IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING WHEELS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Watkins, of the Cwmamman Colliery, Aberdare,
in the County of Glamorgan, Agent, and James Pugh, of the same
Place, Mechanic, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING
WHEELS."
Sealed the 29th November 1859, and dated the 5th July 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Watkins and James
Pugh at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 5th July 1859.
WC, JOHN WATKINS, of the Cwmamman Colliery, Aberdare, in the County
of Glamorgan, Agent, and JAMES POGH, of the same Place, Mechanic, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LUBRICATING WHEELS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of lubricating wheels, pullies,
or sheaves of all kinds, whether used as the travelling wheels of vehicles, or as
simple sheaves or guide pullies, and consists in casting or forming a grease
box or lubricating receptacle in one piece with the bars or nave of the wheel
itself. The interior of this grease box communicates with the axle journal or
supporting spindle by means of one or more holes or slits made in the bottom
of the grease box, and a tight fitting lid of wood or other suitable material is
adapted in slides-or otherwise to the top of the box, for the purpose of pre-
venting the escape of the lubricant during the rotation of the wheel, and for

page_text: excluding as much as possible the entrance of dust or grit therein. If found
desirable, springs or other simple contrivance may be employed for preventing
the accidental displacement of the lid, but in most cases such contrivance may
be dispensed with if the lid itself is made to fit sufficiently tight.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent. filed
by the said John Watkins and James Pugh in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
WATKINS, of the Cwmamman Colliery, Aberdare, in the County of Glamorgan,
Agent, and JAMES PUGI, of the same Place. Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us
the said John Watkins and James Pugh, Her special license that we,
the said John Watkins and James Pugli, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Watkins and James Pugh,
our executors, administrators, or 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
LUBRICATING WHEELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
John Watkins and James Pugh, by an instrument in writing under our 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 we, the said John Watkins and James Pugh,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being bad to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :―
Our said Invention relates to an improved mode of lubricating wheels,
pullies, or sheaves of all kinds, whether used as the travelling wheels of
vehicles, or as simple sheaves or guide pullies, and consists in casting or

page_text: forming a grease box or lubricating receptacle in one piece with the boss or
nave of the wheel itself, when the material of which the wheel is made is
suitable for so doing; or the grease box may be cast or formed separately,
and then fitted or secured to the boss or nave of the wheel. The interior of
this grease box communicates with the axle journal or supporting spindle by
means of one or more holes or slits made in the bottom of the grease box,
and a tight fitting lid of wood or other suitable material is adapted in slides,
or otherwise, to the top of the box, for the purpose of preventing the escape of
the lubricant during the rotation of the wheel, and for excluding as much as
possible the entrance of dust or grit therein. If found desirable, springs or
other simple contrivance may be employed for preventing the accidental
displacement of the lid, but, in most cases, such contrivance may be dispensed
with if the lid itself is made to fit sufficiently tight.
And in order that our said Invention may be fully understood, we shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
we shall refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts through-
out all the corresponding Figures.
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents a side elevation of a
cast-iron railway wheel constructed according to our present Invention, with
its grease
box cast in one piece therewith; Figure 2 is a horizontal section
taken along the line 1-2, and shewing the lid or cover of the grease box, and
mode of securing the same in its place; and Figure 3 is a vertical section of
the wheel taken through the centre of the grease box.
A is the boss of the wheel, having a grease b.x B cast in one piece there-
with, the interior of this grease box communicating with the axle journal by
means of the slit C. A tight fitting lid or cover D, composed of wood or
other suitable material, is adapted in grooves or otherwise to the top of the
grease box, for the purpose of preventing the escape of the lubricaut, and
excluding grits and foreign matter. E, E, are springs, which, if found
desirable, may be fitted to the lid or cover, and take into notches in the
grease box, whereby the lid is prevented from becoming accidentally displaced.
In the case of wooden wheels the grease box will be made separately, and will
be secured to the boss, hub, or nave, in any convenient manner, and in the
case of wheels with arms of wood and boss or hub of metal, the grease box
will be cast or formed in one piece with the boss or hub. These grease boxes
may also be cemented, rivetted, or secured to the bosses of metal wheels or
pullies constructed in the ordinary manner.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we would observe, in conclusion, that what we consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the
berein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of apparatus
for lubricating wheels, as herein- before described.
Second, the forming of a box or receptacle for grease or lubricating
material in one piece with the boss, hub, or nave of a wheel, as herein-before
described.
Third, the application and use to and in the lubrication of wheels of a box
or receptacle for grease or lubricating material, fixed on to the boss, hub, or
nave of the wheel in any convenient manner, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Watkins and James Pugh,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twelfth day of December,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JOHN WATKINS. (L.S.)
JAMES PUGH.
(L.S.)
JOHN WATKINS. (L.S.)
JAMES PUGH.
(L.S.)