AN IMPROVE- MENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY CHAIRS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Christopher James, of Mountain Ash, Aberdare, in
the County of Glamorgan, Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY CHAIRS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Christopher James at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th June 1859.
I, CHRISTOPHER JAMES, of Mountain Ash, Aberdare, in the County of
Glamorgan, Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY CHAIRS," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to manufacture railway chairs of wrought
iron of any of the ordinary forms now adopted for cast chairs. This I propose
to do by the combined use of a cast-iron or other mould and hydraulic or
other powerful pressure, in contradistinction to the rolling pressure which has
already been proposed to be used. The mould being prepared of any suitable
shape (the counterpart of the chair to be formed) and fitted with a core,
which is to mould the seat of the chair, I place in the mould wrought or
puddled bar iron, brought to a welding heat, and by means of a ram or die
actuated (in preference) by hydraulic pressure, I force the soft iron into the
cavities of the mould, and thereby produce a chair in wrought iron.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Christopher James in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHRISTOPHER
JAMES, of Mountain Ash, Aberdare, in the County of Glamorgan, Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Christopher James, Her special license that I, the said
Christopher James, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Christopher James, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY CHAIRS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Christopher James,
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 Christopher James, 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 fol-
lowing statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
:-
The object of this Invention is to manufacture railway chairs of wrought
iron of any of the ordinary forms now adopted for cast-iron chairs. This
object is effected by the combined use of a cast-iron or other mould and
bydraulic or other powerful pressure, in contradistinction to the rolling pressure
which has already been proposed to be used for pressing iron into various
forms. The mould may be constructed of any suitable shape (which must, of
course, be the counterpart of the chair intended to be produced), and is
fitted with a case, which is to form the seat of the chair. I place in the
mould a ball or lump of wrought or puddled bar iron, wrought to a welding

page_text: heat, and by means of a ram or die actuated (in preference) by hydraulic
pressure, I force the soft iron into the cavities of the mould, and thereby
produce a chair in wrought iron.
In carrying out my Invention I construct the mould of several parts, so
that it may be taken to pieces with facility when required to remove a recently
formed chair, and the parts may with equal facility be re-assembled again, in
order to prepare the mould to receive another charge of red-hot wrought iron
to form another chair.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn three views, shewing one
mode of constructing a mould for the purpose of my Invention. Fig. 1 is an
end elevation of the mould; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; and Fig. 3 is
a longitudinal vertical section. The mould is composed principally of three
iron blocks a, a, and b, which are placed in a strong iron box c. The block a
is intended to be a fixture in the box, but the block a* is moveable backwards,
or in a lateral direction in the box c, when the wedge-shaped block d is with-
drawn. In order to keep the block a from rising up out of its place, it is
held down by a screw c", which passes through a slot made in the bottom of
the box c. The block is also moveable, and, in fact, forms a core piece,
whereby the inner surface of the chair is produced. It is found in practice,
to be convenient that the block of iron that is to form the chair should be
formed of three or more pieces assembled together, in such a manner as to
roughly resemble a chair, or in any other convenient form. This compound
block having been heated in a suitable furnace to a welding heat, is placed in
or on the moulds, and by means of a plunger actuated by hydraulic or other
suitable pressure, the soft heated iron is forced into all the cavities of the
mould or die; when the block of heated iron is is placed in or on the mould,
the wedge piece d is drawn up, so as to project above the other blocks a
and a. The block a will then be pushed back away from the core piece b,
and when the plunger comes down and forces the metal into the mould or die,
it at the same time pushes down the wedge piece d, and thereby pushes
forward the block a*, and thus brings a lateral pressure on the metal in the
die, and forms the chair, as shewn at f, f, in the Figure. In order to discharge
the chair from the mould, the wedge-piece d may be loosened, and the chair
with the core piece b will easily fall out. It will be easily understood, that
chairs of various shapes, both externally and internally, may be made in this
manner by altering the form of the blocks a, a, and b, to suit the required
form.
Having now described my Invention of "An Improvement in the Manu-
facture of Railway Chairs," and having explained the manner of carrying the

page_text: same
erect,
In
secured to me by Letters l'atent as
aforesaid, the mode herein, set forth; of making wrought-iron chairs for
railways.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christopher James, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
EDWARD W. STT. DAVIS,
of Mountain Ash.
CHRISTOPHER JAMES. (L.S.)