IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OP COMPENSATING FOR THE WEAR OF MACHINERY SUBJECT TO RECTILINEAR MOTION
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Hughes, of Loughborough, in the County of
Leicester, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS
OP COMPENSATING FOR THE WEAR OF MACHINERY SUBJECT TO RECTILINEAR
MOTION."
Sealed the 21st December 1855, and dated the 27th September 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Hughes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
September 1855.
I, HENRY HUGHES, of Loughborough, in the County of Leicester, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MEANS OF COMPENSATING FOR THE WEAR OF MACHINERY SUBJECT TO RECTILINEAR
MOTION" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in adapting and applying to the parts of the
mechanism liable to wear by the continued friction of the rubbing surfaces a
wedge of brass or other suitable material, which may be driven forward so as
to bring such surfaces in closer contact, as may be required.
The wedge may be applied either to the stationary guide or to the sliding
piece of the mechanism, but I prefer the latter, and it may be held in its
required position by means of a bolt or set screw. The wedge may also be
applied in cases wherein both the rubbing surfaces are in motion.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HUGHES, of Loughborough, in the County of Leicester, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Hughes, Her special license that I, the said Henry Hughes,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Hughes, 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 THE MEANS OF
COMPENSATING FOR THE WEAR OF MACHINERY SUBJECT TO RECTILINEAR MOTION,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Hughes, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Henry Hughes, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
My Invention of "Improvements in the Means of Compensating for the
Wear of Machinery subject to Rectilinear Motion" consists in adapting and
applying to the parts of the mechanism liable to wear by the continued
friction of the rubbing surfaces a wedge of brass or other suitable material,
which may be driven forward so as to bring such surfaces in closer contact,
as may be required.
The wedge may be applied either to the stationary guide or to the sliding
piece of the mechanism, but I prefer the latter, and it may be held in its

page_text: required position by means of a bolt or set screw. The wedge may also be
applied in cases wherein both the rubbing surfaces are in motion.
In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood, I will pro-
ceed to describe it more particularly by the aid of the accompanying
Drawing, in which are represented different modes of carrying the Invention
into effect.
Figs. 1 and 2 represent the application of the wedge to a cross head working
horizontally between stationary guides; Figs. 3, 4, and 5 represent the appli-
cation of the same to a cross head working vertically between two pairs of
stationary guides. In these two applications the wedges are shewn as held
by set screws. Figs. 6 and 7 represent the wedges as held by means of plates
secured by nuts on the pin of the cross head. In these several Figures the
same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A, A, are the stationary guides, against the surfaces of which the cross head
B or other moving or sliding portions of mechanism work backwards and
forwards; C is the piston rod connected with the cross head; D is the ordinary
pin of the cross head; E, E, are the wedges inserted in the cross head in such
a manner as to form surfaces which may be kept in the requisite contact with
the stationary guides A, A, by adjustment of the wedges as may be required
to compensate for the wear of the rubbing surfaces. I prefer that these
wedges should be composed of brass or steel, but they may be composed of
other suitable material. F (Figs. 1 to 5) are set screws by which the wedges
may be secured in their position; G, G, (Figs. 6 and 7) are plates, which are
serrated or cut with vice teeth on each side, so as to cause them to hold the
wedge with each side of which they are drawn in contact by turning the nuts
H, H, on the screw formed on the pin D of the cross head B. It will be
obvious, that as the rubbing surfaces wear by continual friction, the wedges
may be driven forward and fixed as required in order to bring the surfaces into
suitable contact.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I would remark that I do not confine myself to
the precise modes of applying the wedge above described, neither do I confine
myself to its application to the moving parts of mechanism, as it may be
applied to the stationary parts instead thereof; neither do I confine myself
to its application in cases wherein the surfaces of moving parts rub against
those of stationary parts, as it may be applied in cases in which both the
surfaces are in motion. I would also remark that I do not claim as of my
Invention any particular form of wedge, nor the methods described of fixing
the same; but I do claim as of my Invention the adaptation and application

page_text: of a wedge, so as to provide an adjustable surface for the parts of mechanisin
liable to wear by their continual rectilineal motion, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Hughes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
WILLIAM SPENCE,
50, Chancery Lane.
HENRY HUGHES.. (L.S.)