Improvements in Railway Rail Jacks.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Dec., 1892-Accepted, 14th Jan., 1893
CUMILLIE DIUIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Rail Jacks.
I JOHN M. WRIGHT, of the City of Fayetteville, in the County of Cumberland,
State of North Carolina, United States of America, Mechanical 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 track-jacks adapted for lifting railroad rails or tracks
for the purpose of levelling the track or removing decayed ties and replacing them
with new ones, &c.
The object of my invention is to provide a convenient and quickly-operating
device which may be placed under the rail, whereby direct force may be applied
from below for raising the track and whereby obstructions above the track are
avoided. This construction and arrangement of the jack is quite advantageous,
since a jack standing above the track would materially interfere with the move-
ments of workmen while carrying timbers or other materials to and fro above the
track and would also interfere with the passage of a hand-car or a train.
My jack or track-lifter is very compact and simple in construction and can be
conveniently carried from place to place and shoved under the rail between the ties
wherever it is desired to raise the track.
The matter constituting my invention will be defined in the claims.
I will now describe my track-jack in detail by reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the jack;
Figure 2 represents an elevation of the jack with one face or side plate removed
for showing the internal working parts;
Figure 3 represents a top plan view showing working parts of the jack, the top
plate of the box or case being removed.
Most of the working parts of my track-lifter are inclosed within an iron box or
casing C, having a base-plate X, which is preferably made about seven inches wide
by twenty inches long, thus forming a good foundation adapted for use on soft soil.
The height of the box C is about five inches. One or both of the side plates of
box C may be made removable for giving access to the interior working parts, and
I provide the box with the interior lugs c, Fig. 2, formed with screw-threaded
openings for receiving the lag-screws T for securing one side of the box in position.
The side plates of box C have cast with or otherwise secured to them the bosses B,
on each side for supporting the mandrels or shafts W, W. The gear-wheels D
are secured upon shafts W, W1, in proper position and mesh with each other, as
shown in Fig. 2, so that when one shaft is turned by means of a ratchet wheel
and lever the other will be turned through the medium of the gear wheels. Instead
of these two gear-wheels, however, I may use a ratchet and lever on each of the
shafts W, W, upon opposite sides of the box, and thereby operate both shafts for
raising the linked lifting-bar. Upon the shafts W, W1, 1 also secure the pinions Q
adapted to engage with the teeth of the links a, which form the lifting-bar A. In
the bottom of the box at its central portion I secure a triangular separator V for
guiding the links of the lifting-bar as they are passed either up or down, as shown
in Figure 2.
The upper and outer links a', of the lifting-bar A, are preferably made longer
than the ordinary links and are arranged back to back or with their backs together
and connected at their upper ends to the rectangular head A. The links a of the
lifting-bar are formed with tongues and slots at their ends fitting one into the
other and are connected together by pins . One edge of the links are formed

page_text: with teeth t. adapted to be engaged by the teeth of the pinions Q, and the opposite
edges of the links a are made straight and flat, so that they may fit closely together
when the bar is raised into a vertical position, as shown in Figure 1. The adjacent
ends of the links a, are bevelled at the edges which are provided with the teeth t,
whereby such links may be bent or turned one toward the other at the toothed edge,
as shown in Figure 2, thus permitting the two halves of the bar to be raised from
a horizontal to a vertical position, or vice versa.
While the links may be bent or turned one toward the other at the toothed edge,
they cannot be turned backward, and therefore when the two sets of links or two
halves of the bar are raised into a vertical position one half supports the other, so
as to form a rigid vertical bar, as seen in Figure 1. The top plate of box C is
provided centrally with an opening for the passage of the two sets of links consti-
tuting the bar A. To the shaft W, which projects at the front side of the
box, there is secured the ratchet-wheel E, by means of a key w, and the
ratchet-lever H is also fitted to work loosely on shaft W, and is secured thereon
by the nut O.
The ratchet-lever H projects at its inner end beyond shaft W and is provided
with a tripping-pin I, for forcing pawl F out of engagement with the ratchet teeth.
The lever H is preferably bifurcated at its end, as shown in Figure 3, and has
pivotally connected to it the dog or clutch R by means of pin r, said dog being
placed within the slot of the lever and arranged to engage with the teeth of ratchet-
wheel E, as shown in Figure 1. The ratchet-lever H, is provided with a socket h,
in which is inserted a handle H. The pawl F is connected by a pivot-pin f, to
the side of the case, and is provided with a toe g, which bears upon the spring J,
screwed to the base-plate X. The spring J serves to press the pawl into engage-
ment with the ratchet-wheel E, as shown in Figure 1. The ends of box C are
provided with pivoted handles K, connected to the box by pins k, by means of
which the jack may be readily carried from place to place.
The jack having been constructed as above described and shown in the drawings,
it is ready for use, and in order to use the same, it is placed directly under the
rail. The lever is now operated and the track will be raised about two inches with
each full stroke thereof. The track is thus quickly and easily raised to the desired
position and there is no tendency to pull it out of line, since the strain or thrust is
directly upward. After having completed the work the jack can be quickly
tripped by means of pin I in the end of lever H striking the pawl F and by drawing
back the dog R. The ratchet-wheel and gearing now being released, the linked
bar and its head A¹ now quickly slide down by their own weight, the two sets of
links passing into the opposite ends of the box, as shown in Figure 2, without
having to be worked down by use of a lever.
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
1 claim is
1. In a track-jack, a lifting-bar composed of two linked flexible parts connected
to a head and each of which parts is adapted to support the other in a vertical
position, in combination with a case and mechanism for raising both of the parts,
substantially as described.
2. A box or case having a central opening at the top and provided with two
shafts and pinions suitably spaced apart, in combination with a two-part linked
and toothed lifting-bar, the parts of which are connected to a head and are arranged
between and engage with said pinions, substantially as described.
3. The combination with the two-part linked lifting-bar having teeth at the edge
and arranged in a case and operating mechanism, of the guide having inclined
faces for separating the two parts of the linked bar, substantially as described.
4. In a track-raising jack, a two-part linked lifting-bar, each part being
composed of links having teeth at one edge and adapted to be flexed one toward
the other at the toothed edge only, said parts being connected by links lying back

page_text: to back to a rigid head, in combination with a box or case and suitable operating
mechanism.
5. In a track-jack, a lifting-bar composed of two flexible parts, each part being
formed of toothed links connected to a head and applied back to back, the links
having joints which permit them to be flexed one toward the other outward, but
prevent them from being flexed backward, whereby each half or part of the bar
supports the other when raised into a vertical position, in combination with a case
and a pinion engaging with the toothed links, substantially as described.
6. In a jack, a lifting-bar composed of two sets of pivotally-connected links
having teeth at one edge and adapted to be flexed one toward the other at the
toothed edge, said sets of links being connected at one end, in combination with a
case and mechanism for raising the bar, substantially as described.
7. A box or case provided with two transverse shafts carrying two gear-wheels
meshing with each other, in combination with a two-part linked and toothed lifting-.
bar and operating mechanism, substantially as described.
Dated this 8th day of December 1892.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.