IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR BENDING RAILWAY RAILS
Year: 1875

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles Denton Abel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th June 1875.-A communication from abroad by Georg Gottfried
Reishauer and Friedrich Carl Bluntschli, both of Zurich, Switzer-
land, Engineers.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS AND
APPARATUS FOR BENDING RAILWAY RAILS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improved means and apparatus for bending
railway rails to suit curves of different radii. For this purpose according
to one arrangement two rails are bent simultaneously to the required
curvature by firstly inserting between them at a certain distance from
each end two struts or distance pieces, by preference of a cross shaped
transverse section, bearing with their ends against the necks of the rails,
the ends being by preference so shaped that they will fit rails of two
different heights according as the strut is placed with its one rib or with
the other rib in a vertical position. Upon each end of the rails are then

page_text: placed the bending apparatus, consisting of two stirrup frames, one of
which fits over each rail, and which are connected by a screw spindle,
by turning which by means of a ratchet brace they are drawn together.
The ends of the rails being thus made to approach cach other while they
are held apart by the struts at a certain distance from the ends, each
rail will be bent to a certain curvature throughout its length.
By preference the screw spindle is made with a screw thread at each
end, the pitch of the one thread being slower than that of the other, and
between the two threads it is fitted with a ratchet wheel and lever with
reversible pawl, by which it can be turned in either direction.
The stirrups consist of two links connected at either end to transverse
pieces, one of which fits with a projection against the neck of the rail,
while the other is formed with a screw nut, through which the before-
mentioned screw spindle passes.
For bending the rails to curves of varying radii the struts are adjusted
to correspondingly varying distances from the bending apparatus, and
for this purpose a bar is employed having a sliding gauge and marked
with a scale, to which the gauge is set for determining the distance
between the strut and the bending apparatus corresponding to a certain
curvature.
As the elasticity of the metal will naturally cause it to flatten out
again somewhat from the curvature which it is made to assume while
under the apparatus, a scale is also provided which indicates by measure-
ment of the versed sinc of the bent rail while under the bending
apparatus the curvature to which it is permanently set.
As the metal of the rails is not always of so uniform a nature as to
admit of two rails being bent simultaneously to identically the same
curvature, it is preferred in cases where the uniformity of the metal
cannot be relied on to bend only one rail at a time by the above-described
apparatus. In this case the one stirrup frame is made of sufficient
length to allow it to fit over two, three, or more rails placed side by side,
which then serve as a rigid abutment for the one end of the stirrup
frames and struts, while the other ends of the stirrup frames and struts
bear against the rail to be bent.
In cases where flanged rails are being operated upon distance pieces

page_text: are put between the heads of the rails, serving as abutments in order to
prevent them from canting over when the pressure is put on.
The screw spindle of the apparatus for bending only one rail at a time
is by preference made with a screw thread only at one end, the other end
being made to swivel in the stirrup frame that fits over the abutment
rails.