IMPROVEMENTS IN LAYING OR PLACING OF RAILS OR CHAIRS, FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER PURPOSES, IN THE SHAPE OF BEDS OR SPRINGS OR ELASTIC SLEEPERS."
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthias Edward Bowra, of 63, Basinghall Street,
in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LAYING OR PLACING OF RAILS OR CHAIRS, FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER PURPOSES,
IN THE SHAPE OF BEDS OR SPRINGS OR ELASTIC SLEEPERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthias Edward Bowra at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st September 1856.
I, MATTHIAS EDWARD BOWRA, of 63, Basinghall Street, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE LAYING OR PLACING OF RAILS OR CHAIRS, FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER PURPOSES,
IN THE SHAPE OF BEDS OR SPRINGS OR ELASTIC SLEEPERS," to be as follows:-
I intend using india-rubber or other elastic material as springs or elastic
beds for railway and other purposes.
1st. My improvement consists in placing a cushion or spring of india-rubber,
metal, or other elastic material under the rails, chairs, or sleepers of rails, or I
form the whole of the sleeper of elastic material, for the purpose of lightening
the draft, rendering the plant and stock more durable, and avoiding the oscil-
lation and noise of the carriage.
I do not claim any of the material herein mentioned, nor do I claim springs
as being new.
But I claim for the improvements of springs as beds or sleepers to railways
and other purposes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Matthias Edward Bowra in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHIAS
EDWARD BOWRA, of 63, Basinghall Street, in the City of London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Matthias Edward Bowra, Her special licence that I, the said Matthias
Edward Bowra, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Matthias Edward Bowra, 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 THE LAYING OR PLACING OF RAILS OR CHAIRS,
FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER PURPOSES, IN THE SHAPE OF BEDS OR SPRINGS OR ELASTIC
SLEEPERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Matthias
Edward Bowra, 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 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 Matthias Edward Bowra, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:--
My Invention consists, first, in forming an elastic bearing in, or under the
sleepers employed in railways, and in enclosing such bearing within a frame or
box, whereby the same is wholly or partially protected from the atmosphere and
external influences, and is prevented from spreading out or "spewing."
Second, in constructing sleepers of hardened rubber, vulcanite, or other
suitable elastic material.
I am aware that attempts have been heretofore made to afford an elastic

page_text: bed to the rail by interposing rubber between the rail and chair, but, from the
rubber being improperly protected and applied, the plan has failed.
The elastic material I prefer is vulcanized rubber, (though I do not confine
myself thereto; and in order to enable the rubber to yield equally, or nearly so,
over all its surface, and thus prevent any fracture in the rails, I pierce, per-
forate, or otherwise form holes or apertures therein.
For transverse sleepers, I take a block of stone, metal, wood, or any other
suitable material, fashion it with an extended base, and form a case, frame, or
box at top, either by hollowing out the material itself or by flanges applied
thereon, and this case is of such a size as to receive the base of a chair and fit
pretty accurately all round the edges thereof; but prior to placing the chair
thereon I insert a layer of vulcanized rubber, which, for economy sake, I
generally mix with vegetable, mineral, or some other material or materials
which will mix with it and still permit of its preserving elastic properties;
or, instead of rubber, metal or other springs may be similarly applied. Blocks
with cases formed and fitted as above described may be employed as sleepers,
one being placed under every chair, or at intervals, as desired, and united by
tie rods. Or, I affix to the bottom of transverse sleepers, under the parts where
the chairs are to be fixed, blocks or pieces of wood or other material, and
cause these blocks to bear upon an elastic material held in a box or frame
placed under the sleepers to receive these blocks, or I cause the sleeper to
bear directly upon a layer of elastic material. When I place my elastic
bearing upon a sleeper, I confine it in a case hollowed out of the material, or
formed with side and end pieces of a size to receive the edges of a chair, which
is placed upon and bolted to the sleeper over and upon the elastic bearing.
For shaped and bridge rails with longitudinal sleepers, I place the
elastic material in two troughs, where it is prevented from spreading laterally,
and lay the two flanges of the rails upon the elastic material, and bolt the
whole together. Or I provide an elastic bearing under the longitudinal
sleeper, by causing the bottom of the sleeper to rest upon a layer of rubber or
elastic material, borne upon a wooden or metal base, with sides to prevent
the material spreading, and between which sides the longitudinal sleeper fits.
When I form my sleepers entirely of hardened rubber or other suitably
hard and elastic material, I form the upper surface, when chairs are to be
fixed thereon, and where the chairs are to be fixed slightly curved, and then
form the base of the sleeper as a saddle, the sides of which lap over the
sleeper to a certain extent.
In all cases I fit vulcanized rubber washers under or against the heads
of the bolts or nuts employed with elastic sleepers, or sleepers rendered

page_text: elastic in the manner herein-before described, to fix the chairs or rails, in
order to prevent the play afforded by the bearing from breaking off the heads
of the bolts.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood, I procced
to shew, with the aid of the Drawings annexed, the manner in which it may
be carried into effect.
Figure 1 shews at A, in elevation, and B, in section, a sleeper in stone, metal,
or wood, chair and rail, with the elastic material let into a case formed on the
top thereof; Figure 2 is a plan, with rail and chair removed; and Figure 3
is a side elevation, shewing the sleeper and elastic material in section. a is a
sleeper, with a case formed therein for the reception of a layer of vulcanized
rubber b, which fits against the sides and ends of the case. Upon this rubber,
and entering the top of the case, the chair e is placed, and secured in the usual
manner by bolts, which pass through the rubber. d, d, are vulcanized rubber
washers placed under the nuts e, e, on the bolts, to prevent the heads of the
bolts or the nuts from being forced off by the play afforded by the layer of
rubber; f, f, are perforations made in the rubber, to allow of its giving, upon
pressure being applied through the chair; g is a tie rod.
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of a pair of sleepers, chairs, and rails; and
Figure 5, a plan, with chairs and rails removed. The arrangements are similar
to those shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, but the sleepers are of a different form,
and represent blocks of stone or concrete.
Figure 6 shews one of the plans I adopt when placing the rubber under a
sleeper. a is a side view of an ordinary transverse sleeper; b is a layer of
rubber, which is contained in a box or case c. The edges of this box at the
two ends are made lower than those in the contrary direction or sides, to allow
of the rubber rising above them and of the sleeper resting upon the rubber.
A section of this box is shewn at Figure 6.
Figure 7 is a side elevation, in section, of a transverse sleeper a, in which
the layer of elastic material 6 is let into a case, cut for its reception in the
upper part of the sleeper.
Figure & shews in sectional elevation, and Figure 9 in plan, a manner in
which I fit the elastic material to sleepers for bridge-shaped rails. a is the
sleeper; b, b, two grooves or channels formed therein, for the reception of the
layer c of elastic material, shewn clearly in plan, Figure 9; the lower ends
of the flanges of the rail just enter the upper part of the grooves. d, d, are
perforations or apertures made in the elastic material; e, e, are washers
under the nuts of the bolts, used for bolting the rails, rubbers, and sleepers
together.

page_text: Figure 10 shews, in end view, two sleepers a, a, with their chairs b, b, and side
view of a rail c. These sleepers are supposed to be formed entirely of hardened
rubber, and the chairs are formed with a saddle to embrace the sides of the
sleepers.
Figure 11 is a sectional elevation, and Figure 12 a side view, of longitudinal
sleepers a, a, formed of vulcanite or hardened rubber, and bearing bridge
rails b, b; c is a tie rod.
When metal springs are employed in lieu of the layers of elastic material
before described, I recommend that they should be coated with some pre-
serving material or composition, in order as far as possible to prevent the
oxidation thereof.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be carried into effect, I declare that I claim,―
First, the constructing of elastic sleepers, or sleepers rendered elastic, by
placing in, upon, or under the same an elastic material, composed of vul-
canized rubber, by itself or mixed with other materials as aforesaid, confined
in a trough, case, or box, in order to prevent the squeezing out or spreading
thereof.
Second, the rendering of sleepers elastic, by placing in, upon, or under them,
in the manner herein-before described, some elastic material, whether in the
form of metallic or other springs, or of any elastic non-metallic material or
composition.
Third, the fitting of vulcanized rubber washers under or against the heads
or nuts upon bolts employed to fasten chairs when the same are borne by
sleepers rendered elastic.
And, fourth, the constructing of sleepers entirely of elastic materials of the
kind and in the manner herein-before described, and represented in the
Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthias Edward Bowra, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-seven.