IMPROVEMENTS IN Anne Our OR LUBRICATING FLUID TO LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER AXLETREES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bewicke Blackburn, of 1, York Buildings, Adelphi,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
Anne Our OR LUBRICATING FLUID TO LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER AXLETREES."
Sealed the 10th December 1861, and dated the 13th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bewicke Blackburn at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th June 1861.
I, BEWICKE BLACKBURN, of 1, York Buildings, Adelphi, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPLYING OIL OR LUBRICATING FLUID TO LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER AXLETREES," to
be as follows:-
In this Invention the vibration of a railway carriage in motion is made use
of to splash the oil contained in a closed oil vessel (introduced into the axle
box) up to its roof or upper part, where it is imbibed by the shorter leg of
a capillary syphon, which is interior of the vessel, and dropped by the longer
leg, which is exterior of the vessel, on to the journal beneath. The shorter
leg imbibes the oil or lubricating fluid at the upper part of the vessel at an
invariable level, and the discharge is also at an invariable level, so that the
rate of the flow is likewise uniform. When the depth of an oil vessel is
greater than its width, a vibrating spring paddle is applied near the bottom

page_text: of the vessel, which assists in splashing the oil or fluid up from the bottom to
the top or roof. In the case of fixed machinery or marine engines a vibrating
motion is intentionally communicated to a spring, which is so arranged as to
turn or trundle a hoop or ring within the vessel, on the rim of which hoop or
ring the oil or fluid is raised up to the shorter leg of the capillary syphon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Bewicke Blackburn in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 12th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BEWICKE
BLACKBURN, of 1, York Buildings, Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Ilerself, Ier heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Bewicke Blackburn, Ier special licence that I, the said Bewicko
Blackburn, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Bewicke Blackburn, my 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPLYING OIL OR LUBRICATING FLUID TO LOCOMOTIVE AND
OTHER AXLETREES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Bewicke Blackburn, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 l'atent.
NOW KNOW YE, that the said Bewicke Blackburn, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
In this Invention the vibration or jolting of a railway carriage in motion
is made use of to splash the oil contained in a closed vessel introduced into or

page_text: .
which I give the preference, and by which I avail myself of the splashing up
of the oil to effect the lubrication.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figures 1 and 2 are sections of an axlo box of the ordinary construction,
having a deep vessel V introduced into it to contain the oil. A is the aperture
by which the oil is introduced into the vessel, and by which air also is
admitted, but through which the oil is prevented from escaping by the sloping
diaphragm M; C is the aperture at the upper part of the vessel up to which
the oil is splashed by the motion of the carriage, and through which it flows
out and runs down to the journal beneath. It is preferred to fit this
aperture the capillary wick D, which imbibes the oil splashed up to it. This
oil thus imbibed flows away from that part K of the sucker D, which is lower
than the aperture C, and passes down to the journal beneath. P is the
vibrating spring paddle to assist in splashing the oil to the upper part of the
deep vessel; R is a rod passing through the upper part of the axle box to
keep the vessel V in its place, and S is a spring under the vessel to keep it
steady. Figure 21 is a plan of the top of the vessel V, shewing C the
aperture D the sucker, and K its lowest part, from which the oil drips.
Figures 3 and 4 are similar sections of the same axle box, having a long
shallow vessel V introduced into it to contain the oil.
When it is necessary,
in order to pass this long vessel into the axle box, it is made of leather or
other flexible materials. A is the aperture through which the oil is intro-
duced, and through which air also enters; C is the aperture at the upper
part of the vessel up to which the oil is splashed by the motion of the
carriage, and through which it passes out to the journal beneath. It is
preferred to fit into this aperture the capillary wick D, which imbibes the
oil dashed up to it; the oil thus imbibed flows away from that part K of the
sucker D, which is lower than the aperture C, and passes down to the journal
beneath. Figures 5 and 6 are similar sections of the same axle box. In this
case the oil is contained in the compartment B of the axle box. F is a pipe
fitted closely into a hole H, at the bottom of the compartment; T is a

page_text: trumpet-shape mouth of the pipe F, opening upwards, on which a pad W, of
capillary material, rests. This pad fills up all that part of the compartment
which is above the trumpet mouth. The oil being introduced into the com-
partment B is splashed up by the motion of the carriage to the capillary
pad W at the upper part of the compartment, whence the oil drips down
through the pipe to the journal below. E in all the Figures is a packing or
stuffing, made of woollen or other capillary material, which absorbs the oil
descending from above, and spreads it evenly over the under surface of the
journal, and is kept in contact with the journal by the springs S in any
ordinary manner.
The peculiarity of my Invention consists in the use of vessels with apertures
at the top, through which apertures the vibration or jolting of a railway car-
riage in motion causes the oil to be splashed, it then flows down to the journal
beneath. The splashing, and consequently the supply of the oil, ceases when
the carriage is at rest.
In witness whereof, I, the said Bewicko Blackburn, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
BEWICKE BLACKBURN. (L.B.)