IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LUBRICATING THE AXLES OF COLLIERY-WAGGONS OR OTHER RAILWAY VEHICLES
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William James at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd March 1881.
WILLIAM JAMES, of Abercarne, in the County of Monmouth.
"IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR LUBRICATING THE AXLES OF COLLIERY-WAGGONS OR OTHER
RAILWAY VEHICLES."
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for lubricating the axles of
colliery waggons or other railway vehicles, the said apparatus being of that class
comprising a reservoir or cistern placed below the rails, and containing the lubricant,
such reservoir being fitted with mechanism for projecting the lubricant against the
axles to be lubricated.
One important object of my said Invention is to so construct lubricating apparatus
of this class, that the same will work automatically, and project the lubricant
without requiring the vehicle, to the axle of which the same is to be applied, to be,
stopped, and without requiring any attention beyond that which is necessary for
refilling the cistern as long as the parts of the said apparatus are maintained in
proper working order.
An apparatus constructed according to my said Invention comprises a reservoir
or cistern preferably made of cast-iron, and designed to be sunk in the ground
between or under the rails upon which the vehicles or waggons run, the axles of
which it is desired to lubricate. This reservoir serves for the reception of the
lubricant, such as oil, grease, or the like, and it may be provided with steam-pipes
or other devices for heating the lubricant if required, so as to keep the latter in a
liquid state.
In the interior of the said reservoir I provide pumping mechanism consisting of
a suitable cylinder in which a plunger or piston works. The rod of this piston
extends upward into a suitable guide or cross bar by which its steady and even
motion is secured, and it is attached to a link or frame whereby the piston is
connected with parts hereinafter referred to. A suitably arranged collar serves as
a stop block for the piston-rod.
On a flange on the cylinder there are pillars carrying the cross-bar, through
which the piston-rod passes, and in which it is guided, and the ends of these pillars
are screw threaded and provided with suitable screw-nuts, so as to allow the above
mentioned cross-bar to be raised or lowered, whereby the stroke of the piston, and

page_text: consequently the quantity of lubricant delivered at each stroke, can be regulated.
The said pillars are surrounded by coiled-springs which cause the pump-plunger or
piston to rise automatically when it has been depressed by a passing wagon, as
will hereinafter appear.
The cylinder is provided with suitable inlet and outlet-valves; the inlet valve or
valves connect it with a strainer which whilst admitting the lubricant prevents
the entrance of foreign matters floating in the same, and the outlet valves
convey the lubricant from the pump-cylinder to pipes connected with the delivery-
devices. The cylinder is furthermore provided with pillars for increasing its
stability, and with a stuffing-box in which the piston-rod works.
Pipes extend from the outlet valve or valves of the cylinder up to a suitable
height above the level of the ground, and are provided at their end with extensions
or end pieces rising higher than the head of the rails, and being near to the said
rails. Each end piece forms a chamber, and from these chambers the lubricant is
discharged through nozzles, preferably of conical shape, against the axles when the
pump is actuated by the mechanism connected therewith, which mechanism I
construct as follows, that is to say :-
The pump-plunger or piston is connected as hereinbefore stated with a link or
frame. This frame is capable of reciprocating in the top of the reservoir, and its
motion is rendered even and its stability ensured by connecting it with the side of
the reservoir by means of a two armed or forked rod passing into a triangular or
nearly triangular frame hinged to the top of the reservoir.
The forked rod is so connected with the said triangular frame that by turning]
two screw nuts placed on the head of the former the link or frame connected with
the piston rod may be more or less inclined, so as to bring it into proper position
with regard to the discharge nozzles. The ends of the two arms of the forked rod
are slotted, and thus allow sufficient play to the bolt which connects them with the
plunger link or frame herein before described to compensate for inequalities in the
thickness of the waggon-axles, and also to admit proper working of the apparatus
in whatever direction the waggons travel on the rails.
The bolt or rod which connects the link with the forked rod also serves as an
axle or arbor upon which a roller or sheave is free to revolve.
The link or frame and the parts connected therewith, are so constructed that the
highest point on the sheave or roller, whose periphery projects beyond the link,
will rise slightly above the height at which the axles of the waggons on the rails
pass. When therefore a vehicle is passing its axle will strike the roller, thereby
depressing the link and the plunger, and thus automatically causing the pump to
deliver a supply of oil through the pipes and nozzles. When the vehicle has passed,
springs provided on the pillars carrying the cross bar or otherwise suitably arranged
cause the plunger and link to return to their original position, whereby the
plunger is raised, and the pump-cylinder or barrel refilled and prepared for repeated
operation.