Year: 1898

page_text: I, WILLIAM CLARKE, of 15, Townend Street, Sheffield, in the County of York,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows;-
It is found that the wooden trenail ordinarily used for securing railway chairs
to the sleepers is apt to shear off at the point where it comes in contact with the
bottom of the chair in consequence of the great weight of the locomotives now
in use.
To obviate this I have devised a hollow steel trenail formed with upwardly
extending notches, projections or serrations on its exterior. The trenail is also
split or divided longitudinally on one side thereof so as to enable it to open out
or expand on a suitable spike being driven therein or it may be
divided longitudinally into two parts. In order to keep the chair
fast down to the sleeper the upper end of the trenail is made of
conical form or trumpet shaped externally and
it may
be also thus
formed internally and such part may be of like thickness to that of the lower
part or it may be of increasing thickness and when the tremail is in a single
piece, the upper part may be slit across to obviate any direct wedge action and
thereby prevent the breaking of the chair when a spike is driven into the trenail.
The trenail may however be made cylindrical and with a flanged head.
The above described steel tremail may be used with an ordinary spike or with
a spike so shaped at its lower end that after having been driven into the trenail
it will be firmly retained in position by the bottom end of the trenail which for
such purpose in some cases is specially formed.
The spike may have a portion near its end reduced leaving a short portion
forming the end of the same size as the body of the spike, or it may have a plain
tapering end projecting somewhat beyond the body thereof or it may be otherwise
shaped.
Thus in using my improved trenail to secure a railway chair to a sleeper, the
trenail is passed through the hole in the chair and into that in the sleeper with
the lower end of the conical or trumpet shaped part on a level with the top of
the sleeper.
The spike is then driven into the interior of the trenail when the latter will
be expanded and the notches, projections or serrations thereon will be embedded
in the wooden sleeper thus firmly securing the trenail in the sleeper.
to.
The improved trenail may be used for other purposes than that above referred

page_text: I, WILLIAM CLARKE, of 15, Townend Street, Sheffield, in the County of York,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:.
It is found that the wooden trenail ordinarily used for sccuring railway chairs
to the sleepers is apt to shear off at the point where it comes in contact with the
bottom of the chair in consequence of the great weight of the locomotives now
in use.
To obviate this I have devised a hollow steel trenail formed with upwardly or out-
wardly extending notches, projections or serrations on its exterior. The tremail is also
split or divided longitudinally on one side thereof so as to enable it to be driven
into a hole smaller than itself and by its own expansion to obtain a firm hold
or to enable it when inserted in a larger hole to open out or expand on a suitable
spike being driven therein or it may be divided longitudinally into two parts.
In order to keep the chair fast down to the sleeper the upper end of the trenail is
made of conical form or trumpet shaped externally and it may be also thus
formed internally and such part may be of like thickness to that of the lower
part or it may be of increasing thickness and when the tronail is in a single
piece, the upper part may be slit across to obviate any direct wedge action and
thereby prevent the breaking of the chair when a spike is driven into the trenail.
The trenail may however be made cylindrical and with a flanged head.
The above described steel trenail may be used alone or it may be used with an
ordinary spike or with a spike, so shaped at its lower end that after having been
driven into the trenail it will be firmly retained in position by the bottom end of
the trenail which for such purpose in some cases is specially formed.
The spike may have a portion near its end reduced leaving a short portion
forming the end of the same size as the body of the spike, or it may have a plain
tapering end projecting somewhat beyond the body thereof or it may be otherwise
shaped.
Thus in using my improved trenail in combination with a spike to secure a
railway chair to a sleeper, the trenail is passed through the hole in the chair and
into that in the sleeper with the lower end of the conical or trumpet shaped part
on a level with the top of the sleeper. The spike is then driven into the interior
of the trenail when the latter will be expanded and the notches, projections or
serrations thereon will be embedded in the wooden sleeper thus firmly securing
the trenail in the sleeper.
to.
The improved trenail may be used for other purposes than that above referred
And in order that my said invention may be more clearly understood and
readily carried into effect I will proceed aided by the accompanying drawings
more fully to describe the same.
Fig. 1, is an elevation, Fig. 2, a cross section on the line 2, 2 of Fig 1, and
Fig. 3, a bottom end view of a steel trenail constructed according to my invention
and formed of a single piece of metal, Fig. 4, is an elevation of the same showing
the above trenail expanded by a spike driven therein and Fig. 5, is a plan and
Fig. 6, a bottom end view of Fig. 4.
Fig. 7. is an elevation and Fig. 8 is a vertical section of a trenail formed of a
single piece of metal and slightly modified in form from that shown at Figures 1
to 6, Fig. 9, is a plan or top view of Fig. 7, Fig. 10, is a cross section on the
line 10, 10 of Fig. 7, and Fig. 11, is a plan or top view of Fig. 8.
Figures 12 and 13 are elevations drawn at right angles to each other showing

page_text: the trenail shown at Figures 7 to 10 expanded by a spike driven therein, Fig. 14
is a cross section on the line 14-14 of Fig. 12, and Fig. 15 is an elevation of a
spike separately.
Fig. 16 is an elevation of a trenail formed in two pieces and having a spike
between the two parts thereof. Fig. 17, is a side view of Fig. 16, with one half
of the trenail removed and Fig. 18, is a cross section on the line 18-18 of Fig. 16.
Fig. 19 is an elevation of a slightly modified form of trenail made in two
picces. Fig. 20, is an inner side view of one half thereof. Fig. 21 is a top
or plan view of Fig. 19, Fig. 22, is a cross section on the line 22-22 of Fig. 19.
Fig. 23, is a plan or top view of Fig 20. Fig. 24, is an elevation of a slightly
modified form of spike used with this trenail. Fig. 25 is an elevation of the
trenail with its spike separating the two halves. Fig. 26 is a side view of Fig. 25,
with one half of the trenail removed.
Fig. 27, is a cross section on the line 27-27 of Fig. 25.
Fig. 28 is a side elevation, Fig. 29, an end elevation and Fig. 30, a plan of a
railway chair showing the application of one form of my improved trenail.
Im all the figures like parts are indicated by similar letters of reference.
In the example shown at Figures 1 to 6 the body a of the trenail is formed
of a single piece of metal rolled to the desired section so as to produce the pro-
jections a around the exterior thereof when the metal is bent to the form of a
trenail as shown at Fig. 1, a2 is the longitudinal opening between the edges of
the metal which of course extends from end to end of the trenail and a³ are
longitudinal slits in the lower portion of the tremail. bis the spike which is
driven into the interior of the trenail to expand the lower portion of the latter
within the hole formed therefor in the sleeper.
The rolled plate to form the above trenail is bent into the taper form shown
at Fig. 1, and the opening a² and slits a³ divide the lower end into four segments.
The taper form enables the trenail to be passed through the hole in the chair
into the hole in the sleeper and when the spike b is driven in, the sides of the
lower part of the trenail are expanded until they become parallel as shown at
Fig. 4 whereby the tremail is securely fastened to the sleeper, the projections a¹
being forced latterly into the wood.
The upper part of this trenail is made of conical form internally as well as
externally thereby enabling it to keep the chair fast down to the sleeper and at
the same time avoiding any direct wedge action, thus preventing the breaking
of the chair when a spike is driven into the trenail.
The trenail described with reference to Figs. 7 to 15 is of very similar con-
struction to that shown at Figures 1 to 6 it being formed of a single piece of
metal bent to the required shape, the notches, projections, or serrations a¹ are
however cut in opposite sides of the trenail and not formed by rolling, the slits a³
in the lower part are dispensed with and the upper part is slit at a on the oppo-
site side to that of the opening a2 thus making the upper part of the trenail more
elastic than in the form shown at Figs. 1 to 6, which latter may however also be
provided with a slit a in the upper part thereof.
The trenails described with respect to Figs. 1 to 14 may however be used with-
out a spike, in this case the trenail is driven into a hole somewhat smaller than
itself, then by its natural elasticity the notches, projections or serrations on its
exterior will obtain a firm hold on the material around the hole and securely
retain the trenail in position.
The body of the trenail shown at Figs. 16 to 18, is formed of two similar
pieces a*a*forming together rather less than a complete cylinder, the upper part
of each piece is formed conical both internally and externally and its lower part
cylindrical, whilst, the notches, projections or serrations a¹ are formed by punch-
ing the metal up from the inside thereof. The two pieces are placed within the
hole in the chair and sleeper and the spike driven therein, thus securing the
chair to the sleeper and the trenail in the hole in the sleeper as herein before
described.

page_text: The trenail and spike represented at Figs. 19 to 27, are slightly modified in
construction as compared with those shown at Figs. 16 to 18 in the following
particulars. The upper part of the trenail is made cylindrical internally instead
of conical thus making it of increasing thickness towards the top and the lower
end is internally contracted at a to act in connection with the bottom end b' of
the spike b the latter being reduced above such end 61 to permit of such action
of the parts a³.
The upper part of the tremail may however be made cylindrical externally and
with a flanged head.
I have represented at Figs. 28 to 30 one method of applying my invention
In this case c is a railway chair and d is a sleeper to which it is attached, by an
ordinary spike 6* passed through a holq at each end of the chair and by one of
my improved trenails being passed through the other holes of the chair and ex-
panded within the sleeper by a spike b As before stated however when the
trenail is made of a single strip of metal bent or rolled into form it may be used
without a spike.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. A hollow metal trenail formed with notches, projections or serrations on
its exterior to enable it to obtain a firm hold on being driven into a hole, sub-
stantially as herein shown and described.
2. A hollow metal trenail formed with notches, projections or serrations on
its exterior and split or divided to render the same elastic substantially as herein
shown and described.
3. A hollow metal trenail formed with notches, projections or serrations on
its exterior and split or divided in such manner as to be capable of expansion on
a spike being driven therein substantially as herein shown and described.
4. A holow metal trenail formed in two parts, each part being formed on its
exterior with notches, projections or serrations, which on a spike being driven
in between the two parts, are capable of being forced into the material around
the hole in which the trenail is inserted substantially as herein shown and des-
cribed.
5. A hollow metal trenail formed of a single piece of metal and split or divided
in such manner as to enable its parts to be expanded or separated by a spike driven
into such trenail substantially as herein shown and described.
6. A hollow metal tremail having an externally conical upper part and having
its body so formed that it is capable of expansion substantially as herein shown
and described, and for the purpose stated.
7. A hollow metal trenail having an internally and externally coned upper
part and having its body so formed that it is capable of expansion, substantially
as herein shown and described and for the purpose stated.
8. A hollow metal trenail capable of expansion on a spike being driven therein
and having its lower end contracted, combined with a spike so formed that when
fully driven into the trenail such spike shall be securely held therein substantially
as herein shown and described.
9. The improvements in and connected with trenails substantially as herein
shown and described.
Dated this 1st day of October 1808
HARRIS & MILLS,
23, Southampton Buiḍings, London, W.C., Agents.