Year: 1889

page_text: I ARTHUR KOPPEL, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire,
Manufacturer, 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 the rail frames of Portable Railways which are subject to
frequent removal, such as are used in forests, agriculture plantages, etc., and is
designed to facilitate a change of gauge, to allow the frames to be folded into a
small compass for convenient and economical storage or transport by vessel or
overland, and to allow of their being easily and quickly placed in position for use.
For the purposes of facilitating a change of gauge and to allow of the frames
being folded into a small compass for storage and transport, I form the rails and the
sleepers into frames by devices which will allow them to pivot on their connecting
joints.
The frames may therefore be placed for use in the usual position, as shown in
Figure 1, in which the rails A and sleepers B are at right angles to one another,
thus affording the greatest width of gauge, or they may be placed as shewn in
Figure 2, where the frames of rails and sleepers are of rhomboidal form, thus
narrowing the gauge; or, for transport or storage, they may be folded close together
to resemble a bundle of iron bars, utilising to the utmost the loading space of the
vessels or transport wagons, or the storage space of warehouses.
Figures 3 to 8 of the accompanying drawings show my improved connecting
devices in several modifications.
In the arrangement shown in figures 3 and 4, the connecting device between rail
and sleeper consists of a disc a, rivetted to the former and let into a corresponding
recess in the latter.
This disc is formed with a projecting rim which lays itself
against the lower face of the sleeper which is supposed to be trough shaped..

page_text: If it is desired to prevent a further rotation of the rail against the sleeper, when
the same are placed at right angles to one another, the rim of the disc may have
lugs a', the ends of which touch the ribs of the sleeper (see especially Figure 4,
which represents the sleeper as seen from below).
Instead of rivetting the disc a to the rail I may use as attaching means a fastening
clip (figures 4, 4 and 4°, sheet 2) surrounding the said disc and having lugs which
grip into rectangular slots of the disc a and into flat recesses of the foot of the
rail. After the fastening clip a², which is preferably of soft iron, has been inserted
from below, the free ends of the lugs are hammered over the foot of the rail.
Figure 4 is a sectional view, figure 4b a plan, and figure 4° an underneath view of
the above modification.
In figure 5, instead of the disc a, I use two bolts rivetted or screwed into the foot
or base of the rail and which reach through recesses c in the sleeper, the hook
shaped-heads of these bolts & prevent the rails from being lifted off the sleepers.
If the rail is to rest on bearing plates, the bearing plate d, Figure C, is formed with
a pivot d¹, which is supplied with a washer and pin to secure the connection between
rail and sleeper. One or more pressure. screws arranged in the projection of the
bearing plate, which grips over the foot or base of the rail, serve to secure the rail
firmly in the bearing plate.
In railways which are not exposed to special force, a screw bolt e may be used as
pivot (see figure 7) which is introduced from below into a recess or hole in the foot
or base of the rail.
To obtain room for the screw-nut, the neck of the rail is suitably recessed. If it
is desired to limit the rotation of the rails, when they are at right angles to the
sleepers, two plates f may be rivetted to the sleeper.
An even more simple method of connection is shewn in Figure 8, where a bolt g
with an elongated head is used as pivot and inserted from above through a hole or
recess in the foot of the rail and rivetted to the sleeper.
To maintain the required gauge of the rails when in position, it is only necessary
to drive pegs into the Ground at the first and last frame, then, if the other or inter-
mediate frames have been joined so as to prevent a longitudinal movement of the
rails, the gauge will be effectively secured.
For the purpose last aforesaid and to allow of the frames being easily and quickly
placed in position, I employ a fish plate h on the free ends of the rails, see Figure 3,
which projects beyond the neck of the rail, and is formed at its lower side with a
lug of sufficient length and bent in such a manner as to project below the foot or base
of the rail. This lug may be either of the same thickness as the fish plate or
cylindrically strengthened, see ', Figure 4, or in the form of a pin, see h³, Figure 8.
With this lug corresponds a segmental recess in the connecting sleeper of the
frame Figs. 4 and 8. Or, that part of the lug which projects below the foot or base
of the rail may be bent sidewards and have a segmental recess with which corresponds
a belt or pin k. rivetted into the connecting sleeper.
When a frame has been placed in position and another frame is to be connected
to it, the free ends of the fish plates h reach under the heads of the rails of the first
frame, the other end of the frame to be placed being held elevated and is then lowered,
when the pins or lugs h³ or h³ respectively grip into the holes in the connecting
sleeper of the first frame. The second frame is thus secured against longitudinal or
transverse movement.
If a fish plate with lug 2 Fig. 5, is used, the same object is obtained by the bolt k
being inserted into the hole of the lug h².
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
In rail-frames for portable railways:
1st. The construction of the rails and sleepers into frames so that the parts
connected con nisat
Ր 11
.

page_text: allowing the gauge of the track to be altered and the frames to be folded into a
small compass for facility of transport or storage.
2nd. For the before mentioned purpose suitable connecting devices as described
and shewn in Figs. 3 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.
3rd. The application on the free ends of the rails of fish plates h with lugs h¹, h³
or ³ reaching into recesses i of the connecting sleeper of the preceding frame or
receiving a pin or bolt h rivetted to the latter.
Dated this 26th day of February 1889
FELL & WILDING,
.1, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.