IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS, AND CARRIAGES FOR THE SAME
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Livesey, of 75, Cannon Street West, and
John Edwards, of 29, Basinghall Street, in the City of London, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS, AND
CARRIAGES FOR THE SAME."
Sealed the 24th January 1865, and dated the 28th July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Livesey and Jolin
Edwards at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 28th July '1864.
We, JAMES LIVESEY, of 75, Cannon Street West, and JOHN EDWARDS, of
29, Basinghall Street, in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
AND CARRIAGES FOR THE SAME," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to the formation of railway chairs or sleepers of
wrought or cast-iron or steel, and consists of a metal sleeper of suitable
dimensions and shape with an opening in the top, and a movable cover to
facilitate the packing of the same; the jaws forming the chair are sometimes
cast on this cover, also openings are made in the sides with or without the cover
for the same purpose; also for an elastic chair of steel or iron formed or bent
to a suitable shape to receive the rail and key, or bolted or otherwise fastened
[Price 8d.1

page_text: to the rail and dispensing with the key. These chairs can be fixed to an iron,
stone, or other suitable firm foundation. Also for an improved chair or
sleeper, with the jaws or rib against which the rail is bound a little undercast
so as to admit of an elastic yielding at the bottom part of the rail by the
pressure of a taper key, thus keeping the rail in perfect line at the top and
giving the elastic pressure from the bottom part of the rail only. This is also
adapted for the joints. For fishing we also employ a bolt formed like a staple,
whereby the one bolt can fasten the two ends of the rail and prevent them
separating. For repairs, should any of the jaws be broken, a provision for
fixing a loose jaw by casting a hole through the sleeper to receive a bolt
which passes through and secures the loose jaw, and in forming one joint
key with suitable holes through which we pass bolts, thus making the key act
as key and fish plate combined.
Our Invention also relates to an improvement in buffers for railway car-
riage and other purposes, and consists in the adaptation of spiral or other
springs of steel or other elastic material, or both combined, abutting against a
suitable plate, with the buffer rod or plunger passing through or between the
springs. In order to obtain greater simplicity, and to allow the carriages
being coupled closer, we dispense with the nsual iron spring chamber, and
place the spring outside, abutting on a suitable plate, with the buffer head
pressing immediately against the spring, with or without a buffer rod. Also
in the use of several springs, one or more placed outside as above described,
and inside the chamber to admit of a greater amount of motion and elasticity
than is now obtained without increasing the distance between the carriages.
In order to avoid boring the castings for the buffer rods to pass through, we
employ a steel or metal core either in segments, or a tube which may be cut
in the direction of its length and slightly opened to allow for expansion and
contraction. This tube or segments are filled with loam or other material in
order to act as a solid core, and may be slightly perforated to allow for the
escape of the confined gas. This description of core can be used for castings
generally. We propose also, in order to give additional lightness and strength
to the steel spring, to roll the bars to various sections, corrugated or with
projecting ribs; these bars may be doubled to form a hollow bar, the projecting
ribs preventing it closing together.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Livesey and John Edwards in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
LIVESEY, of 75, Cannon Street West, and JOHN EDWARDS, of 29, Basinghall
Street, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said James Livesey and John Edwards, Her special licence that we, the
said James Livesey and John Edwards, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said James Livesey and John Edwards,
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 PERMANENT WAY
OF RAILWAYS, AND CARRIAGES FOR THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said James Livesey and John Edwards, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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 we, the said James Livesey and John Edwards,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:---
Our Invention relates to a new arrangement of railway sleepers and chairs,
and new methods of fastening or securing the rails in such sleepers or chairs
so as to obtain fastenings that cannot by any vibration of the road work loose
or come out. This we accomplish by the employment of a corrugated metal
key so formed that the bottom or lower part of the key is made fuller and
binds tighter than the upper part. The rail is held at two points somewhat
distant from the key or centre jaw, so that the rail may spring or yield at the
bottom part to allow the indents or corrugations on the key to pass the

page_text: corresponding ones on the jaw of the chair without putting the metal into
extreme tension. This mode of fastening we employ for intermediate as well
as joint sleepers. For a more perfect joint we employ a key as above described,
but also acting as a fish plate, having two or more slot holes for the bolts,
which forms an exceedingly firm and substantial joint.
Another object of our Invention is to lessen the difficulty of packing, and
to avoid the necessity of opening out or disturbing the ballast already consoli-
dated around the sleepers, and in the formation of an elastic chair, whereby
the destruction of the rolling stock as well as the permanent way might be
greatly diminished, as well as securing greater ease and comfort in travelling.
Figure 1 represents a plain rectangular hollow cast-iron joint sleeper,
shewing the mode offastening with the corrugated key F; Figure 2, elevation
of the same; and Figure 3 is an end view with the jaw O taken away. It
will be seen that if the rail binds closely against the two extreme jaws C
and D, and the top part only of the centre jaw E, the rail is at liberty to
yield at the bottom part from the points D and C sufficient to allow the
corrugations in the key to pass the corresponding corrugations in the jaw.
The key F is corrugated at the bottom part only, and when driven (as will
be more distinctly seen in Figure 3) forces the bottom part of the rail only,
yet binding the rail firmly against the three jaws C, E, and D.
We some-
times make the key with corrugations full at the bottom and gradually
diminishing to the top, as shewn in Figure G.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 show the same principle of key fastening, but with
the key acting also as a fish plate, with holes for two or more bolts and nuts.
These holes are slotted to allow a margin for tightening the key before the
bolts are secured. In these and other joints we sometimes employ a staple
bolt as shewn in Figure 7.
Figures 8 and 9 relate to a round or other form of sleeper with a loose lid
orcover, on which are cast or otherwise secured two jaws H, H, at a convenient
distance apart forming the chair. This cover is free to turn in its bed so as
to allow the rail to drop freely between the jaws; it is then turned until both
jaws bind against the rail, and is fastened by the cotter J, or by means of
vertical pins K, K, shewn by the dotted lines. This sleeper, like that shewn
in Figures 10 and 11, can be packed from the top by removing the cover.
Figures 10 and 11 represent a sleeper with two loose lids or covers M and
N to facilitate the operation of packing. These covers are of cast or wrought
iron, slightly taper in order to make a more perfect joint, and are fastened by
a simple pin or a slightly raised taper projecting piece in the centre either
yielding in itself or forming a part of the casting and springing the rail

page_text: slightly upwards to pass underneath. When it is necessary to pack the sleepers
the lids are drawn outand the ballast packed into the openings, thus avoiding
the necessity of disturbing the surrounding ballast. The lids are then driven
back and made secure.
Figures 18 and 19 shew an elastic chair made in one continuous piece of
steel or iron, or with a base plate of wrought or cast iron in any convenient
form to prevent the ends of the chair spreading, and thus retain by a com-
paratively light section of metal great resistance, and giving a sufficient
amount of elasticity. The rail is fastened by means of two wood or iron
keys, with a slight projection at one end to prevent them coming out. This
description of chair is adapted for stone blocks or other rigid foundations.
Figures 12 and 13 shew an elliptical form of sleeper with corrugated key
as before described, but with only half or small jaws O, O, at each end..
Figure 14 is a new form of buffer, having the spiral spring fixed on the
buffer rod outside, dispensing altogether with the hollow chamber usually
employed. By this arrangement the buffer rod is better supported and the
general arrangement much simplified. In casting the base or blocking
piece P we propose to use an elastic core, Figure 16, of wrought iron or steel,
or other suitable metal, in the form of a hollow tube with a slit or opening
from end to end. This tube is filled with loam so as to form a solid and
perfectly round and smooth core, the slot not only allowing the tube to yield
to the contraction of the metal, but to be easily withdrawn, and also allow a
free escape of the confined gases.
Figure 17 is an arrangement of buffer so as to obtain a loug travel with a
diminished length of spring chamber. The outer spring A is compressed
within itself, say, a distance of six inches, and the inner spring the same
distance, giving a travel of twelve inches altogether. At the time the outer
spring is being compressed the buffer rod is travelling through and com-
pressing the inner spring by means of the sliding base plate or plunger R
within the chamber S. We propose to make the outer spring much lighter
than the inner one, so as to be less rigid and sensible of the least pressure.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and how the same is to
be carried into effect, what we claim as our Invention is,-
Firstly, the arrangement of sleeper with the rail bound at such points as
will allow of elastic yielding or twisting of the rail for the admission of a
serrated key, as shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
Secondly, the arrangement of key with bolts to act as key and fish plate,
Figures 4, 5, and 6.
Thirdly, the arrangement of a'sleeper with loose jaw cover, Figures 8 and

page_text: 9, and the same arrangement of jaws to act as a simple chair on wood or
other sleepers.
Fourthly, the arrangement of ioose movable lids on any description of
sleeper to facilitate packing, Figures 10 and 11.
Fifthly, the arrangement of elastic chair, Figures 18 and 19.
Sixthly, the arrangement of buffer with outside springs, Figures 14 and 17.
In witness whereof, we, the said James Livesey and John Edwards, have
hereunto set our hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of January,
in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred and sixty-five.
JAMES LIVESEY. (L.S.)
JOHN EDWARDS. (L.S.)