IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Schuyler Bruff, of Ipswich, in the County
of Suffolk, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR THE
PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 22nd June 1866, and dated the 2nd January 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Schuyler Bruff at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd January 1866.
I, PETER SCHUYLER BRUFF, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS
FOR THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
The object of one of my improvements is to provide a more efficient, safe,
and durable method of securing rails of the section known as contractors'
rails, bridge rails, and other similar rails having a flat bottom flange directly
to the wooden sleepers or bearers on which they rest. For this purpose I
employ a clip, by preference made of cast iron or wrought iron, having a lip
which presses upon the flange of the rail, a shoulder which abuts against its
edge, with or without projections on the under side, which bed themselves into
the sleepers, and a hole or holes through which a screw or fanged bolt or bolts
passes or pass to hold it down, and thereby secure the rail firmly in its place.

page_text: on the sleeper. The screw or fanged bolt or bolts may either be similar
to coach screws or ordinary fanged or ragged bolts, passing through the
hole or holes in the clip, and screwed or driven into the sleeper or a screw bolt
or bolts passing through both the clip and the sleeper, with either a solid head
and square shoulder and with a fang washer underneath and a nut above,
or with a solid head above and screwed into a fang washer nut beneath the
sleeper.
By this Invention I am enabled to obtain a simple yet firm fastening for
the rail by means of screws or screw bolts without having to drill or slot the
rails.
Another part of my Invention consists in forming jagged bolts for holding
rails or chairs, with "jags" or serrations formed in a helical direction upon
their surfaces instead of such jags being formed irregularly thereon as hereto-
fore, whereby the removal of the bolt from the sleeper can be effected without
destroying the fibre of the wood. The bolt is for this purpose provided with
a square or polygonal head in order to effect its removal by means of a spanner
similar to a screw bolt.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Schuyler Bruff in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th June 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
SCHUYLER BRUFF, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of January, 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 beirs and successors, give and graut unto
me, the said Peter Schuyler Bruff, Her special licence that I, the said Peter
Schuyler Bruff, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Peter Schuyler Bruff, 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 FASTENINGS FOR THE PERMANENT WAY OF
RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter
Schuyler Bruff, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing

page_text: 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 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 Peter Schuyler Bruff, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawing, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:-
The object of one of my improvements is to provide a more efficient, safe,
and durable method of securing rails of the section known as contractors'
rails, bridge rails, and other similar rails having a flat bottom flange directly
to the wooden sleepers or longitudinal bearers on which they rest. For this
purpose I employ a clip, by preference made of cast iron or wrought iron,
having a lip which presses upon the flange of the rail, a shoulder which abuts
against its edge, with or without projections on the under side, which bed
themselves into the sleepers, and a hole or holes through which a screw or
flanged bolt or bolts passes or pass to hold it down, and thereby secure the
rail firmly in its place on the sleeper. The screw or fanged bolt or bolts
may either be similar to coach screws or ordinary fanged or jagged bolts,
passing through the hole or holes in the clip, and screwed or driven into the
sleeper; or a screw bolt or bolts passing through both the clip and the sleeper,
with either a solid head and square shoulder and with a fang washer under-
neath and a nut above, or with a solid head above and screwed into a fang
washer nut beneath the sleeper. By this Invention I am enabled to obtain a
simple yet firm fastening for the rail by means of screws or screw bolts without
having to drill or slot the rails on their under side.
Another part of my Invention consists in forming jagged bolts for holding
rails or chairs, with "jags" or serrations formed in a helical or spiral direction.
upon their surfaces, instead of such jags being formed irregularly thereon as.
heretofore, whereby the removal of the bolt from the sleeper can be effected
without destroying the fibre of the wood. The bolt is for this purpose pro-
vided with a square or polygonal head in order to effect its removal by means.
of a spanner similar to a screw bolt.
Figures 1 to 11 upon the accompanying Drawing show various arrangements
for carrying the first part of my Invention into practice. Figure 1 shows an
arrangement in which the contractors' rail A is held by the clip B fixed to the

page_text: sleeper C by means of a screw bolt D passing through the sleeper from below
and through a hole in the clip, above which it is provided with a screw nut d.
The bolt is formed, square under head and passes through a fang washer E
with a square hole, which prevents the bolt from turning. The clip B is
formed with a lip a, which presses on the flange of the rail, and a shoulder b,
which abuts against its edge, and it is furthermore provided with projecting
spikes c, c, on its under surface, which as the clip is pressed down by the screw
bolt are forced into the sleeper and thus serve to hold the clip firmly in its
place. Such spikes or brobs may also be formed as shown in the elevation
and plan of under side of clip at Figures 9 and 10.
Figure 2 shows the same form of clip B held by a screw bolt D, which
passes through the sleeper from above, and is screwed into a washer nut d
below the sleeper, provided with fangs which bed into the sleeper and prevent
the nut from turning round.
Figure 3 shows an elevation, and Figure 4 shows a plan of an arrangement
in which the head of the bolt D fits into a square or hexagonal recess formed
in the upper surface of the clip B, the bolt being provided with an ordinary
nut and washer E below the sleeper. Although on the plan at Figure 4 I
have shown the clip fixed by means of one bolt only, yet where the clip is of
greater length than there shown it may be provided with two or more bolt
boles and bolts. In place of the head of the bolt being made to fit into a
recess in the clip as described the hole in the clip may be formed square, and
the bolt made square under head, as shown at Figure 5.
Figure 6 shows an arrangement in which the clip B is held down by means
of a coach screw D instead of a screw.bolt. In some cases in order to obtain
an increased hold on the sleeper or bearer the screw may be made to pass
through the same, and be provided with a lock nut, as shown in dotted lines.
Instead of or in addition to forming projections upon the under surface of
the clip in the manner shown in the preceding arrangements one or more
projection or projections, according to the number of bolt holes, may be
formed thereon, as shown at Figures 7 and 11, in the shape of a projecting
boss or rim c¹ surrounding the hole or holes in the clip, which is or are driven
and fit tight into the bolt hole or holes in the sleeper; or in some cases such
rim may be formed separate from the clip, and driven into the hole in the
sleeper, the clip having in that case either no projections at all, or projections
similar to those before described, and when the rim or thimble is separate from
the clip an increased security may be obtained, as shown at Figure 8, by
connecting the two thimbles F on each side of the rail by means of a metal
strap F

page_text: Figure 12 shows a jagged bolt D provided with jags d, d, arranged helically
or spirally round the bolt, according to the second part of my Invention, which
jagged bolt may be employed in connection with the before-described clip, or
with any other system of fastening for rails, with or without chairs, in which
jagged bolts may be employed.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I am aware that loose
jaws for holding flanged rails have before been employed in combination with
a chair upon which the rail rests, but what I claim is,―
First, the employment of a metal clip for securing flanged rails directly on
to the sleepers or longitudinal bearers without the use of chairs, constructed
and arranged substantially as herein-before described with reference to the
accompanying Drawing.
Second, forming jagged bolts for holding rails and chairs with the
jags" arranged helically or spirally around the bolt, substantially as and
for the purposes herein-before described with reference to the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Schuyler Bruff, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
PETER SCHUYLER BRUFF. (L.S.)