Improved Means for Securing Rails to Sleepers.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 18th June, 1895-Accepted, 27th July, 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Securing Rails to Sleepers.
I, LEWIS GOLDER, of 133 Superior Street Cleveland, County of Cuyahoga,
State of Ohio, United States of America, 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 :-
Fig. 1 is a plan or top view of one of my improved railway-ties and its fastenings
for the rails.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal view through the tie and fastenings, on the vertical plane,
indicated by the broken line marked xx in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on line y y in Figs. 1 and 2.
Fig. 4 is a perspective detail view of one of the fulcrumed bottom plates, or
binding plates, removed from the tie ; and
Fig. 5 is a perspective detail view of one of the bifurcated rail-clamps or clips,
removed from the rail and tie.
Like letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.
My invention relates to metallic railway ties of that type which are provided
with locking attachments for fastening the rails to the tie, and consists in a novel
arrangement and combination of the rails, tie, and fastening devices, whereby the
rails are locked firmly to the ties by the weight of passing trains operating upon a
pair of lever-plates located beneath the tie and which bind the rail-clips or clamps
against the base or bottom flange of the rail; substantially as will be hereinafter
more fully described and claimed.
On the accompanying drawing, the reference letter A denotes the rails and
B one of the metallic ties which is cast with parallel and slightly diverging side
flanges bb, as usual. Each rail A is bedded upon the flat top of the tie between,
and impinging with its base against, two parallel transverse slots a a through
which are inserted, on opposite sides of the rail, the apertured, right-angled
lugs C of the lever plates or binding plates D; one of which is shown in detail
in Figure 4.
Each of these plates (of which there are four to each tie, viz.: two at each
end, for each rail) consists of a flat square or rectangular plate D, provided at
one end, projecting upwardly at right angles with a lug C having a rectangular
aperture c, and at the opposite end or side with a depending flange d, of the same
width as the plate.
Each rail is held in place firmly upon the tie, between its appropriate pair of
slots or apertures a a, by means of a pair of bifurcated clips E E, the two parallel
limbs of which straddle a bolt F, inserted vertically through the flat top of the tie
and having a washer f', placed upon it between its head F1 and the under side of
the tie. Another washer f, is placed upon the upwardly projecting, screw-threaded
end of the bolt so as to bear against the top or upper side of the bifurcated clips or
fastening E, which is clamped between the flat top of the tie and the superimposed
washer by means of a nut G. The bifurcated end of clip E is inserted through
the rectangular aperture e in the right angled lug C on plate D, which, as we have
seen, is inserted through its registering slot a in the flat top of the tie plate. The
under side of the two parallel limbs of the clip E, which project through the
apertured lug or projection C, is cut off so as to form a recess e, whereby the inner
ends of both clips, arranged opposite to each other, on opposite sides of the rail,
are enabled to overlap and press or bear against the flanges of the rail base, as
clearly illustrated in Figure 2.

page_text: From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawing, the com-
bination of the rail, tie, and fastening devices, and the operation of the latter, will
readily be understood. By reference to Fig. 2 on the drawing it will be observed
that each of the plates D, on the under side of the tie plate, rests with its end
flanges d upon the ballast H, and bears with its flat top or upper face against the
head F of the bolt F, thus forming a lever for which the bolt-head operates as
the fulcrum. From this construction and arrangement it follows, that when heavy
pressure is brought to bear upon the rail, as, for example, by trains passing over
the road bearing down the rail as indicated by the arrows, this downward pressure
will be taken up by the top of the tie plate upon which the rails are bedded; and
as the depending flange d, which supports one end of each of the bottom-plates or
lever-plates D upon the ballast, extends farther or deeper down than the parallel
bottom-flanges of the tie-plate, it follows that these transverse bearings or
flanges d d will operate as fulcra for the tie, so as to tilt or rock the plates D upon
their fulcra F, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 2, and thereby draw the
apertured lugs or projections C down against and upon the inserted ends of the
bifurcated fastening clips E where these overlap and bear against the adjacent
sides or flanges of the rail-base, so as to press upon the rail-base and bed it firmly
upon the tie-plate with a degree of pressure approximately commensurate to the
weight or pressure to which the rails themselves are subjected.
If it is desired at any time to remove the rails, for repair or renewal, all that is
necessary is to unscrew and loosen the nuts G, when the bifurcated clips E can
readily be slipped out of their apertured lugs C; thus releasing the rail-base so
that the rails can be lifted off the tie and removed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
The combination of the rail A, flanged and slotted tie-plate B; lever-plates D
having depending bearing-flanges d and upwardly-projecting apertured lugs C;
bifurcated clips E recessed on the under side of their bifurcated ends, bolts F,
washers ff and nuts G all constructed and combined substantially as and for the
purpose shown and set forth.
Dated this 13th day of June 1895.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.