Improvements in Tubular Axles and Method of Manufacturing the same.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Aug., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 20th Sept., 1887.
Improvements in Tubular Axles and Method of Manufacturing
the same.
I, ANDREW PATERSON, of McKeesport, Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, United
States of America, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:—
This invention pertains to tubular axles for vehicles, and to the method for making
the same.
In such tubular axles the ends or bearing-portions of the axles are of
less diameter than the body portion, and it is desirable that the end portions be of
thicker material in order that they may better resist the strains and wear. The
extreme ends of the axle are, preferably, further condensed or reduced so as to form
nipples for the reception of the axle nuts. It is also desirable that transverse
partitions be inserted in the axle at about the inner end of the tapering portion so
as to permit the cavities within the tapering portions to serve as reservoirs for a
lubricant, the lubricant finding its way out through the usual oil holes drilled in the
bearing portions.
My improvements will be readily understood from the following description, taken
in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which
Figure 1 is a side view of a tubular axle, with the left hand end in vertical
diammetrical section, serving to illustrate the completed axle ; and
Fig. 2 a view of an axle with the left hand portion in diammetrical section, in a
welding machine, and under process of construction.
In the drawing A indicates the tubular body of the axle; B the tapering ends of
the axle, the same being tubular and with walls much thicker than the walls of the
body portion; C the condensed ends of the taper portions, these ends forming nipples
to be finally threaded or otherwise fitted for the reception of axle nuts or analogous
keepers.
Da cup-shaped partition or diaphragm at the inner end of the taper portion, there
being one, of course, for each end of the axle, these cups, when the axle is completed,
forming an integral portion of the axle and serving to form chambers for the reception
of lubricant in the taper-portions of the axle.
E a supporting frame in which the parts may be rested while the axle is being
constructed, this frame being provided with standards or abutments between which the
axle is disposed end wise.
F, a screw in one of these abutments, serving as a means by which one end of the
axle may have end wise pressure exerted upon it, while the other end seats against the
Opposite abutment.

page_text: Ga dynamo for producing intense currents of electricity.
Han induction coil, for converting the currents of electricity produced by the
dynamo, into induced currents.
J primary circuit wires to be connected with the dynamo and with the primary
wires of the induction coil; and
K secondary circuit wires to be connected with the secondary wire of the induction
coil, and with each end of the axle being operated upon.
The body portion A. of the axle is cut from ordinary drawn tubing. The tapering
portions B of the axle are to be formed in the manner usually employed in the
production of tapered tubular articles. They may be produced by taking a parallel
tube of a diameter corresponding substantially with the small end of the taper, and
having the proper thickness of wall, and expanding the tube into the tapering form
by the insertion of a tapering mandrel, or otherwise, and the nipple part may be
swedged down in the usual manner. Or the taper part may be formed by swedging
down a parallel tube having a diameter of the large end of the taper, the swedging
producing the desired taper, and also the nipple. Or the taper may be produced
by treatment in a rolling machine, in which the tube is received between rolls laying
lengthwise of the tube, the rolls and the tube revolving together, and the taper being
produced by the inward feeding of the rolls as the rolling proceeds, and the nipple
will be produced by a similar rolling operation. The cups D may be produced by
the ordinary process of striking up sheet metal in dies. The thickness of the end
walls of the taper portion B should equal the sum of the thickness of the walls of the
cup and the body portion. The body portion, the tapering end portion, and the cups
having been separately produced, the cups are inserted in the ends of the body portion,
as indicated in Fig. 2. The parts to be united are then subjected to a welding heat,
and placed in proper juxtaposition ina suitable supporting frame, such, for instance, as
illustrated in Fig. 2, and pressure is applied endwise upon the axles as by means of
the screws F in the illustrative machine. This operation serves to press the large end
of the taper portions against the ends of the body portion, and against the edge faces
of the cups, and to unite the parts or butt heads into an integral structure, the
periphery of the cups welding to the inner surface of the ends of the body portion.
The heating of the portions to be heated may be effected by fires, or by blow pipes, or
by means of an intense current of electricity caused to pass through the points to be
heated, the effect of the current being to raise the temperature at the open joints in
the axle to the welding point.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. An integrally formed axle having a tubular body portion, tubular tapering end
portions with thicker walls, and diaphragms at the inner ends of the tapering portions,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. That improvement in the art of manufacturing integrally formed axles having
tubular body portions and tapering end portions, which consists in forming the body
portion and the tapering end portion separately, presenting the large ends of the
tapering portions to the ends of the body portion, subjecting the joints thus formed
to a welding heat, and exerting an endwise pressure upon the ends of the axle,
substantially as set forth.
Dated this and d
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