IMPROVE- MENTS IN RAILWAY CHAIRS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard John Badge, of Newton Heath, near
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Storekeeper to the Lancashire
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard John Badge at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th July 1857.
I, RICHARD JOHN BADGE, of Newton Heath, near Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Storekeeper to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway
Company, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RAILWAY CHAIRS," to be as follows:-
I make the chair with elongated arms to support the bottom or bed of the
rails some distance each way from the joint, the said joint or connection of the
two rails baving its bearing on the centre or strongest part of the rail. I
secure the rails to the chairs with any convenient number of screw bolts, and
to prevent the said bolts becoming loose by the constant wear and tear caused
by the carriages passing over the rails, I attach a notch or projection on the
chair under the head or nut of cach bolt, so as to leave a wedged shaped
vacancy, into each of which I drive a wedge, and thus prevent the bolts or nuts
from turning and becoming loose.

page_text: I also arrange the holes for securing the chairs to the sleepers, so that none
of them shall be in a line with the holes for the screw bolts already described,
because if they are so placed the chair is weakened thereby and liable to
break.
The construction of this my improved chair will be clearly understood by
reference to the accompanying outline Drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side
view of the chair and rail, shewing the screw bolt holes; Fig. 2 is a plan
of the same, shewing also the holes for securing the chairs to the sleepers;
Fig. 3, a view of the rail and chair shewing the wedge under the nut; Fig. 4,
another view of the same; and Fig. 5, a sectional view of the rail and chair
supporting the bed or bottom of the rail.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard John Badge, in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th January 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
JOHN BADGE, of Newton Heath, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Storekeeper to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Ry Co, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Der Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
Que thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign; did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard John Badge, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
John Badge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Richard John Badge, 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 RAILWAY CHAIRS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Richard John Badge, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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 Scal Patent Office within 'six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard John Badge, 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 follow-
ing statement (that is to say):-
I give a strong vertical support both in the sleeper and the joint chair,
thereby giving great strength to the joints or weakest part of the rails by
distributing the strength of the metal so as to bear on every part an equal
degree of solidity, and thus prevent injurious deflection at the joints of the
rails when the trains pass over them. I make my improved chair with
elongated arms, and fix it upon a sleeper immediately under the joint or
weakest part of the rail, the said elongated arms extending some distance
cach way from the joint or connection of the two rails, but having their
bearing on the centre or strongest part of the chair, thereby giving a proper
and equal distribution of the metal, and also affording a proper distribution of
the other sleepers at regular distances, and thus further prevent deflection of
the rails or breakage of the chairs, which is very desirable in tunnels, viaducts,
embankments, &c. I secure the rails to the chairs with any convenient
number of screw bolts, and to prevent the said bolts becoming loose by the
constant wear and tear caused by the carriages passing over the rails, there
is a notch or projection on the chair under the nut of each bolt, so as to leave
a wedge-shaped vacancy, into each of which I drive one or more wedges,
and thus prevent the bolts or nuts from turning and becoming loose. I also
arrange the holes for securing the chairs to the sleepers, so that none of them
shall be in a line with the holes for the screw bolts already described, because
if they are so placed, the chair will be weakened, and consequently liable to
break.
The construction of this my improved chair will be clearly understood by
reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings and the letters of reference
thereon, in which Fig. 1 is a side view, having two rails jointed therein, and
also shewing the screw bolt holes for holding the rails fast; Fig. 2, a plan of
the same, shewing also the holes for screwing or fastening the chair to the
sleeper; Fig. 3, a section across the line a, b, Fig. 2, shewing the bolt and
nut and also the wedge or key to prevent their turning; Fig. 4 is a section
across the line c, d, shewing another part of the chair and also the bolt, nut,
and wedge; and Fig. 5 is a section at the line e, f, near the end of the chair.
In the several Figures g represents the rails; h, the sleeper; and i, the checks
of the chair, between which and the bed plates are the strong ribs 1, at the
centre of which the rails are jointed, the checks at that position being very
thick, so as to give, in conjunction with the ribs, an amount of strength never

page_text: before obtained, thereby preventing injurious deflection and the probability of
fracture; an inclination of one in twenty in the casting being allowed. The
bolts are shewn at m; below the nuts are the wedges or keys n pressing
against the nut, and also the notch or projection o when keyed up, thus
keeping the nuts tight and preventing the bolts working loose and turning
round:
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to the exact 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 knowledgo
and belief has not been hitherto used within the realm, the general arrange-
ment and construction of railway chairs, giving them an equal distribution of
metal, and consequently the necessary strength where it is required to prevent
unduo deflection and breakage, together with the notch or projection and the
wedge or key for keeping the nuts tight and preventing the bolts working
loosc, as such improvements are herein described and illustrated in tho
accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard John Badge, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named Richard John Badge, in the
presence of
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.
R. J. BADGE. (L.S.)