Improvement in Railway Chairs.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Mar., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Jan., 1893-Accepted, 25th Mar., 1893
Improvement in Railway Chairs.
I JOSEPH MELLAND SMITH of Maindee near Newport in the County of
Monmouth, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RAILWAY CHAIRS to be as follows:-
The chair is designed to fasten the rails of whatever make or section either
with or without the aid of wooden or other keys or of fish-plates and bolts or
other fastenings now in use.
The chair is cast in two parts, one part being cast first and the other part then
cast upon it; a joint is thus formed, without a bolt or pin, in the side of the chair
and the strongest part of the casting so as not to weaken the chair where the
greatest strain or thrust will occur. It admits of one jaw of the chair being opened
sufficiently to allow of a rail of any required section to be put in or taken out, and,
when shut, the jaws fit exactly to the cross section of the rail and holds it securely
in position.
The joint chair is so constructed as to effectually take the place of fish plates
and bolts, studs or teeth being formed in one jaw to correspond with the fish bolt
holes in the web of the rail.
Dated this 20th dox of Fahrry 1800
J. MELLAND SMITH.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvement in Railway Chairs.
I JOSEPH MELLAND SMITH, of Maindee near Newport, in the County of
Monmouth, Engineer, 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 :-
This invention relates to improvements in railway chairs its object being to
fasten rails of whatever make or section either with or without the aid of wooden
or other keys or of fish-plates and bolts or other similar fastenings.
The improved chair is made in two parts one part being cast first according to
the shape of the rail it has to support, and the other part forming the opposite jaw,
being cast upon it so as to form, by suitable projections and recesses, a hinged joint
but without the necessity of using a bolt or pin so that the chair is not weakened
at the part where the greatest strain or thrust will occur. This latter jaw can be
sufficiently opened so as to allow of a rail of any required section being put in or
taken out of the chair, and when shut or closed the jaws fit exactly to the cross
section of the rail and hold it securely in position. These improved chairs may be
so constructed as to effectually take the place of fish-plates and bolts, studs or teeth
being formed in one jaw to correspond with the fish-bolt holes in the web of the
rail.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a side elevation of one of my improved chairs with the rail fixed in
position therein,
Figure 2 showing the position of the chair after the hinged jaw has been opened
and the rail lifted out.

page_text: Figure 2 is a plan of the chair with the rail in position therein.
Figure 3 is a cross section on the line a-b Figure 1 of one hinged part of the
chair and
Figure 4 is a similar section of the other portion of the chair..
Figure 5 shows a plan of the separate parts of the hinge.
Figures 6 and 7 are perspective views showing respectively the closed and open
positions of the chairs. *.
Figure 8 is a cross section and
Figure 9 is a plan of a joint chair so constructed and arranged as to take the
-place of ordinary fish plates and bolts.
A represents one part of the hinged or moveable jaw of the chair and B is the
other jaw or part thereof each of which parts are bolted down to the sleeper by
fang bolts E passing through slots E' formed in the ends thereof. The hinge is
formed at such a distance from the centre of the chair that. very little strain or
thrust can come upon it either on a straight or curved road. The part B of the
chair having first been cast, the other part A is cast or run on to the part B when
the latter is cold at the part where they are joined or hinged together, the part B
being formed with recesses B', Figure 4 into which the metal from A runs, thus
forming projections A' constituting the hinge, and so dispensing with the use of a
bolt or pin. A cast iron chill exactly corresponding to, any required section of rail
is used to obtain the true form of the jaws of the chair. By this means also the
whole of the hinge and the inside surface of the jaws are chilled thus hardening
the castings and making them more durable. For fastening the chair to the
sleeper I use in addition to the fang-bolts E a third bolt F between the rail and
the hinge. The effect of this is to get the resistance of the two bolts to the
thrust on either side of a passing train and at the same time to lock the jaws of
the chair. In laying a new road, the rail is first laid in the two end chairs and then
the intermediate chairs are one after the other opened and closed on the rail
immediately outside each sleeper; the rail is then, lifted by a lever bar so as to
give a suitable clearance between the bottom flange of the rail and the sleeper, and
the chair is slid forward to its-position on the sleeper and bolted down. To change
a rail the middle bolt is first taken out of each chair, which is easily done.as, the
bolt works freely in its hole and it is liberated from the fang nut by unscrewing it.
The two end bolts are then unscrewed the road for traffic purposes remaining safe
even when this has been done. The rail is then unfastened at the joints and lifted
by ordinary plate layers jacks or lever bars and this process of lifting the rail
opens the jaws of the chairs and frees the rail. A new rail is then dropped in the
chairs which close when the weight of the rail comes upon them, and the rail is
immediately in position. It is then only necessary to screw up the fish bolts at the
joints for a train to pass over in safety if one presents itself before the fang bolts
are tightened up.
.
In using my improved chair in lieu of fish plates (Figures 8 and 9) the jaws are
made about double the width of the other chairs and one jaw B is provided with
two teeth or studs C corresponding with the holes of the fish bolts at present in
use. When the chair is closed these teeth pass through the fish holes in the web
of the rail into corresponding holes or recesses D in the opposite jaw A of the
chair, the joint of the rails being exactly in the centre of the chair.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The improved railway chair for fastening and supporting the rails of railways
substantially as hercin shewn and described.
0"
2. In a railway chair hinging the two parts together by casting one part on to
the other to dispense with the use of a hinge pin or bolt substantially as herein
described and shown.

page_text: 3. The improved hinged joint chair for jointing the ends of rails together in lieu
of fish-plates and bolts substantially as shown and described with reference to
Figures 8 and 9 of the drawings.
Dated this 31st day of December 1892.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.