IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COUPLING OR GEARING TOGETHER THE AXLES OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES, TRAM CAR ENGINES, AND OTHER VEHICLES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF POWER BY SHAFTING
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Atkinson Longridge, of Victoria Street, in the City
of Westminster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
COUPLING OR GEARING TOGETHER THE AXLES OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES, TRAM
CAR ENGINES, AND OTHER VEHICLES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR THE TRANSMISSION
OF POWER BY SHAFTING."
Sealed the 29th January 1878, and dated the 22nd November 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Atkinson Longridge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd November 1877.
JAMES ATKINSON LONGRIDGE, of Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COUPLING OR GEARING TOGETHER THE AXLES
OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES, TRAM CAR ENGINES, AND OTHER VEHICLES, APPLICABLE
ALSO FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF POWER BY SHAFTING."
My Invention relates to improvements in gearing or coupling together the axles
of locomotive and tram car engines, and other vehicles, as described in the Specifi-
cation of former Letters Patent granted to me, dated November 2nd, 1872, No. 3259,
the Invention being also applicable for the transmission of power from one shaft or
line of shafting to another by cog-wheels or belts, wire or other ropes running on
pulleys or sheaves.
The object of my Invention is to allow of the axles or shafts so coupled or geared
to radiate or diverge from their normal parallel position independently of the cog
wheels, pulleys, or sheaves upon them, whose planes of rotation always remain in
the same plane.
In coupling or gearing together the axles of a locomotive engine and tender, or
of two different bogie frames by cog wheels keyed fast on the axles, as described
in my said former Patent, the radiation of the axles in passing round curves, and
the vertical oscillation caused by the irregularities of the road, cause the gear wheels

page_text: to depart from their normal plane, in consequence of which the gear teeth are
exposed to undue strains and wear.
My Invention consists in fixing the cog wheels, pulleys, or sheaves on their
axles or shafts by means of a ball-and-socket connection, which causes the wheel,
pulley, or sheave to be rotated with the axle or shaft, and yet leaves the latter free
to swivel in any direction within certain limits, without affecting the position of
the former.
In carrying out my Invention I employ the following arrangement:-A spherical
shaped boss is provided on the axle or shaft, and the hub of the wheel is formed
internally with a corresponding cavity or socket, in which the boss is enclosed,
except in so far as it is necessary to allow for the swivelling motion of the axle or
shaft. The boss and hub are connected together by one or more teeth, or drivers
projecting from the surface of the boss and received each in a transverse groove in
the socket of the wheel, so as to allow the tooth to participate in the oscillating motion
of the shaft. Each tooth has a cylindrical root or stem entering into a corresponding
socket bored in the boss, so as to be free to rotate on its own axis independently of
the boss in order to avoid being jammed in its groove in the socket when the axle
or shaft swivels or inclines itself at an angle to the axis of rotation of the wheel or
pulley. The hub of the wheel or pulley may be extended laterally in cylindrical
form, and be provided with packings to retain oil in the joint, but of a sufficiently
elastic nature to allow of the play of the axle or shaft.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Atkinson Longridge in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th May 1878.
JAMES ATKINSON LONGRIDGE, of Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COUPLING OR GEARING TOGETHER THE AXLES
OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES, TRAM CAR ENGINES, AND OTHER VEHICLES, APPLICABLE
ALSO FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF POWER BY SHAFTING."
My Invention relates to improvements in gearing or coupling together the axles
of locomotive and tram car engines, and other vehicles, as described in the Speci-
fication of former Letters Patent granted to me, dated November 2nd, 1872, No.
3259, the Invention being also applicable in the transmission of power from one
shaft, or line of shafting, to another by gear wheels, belts, wire, or other ropes
running on pulleys or sheaves.
In coupling or gearing together the trailing axle of a locomotive engine and the
leading axle of its tender, or the trailing and leading axles of two different bogie
frames, whether belonging to the same or different vehicles, or the different axles of
the same vehicle, when radiating axles are used, by cog wheels keyed fast on the
axles, as described in my said former Patent, the radiation or divergence of the axles
when the vehicles are passing round curves and the vertical transverse oscillations
due to the irregularites of the road cause the gear wheels to depart from their
normal relative position, and rotate in planes at an angle to one another, since
the plane of rotation of each wheel is necessarily perpendicular to the axis of its
shaft, in consequence of which the gear teeth are exposed to undue strains, and
wear.
The object of my Invention as applied to coupling such axles is to avoid this
objection and allow the axles so coupled or geared to oscillate, radiate, or diverge
from their normal parallel position independently of the cog wheels upon them,
the planes of rotation of the said cog wheels remaining always in the same common
plane.
My Invention consists in fixing the cog wheels, pulleys, or sheaves on their axles
or shafts by means of a sort of universal or ball-and-socket connection, in such a
way that the wheel, pulley, or sheave is necessarily rotated with the axle or shaft,
and yet the one is left free to swivel in any direction within certain limits, inde-
pendently of the other.
In carrying out my Invention I employ the following arrangement:-A spherical
shaped boss is forged or fixed on the axle or shaft, and the hub of the wheel is.
formed internally with a corresponding cavity or socket in which the boss is:
enclosed. The boss and hub are connected together by one or more teeth, or drivers
projecting from the surface of the boss, each received in a transverse groove in the
socket of the wheel, and each tooth formed with a cylindrical root or stem fitted in
a corresponding socket bored in the boss, so as to be free to rotate on its own axis.
independently of the boss in order to avoid being jammed in its groove in the socket.
The hub of the wheel or pulley may be extended laterally in cylindrical form, and
be provided with packings to retain oil in the joint, but of a sufficiently elastic
nature to allow of the swivelling movement referred to.
As applied to a shaft mounted in stationary bearings the object of the Invention
is to render the wheel, pulley, or sheave so far independent of its shaft as to allow
it to swivel relatively thereto, so that the wheel, pulley, or sheave may always
rotate in the same plane, which need not be perpendicular to the axis of the shaft,
thereby allowing two shafts to be geared together, which are not parallel.

page_text: tender, as and for the purpose described in the Specification of my said former
Patent.
Figure 3 is a vertical section on line 1, 1, Figure 1, showing the ball-and-
socket connection of the cog wheels A, B, with the axles on which they are
mounted.
Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section; and Figure 5 is a face view of one of
the wheels A, B, apart from its axle; and Figure 6 is a similar section of the same
wheel taken to pieces for the purpose of mounting or dismounting it.
Figure 7 is a vertical section on line 2, 2, of the intermediate wheel and
framing.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the Figures.
The cog wheels A, B, are mounted on their respective axles C, D, and are geared
together by an intermediate wheel E, mounted to rotate in two side frames F, F,
supported at the ends on the extended hubs of the two wheels A, B, which turn
freely in suitable bearings in said frames.
So far the arrangement is similar to that described in my former Letters Patent,
my present Invention consisting in the universal or ball-and-socket connection, by
which the cog wheels A, B, are compelled to revolve with their axles without par-
ticipating in their swivelling movements. This connection consists of a spherical-
shaped boss or ball a forged or fixed on each axle and turned true, and a
corresponding spherical-shaped cavity or socket b formed within the hub of each
of the said wheels which encloses the boss or ball a, except in so far as it is neces-
sary to allow the axle a certain amount of freedom to swivel or play in any
direction.
The connection by which the wheel is caused to revolve with its axle consists in
one or more teeth or drivers c projecting from the surface of the boss or ball a, and
received each in a corresponding groove d, formed in the surface of the spherical
socket or cavity b, and extending from side to side thereof, the teeth or drivers c
being free to play along the said grooves as they (the teeth), participate in the
swivelling motion of the axle. To avoid the teeth becoming jammed in the grooves
and thus impeding this swivelling motion, they are independent of the oscillating
motion of the ball or boss, so far as the latter takes place, about the longitudinal
axis of the teeth. For this purpose each tooth has a cylindrical stem or root c¹
fitted in a corresponding cylindrical socket in the boss a so as to leave the latter
free to swivel or rotate about the tooth without rotating the tooth on its own axis.
If, however, the projecting portions c of the teeth are of cylindrical form, the teeth
may be fixtures in the boss a, as there will then be no liability of their becoming
jammed. In this case the projecting portions may have friction blocks upon them
fitting in the grooves to prevent wear, as shewn in Figure 8, c² being the blocks
fitted on the round pins c, and capable of rotating thereon, as shewn by the dotted
lines.
To enable the wheels A, B, to be readily mounted and dismounted, they are each
made in two parts united by bolts as shewn. The hubs of the said wheels may be
extended in the cylindrical form shewn at f, to carry the frames F, the internal
diameter of the hub being sufficiently greater than the diameter of the axle, to avoid
interfering with the free play of the latter, and an elastic packing may be applied
at g to retain oil in the ball-and-socket connection. It will be obvious that the
teeth or drivers c may be fixed in the cavity or socket b, and the grooves d be formed
in the boss a if preferred. It will also be evident that the boss, if of much larger
diameter than the shaft on which it is placed, may be merely a frustrum of a sphere
in the form of a disc with a spherical periphery keyed on the shaft.
In applying the Invention to two shafts or lines of shafting which are not
required to rotate in the same direction, the intermediate wheel E, its supporting
frames F, and the extensions 'f may be dispensed with, and the wheels A, B, geared
directly together, and instead of being cogged they may be friction wheels, band or
belt pulleys.or sheaves, the pulleys or sheaves being in any case connected to their

page_text: °
shafts by a ball-and-socket or universal joint, in precisely the same way as herein
described, and shewn in the Drawings.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing the
same, I declare that what I claim as iny Invention, to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First. Mounting a gear wheel, pulley, or sheave on its axle or shaft by a universal
or ball-and-socket joint or connection provided with drivers or teeth, substantially as
herein shewn and described, so that whilst compelled to rotate together the axle is
yet free to swivel independently of the wheel, or the wheel pulley or sheave free
to rotate in a plane not perpendicular to the axis of the shaft (as the case may be).
as and for the purpose specified.
Second. The combination in a universal or ball-and-socket joint or connection
between a gear wheel, pulley, or sheave, and its axle or shaft, as herein described, of
one or more teeth or drivers projecting from the ball, and corresponding grooves
formed in the socket (or vice versa) to receive them and allow of the swivelling
motion, substantially as shewn and described for the purpose specified.
Third. In a universal or ball-and-socket joint or connection between a gear
wheel, pulley, or sheave, and its axle or shaft, provided with teeth or drivers on the
one part, received in grooves on the other as described, mounting the teeth or drivers
so as to be capable of rotation on their own axis, substantially as and for the pur-
pose specified.
In witness whereof, 1, the said James Atkinson Longridge, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
JA. ATKINSON LONGRIDGE. (L.S.)