IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CHAIRS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wilde, of Hyde, in the County of
Chester, Land Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CHAIRS."
1
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wilde at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18tli July 1874.
I, THOMAS WILDE, of Hyde, in the County of Chester, Land Agent,
do hereby declare the nature of tlie said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CHAIRS," to be ás follows: ―
This Invention is designed to dispense with the use of wooden or
other keys, or similar fastenings, and so to construct the chair that the
rail shall be held firmly therein and may be removed and replaced at
any time with the greatest facility.
The chair consists of a sole plate and a fixed jaw'cast in one piece,
and a moveable jaw 'so constructed and fitted thereto that the weight of

page_text: .
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the rail itself causes the said moveable jaw to hold the web of the rail
firmly, and the greater the weight of the engine or train passing over
the rail the more firmly will the moveable jaw be held against the web
of the rail.
-
The moveable jaw is cast somewhat in the form of a bell-crank lever,
and is mounted on a pivot or fulcrum at each side working in recesses
cast in the sole plate for that purpose; the horizontal arm of the bell-
crank is recessed into the sole plate, and extends beneath the rail which
rests upon it. The vertical arm forms the moveable jaw, and it will be
evident that the pressure of the rail upon the horizontal arm will cause
the said jaw to bear firmly against the side of the web of the rail, and
that the greater the pressure the firmer will be the hold of the rail. On
the other hand the rails can be readily lifted at any time by placing a
crowbar or lever underneath the same when the moveable jaw will turn
upon its pivots or fulcra and the rail can be withdrawn.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Wilde in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WILDE, of Hyde, in the County of Chester, Land Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Wilde, Her special
license that I, the said Thomas Wilde, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Wilde, 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
THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CHAIRS," upon the condition (amongst

page_text: others) that I, the said Thomas Wilde, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, 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.

page_text: .
a, a, is the sole plate, and 6, 6, the fixed jaw cast in one piece; ĉ, c¹, is
the movable jaw provided with a pivot d, d, at each side, on which it
'can be turned over (as shown by the dotted lines) for removing or
replacing the rail. The horizontal part c¹ of the movable jaw is partly
recessed into the sole plate a, a, to prevent any lateral displacement, and
the lower side of the rail e, e, rests upon it, and it will be evident that
the pressure of the rail thereon will cause the vertical part ĉ to press
firmly against the side of the web of the rail. The movable jaw is
placed on the inner side of each chair, so that the outward pressure of
the flanges of the wheels bears against the fixed jaws only, and does not
affect the movable jaws in any way. Fig. 3 and 4 show a modification
of the above wherein the movable jaw c¹ is not recessed into the sole
plate, but its latter displacement is prevented by a tongue fif, on the
sole plate, fitting into a suitable recess underneath the movable jaw.
By using a chair of this description but double the width at the. joints
of the rails and passing screw bolts through the fixed jaw bearing, upon
the lower flange of the rail, fish plates may be dispensed with.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood' that
I claim as my Invention the construction of railway chairs by the
combination of a movable jaw with a fixed' jaw and' sole plate cast in
one piece, substantially as herein-before described and represented by
the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof;: I, the said Thomas Wilde; have hereunto 2
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five
Witnessed by
GEORGE DAVIES; C.E.,
Patent Agent,
Manchester..
THOMAS WILDE. (L.S.).