Improved Machines or Apparatus for Breaking Steel Rails, Billets, or other like Articles.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Nov.. 1894
Complete Specification Left, 26th Aug., 1895-Accepted, 12th Oct., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Machines or Apparatus for Breaking Steel Rails, Billets,
or other like Articles.
We THOMAS WILLIAM WARD, of Fitzalen Chambers, Sheffield, in the County
of York, Iron Merchant, and HORATIO WILLIAM LASH, of Albion Works,
Sheffield aforesaid, Draughtsman, do hereby declare the nature of our invention
to be as follows:-
-:
The object of this invention is to provide apparatus by means of which steel
rails, billets, or other similar articles, can be broken with great facility and
rapidity. The apparatus consists of a bed-plate provided with bearings and
guides for supporting a hollow screw nut and gear for rotating it, from any
suitable source of power, and for supporting a sliding head carried by a screw
working in the said hollow screw-nut so that when, by the said gear, the hollow
screw nut is rotated in one direction the sliding head is moved forward, and, when
the said hollow screw nut is rotated in the other direction, the said sliding head
is moved back again. The said sliding head is provided with a part which acts
upon the rail, or other article, to be broken, which is fed transversely in front of
the moving head the foundation plate being provided with a projection, or with
projections, to act as the abutment for the rail, or other article, when the pressure
of the sliding head comes upon it; there being a space in, or between, the
projection, or projections, opposite the sliding head to allow the breaking action to
take effect. The bed plate is preferably provided with rollers to facilitate the
movement of the rails, or other articles, in the machine. The machine is provided
with a reversing gear by means of which the reversal of the movement of the
hollow screw nut is effected. The machine can be arranged with sliding heads at
each end of the screw, with an abutment for each, so that each stroke of the
apparatus exerts a breaking effect alternately on opposite sides of the machine.
The bed plate is preferably cast in iron, or steel, with the pedestals, slides, and
abutments or the parts which carry them, cast in one therewith. The hollow screw
nut is mounted so that it can be rotated but will not move lengthwise, and move-
ment of rotation is imparted to it from the first motion shaft preferably by a small
pinion thereon gearing with a large tooth wheel on a counter-shaft, a pinion on
The motion,
which gears with a toothed wheel on the rotating hollow screw nut.
which is thus transmitted to the hollow screw nut, can be reversed by any suitable
means such for example as is used on planing machines. A convenient arrange-
ment however for the purpose consists of a double coue secured to the shaft and
longitudinally movable thereon by a clutch shifter, so that by moving the cone in
one direction a pulley with an open belt is engaged and by moving the cone in
the opposite direction a pulley with a crossed belt is engaged, and thus the gear is
reversed to rotate the hollow screw nut first in one direction and then in the other
direction to move the screw and sliding head so as to exert the breaking pressure
and then to retire for the next breaking action. The pulleys are preferably so
proportioned that the return motion is quicker than the motion to effect the
breaking. The movement of the clutch to effect the reversals can be effected by
a spring arm, or projection, carried by the screw, so that it acts upon projections
on the clutch shifter to move it in one direction, when the screw approaches one
end of its movement, and to move it in the other direction when the screw
approaches the other end of its movement. The projections thus acted upon may

page_text: be adjustable so as to vary the length of travel of the breaking head. The clutch
shifter can also be provided with an attachment for working it operated by the
hand, or foot, of the operator, and this will serve also for starting and stopping
the machine.
When the machine is arranged as a double acting machine, with breaking heads
at each end of the screw, the underside of the bed plate can be provided with
bearings for the gear wheels which drive the hollow screw nut, and the gear can
be driven by means of an overhead shaft fitted with the clutch and pulleys as
aforesaid and driving the hollow screw nut by means of belts pulleys which can be
on a hollow shaft over, and loose on, the outside of the hollow screw nut or at the
side of such nut, or between two such nuts, on the screw which works through the
screw nut, or nuts; gear wheels conveying movement from the said pulleys to
the hollow screw nut, or nuts. The machine may be arranged to act upon straight,
or curved, articles by suitably shaping the parts on which the articles are mounted.
It may be used then for breaking, for example, old railway tyres, or other
circular, or curved, articles, as well as straight articles such as rails, or the like.
Dated this 24th day of November 1894.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.
COMPLETE
Improved Machines or Apparatus for Breaking Steel Rails, Billets,
or other like Articles.
We THOMAS WILLIAM WARD, of Fitzalen Chambers, Sheffield, in the
County of York, Iron Merchant and HORATIO WILLIAM LASH of Albion
Works Sheffield, aforesaid Draughtsman, 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 :-
The object of this invention is to provide apparatus by means of which stcel
rails, billets or other similar articles can be broken with great facility and rapidity.
The apparatus consists of a bed-plate provided with bearings and guides for
supporting a screw nut and gear for rotating it, from any suitable source of power,
and for supporting a sliding head carried by a screw working in the said screw nut,
so that when, by the said gear, the screw nut is rotated in one direction the sliding
head is moved forward to break a billet or the like, and, when the said screw nut is
rotated in the other direction, the said sliding piece is moved back again. The
machine is provided with a reversing gear by means of which the reversal of the
movement of the screw nut is effected. The machine can be arranged with sliding
beads at each end of the screw, with an abutment for each so that cach stroke of
the apparatus exerts a breaking effect alternately on opposite sides of the machine.
The rail or other article, to be broken, is fed transversely in front of the moving
head the foundation plate being provided with a projection, or with projections, to
act as the abutment for the rail, or other article, when the pressure of the sliding
head comes upon it; there being a space in the projection, or between the
projections, opposite the sliding head to allow the breaking action to take effect.
In order that our invention may be clearly understood we will describe with
reference to the accompanying drawing apparatus constructed according to our
invention premising however that we do not restrict ourselves to the precise details
of construction illustrated and described.
Figures 1 and 2 are elevations at right angles to each other, and Figure 3 a plan
of a single acting apparatus, and Figures 4, 5, and 6 are similar views of a double
acting apparatus constructed according to our invention for breaking steel rails,

page_text: billets, and other like articles. The bed plate A is preferably provided with
rollers B to facilitate the movement of the rails, or other articles to be broken in
the machine. The bed plate is preferably cast in iron, or steel, with the pedestals C,
guide ways D for the sliding head E, and the abutments F, or the parts which
carry them, cast in one therewith. G is a screw nut, which is mounted so that it
can be rotated but will not move lengthwise in a bearing H preferably cast in one
with the bed plate and movement of rotation is imparted to the said nut from the
first motion shaft I preferably by a small pinion K thereon gearing with a large
tooth wheel L on a counter shaft M carrying a pinion N in gear with a toothed
wheel O fast on the screw nut G. To the head E is connected a screw P which
works in the nut G so that by the rotation of the nut in one direction the screw
and the sliding head is caused to move forward and exert breaking pressure on the
article placed between the said head and the abutments F. The motion, which is
thus transmitted to the hollow screw nut, and the sliding head can be reversed by
any suitable means such for example as is used on planing machines. A convenient
arrangement however for the purpose consists of a double cone QQ screwed on
the shaft I so as to rotate therewith but capable of longitudinal movement thereon
by a clutch shifter R so that by moving the said double cone in one direction a
pulley S with an open belt is engaged, and by moving the cone in the opposite
direction a pulley S with a crossed belt is engaged, and thus the gear is reversed
to rotate the screw nut G first in one direction and then in the other direction to
move the screw P and sliding head so as to exert the breaking pressure and then
to retire for the next breaking action. The pulleys S S are preferably so
proportioned that the return motion is quicker than the motion to effect the
breaking.
The movement of the clutch R to effect the reversals can be effected by a spring
arm, or projection T carried by the screw P so that it acts upon projections a on
the clutch shifter to move it in one direction, when the screw approaches one end
of its movement, and to move it in the other direction when the screw approaches
the other end of its movement. The projections thus acted upon may be adjustable
so as to vary the length of travel of the breaking head. The clutch shifter is also
provided with an attachment U which may be arranged to be operated by the hand
or by the foot of the operator for working the said clutch shifter and this will serve
also for starting and stopping the machine.
When the machine is arranged as a double acting machine with breaking heads
at each end of the screw as shewn for example in Figures 4, 5 and 6 the underside
of the bed plate A can be provided with bearings G for the gear wheels N and L
which drive the screw nut G through the wheel O and the gear can be driven by
means of an overhead shaft fitted with the clutch and pulleys as aforesaid and
driving the screw nut G by means of belt pulleys which can be on a hollow shaft
over and loose on the outside of the screw nut as shewn or at the side of such nut
or between two such nuts on the screw P which works through the screw nut or
nuts; gear wheels conveying movement from the said pulleys to the screw nut or
uuts. The machine may be arranged to act upon straight or curved articles by
suitably shaping the parts on which the articles are mounted. It may be used then
for breaking for example old railway tyres or other circular or curved articles as
well as straight articles such as rails or the like.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that
what we claim is :-
1. In apparatus for breaking steel rails billets and other like articles, the com-
bination of a rotatable screwed nut, a screwed rod or spindle working in the said
nut and carrying a sliding head or sliding heads an abutment or abutments, between
which and the sliding head, the article or articles to be broken is or are placed, and
means for rotating the nut in its bearings in opposite directions so as to cause the
screw to travel longitudinally in the nut in one direction to effect the breaking of

page_text: the article and then to travel in the reverse direction substantially as hereinbefore
described.
2. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the machine for
breaking steel rails, billets, and other like articles substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated by Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.
3. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the machine for
breaking steel rails billets and other like articles substantially as herein before
described and illustrated by Figures 4, 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 26th day of August 1895.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.