IM PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SPRINGS SUITABLE FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND FOR VARIOUS OTHER USES
Year: 1866

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LETTERS PATENT to John Murphy,, of New York City, in the State of
New York, in the United States of America, for the Invention of "IM
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SPRINGS SUITABLE FOR RAILWAY
CARRIAGES AND FOR VARIOUS OTHER USES."
"
J.
Sealed the 15th February 1867, and dated the 21st August 1866.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said John Murphy at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration, on
the 21st August 1866, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MOРPHY, of New York City, in the State of New York, in the United States
of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
THE CONSTRUCTION OF SPRINGS SUITABLE FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND FOR VARIOUS
OTHER USES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same,
and have made solemn declaration that I am the true and first Inventor
thereof.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Murphy, do hereby declare that
the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal fully describes
and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, in and by the following statement :-
My Invention relates to springs of rubber or of compounds of rubber or
analogous elastic material in masses, and one portion consists in the employ-
ment of a support woundaround and incorporated with the body of thespring,
the support being formed of cloth or analogous fibrous material having the
fibers thereof laid in such manner that the fabric may yield to a limited
extent.
Another portion of my Invention consists in so embedding such a yielding
fibrous envelope in the material of the spring, or covering it on all its surfaces
with the material of the spring, so that no portion shall be exposed, to the
weather, or to any destructive influence other than the mechanical strain to
which it is subjected.
I will proceed to describe what I consider the best means of carrying out my
Invention. The accompanying Drawings form a portion of this Specification.
Figure 1 is a horizontal section through the spring on the line S, S, in
Figure 2; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section on the line T, T, in Figure 1 ;.
Figure 3 is a corresponding section showing the condition of the spring when
greatly compressed, and Figure 4 is a view of a portion of the stout muslin
or analogous fabric extended; Figures 5 and 6 represent a modification of
the fabric, Figure 5 being a face view, and Figure 6 a longitudinal section
on line U, U, in Figure 5. Similar letters of reference indicate like
parts in
all the Figures.
A is a cylindrical mass of rubber formed, by preference, by rolling up a
thin sheet of rubber in the mauner according to which rubber springs for
railway carriages are usually produced, there is a hole left in the interior
through which a bolt may pass if desired, in order to better control aud
guide the action of the spring; B is an envelope of strong cotton fabric
saturated with rubber and having a sufficient surface of rubber on each face
to cement the several layers firmly and strongly together, this envelope may
be applied by cementing or sticking one end of the fabric to the exterior of
the previously wound rubber spring A, and turning the spring around on a
suitable arbor or shaft until the fibrous covering has been wound a sufficient
number of times, the edge is then cemented down and the envelope is
completed.
Some of the advantages due to my Invention may be realized by using the
spring without further preparation except the ordinary vulcanizing of the

page_text: material, but I deem it very important in some cases to cover the outer face
and both ends of the spring with additional rubber. To effect this I wind a
thin sheet of rubber several times outside of the fabric B, as indicated by C,
and apply a disk of similar material on each end of the spring, as indicated
by D, D. The whole is then placed in a suitable mould and vulcanized
to the proper extent and at the proper temperature, according to the
material and to the circumstances under which the spring is to be used, in the
same manner as is ordinarily practiced by manufacturers of rubber springs.
When in use the strain or pressure is received on my sping in the direction
parallel to the axis as usual. The load tends to swell the middle of the
spring as usual, but the strain is greatly resisted by the presence of the
fabric B. The oblique coudition of the fibres in the fabric allow it to yield
to a sufficient extent to allow the elasticity of the rubber to be brought into
play, but not sufficient to allow the rubber to crack or burst. The outside
protection of rubber C defends both the fabric B and the working portion
of the rubber A. from being influenced by the weather or other external
influences, and by being kept free from strain by the presence of the strong
envelope B it avoids the commencement of the fractures which are so
destructive. It is not absolutely necessary that the fibres of yarn in my
envelope B shall lie obliquely. It is convenient to manufacture them thus,
and I can produce my envelope with yarns so placed either by weaving.
goods in that condition by means well known to weavers or by cutting the
strips diagonally across a piece of goods woven in the ordinary manner; but
I can produce an equally serviceable envelope and one which will perform in
almost identically the same manner in my spring by introducing fibres in a
wavy or finely corrugated condition. It is easy to effect this by the same
means as are employed in weaving suspenders and other elastic goods by
introducing among the cotton or other fibrous yarn of the warp a certain
number of strips or yarns, so to speak, of rubber or analogous elastic material,
which are properly distributed and arranged so as to contract the goods in the
direction of its length; thus the muslin or other woven fabric for my envelope
may be woven with the warp extending longitudinally of the piece, and the
strips to form my envelope B may be cut along the same lines, so that the
warp shall extend longitudinally therein, and yet by being properly contracted
or waved in fine convolutions by the introduction of rubber in the warp, or by
any other convenient means, the effect of my Invention will be attained, that
is to say, the fibres will exist in the envelope in a condition so as to exert but
a very slight resistance to the operation of the spring when the spring com-
mences to be compressed, but when it has been so much compressed, and the

page_text: fibrous envelope B consequently extended to a point beyond which the dis-
tension would endanger the safety of the rubber, then all the elasticity or
strength of the fibrous envelope B having been exhausted it opposes a firm
resistance and absolutely forbids any further distension of the spring at the
point which has been so distended. My spring may be distended to the
furthest limit along the center, and may still yield a little more by being
distended nearer to each end; thus the approach to the condition of
absolute rigidity in the spring will be gradual as the limit of its elasticity is
reached.
I prefer to use a stout cotton fabric with the yarns extending obliquely as
first described. My spring may be made of various sizes and proportions.
The quantity of the interior rubber A relatively to the envelope B and to
the exterior rubber C, etc., may be varied. at will, and the spring may be
mounted according to any of the approved plans. The exterior of the outer
rubber C' may be hooped or otherwise provided with any of the previously
known supports if desired, but I do not consider any such exterior support
necessary, and prefer to depend entirely upon the biasing cloth B, or the
equivalent yielding fibrous envelope adapted to yield to a limited extent as
before described.
Having now fully described my Invention, what I claim as new and desire
to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:-
First, I claim the yielding fibrous envelope B so, arranged around a mass
of rubber A or equivalent elastic material as to support it, substantially as
and for the purposes herein set forth.
Second, I claim a compound rubber and fibrous spring composed of the
interior mass A, a yielding fibrous envelope or support B, and an exterior
layer C and ends D1, D2, of rubber, so arranged that the envelope B is
embedded in and protected by the rubber, substantially as and for the purposes
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Murphy, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this "Twenty-seventh day of July, A.D. 1866.
Witness,
TIMOTHY CORNWELL..
JOHN MURPHY. (L.s.).

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