Chairs and Rails thereto.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Sept., 1886.
Complete Left, 25th June, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 5th Aug., 1887.
Chairs and Rails thereto.
We ARTHUR THOMAS ALLEN, and HENRY CAVILL, both of the Hallamshire
Engineering Works Sheffield in the County of York, Engineers. do hereby declare
the nature of our said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC SLEEPERS AND
IN THE METHOD OF SECURING CHAIRS AND RAILS THERETO to be as follows:-
Our Invention has for its object, chiefly, to provide in metallic Sleepers, a cushion
preferably of some material which is a non-conductor of sound, and to which the chair
or rail may be secured by the ordinary, or by specially constructed spikes or trenails.
At or near each end of the metallic Sleeper we form a well or recess or opening, in
the upper surface, and preferably having its lower face level or thereabouts with the
base of the sleeper, so as to rest upon the ballast. These recesses, wells, or openings
are exactly where the chairs require to be fixed, and in most cases we make such
recesses enlarged in the interior, which we fill with a suitable material, such as
compressed pulp, preference being given to a non conductor of sound.
Upon these blocks, the upper surface of which is level with the face of the sleeper,
we lay the Chairs, and secure them by spikes or trenails which may be driven into
the block or cushion in the usual way, or by other suitable appliances.
It is desirable that the surface of the block or cushion shall be larger than the base
of the chair, so that the Chair shall not come in contact with the metallic sleeper.
Where Chairs are not used, the block or cushion should project above the face of
the sleeper so as to keep the rail out of contact with the sleeper.
When a simple opening is made through the top face of the metallic sleeper, the
interior of the sleeper may be fitted with a block of wood, the Chairs would then be
screwed upon
that part of the wood which was opposite to the said opening.
By the use of our invention repairs may be more readily effected, the unpleasant
ringing sound due to the contact of metal to metal is avoided, and the wear and
tear is reduced.
ah dan of Controbas 188E

page_text: Improvements in Metallic Sleepers and in the Method of Securing
Chairs and Rails thereto.
We ARTHUR THOMAS ALLEN, and HENRY CAVILL, both of the Hallamshire
Engineering Works, Sheffield in the County of York, Engineers, 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 :-
Our invention has for its object (chiefly) to provide in metallic sleepers a cushion
to which the chair or rail may be secured, such cushion being by preference made
of some non-conductor of sound.
о
The annexed sheet of drawings will enable the invention to be clearly understood
and similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in any of the figures in which
they occur.
Figs. 1 & 2 are a plan, and end view of a Sleeper.
Fig. 3, plan of recess bottom plate.
Fig. 4, showing the method of inserting the bottom plate.
Fig. 5, is a perspective view of a metallic Sleeper with the Cushions in position.
In carrying out our invention we construct the metallic sleeper preferably by
rolling the material in lengths of the desired cross section, and near each end of the
sleeper where the chairs are intended to be fixed, we form a well or recess in the
upper face, and reaching down to the base of the sleeper or thereabouts.
In the sleeper illustrated in the annexed sheet of drawings the method of forming
the recess or well is as follows; we cut out a suitably shaped hole A, we then take
a piece of sheet metal B, such as shown in Fig. 3, and bend it upon the dotted lines
to the shape shown in Fig. 4, or thereabouts, the tapered parts (a) seen in Fig. 3
forming the ends of the well or recess, and filling the corresponding, bevilled opening
or interior of the sleeper shown in Fig. 2 and marked b.
The piece of metal B, so bent can now be passed through the opening A, from
the inside of the sleeper, and when in the position as indicated in Fig. 4, the end c,
is bent down to correspond with the opposite end and is then secured by bolts,
rivets, or other equivalents.
It will thus be clearly seen that the base of the recess or well is larger than the
opening A, and that a block or cushion fitting the interior could not be drawn
through the said opening.
The well or recess may be filled with a solid block of wood, in which case it would
be inserted from the underside before the plate B, was placed in position; the Chairs
would then be secured by the usual appliances, such as spikes or trenails, driven into
the wood through the openings A. Or the well may be filled with a suitable
composition such as paper or wood pulp, that will afterwards become solid, such
composition may be filled in through the opening A, it is however preferable in all

page_text: cases that the blocks or cushions C, shown in Fig. 5, should stand above the face of
the sleeper, and particularly so when the rail is to be secured to the block or cushion
without the intervention of a Chair.
In some cases the metallic sleeper is simply prepared with the openings A and a
long block of wood fitted into the underside of the sleeper.
We wish it to be understood that although we have particularly described the
sleeper as being preferably made by rolling it to shape in metal (such as plate steel),
it may be also cast to shape in any suitable material, including glass, the chief
objects of the invention being to prevent the unpleasant ringing sound, caused by
passing trains over metallic sleepers as now constructed, to reduce the wear and tear,
and to give greater facility for effecting repairs.
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. The improvements in metallic Sleepers substantially. as herein before described
and as illustrated.
2. A metallic sleeper having recesses or wells to receive blocks of wood, or of a
suitable composition or material, for the purpose specified, and substantially as
hereinbefore described and shown.
3. A Metallic Sleeper prepared with openings such as A, in Fig. 1 of the drawings,
for the purpose specified.