AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR LUBRICATING THE AXLES OR JOURNALS OF COAL OR IRONSTONE WAGGONS, OR TUBS, OR OF OTHER CARRIAGES OR ROLLEYS USED UPON TRAMWAYS OR RAILWAYS FOR CARRYING MINERAL OR OTHER MATERIAL
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Smith, junior, of Bishopwearmouth, in the
County of Durham, Colliery Owner and Viewer, and John Williamson,
of Washington Colliery in the same County, Colliery Cashier, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR LUBRICATING
THE AXLES OR JOURNALS OF COAL OR IRONSTONE WAGGONS, OR TUBS, OR OF
OTHER CARRIAGES OR ROLLEYS USED UPON TRAMWAYS OR RAILWAYS FOR
CARRYING MINERAL OR OTHER MATERIAL."
Sealed the 27th June 1865, and dated the 2nd January 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph. Smith and John
Williamson, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 2nd January 1865.
We, JOSEPH SMITH, junior, of Bishopwearmouth, in the County of Durham,
Colliery Owner and Viewer, and JOHN WILLIAMSON, of Washington Colliery,
in the same County, Colliery Cashier, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR LUBRICATING
THE AXLES OR JOURNALS OF COAL OR IRONSTONE WAGGONS, OR TUBS, OR OF. OTHER
CARRIAGES OR ROLLEYS USED UPON TRAMWAYS OR RAILWAYS FOR CARRYING MINERAL
OR OTHER MATERIAL," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object. improvements in the method cof, and
apparatus for lubricating the axles, shafts, journals, gudgeons, or spindles
of the wheels of coal or ironstone waggons, or of coal or ironstone tubs,
or of any other carriage or rolley travelling on tramways or railways.

page_text: In the working of coal and ironstone mines, and also in the working of
railways, waggons, tubs, rolleys, or carriages are used to carry mineral and
other material, and the axles or journals of the wheels of such waggons, tubs,
rolleys, or carriages, require to be frequently lubricated, and this has hitherto
for the most part been done by hand labor, with the use of sticks or brushes
charged with the lubricating material.
Now our Invention consists principally in lubricating such axles or journals
by automatic means, in the manner and by the aid of the apparatus hereafter
described.
At any convenient point on the tramway or railway (or at more points than
one if required), we place a pair of lubricating wheels, capable of turning
upon suitable axles or journals. These lubricating wheels are partly sunk
below the ground, and must be of such diameter and be placed just so far
within the rails, as that the upper part of their peripheries shall come in
contact with the axles or journals of the running wheels of the waggons, tubs,
rolleys, or carriages, as they pass along the tramway or railway, and the axles
or journals of the lubricating wheels are carried in bearings supported by
springs or by weighted levers, so as to let them give way slightly as the
waggons or other vehicles pass. These wheels are covered with india-rubber,
felt, or other suitable material, and furnished with recesses or grooves, and
the lower part of their periphery dips into suitable lubricating material con-
tained in a box or receptacle in which they revolve, and which is placed
beneath the surface of the ground.
It will be evident that as the waggons, tubs, rolleys, or carriages, pass along
the tramway or railway, their axles or journals will come in contact with the
lubricating wheels, causing them to revolve in the lubricating material, and thus
supply the latter to the axles or journals of the running wheels, as required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Smith and John Williamson, in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 1st July 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
SMITH, junior, of Bishopwearmouth, in the County of Durham, Colliery
Owner and Viewer, and JOHN WILLIAMSON, of Washington Colliery, in the
same County, Colliery Cashier, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of January, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Joseph Smith and John Williamson, Her special licence that we,
the said Joseph Smith and John Williamson, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Joseph Smith and John Williamson,
our 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OF AND APPARATUS FOR LUBRICATING THE AXLES OR JOURNALS OF COAL OR IRONSTONE
WAGGONS OR TUBS, OR OF OTHER CARRIAGES OR ROLLEYS USED UPON TRAMWAYS OR
RAILWAYS FOR CARRYING MINERAL OR OTHER MATERIAL," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Joseph Smith and John Williamson, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or one
of our, or their, or one of their 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 Joseph Smith and John Williamson,
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 in writing, and on reference to the accom-
panying Drawings (that is to say) :-
:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the method of and
apparatus for lubricating the axles, shafts, journals, gudgeons, or spindles of
the wheels of coal or ironstone tubs, or of any other carriage or rolley travelling
on tramways or railways.
In the working of coal and ironstone mines, and also in the working of
railways, waggons, tubs, rolleys, or carriages are used to carry mineral and
other material, and the axles or journals of the wheels of such waggons, tubs,
rolleys, or carriages, require to be frequently lubricated, and this has hitherto
for the most part been done by hand labor with the use of sticks or brushes,
charged with the lubricating material.
Now our Invention consists principally in lubricating such axles or journals
by automatic means, in the mauner and by the aid of the apparatus hereafter
described.
At any convenient point on the tramway or railway (or at more points than.

page_text: one if required), we place a pair of lubricating wheels capable of.turning upon
suitable axles or journals. These lubricating wheels are partly sunk below
the ground, and must be of such diameter and be placed just so far within.
the rails so that the upper part of their peripheries shall come in contact
with the axles or journals of the running wheels of the waggons, tubs, rolleys,
or carriages as they pass along the tramway or railway, and the axles or
journals of the lubricating wheels are carried on bearings supported by springs
or by weighted levers, so as to let them give way slightly as the waggons or
other vehicles pass.
These wheels are covered with india-rubber, felt, or
other suitable material, or, if found necessary, to be used without any covering
and furnished with recesses or grooves, and the lower part of their periphery
dips into suitable lubricating material contained in a box or receptacle in
which they revolve, and which is placed beneath the surface of the ground.
It will be evident that as the waggons, tubs, rolleys, or carriages pass
along the tramway or railway their axles or journals will come in contact
with the lubricating wheels, causing them to revolve in the lubricating mate-
rial, and thus supply the latter to the axles or journals of the running wheels
as required.
Such being the nature and object of our said Invention for "An improved
Method of and Apparatus for Lubricating the Axles or Journals of Coal or
Ironstone Waggons or Tubs, or of other Carriages or Rolleys used upon
Tramways or Railways for Carrying Mineral or other Material," we will now
proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or
may be performed or carried into practical effect; and in order that the same
may be distinctly understood, we have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings
illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures and letters
of reference, corresponding with those in the following explanation thereof,
that is to say:-
Figure 1 in the annexed Drawing is a side view of our improved apparatus,
and Figure 2 is a transverse section taken vertically through the middle of
the same; Figure 3 is a ground plan. a, a, represents a coal tub or waggon,
carried as usual by four wheels b, b, running on the rails c, c; d, d, are the
axles of the wheels; e, e, are the lubricating wheels, which are supported in
suitable bearings in the frame f, f, fixed just inside the rails, so that the upper
part of the peripheries of the said wheels shall come into contact with the
neck 9, 9, of the axles d, d, each time that the tub or waggon a, a, passes
over that part of the rail. The lower part of the periphery of each lubri-
cating wheel dips into oil or other lubricating material placed in the box or
reservoir h, h, below, and the axles or journals of the said wheels work in

page_text: slots i, i, in the frame f, f, being carried in the ends of the weighted levers
k, k, so that the tendency of the said levers is always to keep the axles at the
top of the slots, as shown in Figure 1, but upon a tub or waggon passing
along the rails, the axle thereof comes against the lubricating wheels e, e, (as
shown at 1, Figure 1) rolling over the surface of the said wheels and slightly
depressing them in its passage. The revolution of the lubricating wheels e, e,
in the oil or other lubricating material in the box or reservoir h, h, causes
them to take up a certain quantity of oil or grease, and apply the same to the
necks of the axles of the tub as it passes over. The bearings m, m, in which
the axles of the tub revolve (see Figure 2), are to be so placed as to allow
space for the lubricating wheels to grease the axles, without coming into
contact with the bearings. n, n, is a lever for putting the apparatus out of gear
when it is desired to allow the tubs or waggons to pass over without touching
the lubricating wheels.
Having now described the nature and object of our said Invention for "An
Improved Method of and Apparatus for Lubricating the Axles or Journals of
Coal or Ironstone Waggons or Tubs, or of other Carriages or Rolleys used
upon Tramways or Railways for carrying Mineral or other Material," together
with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried
into practical effect, we would remark in conclusion, although we have only
shown and described the Invention as applied to the lubrication of the axles
of a coal tub, still it will be perfectly evident that a very slight modification
thereof would be required to adapt the same to the lubrication of the axles
of other waggons, rolleys, or carriages used upon tramways or railways, we
therefore claim as our Invention the lubrication of such axles or journals
(whilst in motion) by means of revolving wheels dipping into a reservoir
of oil or lubricating material, such wheels being so mounted that the axles
or journals to be greased shall roll over the surface or periphery of the lubri-
cating wheels, and thus become lubricated.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Smith and John Williamson,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-ninth day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.