Improved Railroad Sleeper.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 4th June, 1898
Complete Specification Left, 6th Mar., 1899-Accepted, 8th Apr., 1899
Improved Railroad Sleeper.
I, WILLIAM THOMAS WILKINSON, of Lafayette, Colorado, U.S.A., Miner, Car-
penter, and Drayman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of this invention is to provide a railroad sleeper which will permit of
resiliency of the rails thereby greatly aiding the springs of a train to render its
motion more free from vibration than is usual at the present time
The invention comprises a hollow rectangular box-like base or sleeper pre-
ferably consisting of an upper and lower part suitably bolted together.
Vertical guide-ways in the sides of the upper part, at places immediately below
the positions where the rails cross the sleeper, retain blocks to which the chairs
are secured. The undersides of these blocks and the upper surface of the bottom
of the lower part of the sleeper, have circular projections thereon which serve to
retain in place the respective upper and lower ends of coiled springs, which tend
to keep the blocks elevated. The apertures in the top of the sleepers, for the
projection therethrough of the chairs, being smaller than the blocks, the latter
cannot be pressed out of the guides by the springs. Suitable flanges may be
arranged to overlap the edges of the apertures aforementioned to prevent dust from
entering to the working parts of the blocks and guides, as much as possible.
Dated thin 14th day of Tuna 1808
R. RAINSFORD,
Agent for Applicant.
I, WILLIAM THOMAS WILKINSON, of Lafayette, Colorado, U.S.A., Miner, Car-
penter, and Drayman, 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 railway sleepers, and it has for its object, among others,
to provide a simple, cheap, yet durable and efficient railway sleeper having such
resiliency or elasticity as to yield under the weight of the train passing over the
same, thus effecting a saving not only in the wear of the engine and coaches, but
also rendering the travel much smoother and hence affording greater comfort
to the travellers. I form the sleeper in sections detachably and adjustably con-
nected and provided with interposed springs arranged directly beneath the rails.
The springs are so arranged as to prevent their displacement or disengagement
under the movements of the sleeper."

page_text: to keep them elevated, and chairs bolted to or cast integral with said blocks, all
substantially as and for the purposes herein before set forth, and illustrated in
the drawings hereunto annexed.
(2) A railway sleeper consisting of a hollow body, openings in the top of the
body, blocks vertically reciprocable in the openings, springs beneath said blocks
to keep them elevated, and chairs bolted to or cast integral with said blocks, a plate
of flexible metal clamped between the block and chair thereon or secured to said
block or chair, and having its edges projected downwardly and outwardly over the
openings in the top of the sleeper, all substantially as and for the purposes herein-
before set forth and illustrated in the drawings hereunto annexed.
(3) A railway sleeper consisting of a hollow body comprising an upper and lower
part securely united by bolts, openings in the top of the upper part, blocks vertically
reciprocable in said openings, a depending projection on the under side of each of
said blocks, projections on the inner surface of the bottom of the lower part of
the sleeper coincident with the projections aforesaid, springs. encompassing said
projections, rail chairs formed integral with or bolted to said blocks, and means
such as described for protecting said openings from foreign matter, all substan-
tially as and for the purposes herein before set forth and illustrated in the drawings
hereunto annexed.
(4) A railway sleeper consisting of a hollow body comprising an upper and a
lower part, the upper part vertically reciprocable upon the lower part, springs
arranged between the respective parts to retain the upper part elevated, and bolts
extending between the respective parts to limit the movement thereof, all sub-
stantially as and for the purposes herein before set forth and illustrated in the
drawings hereunto annexed.
(5) A railway sleeper consisting of a hollow body comprising an upper and a
lower part, the upper part having a flange at right angles to its edges and adapted
to overlap the sides and ends of the lower part, depending projections on the under
side of the upper part, projections on the upper side of the bottom of the lower
part, springs encompassing said projections, bolts movably securing said upper
and lower parts together and adapted to limit the movement of the parts, all sub-
stantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth and illustrated in the
drawings hereunto annexed.
(6) A railway sleeper consisting of a hollow body comprising an upper and a
lower part, said parts having the edges of their sides and ends formed in such
manner that the respective parts engage and are thereby prevented from lateral
movement one over the other, bolts for limiting the vertical movement of said
parts, and springs arranged over projections on the respective parts, all substan-
tially as and for the purposes herein before set forth, and illustrated in the drawings
hereunto annexed..