Im- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPIKES AND TRENAILS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles May, of Great George Street, Westminster,
Civil Engineer, and Paul Prince, of Derby, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPIKES AND TRENAILS."
Sealed the 14th March 1856, and dated the 22nd November 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles May and
Paul Prince at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 22nd November 1855.
We, CHARLES MAY, of Great George St., Westminster, Civil Engineer,
and PAUL PRINCE, of Derby, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention
for." IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPIKES AND TRENAILS" to be as
follows:-
-
This Invention consists of improvements in the manufacturò of spikes and
trenails. Heretofore. hollow or tubular wrought-iron spikes or trenails have
been used for the fastenings for railways and other engineering works, but in
such cases the sheet iron employed has been rolled or formed of an equal
thickness throughout. Part of our Invention consists of rolling or forming
the sheet iron to be used in the-manufacture of hollow or tubular spikes and
trėnails thicker or of more substance for that part which is to form tho head
or driven part of a hollow-spike or trenail than the point or entering end of
a hollow spike or trenail, and in some cases the iron plates or sheets are rolled

page_text: of such width as to admit of cutting out portions suitable for the length of two
hollow trenails or spikes. The section or form of the thicker part of the iron
may be varied, according to the form it is desired to give to the head or driven
end of the trenail or spike... The pieces of wrought iron, each suitable for a
hollow spike or trenail, having been cut either with parallel edges, or edges
inclined to each other, according to whether the spikes or trenails are to be
made with parallel sides or to be conical, or come to pointed or other forms,
are then bent into a tubular form by any suitable means, but by preference by
pressing or bending the same over a suitable mandril by tools forced or moved
by mechanical means; and the partly formed trenails and spikes are finished by
means of three rollers, between which the tubular trenails or spikes are rolled
into form and finished.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles May and Paul. Prince. in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd May 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
MAY, of Great George Street, Westminster, Civil Engineer, and PAUL PRINCE,
of Derby, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Charles May and Paul Prince, Her special licence that we, the
said Charles. May and. Paul Prince, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Charles May and Paul. Prince, our
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC-
TURE OF SPIKES. AND TRENAILS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Charles May and Paul Prince; our executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the
hand and seal of one of us or them, 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:

page_text: six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles May, on behalf of myself and
the said Paul Prince, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):-
Our Invention consists, first, in the manufacture of hollow iron spikes or
trenails in which the metal is not of uniform thickness, that portion which forms
the head being of greater substance than that which is intended to penetrate
the wood; and also in the form of the last-named part, which resembles the
shape of a quill toothpick, and by reason of its form will readily drive into
the wood without requiring a hole to be previously bored. It thus produces
adhesion to both the inner and outer surface of the spike or trenail.
Secondly, in rolling the iron of such sections as will allow of cutting out the
blanks for forming the spikes or trenails with economy of material.
Thirdly, in machinery for manufacturing such blanks into their intended
shape.
Having thus described the nature and objects of our Invention, we will
proceed to describe how the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents, of full size, a hollow spike, with a head suitable for
fastening a railway chair to a sleeper; Figure 2 represents the same in
section; Figures 3 and 4 are section and plan of the rolled iron bars out
of which the blanks are to be cut for forming such spikes or trenails, and which
iron bars, being made of indefinite lengths, are to be cut out in the directions
shown by the dotted lines. Figures 5 and 5 A represent a sectional elevation
of an instrument for bending the blanks into proper form, which may be
described as a powerful pair of pincers. It is drawn with the jaws open and
ready to commence operation. A and B are the two limbs shown with the
framing removed; these limbs aro moveable by means of a pinion C round
the axis D. E represents the blank laid across the jaws; F, the mandril
round which it is turned; G, a "set," which by percussion or pressure forces
the blank and mandril between the jaws, bending the blank into the form
represented in Figure 6, and the set having retired, and the pinion being
turned, the jaws close and pinch the metal blank into a circle, as seen in
Figure 7, and thus the spike or trenail is brought into shape, after which the
adjacent edges may be welded or not, as may be considered desirable for the
work they are intended to perform. Figures 8 and 9 represent another form
of railway spike or trenail, adapted to replace the wooden trenails in ordinary
use. These may be cut out of iron, rolled in the sectional form shown in

page_text: Figure 10, and may be cut out, as shown in Figure 11; the triangular pieces
a, b, being "waste," to be remanufactured, and the blanks so cut out may be
formed in the same manner, as herein-before described.
Another mode of making these spikes or trenails may be thus described. A
piece of flat iron of uniform thickness, and of section shown in Figure 12, is
bent round and welded to form a tube, shown in section, Figures 13 and 14.
It is then hammered or rolled upon a mandril until it is drawn into the shape
shown in section Figure 15, and being then cut diagonally, as shown by the
direction of the dotted lines, two spikes or trenails are formed. Another form
of hollow spike is shown at Figures 18 and 19, in which the part intended to
enter the wood may be described as two semicylinders, the points being cut
diagonally, as in Figure 18, or at a right angle to the axis, in Figure 19. Tho
points of such hollow spikes or trenails have a tendency to diverge in driving,
and thus hold very fast in the wood.
For the purpose of making the spikes above described truly round and of
uniform size, we make three rollers in a suitable frame, the axes of which
rollers are in such position as that lines uniting in the centres will form a
triangle, as shown at Figure 16. The rollers G, II, are fixed, but the roller J
ismov cable in the direction k, l, and capable of being brought down to a
definite distance from the rollers G, II. The threo rollers are caused to move
round their axes in equal times and in the same direction, the means of doing
which are familiar to workmen in this branch of mechanics; the surfaces of
these rollers are turned to correspond with the section required. Figure 17 is a
section of the roller J, Figure 16, and the double spiko or trenail. The roller
J being elevated, the double spike previously hammered, or otherwise drawn
nearly to its true size, as shown at Figure 15, is introduced between the threo
rollers; as these revolve, pressure is brought gradually upon the axis of the
roller J, until it comes down to its stop, and thus it will be made truly
round in section, and so, in succession, sufficiently uniform sizes will be
produced.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and how it is to be
performed, we wish it to be understood that we do not claim hollow spikes or
trenails as of our Invention, such being heretofore made by William Henry
Barlow, under his Patent, dated Sixth March, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-four; and also by Henry Bridgewater, under his Patent, dated Fifteenth
June, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five. But what we do claim is,―
First, the diagonal or toothpick spike, as herein described.
Secondly, the formation of spikes or trenails hollow throughout their
length, and having a varying thickness of metal adapted to the particular

page_text: purposes required, whether made diagonal or at a right angle at the entering
end.
Thirdly, rolling the iron in indefinite lengths of suitable section to be cut
into blanks.
Fourthly, the mechanical means above described, or any equivalent means,
for the manufacture of the hollow spikes or trenails. And we would have it
further understood that we do not confine ourselves to this particular machinery,
as differences in the form or size of the spikes or trenails may require variation
in the instruments for making them.
In witness whereof, I, tho said Charles May, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
CHARLES MAY. (L.S.)
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.