IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GREASE FOR LUBRICATING RAILWAY AXLES AND OTHER MACHINERY
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Humfrey, of No. 14, The Terrace, Camber-
well, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF GREASE FOR LUBRICATING RAILWAY AXLES AND OTHER
MACHINERY."
Sealed the 17th April 1857, and dated the 18th October 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Humfrey at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th October 1856.
I, CHARLES HUMFREY, of 14, The Terrace, Camberwell; in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IF THE MANUFACTURE OF GREASE FOR LUBRICATING RAILWAY AXLES AND OTHER
MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
The grease ordinarily used for lubricating the axles of railway carriages is
composed of alkali, oily, and fatty matters and water, and has the incon-
venience of melting at a low temperature and running out of the boxes if the
axles heat. To obviate this defect, and to make the grease less fusible, various)
substances, such as resin, sulphur, lime, &c., have been mixed with the above-
mentioned materials, but all these are more or less detrimental to the
lubricating property of the mixture.
My Invention consists in making grease for lubricating purposes by com-
bining silica in the form of the silicate of soda, or of other alkali, with the
fatty and oily matters used in the manufacture of such grease, thus obtaining,
a compound with the requisite degree of infusibility without injuring its
lubricating property.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Humfrey in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th April 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HUMFREY, of No. 14, The .Terrace, Camberwell, in the County of Surrey,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her. most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said, Charles Humfrey, Her special licence that, I, the said Charles
Humfrey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Charles Humfrey, .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 MANUFACTURE OF. GREASE FOR LUBRICATING RAILWAY
AXLES AND OTHER MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others), that I,
the said Charles Humfrey, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,,should particu-
larly 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 tlie
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 Charles Humfrey, 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 thereof, that is to say:
The grease ordinarily used for lubricating the axles of railway carriages is
composed of alkali, oily, and fatty matters and, water, and has the incon-
venience of melting at a low temperature and running out of the boxes if the
axles heat. To obviate this defect, and to make the grease less fusible, various
substances, such as resin, sulphur, lime, &c., have been mixed with the
above-mentioned materials, but all these are more or less detrimental to the
lubricating property of the mixture.
My Invention consists in making grease for lubricating purposes by com-
bining silica in the form of silicate of soda, or of other alkali, with the fatty

page_text: and oily matters used in the manufacture of such grease, thus obtaining a
compound with the requisite degree of infusibility without injuring its lubri-
cating property.
I prepare the silicate of soda by taking four parts by weight of carbonate
of soda; or an equivalent quantity of soda ash, and one part by weight of silicic
acid obtained from fine sand or calcined flints, and having well mixed the
two, exposing them in a suitable vessel to a red heat. The silicate of soda
thus obtained is then to be lixiviated with water and the earthy impurities
allowed to settle. I mix the silicate of soda thus obtained in such proportion
as may be found expedient with the usual constituents of railway grease; or
I take the silicate of soda made as above and neutralize the soda by sulphuric
or muriatic acid, by which means the silicic acid is separated in the form of a
bulky gelatinous hydrate, which I mix in such proportion as may be found
convenient with the usual constituents of railway grease; or I take silicate
of soda made as above and neutralize the soda by some fatty acid, such as
oleic acid. The acid combines with the soda, forming a soapy compound, and
the silicic acid, in the form of a bulky gelatinous hydrate, remains mixed there-
with, and I combine this mixture with tallow, palm oil, and the other usual
ingredients of railway grease.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my said
Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of Grease for Lubricating
Railway Axles and other Machinery," together with the best means I am
acquainted with for carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark, in
conclusion, that I make no claim to the mode of making silicate of soda or
bydrated silicic acid, which are well known, nor do I confine myself to the
exact proportions set forth, nor to the employment of soda, as other alkalies
may be used; but what I claim is, the combining with the usual constituents
of railway grease of an alkaline silicate or hydrated silicic acid, as above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles IIumfrey, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE, Patent Agent,
4, Trafalgar Square.
CHARLES HUMFREY. (L.S.)