IMPROVED MEANS AND APParatus FOR LUBRICATING THE BEARINGS OF THE AXLES OF WAGGONS, KNOWN AND DISTINGUISHED BY COLLIERS AND MINERS AS 'CORVES.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Ankers, of Shire Oaks, in the County
of Nottingham, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS AND APParatus
FOR LUBRICATING THE BEARINGS OF THE AXLES OF WAGGONS, KNOWN AND
DISTINGUISHED BY COLLIERS AND MINERS AS 'CORVES.'
"
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said John Ankers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 21st July 1875, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ANKERS, of Shire Oaks, in the County of Nottingham, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS
AND APPARATUS FOR LUBRICATING THE BEARINGS OF THE AXLES OF WAGGONS, KNOWN
AND DISTINGUISHED BY COLLIERS AND MINERS AS 'CORVES,' " and have petitioned
Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
Declaration that I am the true and first Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Ankers, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, fully

page_text: 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,
that is to say:
:―
"
-
The manner heretofore commonly practised of greasing or lubricating
the bearings of the axles of " corves or waggons has been to apply the
lubricating matter either by hand or a syringe, and the feature of
novelty and improvement of this Invention consists in rendering such
operation self-acting, which I propose to effect by means of apparatus
constructed and arranged in the following manner, that is to say
Between the line of rails on which the wheels of the corve rotate I
place at suitable distances asunder-along the line of railway a series of
troughs or boxes to contain grease or lubricating matter The said
boxes are arranged side by side in pairs along and between the rails, and
there is a star wheel mounted on an axle in each box To enable the
said wheel to revolve in the aforesaid box I also arrange and dispose at
one side of the line of rails opposite to the aforesaid pair of greaso
boxes a fixed arrangement for pushing the body of the waggon a short
distance along the bearing part of the axles so as to lubricate the axles
at opposite sides of the bearings thereof alternately In other words,
the pushing mechanism is so fixed as to push the body of each waggon
sideways in the following order :-At the first pair of grease boxes the
waggon is pushed to the right, at the second pair of boxes to the left,
and so on alternately, the effect being to cause the aforesaid revolving
wheels to lubricate each side of each bearing alternately by the action
of the axle, which coming into contact with the teeth of the star wheels
causes them to rotate and carry up and deposit on the axle the
lubricating matter.
And in order to explain my said Invention more fully I now proceed
to describe the construction and arrangement of the lubricating apparatus
and its manner of operating, reference being had to the illustrative
Sheet of Drawings accompanying these Presents, and to the numeral
Figures and letters of reference maiked thereon respectively as follows :—
DESCRIPTION OF THE SHEET OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a waggon or corve; Figure 2,
a top plan view of the axle and wheels of the said waggon and lubri-
cating apparatus; Figure 3 is a transverse and vertical section on the

page_text: Figure 4 is a top plan view of the boxes employed to contain the
lubricating matter.
Figure 5, a longitudinal section of the said grease box
At each of the foregoing Figures similar letters of reference are
employed to denote corresponding parts.
A marks a waggon or corve; B, wheels fixed on axles C working in
bearings x, D, line of rails, E, cast-iron boxes for grease, a, lid of box
hinged to piece b; G, star wheels revolving on pivots c, H, standards
carrying the picce I adjusted by screws d to the standards H The
piece I is employed to push the waggon sideways on its axles as denoted
by the dotted lines at Figure 2, for lubricating the axles first at one side
of the axle bearing, and then at the other and opposite side.
The operations of the apparatus are as follows.-The front axle of
the waggon coming into contact with the teeth of the wheels G, turns
them partly round and brings up and deposits on the axle the lubricating
matter. And when the waggon comes opposite to the next pair of
grease boxes the piece I will push the waggon in an opposite direction
and allow the wheels G to grease the axle at the opposite side of the
bearings a, and so on alternately at each pair of grease boxes throughout
the length of the line of rails.
"
Having now described and set forth the nature and object of my said
Invention for "Improved Means and Apparatus for Lubricating the
Bearings of the Axles of Waggons, Known and Distinguished by
Colliers and Miners as Corves,' and the means whereby it may be
carried into practical effect, I hereby declare my Invention to consist in
and I claim, lubricating the bearings of the axles of corves or waggons
by means of self-acting apparatus, arranged, constructed, and operating
substantially as above described with reference to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Ankers, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.