Improvements in Trenails for Securing Railway Chairs to the Sleepers.
Year: 1885

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Trenails for Securing Railway Chairs to the
Sleepers.
"
I WILLIAM CANNON of Old Palace, Bekesbourne, Canterbury in the County of
Kent, Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TRENAILS FOR SECURING RAILWAY CHAIRS TO THE SLEEPERS," to be as
follows:
_
In securing chairs to sleepers upon railways it is at present customary to use a
trenail or wooden pin bored longitudinally with a cylindrical hole. This trenail is
inserted through an eye in the chair into a hole in the sleeper and a metal pin
generally slightly tapered is driven into the hollow trenail with the object of
expanding the trenail in the hole and thereby securing it in place.
The disadvantages attendant upon the use of such trenails are obvious. It is
clear that if a tapered pin be driven into a trenail bored with a cylindrical hole the
upper part will be expanded and possibly split while the lower part or that within
the sleeper is scarcely expanded at all. On the other hand if a cylindrical pin be
employed a difficulty will be found in driving it, if it be a little too large for the
cylindrical hole, and if it be sufficiently small it will be of hardly any use in fixing
the trenail in place.
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a trenail which will
obviate these disadvantages. To this end I take a wooden pin of the external
shape of an ordinary trenail and I bore it longitudinally with a conical or tapered
hole, the smaller end of the hole being downwards, that is, towards the end that
is to be inserted in the sleeper.
The lower end of the wooden pin or trenail thus bored I slit up for some two
or more inches in the direction of its length.
The trenail is then inserted in the sleeper through the chair in the ordinary way
and a cylindrical pin slightly pointed so as not to tear the wood is driven into the
conical hole, thus expanding and securing the trenail as it is driven home.
Dated this 22nd day of April 1885

page_text: Improvements in Trenails for Securing Railway Chairs to the
Sleepers.
I, WILLIAM CANNON of Old Palace, Bekesbourne, Canterbury in the County of
Kent, Gentleman 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:—
In securing chairs to sleepers upon railways, it is at present customary to use
trenails or wooden pins. As these wooden pins have often been found to break, a
wooden pin bored longitudinally, with a cylindrical hole for the reception of a
metal pin, has been used.-This trenail is inserted through an eye in the chair
into a hole in the sleeper, and the metal pin, generally slightly tapered, is driven
into the hollow trenail, with the object of expanding the trenail in the hole, and
thereby securing it in place.
The disadvantages attendant upon the use of such trenails are obvious. It is
clear that if a tapered pin be driven into a trenail bored with a cylindrical hole,
the upper part will be expanded, and possibly split, while the lower part, or that
within the sleeper, is scarcely expanded at all. On the other hand, if a cylindrical
pin be employed, a difficulty will be found in driving it, if it be a little too large
for the cylindrical hole, and if it be sufficiently small, it will be of hardly any use
in fixing the trenail in place.
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a trenail which will
obviate these disadvantages.
In carrying out my invention, I form a trenail in two parts, viz: an outer casing
of wood of peculiar construction, and an inner core of metal to be inserted therein
to secure the same in place in a railway sleeper.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing is a sectional elevation of the wooden
casing, with the metal core partially inserted therein. Fig. 2 shows the wooden
casing in longitudinal section inserted in a sleeper through a railway chair, all of
which are also in section, the securing core being in this case driven home.
Fig. 3 is a side view of the wooden casing, and Fig: 4 is a sectional plan view on
the line xy of Fig. 3.
A is a wooden pin of the external shape of an ordinary trenail. This pin
I bore longitudinally with a conical or tapered hole, the smaller end of the hole
being downwards, that is, towards the end that is to be inserted in the sleeper.
The lower end of the wooden pin or trenail A. thus bored, is slit up for some
two or three inches in the direction of its length in the manner shown.
The conically cored pin A is then inserted in the sleeper B through the chair C
(see Fig. 2) in the ordinary way, and a cylindrical metal pin D, slightly pointed,
Bo as not to tear the wood, is driven into the conical hole.
The pin, D, as it is driven home into the wooden pin or casing A, causes the
transverse cuts in the latter (shown best in Fig. 4) to open, and the diameter of
the pin A to increase, thereby fixing the whole securing device or trenail firmly in
the sleeper,

page_text: Although I have shown the wooden pin A with two transverse cuts therein,
I find that it is not always necessary to have this number, one cut, in many cases,
being sufficient.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
A trenail or securing device for railway chairs constructed and operating
substantially as shown and described.