatus may be
unequally weighted, as is often the case in actual work.
Thirdly. The apparatus being in the open air is exposed to the same changes of
temperature as the rails and stock when in use:
Fourthly. Brakes may be applied to the wheels, either constantly or at intervals.
Fifthly. Sand or dust may be constantly placed behind the wheel journals.
Sixthly. The said testing apparatus may be run at any speed to correspond with
the result required, and either continuously or intermittently.
By means of my said apparatus, the materials are tested in such a manner as
to make the results really reliable, and thus they show the real qualities of the
materials used.
In cases where a result is wished for in a short time, the said apparatus may be
run at a higher speed; for. example, 10 hours run of the tester at the different
speeds named in the division I. of the following Table will represent 1000 kilo-
metres respectively, and 10,000 kilometres may be run in the corresponding times
mamed in the divisions II. and III. of the same Table, whereas in actual work these
distances will be run in the times named in division IV., according to the speeds
shown in division I.
A railway truck or carriage or other vehicle may be drawn directly over the
tester in such a manner that one pair of wheels rest on the apparatus, the truck
or carriage being kept in this position by a buffer bar provided with two buffers
and a draw hook, to which the truck is hooked by its screw coupling.
This arrangement of apparatus consists of,-
(1.) The rotatory tester placed at such a depth in the earth that its top edges
are on a level with a line of rails.
.

page_text: (2.) The pulleys for the driving belts, arranged in such a manner that they present
no impediment to any truck, carriage, or other vehicle being drawn over the tester.
(3.) In the centre of the rails a frame fixed on four posts; in this a buffer beam
with buffers and hooks is attached in such a manner as to suit the different lengths
of railway vehicles.
It will be readily seen that a truck or carriage or other railway vehicle may be
easily placed on the tester for trial, and weighted with any desired load.
As it sometimes happens that trials of materials have to be made at a place
where railway rolling stock is not at hand, I have adapted my said Invention to
meet this necessity as follows, that is to say:-I provide a bed plate which is con-
siderably higher, and has two pairs of connected standards cast on it.
At the top
of each pair of standards is placed a lifting screw in connection with a cross piece
and hanging frame, all arranged in such a manner that any pair of wheels with
their springs, grease boxes, and the like, can be introduced.
On the longest side of the frame four guide rolls are attached in such a manner
that they, running on the standards, prevent the frame from moving in a horizontal
direction; two connecting bars with hinges keep the wheels on the highest part of
the tester.
It will thus readily be seen that the wheels, springs, grease boxes, or the like, can
be casily tested with my apparatus independently of the complete vehicle and in
any place, power to drive the same only being required.
For specially proving wheels, tyres, and rails for railways by my said apparatus,
it is necessary to have them constantly braked when their wearing qualities have
to be ascertained; this constant breaking however requires more power, and it is
therefore necessary to use a chain or wheels for driving instead of a belt; the brake
has also to be arranged in such a way that the tyre and break faces, notwith-
standing their wearing down, may be constantly forced upon the wheel with any
desired pressure.
To test rails and tyres in the same manner as they would be effected by a
locomotive running over them, a large pair of wheels should be fixed without
springs to the tester and weighted very heavily.
For testing rails it is necessary, besides the application of the brake wheels on
the same, to reproduce the jolts, jerks, and side thrusts which are effected by the
locomotive in running over a line of rails. This must be done by inserting a curve
on each rail, one of which being put 90° from the other.
The effect produced on a pair of wheels by passing over a curve can be reproduced
on the tester by laying one rail higher than the other, that is to say, by giving to
the one rail a somewhat larger diameter than the other.
By using this tester it will be seen that the wearing of the rails, tyres, and the
like may be observed from beginning to end, and a most unfailing opinion as to the
qualities of the materials used will be arrived at.
A rail may be tested by my said apparatus to the extent of proving the capability
of withstanding 7,500,000 tons in traffic, comprising 30 trains with 100 axles for
300 days, if the tester is driven at the rate of fifty revolutions per minute, weighted
with eleven tons at ten hours per day for twenty-three days, that is to say, the
same results may be arrived at with my tester in twenty-three days as would take
three hundred days on the main line of rails.
In testing only rails and tyres with my said apparatus, the arrangement may be
somewhat altered, that is to say, in place of a real carriage or truck being employed
to hold the pair of wheels, a horizontal hinged frame is used, fixed at its hinged
end at such a distance from the tester that a vertical alteration in the position of
the wheels (caused by vibration) makes the least possible variation with the
horizontal position.
To fix the number of revolutions made by the tester as a basis for calculations,
an engine counter is attached to its axle in such a position as may be found best,
according to the situation of the apparatus.
Should the proof of the existence of slipping between the tester and wheels be

page_text: wished for, as, for instance, when the measurement of one rail has been larger in
order to produce the effect of going round a curve, all that is necessary is to attach
a second engine counter to the axle of the pair of wheels. The results thus obtained
are really correct, therefore the value of the materials tested may be exactly ascer-
tained before putting them into actual use.
The advantages to be gained by the use of my said apparatus are as follows,
that is to say :-
(1.) Among the many different forms of construction and materials that have to be
chosen, proof is furnished as to which are most appropriate.
(2.) Materials and difference in forms of construction may be closely observed
under the most severe testing possible, and the regulations for contracts may be
made accordingly.
3. It may be ascertained at any time if the delivery of materials has been
according to contract.
4. Lubricators of different forms of construction for trucks, carriages, and the
like may be tested. It can also be ascertained which are the most appropriate ones,
as well as what quantity of grease should be used at the different seasons of the
year.
5. The causes of axles running hot may be ascertained and consequently the best
means for preventing the same for the future may be adopted.