Improvements in Axle Boxes for Railway and other Carriages.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Feb., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 16th Dec., 1893-Accepted, 20th Jan., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Axle Boxes for Railway and other Carriages.
We, FREDERICK BRANDON SHUTTLEWORTH, of the Shipbuilding Yard, Erith,
in the County of Kent, Engineer Shipbuilder and Boilermaker, and JAMES
DONNELLY, of 69 Englefield Road, Canonbury, London, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said invention to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to axle boxes for railway and other carriages, which
are formed out of sheets or plates of steel or other suitable metal by pressing,
forging, welding or otherwise, and the object of the said improvements is to provide
means for the easy attachment to such boxes of the spring seatings, and horn-plate
guides. For the purpose of securing the spring seating we form a recess in the top
of the axle box by pressing, swaging, or otherwise forcing inwards the sheet or
plate metal at the part where the spring seating is intended to bear, and we form
the under side of the spring seating so as to fit into the said recess whereby it is
prevented from shifting in any lateral direction. The formation of the aforesaid
recess by pressing inward the sheet or plate metal produces a corresponding
inwardly-projecting part which we sometimes utilize as a keep for holding the axle
brass or step in position. For the purpose of securing the horn-plate guides we
form a groove, channel, or recess on each side of the axle box by pressing, swaging
or otherwise suitably bending, or shaping the sheet or plate metal sides of the axle
box and we fit the horn-plate guides, which may be made of rolled or cast steel or
other suitable metal, into the said grooves, channels or recesses, which may
preferably be made of dovetail section.
In some cases the spring seating and the two horn-plate guides may be cast or
otherwise formed in one piece, so shaped and adapted as to be easily slipped into
place on the axle box, that is to say so that the two horn-plate guides will slip into
their respective grooves, channels, or recesses on the sides of the axle box, while
the spring seating comes to bear in the recess on the top of the box. But, if
preferred, when the spring seating and the horn-plate guides are formed in one
piece, as above described, the recess on the top of the axle box may be dispensed
with, and the spring seating allowed to rest on the said top, being held in position
thereon by the horn-plate guides taking into the grooves, channels or recesses
formed on or in the axle box sides.
Dal L
1009
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Axle Boxes for Railway and other Carriages.
We FREDERICK BRANDON SHUTTLEWORTH, of the Shipbuilding Yard, Erith,
in the County of Kent, Engineer, Shipbuilder and Boilermaker, and JAMES
DONNELLY, of 69 Englefield Road, Canonbury, London, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
These improvements relate to axle boxes for railway and other carriages which

page_text: are formed out of sheets or plates of steel, or other suitable metal, by pressing,
forging, welding or otherwise, and the object of the said improvements is to provide
means for the easy attachment to such boxes of the spring seatings, and horn-plate
guides.
And in order that the said invention may be readily understood we will now
proceed to describe the same with the aid of the accompanying four sheets of
drawings in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of an axle box, constructed in accordance with our
invention, suitable for lubrication with oil, the spring seating and horn-plate guides
not being applied thereto.
Figure 2 is a plan, and Figure 3 a back elevation of same.
Figure 4 is a partial section taken on the line 1-1 of Figures 1 and 2.
Figures 5 and 6 are respectively side and back elevations of the same box with
the spring seating and horn-plate guides applied thereto.
Figures 7, 8 and 9 are respectively longitudinal section, transverse section, and
plan of a similar box adapted to be supplied with grease instead of oil.
Figure 10 shows three views of a horn-plate guide suitable for use. with our
improved axle boxes, and
Figure 11 shows two views of a spring seating and a pair of horn-plate guides
combined.
Figures 12 to 21 illustrate the process of manufacturing the axle boxes in
accordance with our invention, and certain special tools employed therein, Figures 14
and 15 being sections taken respectively on lines 2-2 and 3-3 of Figure 13,
Figure 17 a section on line 4-4 of Figure 16, and Figure 21 a sectional elevation
on line 5-5 of Figure 20.
For the purpose of securing the spring seating, we form a recess in the top of
the axle box by pressing, swaging, or otherwise forcing inwards the sheet or plate
metal at the part where the spring seating is intended to bear, and we form the
underside of the spring seating so as to fit into the said recess whereby it is
prevented from shifting in any lateral direction. But instead of forming a recess
in the top of the axle box we sometimes form a projection as shown at A in
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8 by pressing, swaging, or otherwise forcing outwards the
sheet or plate metal, leaving recesses B B into which take the prongs C C of the
cast steel or other spring seating D.
The formation of the aforesaid recess or projection, by pressing inwards or
outwards the sheet or plate metal, produces a corresponding inwardly projecting
part, or an internal recess, as the case may be, which we sometimes utilise as a
keep for holding the axle brass or step E in position as shown.
For the purpose of securing the horn-plate guides to the box, we form a groove,
channel or recess on each side of the axle box by pressing, swaging, or otherwise
suitably bending or shaping the sheet or plate metal sides of the axle box as shown
for example at F in Figures 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, and we fit the horn-plate
guides G, which may be made of rolled or cast steel or other suitable metal, into
the grooves, channels or recesses which are preferably made with dovetail shaped
sides as shown in Figures 2, 5 and 9.
In some cases the spring seating and the two horn-plate guides may be cast or
otherwise formed in one piece, so shaped and adapted as to be easily slipped into
place on the axle box, that is to say so that the two horn-plate guides will slip into
their respective grooves, channels or recesses on the sides of the axle box, while
the spring seating comes to bear on the top of the box, as shown in Figures 7, 8, 9
and 11. In the example shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9 it will be seen that the
grease box H is also cast with the spring seating D and the horn-plate guides G.
In some cases, when the spring seating and the horn-plate guides are formed in
one piece as above described, the recess or projection on the top of the axle box
may be dispensed with, and the spring seating allowed to rest on the said top, being
held in position thereon by the horn-plate guides taking into the grooves, channels
or recesses formed on or in the axle box sides.

page_text: The method we have found most suitable for manufacturing our improved axle
boxes is illustrated in Figures 12 to 21 of the drawings.
We take a piece of sheet or plate steel or other suitable metal I, Figure 12, of
the size suited for making an axle box; we stamp, press or swage in it the
projection A for supporting and guiding the spring seating D, the projections F to
form the guides or cheeks between which the horn-plate guides G are to be placed,
and a projection J which forms the sides of the axle box, grooves for the insertion
of a sliding plate to prevent the admission of dust and dirt. The above mentioned
projections A, F and J are shown in section in Figures 14 and 15. In the first
stamping, pressing or swaging of the projections F, the sides thereof, which
face each other in two adjacent projections, are left square or nearly so, but
it is preferable that they shall be somewhat undercut or of dovetail shape as seen
for example in Figures 2 and 9. To effect this, we employ the tool shown in
section in Figure 18 in which K is the bolster of any suitable pressing machine.
L L are two eccentric rollers of the same length as the hollow parts of the
projections F F, and pivotted at M M in openings or recesses in the bolster K.
These rollers are grooved or rebated as shown, the upper edges of the rebates
fitting into the hollows of the projections F F. N is a follower which carries a
die the sides of which are shaped to the angle it is intended to impart to the
dovetail faces of the projections F.
It will now be understood that the sheet or plate I, in the form shown in
Figures 13, 14 and 15, being laid on the bolster K in the position shown, and the
follower N being placed over it with the die P bearing on the plate I between the
projections F F and a packing piece Q being interposed between the said plate and
the bottoms of the rebates in the rollers L, if pressure be applied to the follower
in the direction of the arrow, that pressure will be transmitted through the die P,
plate I and packing Q to the bottoms of the rebates in the rollers L, causing the
latter to turn inwards and to press, by the upright sides of their rebates, the faces
of the projections F against the sides of the die P thereby imparting to them the
desired angularity or dovetail form. By varying the thickness of the packing
piece the rollers I may be caused to press the projections F against the die P
with greater or less intensity as may be required. The die P can be removed after
the projections F have been bent into the dovetail form, by being drawn
longitudinally out of its dovetail seat in the follower N.
We next cut the sheet or plate I to the shape shown in Figure 13 and then bend
it into the form shown in Figures 16 and 17-by means of any suitable pressing
machine. We then place the sheet or plate so bent on the top of a bolster R,
Figure 19, fixed to the bed of a suitable pressing machine and clamp it thereon by
means of a follower S. A pair of rollers T T mounted in suitable bearings in a
vertically moving frame or plunger, not shown in the drawing, is then caused to
move downwards, bending the plate I, as shown, down against the sides of the
bolster, bringing the edges U U and V V together to form the back and front
respectively of the axle box; these edges are then welded together and the
opening W, Figures 3 and 6, is cut through the back for the admission of the
journal end of the axle.
In order to make sure that the horn-plate guides G G, when in place on the
axle box, are in the proper position to receive the horn-plates, we employ a strong
cast iron or other suitable case or box X, Figures 20 and 21, provided with internal
fillets X' corresponding to the horn-plates with which the horn-plate guides of the
axle box are intended to engage. We place the axle box, made as above described,
while in a heated state, and on a suitable mandril, in this case X as shown in the
figures, and we then force the horn-plate guides G by any suitable means down
into their seats in the axle box while engaged with the fillets X¹, so that any
imperfection in the shape of the box, so far as it would affect the fit of the
horn-plate guides in the horn plates, is corrected. The combined horn plate
guides and spring seating may be placed in position on the axle box in a similar
way.

page_text: The axle box may be fitted with a bottom Y welded, bolted or otherwise secured
in position as illustrated in Figures 7 and 8.
The horn-plate guides may be secured in place in their seats at the sides of the
axle box by rivetting or otherwise; or they and their seats may be tapered to
'prevent them from slipping down in such seats, or they may be prevented from
slipping down in their seats by means of projections formed in the sides of the box
at the lower ends of such seats, or otherwise as may be convenient.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:-
First. The improved axle box constructed from sheet or plate steel or other
suitable metal having a recess or a projection pressed, swaged or otherwise formed
in or on the top thereof to receive the spring seating and prevent lateral
movement or displacement thereof, substantially as described with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
Second. The improved axle box constructed from sheet or plate steel or other
suitable metal having projections pressed, swaged or otherwise formed on the sides
thereof to receive and hold the horn-plate guides substantially as described with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
Third. In axle boxes constructed from sheet or plate steel or other suitable metal,
making the spring seating and the two horn-plate guides in one piece adapted and
applied to the axle box, substantially as described with reference to the accom-
panying drawings.
Fourth. The improved axle box constructed from sheet or plate steel or other
suitable metal substantially as described.
Dated this 16th day of December 1803
F. B. SHUTTLEWORTH,
J. DONNELLY,
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, Agent.