Improvements relating to Railway Sleepers and to Means for Securing the Rails thereon.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 30th July, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 30th Apr., 1889-Accepted 15th, June, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Railway Sleepers and to Means for
Securing the Rails thereon.
I, JOSEPH LAMBERT of Roussillon (Isère), France, Landlord, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to transverse and longitudinal metallic sleepers and to means
for securing the rails thereon.
According to the said invention, a thick rib is formed, by rolling, on the underside
of a U-shaped sleeper, or a sleeper of any other section. This rib is pierced with two
round holes which converge downwards.
The rails are secured upon the sleepers by means of two clamping bolts having a
taper shank and flattened at several places to allow only so much surface for friction
and support as is necessary for pressing the foot of the rails upon the sleepers.
The clamping bolts are constructed and arranged on a principle somewhat similar
to that of the holdfast of carpenters and joiners in such a manner that it will be
absolutely impossible to displace them by raising the rail vertically or causing it to
describe an arc of a circle that has for its centre the extremity of the rail-foot,
unless the strain upon it be such that the hook part provided on the clamping bolt
will break after its deformation.
Whereas the inclined position of the clamping bolt is opposed to the withdrawal
of the said bolt by the foot of the rail, it facilitates the removal after a definite
movement imparted from the outer side by the application of a crow-bar.
Two small projections on the clamping bolts serve as points of application for the
crow-bar.
The pressing power that can be exerted by the clamping bolts is considerable by
reason of the elasticity of the metal of the sleeper.
Repeated trials have shown that the clamping operation is as easy in the case of
iron and steel as in the case of wood, and the power exerted is very much greater.
This power is sufficient for straightening the surface of a slightly curved rail.
The screw-threaded parts, keys and bolts that have herotofore been used are
dispensed with, and also the various accessory parts which it is difficult to retain in
their places as they are liable to get loose through friction and frequent vibration.
The clamping operation is very simple, a few blows from a hammer aided by the
elasticity, are sufficient to effect it, so that the bolts will keep the rail in its place
without either play or wear and tear.
With longitudinal sleepers the facility with which the rails can be secured is very
great. The rib on the sleeper is either made double or else the bed or seating of
the longitudinal sleeper is made thicker than usual. The thickness of the ribs or
seating can, however, be decreased if a greater number of bolts is used.
For transverse sleepers I have devised two modes of attaching the rails.
According to one mode the sleeper is provided at each extremity with a plate which
is attached to it by means of two bent parts which enter the inclined sides of the
transverse sleeper and bear upon the flanges which form its feet. The two plates
are fixed by means of a screw-threaded bolt screwed into the aforesaid rib on the
sleeper.
The second mode of fastening rails differs from that described, only in that the bent
parts of the plates used do not enter the inclined sides of the transverse sleeper.
Dated: this 30th day of July 1888.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Railway Sleepers and to M
Securing the Rails thereon.
I, JOSEPH LAMBERT, of Roussillon, (Isère), France, Landlord, 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, and accom-
panying drawing, that is to say :-
=
My invention relates to transverse and longitudinal metallic sleepers and to means
for securing the rails upon such sleepers.
The accompanying drawing is in illustration of my invention, as shown in cross
section through the rail in figure 1 and in cross section through a transverse sleeper
in figure 2. a strong rib a is formed by rolling on the under side of a sleeper of
inverted section as shewn or of other suitable section.
This rib a is pierced with two cylindrical holes at a proper distance apart andcon-
verging at their lower ends. The rails are secured upon the sleepers by means of two
cylindrical clamping bolts or pins 6, flattened at different parts round their circum-
ference so as only to leave sufficient surface for the necessary friction to press and
hold the foot of the rail against the sleeper.
The clamping bolts are constructed upon a principle somewhat similar to the
bold-fasts used by carpenters and joiners, and it will be easily seen how the bolts
operate and how absolutely impossible it is to draw them out by raising the rail
vertically or by causing it to describe an arc of a circle having for its centre the edge
of the rail foot, unless the hook part at the upper end of the bolt is first bent out of
shape and then broken.
Whilst, however, the inclined position of the clamping bolt or pin tends to prevent
it from being drawn out by the foot of the rail, it facilitates its removal by the
application of a crow-bar, for which purpose the bolt is provided with two small
cylindrical projections c, for the crowbar to operate against.
When the
bolt.or-pin-has-been-drawn-out-in-this-way-seven or eight millimetres, it
can be turned round with the crow-bar until it clears the foot of the rail and the latter
can then-be removed-without-entirely-drawing the-bolt.
The force with which the clamping bolt holds is considerable, by reason of the
elasticity of the metal, of the sleeper; it has been found in fact by repeated
experiments that the clamping operation is as easy in the case of iron and steel as
of wood, whilst the force exerted is very much. greater, and is indeed sufficient to
straighton the surface of a somewhat curved rail.
By the use of my invention, the screw-threaded parts, keys and bolts of different
kinds, which have heretofore been used are dispensed with, as well as the various
accessory parts which it is impossible to keep in their places as they become loose
through the constantly repeated vibration.
The clamping operation is very simple, a few blows of a hammer, aided by the
elasticity of the parts, being sufficient to effect it, so that it will be perfectly firm and
without play or wear and tear.
My invention is equally applicable to longitudinal sleepers, in which the rib a may
be made double, or simply the thickness of the top surface of the sleeper increased i
and as the number of the clamping bolts used can be increased to any desired extent
the thickness of the ribs may be correspondingly reduced.
The form and arrangement of the different parts may be varied more or less, whilst
the principle (as already explained) remains the same.
For example figure 3 shews in section, and figure 4 in plan, such a modification.
Figures 5 and 6 are transverse and longitudinal sections respectively through the
sleeper. Figure 7 is a section of a clamping bolt or pin through A B, figure 6.
•
The attachment of the rail is effected in the way already described, by means of
clamping bolts by which the rail is held, but the necessary hold is obtained in a
somewhat different way. A sufficient number of small projecting bosses d are formed
upon the surface of the sleeper, at a suitable distance apart to receive the foot of

page_text: the rail between them, the bolt is placed further back and separated from the rail
which it only holds by the point of its hooked head pressing upon the foot of the
latter. In the figures four of the bosses dare shewn, but a greater or less number*
may be used if desired.
In addition to preventing the lateral movement of the rails, these projecting bosses d
may also be used to prevent any endlong movement of them, for which purpose they
are made closer together so that the rail can only be got between them by cutting
a notch at the end of its foot, and in this way movement in every direction is
prevented.
In another modification, I make the sleeper in the following way. I curve its ends
downward, and at the same time widen them so as to ensure their being well held in
the ballast, a large supporting surface being obtained, whilst any settling in the
ballast, which is likely to take place with sleepers having vertical ends, is prevented.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The inner ribs upon the transverse or longitudinal sleepers, substantially as
described and shewn.
2. The method of holding the rail by means of the clamping bolts or pins,
substantially as described and shewn.
3. The shape of the clamping bolts or pins, with the projections for the purpose of
withdrawing them, substantially as described and shewn.
4. The method of holding rails by the combination of the inclined holes in the
sleepers, with the clamping bolts or pins substantially as described and shewn.
5. The projecting bosses upon the surface of the sleepers for the purpose of
maintaining the rails in their position laterally and longitudinally, substantially as
described and shown.
6. The method of curving down and widening the ends of the transverse sleepers,
substantially as and for the purpose described and shown.
Dated this 30th day of April 1889.
EDWARDS & Co.,
35, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Patentee.