IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CHAIRS."
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Floride Heindryckx, of Brussels, Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CHAIRS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Floride Heindryckx at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th May 1860.
I, FLORIDE HEINDRYCKX, of Brussels, Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
RAILWAY CHAIRS," to be as follows:-
My Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of Railway Chairs,"
has for its object to construct railway chairs in such a manner as to enable
engineers to dispense with the use of the wooden cones or wedges which are
usually employed for securing the rails in their chairs.
Another advantage arising from the Invention is, that wrought-iron chairs
of the form required may be easily and cheaply made or produced, and a per-
manent way constructed and arranged on my new plan, will be more simple,
and much stronger, and more easily repaired than heretofore. The chairs are
made from bar iron or steel, bent up in a suitable manner to form a lateral
abutment for the side of the rail to fit or bear against. Supposing a double-
headed rail to be used, the bent up part of the chair is made to fit into one
side of the rail, and is secured by a screw bolt, which passes through the rail

page_text: and chair, and holds them together by means of a nut on one side and the head
of the bolt on the other. The chairs are secured down to wooden or other cross
sleepers by means of bolts or spikes in the ordinary manner, or two of my
improved chairs may be formed on one bar of iron or steel, which, when
properly secured, will ensure the maintenance of the gauge at its original
accuracy.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Floride Heindryckx in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th November 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FLORIDE
HEINDRYCKX, of Brussels, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Iler Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Floride Heindryckx, Her special license that I, the said Floride
Heindryckx, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Floride Heindryckx, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CHAIRS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Floride Heindryckx, 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 per-
formed, 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 Floride Heindryckx, 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
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of Railway Chairs,"
has for its object to construct railway chairs in such a manner as to enable

page_text: engineers to dispense with the use of the wooden quoins or wedges which are
usually employed for securing the rails in their chairs.
Another advantage arising from the adoption of the present improvements
is, that wrought-iron chairs of the form. required may be easily and cheaply
made or produced. A permanent way constructed and arranged on my new
plan will also be more simple, and much stronger, and more easily repaired
than those constructed in the usual manner.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn my improved plan of con-
structing railway chairs. Fig. 1 is a side elevation, drawn full size, of a chair
constructed according to my Invention and with a rail secured therein; Fig. 2
is a transverse vertical section of the same. The chairs are made from bar
iron or steel b, bent up in a suitable manner to form a lateral abutment for the
side of the rail a to fit or bear against, while the foot of the rail rests upon the
horizontal part of the chair. Supposing a double-headed rail such as that
shewn at a, a, in the Drawing to be used, the bent up part b of the chair is
made to fit into one side of the rail, as shewn at Fig. 2, and is secured by a
screw bolt c, which passes through the rail a and chair b, and holds them
together by means of a nut d on one side and the head of the bolt c on the
other. The chair is secured down to wooden or other cross sleepers e by means
of bolts or spikes f, in the ordinary manner, as shewn at Fig. 1; or two of my
improved chairs of the form shewn in the Drawing may be formed on the ends
of one bar of iron or steel, which, when properly secured to the ground, will
ensure the maintenance of the gauge at its original accuracy.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Construction
of Railway Chairs," and having explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent, the mode
herein set forth of constructing railway chairs and of securing rails therein
without the use of quoins or wedges.
In witness whereof, I, the said Floride Heindryckx, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
FLORIDE HEINDRYCKA. (L.S.)