IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF SECURING THE BOLTS IN FISH-JOINT AND OTHER FASTENINGS FOR RAILS ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Henry Taylor, of Saltney, in the City of
Chester, Wagon Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MODE OF SECURING THE BOLTS IN FISH-JOINT AND OTHER FASTENINGS FOR
RAILS ON RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 16th March 1860, and dated the 19th September 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Henry Taylor
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th September 1859.
I, EDWARD HENRY TAYLOR, of Saltney, in the City of Chester, Wagon
Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MODE OF SECURING THE BOLTS IN FISH-JOINT AND OTHER FASTENINGS FOR
RAILS ON RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
My Invention is intended for the purpose of securing the bolts used in fish-
joints and other fastenings for rails on railways from turning, or the nuts from
becoming loose after they have been screwed up. In the ordinary fish-joint
fastening there are four bolts, each having at one end a head and on the other
a nut. In other modes of fastening only one bolt is used, and in others two
or more. The mode of securing these bolts which I adopt is by interposing a
piece of iron or other suitable rigid material between the nuts if more than
one are used, and between the sides of the nut and a flange or ridge cast or
otherwise fastened to the chair or other fastening where one bolt only is used.
I take a piece of sheet iron, or steel, or other suitable material (of a thickness
suitable to the force which is exerted by the nut or bolt in turning back after
being screwed up), and I punch or cut thereout as many holes as there are nuts

page_text: to be secured. These holes are cut of a shape and size, and in the positions
corresponding with the shape, sizes, and positions of the nuts to be secured.
After the nuts are screwed up, this piece of iron or other material is driven
over the nuts, so that the nuts are inserted in the holes made in the piece of
iron or other material, and are prevented from moving. The piece of iron or
other material so driven on may be secured from being shaken off by a bolt
attached to the fish-joint passing through the piece of iron, and by a pin or
cotter passed through the last-mentioned bolt or a nut screwed on to it, or a
notch may be cut in one or more of the nuts of sufficient depth to allow of a
pin or cotter being inserted after the piece of iron has been driven over the
nuts.
Another mode of securing the nuts is by forming them with a recess or
groove all round of a width corresponding with the thickness of the piece of
iron or other material to be used, and of about an eighth of an inch in deptb,
so that when the nut is screwed up, there will be left a recess or groove at
that part of the nut next to the fish-joint or other fixed part through which
the bolt passes. In this case I punch or cut the iron, so as to leave teeth or
pieces of iron corresponding with the spaces between the nuts, as will be
understood from the following sketch, which represents the shape of a piece of
iron cut for securing four square nuts in the ordinary fish-joint.
After the bolts are screwed up I drive this piece of iron down on to the
nuts, so that the pieces marked a in the above sketch are interposed between
the nuts, and at the same time as they fit into the grooves or recesses in the
nuts, the piece of iron is prevented from falling off. It is not necessary that
each of the nuts should have a recess or groove for this purpose, it will be
sufficient if one or more of them has a groove or recess to receive the piece of
iron. If made of steel or other suitable material, which can be slightly bent,
so as to form a spring, it will be desirable to bend it slightly, so that the
spring may (when it is driven into the recess of the nuts) be exerted, and so
further prevent the piece being shaken off. When thought desirable the piece
of iron or other material may be further secured by making one or more of
the pieces marked a in the above sketch longer than the nut, so as to project
lower than the nut, and then turning it up after passing over the nuts.
Although I prefer to use a piece of iron with as many holes as there are nuts,
and extending on each side of each of the nuts, yet this is not absolutely

page_text: necessary. For example, in the ordinary fish-joint where four bolts are used,
it will be sufficient if the piece of iron fills up the spaces between the first and
second, second and third, and third and fourth nuts without its extending to
the left side of the first nut or the right side of the fourth nut. Where only
one bolt is used I cast or otherwise fasten on to the iron or other material
through which the bolt passes a flange or ridge on each side of the hole
through which the bolt passes, leaving sufficient space for the nut to be
screwed up. These two flanges or ridges should be straight and parrallel to
each other, and may have grooves in them or not; if they have not, the nut
should have a groove or recess in it as herein-before described. The piece of
iron which I use in this case is of a size and shape sufficient to fill up the
space between each side of the nut and the flange; this piece may be secured
in the manner lastly berein-before described. The nuts must not be round
where the piece of iron or other material is inserted, and it will be necessary
where the bolt heads are not otherwise secured from turning that they should
be formed and secured in like manner to the nuts. For convenience it will
be desirable that the nuts and bolt heads should be so screwed up as to
present an uniform appearance, and I prefer that the nuts and bolt heads
should be formed and screwed up so as to be square. The sketch herein-
before contained represents a piece of iron used for square nuts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Henry Taylor in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th March 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
HENRY TAYLOR, of Saltney, in the City of Chester, Wagon Builder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Edward Henry Taylor, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Henry
Taylor, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Edward Henry Taylor, 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

page_text: Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MODE OF SECURING THE BOLTS IN FISH-JOINT AND OTHER FASTENINGS
FOR RAILS ON RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Edward Henry Taylor, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 Edward Henry Taylor, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
This Invention consists of improved methods of securing the bolts used in
fish joints, chairs, and other fastenings for rails on railways from turning, or
the nuts from becoming loose by the constant traffic on the line. In the
ordinary fish-joint fastening there are four bolts and nuts, but in other modes
one, two, or more are used at discretion. I make the nuts or bolt heads, or
both, with small notches, recesses, or grooves on the inner side, (that is to say)
on the side which will be next to the fish plate or chair.
One of my improved modes for securing the bolts and nuts of an ordinary
fish-joint fastening consists of cutting a piece of sheet iron or other suitable
metal with slots in it to form prongs or projections corresponding, and filling
up the space between each nut or bolt head, forming an additional skeleton
fish plate, so that when the said skeleton plate is driven downwards between
the fish plate and the nuts or bolt heads, each projecting piece or prong will
press against the sides (and tops) of the recessed part of the nuts or bolt heads
and keep them perfectly wedged. It is not necessary that the skeleton plate
should extend on each side of the nuts, it will be sufficient if it extends
between the first and second, and third and fourth nuts when four nuts are
used, but I prefer the plate extending between each of the nuts and on each
side of them.
Another of my improved modes of securing the bolts of an ordinary fish-
joint fastening consists in making a flange of any suitable strength at or near
the top or bottom, or both top and bottom of the fish plate, with a longitudinal
groove below or above the said flange, according as it is placed at the top or
bottom of the plate, and I pass a wedge through the said groove, or one
through each of the grooves which projects and holds against the flange and
the inner side or recesses of the nuts or bolt heads, thus holding them perfectly
tight, and thereby preventing them moving.

page_text: If found desirable in practice, I can dispense with the groove and use the
flange and wedge only, or I can dispense with the flange and use the groove
and wedge only; or I can make separate flanges, grooves, and wedges in
vertical positions to press against the sides of the recesses in the nuts or bolt
heads, and in this case I form the wedge with a head or projecting piece, or
the space between the flange and the nut narrower at the bottom than the top,
so as to prevent the wedge falling through, and this mode of fastening is
applicable to intermediate chairs or other fastenings where only one bolt is
used. When the chair is very near the fish joint it must also be grooved or
formed so as to admit the aforesaid wedge to pass through it, so as to be over
or under the nuts or bolt heads; and to prevent the bolts of intermediate chairs
turning I make a groove or grooves inside the jaw of the chair through which
I pass a wedge over or under or by one or both sides of the nut or bolt head,
as already described for the fish joint.
It is evident that the nuts and bolt heads must not be round at the point
where my said wedges or skeleton plates are used, or they would turn round,
my said apparatus not having sufficient hold; and for convenience it will be
desirable that the nuts and bolt heads should be so screwed up as to present an
uniform square appearance.
When found desirable, in order the better to secure the skeleton plate
from falling or being shaken off, I cut out of one or more, but not out of all,
the projecting prongs a small angular piece, and after the nuts are screwed up
and the skeleton plate is driven on, I turn back one or more of the nuts so as
to fill in the space so cut out as last aforesaid, and if a right and left hand
screw are used alternately all such prongs may have a space cut out, and after
the nuts are screwed up they may be turned back with advantage. It will be
evident that the recess in the nuts must be of such a depth as will allow the
nuts to be screwed up, or otherwise the part of the nut where the same is
recessed will require to be cut off at the corners. Where the bolts are not
otherwise secured from turning it will be evident that it will be necessary to
adopt one of the modes herein-before described to secure the bolt head as well
as the nut.
Another of my improved modes of securing the nuts on the bolts of fish-joint
or other fastenings consists in making on the side of the nut next to the fish
joint or other fixed part through which the bolt passes a notch or groove, such
notch or groove being made so as to intersect and bear upon the hole in the
nut through which the bolt passes, and in cutting away a portion of the bolt
so as to form a flat surface corresponding with the notch or groove in the nut
when screwed up. After the nut is screwed up there will thus be a recess or

page_text: groove, consisting partly of the groove in the nut, and partly of the recess so
cut in the bolt, and into this recess I drive down a pin, cotter, or wedge, so as
to fill up the recess so made, and thereby the nut is prevented from turning
and the bolt from becoming loose. I wish it to be understood, however, that
in practice I do not find it absolutely necessary to make any recess in the bolt
before it is inserted and the nut screwed up, inasmuch as the driving down of
the cotter, a wedge, if made of a hard material, will be sufficient to make or
cut a bearing on the bolt which, with the wedge and groove, is sufficient to
hold it in its place. Such recess in the bolt may also easily be made after the
nut has been screwed up, by a tool (properly hardened, as is well understood,
for cutting iron,) driven in the recess formed by the nut. I prefer making the
recess in the bolt of the depth of the thread of the screw, although the depth
of such recess is not material, so long as there is a sufficient bearing on the
bolt, and of course the deeper the recess is cut down to the centre of the bolt
the greater will be the bearing for the wedge to press against. These nuts
may have any number of notches or grooves in them, so that a sufficient
bearing is left for the wedge to act against the nut. It will be apparent that
when this mode is adopted the bolt and nut can turn round together, but not
separately. And when thought desirable I prevent both the bolt and the nut
from moving either together or separately by making a groove in the fish joint
or other fixed part against which the nut is screwed up, and which last-
mentioned groove is made so as to bear upon the hole through which the bolt
passes, and to correspond with the notch or groove in the nut and recess in
the bolt, so that when the bolt is screwed up the recess into which the wedge,
cotter, or pin is driven consists partly of the groove in the fish joint, partly of
the groove in the nut, and partly of the recess in the bolt. In adopting this
mode I screw the bolt into the nut, having first placed the nut so that the
grooves therein and in the fish-plate or other fastening correspond.
It will be understood that the notches, grooves, or recesses can be formed in
the nut at the time it is made, and need not be cut therein afterwards. To
prevent the pins, wedges, or cotters falling or being shaken out, I make them
with heads, and turn the ends up after passing through the nut. If the groove
in the fish joint is made deeper at the top than the bottom, the pins or cotters
on being driven down will be turned up by the driving of them in.
The manner in which my said Invention is to be performed will be clearly
understood by reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a side view of a fish-plate fastening, having a sheet iron slotted plate
for clipping or holding the nuts; Fig. 2, a side view of the plate only; Fig. 3,
a side view of a fish plate with a groove and wedge for holding firmly the

page_text: indented or recessed nuts and bolt heads; Fig. 4, an end view of two fish
plates having a rail between them, both plates having flanges and grooves in
which are wedges fitting recesses or indentations in the nuts and bolt heads;
Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are detached views of the nuts and bolt heads, shewing
the recesses or indentations for the wedges to act against.
These Figures represent the groove or recess in the nut acted upon at the
top thereof, but it will be understood that the grooves may be acted upon in
any other position corresponding with the groove in the fish plate.
Fig. 9 represents an end view of the fish plate detached, and also the wedge;
Fig. 10 represents an end view of the fish plate with a groove, but without
flange. In Fig. 11 is represented a nut with a notch or groove bearing upon
and intersecting the hole in the nut; Fig. 12 shews the recess in the bolt;
and Fig. 13 shews the groove in the fish plate; Fig. 14 represents a section
of the fish plate, grooved nut, and bolt secured by the pin, cotter, or wedge.
The form of groove used in the fish plate for causing the pin to turn up is
shewn in section in Fig. 15.
In Fig. 1, a represents the fish plate; b, the bolts; and c, the recessed nuts
over which at their indented sides is placed the slotted plate d, seen detached
at Fig. 2. The slots e are made of such dimensions as to fit the recesses of
the nuts, and also the bolt heads when such slotted plate is placed over them;
the dotted lines in Fig. 2 shew the forms of the slots when angular pieces are
cut out, in order that the nuts fitting alternately a right and left hand screw
may be turned back, as herein-before described.
In Figs. 3 and 4, f represents the fish plate, on which is cast, rolled, or
fastened the flange or projection g, under which is the longitudinal groove h
fitted with the wedge i. The nuts are shewn at j, and the bolt heads at k,
both having recesses or indentations l, so that when the wedge is placed
in the groove it presses upon the said recesses, and holds the nuts or heads
firm.
In Fig. 6, the dotted lines shew the forms of the recessed parts of the nuts
or bolt heads when cut off at the corners, in order to pass the flange.
In Fig. 11 is represented a nut with a notch or groove m bearing upon and
intersecting the hole in the nut; Fig. 12 shews the recess n in the bolt o; and
Fig. 13 shews the groove p in the fish plate f; Fig. 14 represents a section of
the fish plate, grooved nut, and bolt secured by the pin, cotter, or wedge q.
The form of groove used in the fish plate for causing the pin to turn up is
shewn in section at r, in Fig. 15.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be

page_text: distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein
set forth, as such may be varied or modified without departing from the
principle thereof; but I claim as my Invention, and which, to the best of my
knowledge and belief has not been hitherto used within the realm, the
employment of recessed nuts and bolt heads for fish joints, chairs, and other
fastenings used in the permanent way of railways, so that the nuts and bolt
heads shall be prevented from turning or becoming loose, by passing over them
a slotted metal plate, and also in connection with the recessed nuts and bolt
heads the employment of a wedge, one side of which presses against the nuts
or bolt heads, and another side against a flange cast upon or a recess formed
in the fish-joint, chair, or other fastening, and also in connection with the
notched or grooved nuts the employment of a pin, cotter, or wedge, one part of
which presses against the groove or notch in the nut, and another part against
the bolt, the same being either combined or not with a groove in the fish plate
or other fixed part, through which such bolt passes, as all such improvements
are herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Henry Taylor, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named Edward Henry Taylor, in the
presence of
JOHN TATLOCK, Solicitor,
Chester.
E. H. TAYLOR. (L.S.)