IMPROVEMENTS. IN SLEEPERS OR BEARERS FOR RAILS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Samuel; of Great George Street, in the City
of Westminster, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS.
IN SLEEPERS OR BEARERS FOR RAILS."
Sealed the 12th May 1859, and dated the 16th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Samuel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th November 1858.
I, JANES SAMUEL, of Great George Street, in the City of Westminster,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SLEEPERS OR BEARERS FOR RAILS," to be as follows:-
This Invention is for improvements upon one one patented by me for England
the 5 April, 1850, and consists in constructing the sleepers in a hollow
semi-spherical or semi-spheroidal, hexagonal, or other polygonal form, or form
pertaining to any such figures, with a straight sided or with an angular sided
trough formed therein or thereon in such manner that, by the aid, of blocks or
wedges of wood, or other like suitable elastic material placed at each side in
the web of the rail, it may be supported clear of the bottom of the trough.
The sleepers may be plain or corrugated, and are intended when laid to be
packed or filled on the inside with ballast. They may be made of cast-or
wrought iron, and may be made by stamping or by any other approved method
of manufacture.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Samuel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SAMUEL, of Great George Street, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Samuel, Her special licence that I, the said James Samuel,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Samuel, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN SLEEPERS OR BEARERS
FOR RAILS,"upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Samuel,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 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 James Samuel, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say: -
This Invention is for improvements upon a former Invention for which
Letters Patent for England were granted to me dated the 5th of April 1850,
and consists in constructing the sleepers or bearers for the rails of railways of
metal, in a hollow, semi-spherical, conical, semi-spheroidal, semi-ellipsoidal, or
other like form, or with rectilinear sides in the form of a square, or polygonal
pyramid, or of a form partly rectilinear and partly curvilinear; such bearers o
sleepers (of whichever of the aforesaid forms they may be) being provided
on their upper surfaces with a trough, recess, or depression formed thereon, o
sunk therein (preferring the latter), in such manner that, by means of blocks

page_text: or wedges of wood placed at each side of the web of the rail, the rail may be
held and supported in the trough, recess, or depression, clear of the bottom of
the same. The sleepers or bearers may be either plain or corrugated, and are
intended when laid to be packed or filled on the inside with ballast. If formed
of cast iron (which I prefer), they may be made by the ordinary casting
process, or by any other suitable process, and if made of wrought iron they
may be made by stamping in dies, or by any other approved method of
manufacture. In order to facilitate the ramming, compressing, and solidifying
of the packing of the improved sleepers or bearers with ballast after they
have been laid, I usually form them each with a dormar-shaped or other
suitable aperture or apertures in the side thereof. I distinguish my sleepers
from others by the title of "cup-trough sleepers."
In the Drawings hereunto annexed, I have illustrated various forms of
sleepers or bearers constructed according to my present Invention.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 are respectively a vertical section, a side elevation,
(taken at right angles to Figure 1), and a plan of a sleeper or bearer in a
simple form. A is the body of the sleeper or bearer; B is a trough, recess,
or depression formed therein for the reception of the rail, and of the blocks or
wedges for supporting and tightening the rail therein. I prefer forming the
sides of the trough, recess, or depression, roughened or serrated, as shown at
a, a, Figure 3, in order to give them a better holding power than they would
have if smooth, but I make no claim to this method of forming them.
C, C, are dormar-like apertures formed in the sleepers or bearers to facilitate
the compressing and solidifying of the packing of the same with ballast, as
before described. Figures 4, 5, and 6 are views of a modified form of sleeper
or bearer corresponding respectively with Figures 1, 2, and 3. This sleeper or
bearer is corrugated, as shown in Figures 5 and 6.
Figures 7, 8, and 9 are views (respectively similar to Figures 1, 2, and 3,)
of another modified form of sleeper or bearer, which, like those previously
referred to, is circular in plan, but its vertical section is composed of straight
lines instead of the curved lines of the preceding Figures.
Figures 10, 11, and 12 are similar views of another form of my improved
sleeper or bearer, square in plan.
Figures 13, 14, and 15 are like views of another form, hexagonal in plan.
Figures 16, 17, and 18 are like views of another, elliptical in plan. In all
the Figures previously described I have shewn apertures C, C, for facilitating
the compressing and solidifying of the packing of the sleepers or bearers; but
I reserve to myself the right of dispensing with them, if and where I find it
desirable. Figure 19 is a vertical section of one of my improved sleepers or

page_text: bearers with the rail and blocks or wedges fitted within it. I prefer that these
should be so cut that the direction of the grain should be vertical, and also
with a clip D, for securing the rail and blocks or wedges more effectually in
the trough or depression in the sleeper; this clip is itself held down to the
sleeper or bearer by means of the bolt b, which is passed through a hole in
the sleeper or bearer, and a nut c screwed upon the end of the bolt b, as
shewn: I prefer to employ clips of this or other equivalent form and action
with each of the several descriptions of sleepers or bearers herein-before
described. Figure 20 is an elevation of one of my improved sleepers or
bearers with the rails and blocks or wedges fitted within it, and with a tie
bar E for maintaining the gauge of the way. Figure 21 is a plan, and
Figure 22 a side elevation of a portion of a permanent way laid with my
improved sleepers or bearers, part of the same being plain and part corrugated.
I am aware that hollow cup sleepers on and in contact with the top of
which rails have been borne are not new, and I therefore make no claim to
the construction of such sleepers.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my Invention,
the manufacture of hollow cup sleepers or bearers for rails, with a trough,
recess, or depression sunk therein or cast thereon, for the purpose of receiving
and supporting the rail by means of blocks or wedges, so that the under face
of the rail is clear of the bottom of the trough, recess, or depression.
I also claim the dormar-shaped apertures at the side for railway sleepers.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Samuel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-nine.
JAMES SAMUEL. (L.S.)