IMPROVEMENTS IN JOURNALS OR AXLE BOXES FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES, WHEREBY TO EFFECT THE BETTER LUBRICATION OF THE FRICTIONAL SURFACES
Year: 1860

page_text: Sealed the 2nd April 1861, and dated the 21st November 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
November 1860.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN JOURNALS OR AXLE BOXES FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES,
WHEREBY TO EFFECT THE BETTER LUBRICATION OF THE FRICTIONAL SURFACES," to.be
as follows:-
The use of end bearings in the journals of railroad carriage axles, which are
so essential to the steady running of the carriages, has heretofore been objec-
tionable from the want of some mode of keeping the surfaces oiled. The
centrifugal action tends constantly to carry the oil away from between the sur-
face of the end of the journal and that part of the box which forms the end
bearing, and therefore all attempts heretofore made to supply the oil have failed.
The object of this Invention is to ensure a constant supply of oil to the
surface of the end bearing, and for this purpose the said Invention consists in
combining with the usual end bearing of railroad carriage axles of brushes or
other projections on the periphery of the journal, and near the end thereof,
which in the rotation of the axle shall dip into and carry up the oil or other

page_text: lubricating liquid from the lower part of the box; and also of a passage way
from the upper surface down to and through the centre of the end bearing, so
that the oil or other lubricating matter so carried up shall fall on to the upper
surface of the end bearing, and run down the passage way to the centre of the
end bearing.
In the accompanying Drawing, forming part of this Specification, the said
Invention is represented in vertical section.
A represents a railroad axle box; and B, the axle journal, running under
friction rollers C, one only being shown in the Drawing, the journals D, D,
of which are fitted in suitable bearings in the upper part of the box A.
Beyond the outer end of the friction rollers C the journal is enlarged as at E,
and from the periphery of this enlargement numerous wires or bristles F project
in the form of a brush; and in the rotation of the axle these wires or bristles
dip into the oil or other lubricating liquid in the lower part of the box, and
carry it up and apply it to the outer journals D of the friction rollers C. The
oil so applied, or rather so carried up, (for although I prefer to use friction
rollers, the use of them forms no part of the Invention,) is distributed at the
upper part of the box, and a portion of it falls on the upper surface of the
end bearing G, and thence descends into a channel II leading to and passing out
through the centre thereof to supply the oil to the end surface of the axles.
In this way the end bearing is constantly supplied with oil while the carriage
is in motion, for although the centrifugal action due to the rotation of the
axle constantly carries the oil from the centre to discharge it at the periphery,
nevertheless the supply at the centre will be constant, and will keep the end
bearing fully supplied.
Although I have pointed out the mode of construction which I prefer, I do
not limit my claim to such mode of application.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th
May 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, 'WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the

page_text: said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
JOURNAL OR AXLE BOXES FOR RAILROAD CARRIAGES, WHEREBY TO EFFECT THE
BETTER LUBRICATION OF THE FRICTIONAL SURFACES," a communication from abroad
by Mr. James Hervey Deming, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Gentleman,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Clark, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed
& to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The use of end-bearing surfaces in the journals of railroad carriage axles,
which are so essential to the steady running of the carriages, has heretofore
been objectionable from the want of some mode of keeping the surfaces oiled.
The centrifugal action tends constantly to carry the oil away from between the
surface of the end of the journal and that part of the box which forms the.
end bearing, & therefore all attempts heretofore made to supply the oil have
failed more or less.
The object of this Invention is to ensure a constant supply of oil to the
surface of the end bearing, and for this purpose the said Invention consists in
combining with the usual end bearing of railroad carriage axles and boxes, of
brushes or other projections on the periphery of the journal, and near the end
thereof, which in the rotation of the axle shall dip into and carry up the oil or
other lubricating liquid from the lower part of the box, and also of a passage
way from the upper surface down to and through the centre of the end bear-
ing, so that the oil or other lubricating matter so carried up shall fall on to the
upper surface of the end bearing, and run down the passage way to the centre
of the bearing end.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing, forming part of this Specification, the lubri
cator is represented in vertical section.
A is the railroad axle box; and B, the axle journal, running under friction
rollers C (only one being shown in the Drawing); the journals D, D, of which
are fitted to suitable bearings in the upper part of the box A. Beyond the
outer end of the friction rollers C the journal is enlarged, as at E, and from
the periphery of this enlargement numerous wires or bristles F project in the
form of a circular brush, and in the rotation of the axle these wires or bristles
dip into the oil or other lubricating liquid in the lower part of the box, and
carry it up and apply it to the journals D of the friction rollers C. The oil so
applied, or rather so carried up, (for although I prefer to use friction rollers
the use of them forms no part of the Invention,) is distributed at the upper
part of the box, & a portion of it falls on the upper surface of the end bearing
G, and thence descends into a channel H, leading to and passing out through the
centre thereof to supply the oil to the end surfaces of the axles. In this way the
end bearing is constantly supplied with oil while the carriage is in motion, for
although the centrifugal action due to the rotation of the axle constantly
carries the oil from the centre to discharge it at the periphery, nevertheless
the supply at the centre will be constant, and will keep the end bearing fully
supplied.
Although I have pointed out the mode of construction which I prefer, I do
not limit my claim to such mode of application.
Having described the nature of the Invention, & the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, combining with the end bear-
ings of the journal and axle box, oil lifting projections or bristles on the
journal, and a channel or way for receiving the oil and conducting it towards
and discharging it at or near the centre of the end face of the journal, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.