IMPROVE- MENTS IN RAILWAY CHAIRS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Durrant Frazer, of Wednesbury, in the
County of Stafford, Railway Clerk, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RAILWAY CHAIRS."
Sealed the 17th April 1866, and dated the 21st October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Durrant Frazer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st October 1865.
I, JOHN DURRANT FRAZER, of Wednesbury, in the County of Stafford,
Railway Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CHAIRS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in constructing railway chairs with the horns or
cheeks not opposite to each other, so that the grip or hold upon the rail
is extended to double the width of that which is obtainable by the ordinary
form of chair, covering also the entire width of the sleeper, whilst it is at
the same time capable of being placed or removed without lifting the rail.
This will be more clearly seen on reference to the annexed Drawing, in
which Figure 1 shews the form of the chair, and Figure 2 upon a smaller
scale shews the rails, sleepers, and chairs in plan. At a and b, Figure 2, is
represented the mode of fixing or removing a chair without lifting the
rails by turning the chair partly round and slipping it off the sleeper, (c)
shewing its position when fixed, and (d) a form of chair adapted for the
joints, in which a lug (e) is formed to receive a bolt or pin passing through.

page_text: it and through the rail, and firmly securing both by a nut. By the use of
these chairs there is no cutting of the sleeper, nor are any keys used, and
they may be fixed either with or without wood or other slips.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Durrant Frazer in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st April 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN DURRANT
FRAZER, of Wednesbury, in the County of Stafford, Railway Clerk, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth.
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Jobn Durrant Frazer, Her special license
that I, the said John Durrant Frazer, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Durrant Frazer, 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 John Durrant Frazer,
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
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 John Durrant Frazer, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto.
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention has for its object the formation of railway chairs having
an extended grip or hold upon the rails, whilst they are also capable of
being removed and replaced without lifting the rails, and with this view
my improved chairs are formed with the horns or cheeks out of line with,

page_text: (that is to say) not opposite to each other, as will be seen in the annexed
Drawings, in which (Figure 1) represents an elevation of one of my im-
proved chairs, (Figure 2) a plan of the same seen from above, and
(Figure 3) a portion of a line of railway laid with these chairs, in which
is exhibited also the mode of removing and replacing the chairs without
disturbing the rails. In (Figures 1 and 2) is shewn the form of the chair,
which, as therein represented, has the horns or cheeks in a position to close
upon the rail at two portions of its length, thus extending its hold upon
the rail to a width double that of the grip of an ordinary chair. The width
of grip being thus increased, it follows that the unsupported bearing of the
rail between the chairs is considerably reduced, and this allows of the wider
spreading out of the sleepers, thus greatly reducing the number of sleepers
per mile employed in laying the line, and effecting considerable saving
both in labour and material. The sleepers are liable to no cutting nor are
any keys used, and the chairs may be fixed either with or without slips of
any description. The mode of removing and replacing these chairs is
shewn at (a and b, Figure 3). Assuming that a chair requires to be removed,
the pins are first drawn, when the chair can be turned partly round, in
which position it can be slipped off the sleeper; and from under the rail
a new one can be introduced in the same way, by placing it under the rail
and upon the sleeper in a diagonal direction; when placed it can be turned
round into its proper position and secured by the pins. For joint chairs
or such as are to be employed at the junction of two lengths of rail, I form
upon each horn or cheek of the chair a lug, as shewn at (d, Figure 3); this
lug receives a bolt or pin, which passes through it and through the rail, and
is secured on the outside of the opposite lug by a nut.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim the improvements in railway
chairs by making them of the form herein described and illustrated for the
purpose of obtaining a wider grip or hold of the rail with ready removal
and replacement, as herein more fully set forth and specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Durrant Frazer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JOHN DURRANT (L.s.) FRAZER.