IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING THE SPINDLes of MULES OR JACKS
Year: 1885

page_text: Mules or Jacks.
I ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES of the firm of Wm Brookes & Son 55 & 56 Chancery
Lane in the County of Middlesex Patent Agent do hereby declare the nature of my
invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING THE SPINDLes of
MULES OR JACKS" (a communication from John Tempest Meats of Taunton in the
State of Massachusetts one of the United States of America Machinist) to be as
follows:--
This invention in mules or jacks relates to means for supporting the spindle.
Heretofore in this class of machines the spindles have had their bearings in
metal bolsters and steps driven or pressed into wooden rails attached to and
forming part of the carriage, and so also the bolsters have been cast as parts of a
rail to be attached to the carriage in place of the usual wooden beam in which the
bearings were driven or pressed.
When a series of bolsters are cast integral or as parts of a rail, it has been found
very difficult if not almost impossible to bore out the boles for the reception of
spindles with such degree of accuracy as to avoid deviations one from the other,
and consequently the spindles fail to stand in proper alignment and are made to
bear unequally against the interior of the bolster at one or the other end thereof,
and so also when the bolsters form întegral parts of the rail, the whole construction
becomes so stiff and rigid as to prevent any movement of the bolsters, and hence
the spindles if run at high speed tremble or vibrate badly.
When a wooden rail is used the latter is liable to warp and twist out of shape.
To overcome the difficulties alluded to this invention has been produced having
a metal rail in which the independent bearings which term includes both the
bolster and the footstep, are permitted to tip or rock on the rail as a fulcrum but
not to move bodily laterally, and to prevent longitudinal movement of the said
bearings there is provided the rail with a bearing holding spring rod, which is
clamped between the two halves or parts of the rail, the clamping part of the rail
having projections or Jugs to bear upon the holding rod at points between the
bearings in the rails.

page_text: The Bange or web of the main part of the rail has openings or seats to receive
the bearings, the said openings being intersected by a bearing holding rod so that
the latter is permitted to act against a part of the bearing externally to hold it in
place against longitudinal or vertical movement in the rail.
Mounting the metal bolsters and footsteps in a metal rail as described enables the
production of a mule carriage in which the spindles may be run at a very high
speed, and at the same time both the cost of the carriage and its spindles are
reduced.
One feature of this invention in mules or jacks, consists in a two part metallic
rail, provided one part with a flange against which rests the bearings placed
between the two parts of the rail, the said bearings being held in position in the
two part rail by means of a rod acting against the said bearings.
This invention also consists in a metallic rail, having a flange provided with
openings to receive bolsters or bearings, the latter being grooved at their peripheries,
combined with a spring rod and a rail section having projections adapted to bear
against the said rod at suitable intervals to keep it in contact with the bolsters or
bearings and the latter in the openings of the main part of the metallic rail.
This invention also consists in a mule or jack carriage, having bolster and
footstep rails, provided with laterally extended flanges, having openings for the
reception respectively of the bolster and footstep bearings loosely, and separate
bolster and footstep bearings and the spindle placed therein, combined with ineans
for holding the said bolster and footstep bearings in the openings of the said flange
yet permitting them to tip to accommodate the spindle, the bearings being restrained
from rotation with the spindle.
This invention also consists in a jack or mule carriage having a shaped rail,
combined with bearings placed in the horizontal or central flange of the said rail.
The surface of the bolster and of the step, and the edge of the web or flange in
line with it, are made to touch each other in a certain line to avoid lateral move-
ment in case lateral movement be not desired, but the opposed surfaces of the web
or flange on the one side and the part of the bolster or step in line with it are so
shaped, curved, or rounded, as to permit the bolster and step to tip on the flange or
web as its fulcrum.
Bolsters and footsteps supported as described between their ends by a thin flange
or web permits of quick and easy adjustment of the bearings to correctly align
spindles.
The band pull is in the direction to keep the annularly grooved parts of the
bolster and footstep in contact with the webs or flanges which serve as their
fulcrum. In a mule or jack it is very desirable to avoid the extension of the upper
ends of the bearings above the level of the beams, and to obviate this the main
body of the rail is made shaped thus affording a nearly central flange to receive
and support the bearings and permit them to tip.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Supporting the Spindles of
Mules or Jacks.
I ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES of the firm of Wm Brookes & Son of 55 & 56
Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex Patent Agent do hereby declare
the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING
THE SPINDLES OF MULES OR JACKS and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention in mules or jacks relates to means for supporting the spindle.
Heretofore in this class of machines the spindles have had their bearings in
metal bolsters and steps driven or pressed into wooden rails attached to and
forming part of the carriage, and so also the bolsters have been cast as parts of a
rail to be attached to the carriage in place of the usual wooden beam in which the
bearings were driven or pressed.
When a series of bolsters are cast integral or as parts of a rail, it has been found
very difficult if not almost impossible to bore out the holes for the reception of the
spindles with such degree of accuracy as to avoid deviations one from the other,
and consequently the spindles fail to stand in proper alignment and are made to
bear unequally against the interior of the bolster at one or the other end thereof,
and so also when the bolsters form integral parts of the rail, the whole construction
becomes so stiff and rigid as to prevent any movement of the bolsters, and hence
the spindles if run at high speed tremble or vibrate badly.
When a wooden rail is used the latter is liable to warp and twist out of shape.
To overcome the difficulties alluded to this invention has been produced having
a metal rail in which the independent bearings which term includes both the
bolster and the footstep, are permitted to tip or rock on the rail as a fulcrum but
not to move bodily laterally, and to prevent longitudinal movement of the said
bearings there is provided the rail with a bearing holding spring rod, which is
clamped between the two halves or parts of the rail, the clamping part of the rail
having projections or lugs to bear upon the holding rod at points between the
bearings in the rails.
:
The flange or web of the main part of the rail has openings or seats to receive
the bearings, the said openings being intersected by a bearing holding rod so that
the latter is permitted to act against a part of the bearing externally to hold it in
place against longitudinal or vertical movement in the rail.
Mounting the metal bolsters and footsteps in a metal rail as described enables the
production of a mule carriage in which the spindles may be run at a very high
speed, and at the same time both the cost of the carriage and its spindles are
reduced.
One feature of this invention in mules or jacks, consists in a two part metallic
rail, provided one part with a flange against which rests the bearings placed

page_text: between the two parts of the rail, the said bearings being held in position in the
two part rail by means of a rod acting against the said bearings.
This invention also consists in a metallic rail, having a flange provided with
openings to receive bolsters or bearings, the latter being grooved at their peripheries,
combined with a spring rod and with a rail section having projections adapted to
bear against the said rod at suitable intervals to keep it in contact with the bolsters
or bearings and the latter in the openings of the main part of the metallic rail.
This invention also consists in a mule or jack carriage, having bolster and
footstep rails, provided with laterally extended flanges, having openings for the
reception respectively of the bolster and footstep bearings loosely, and separate
bolster and footstep bearings and the spindle placed therein, combined with means
for holding the said bolster and footstep bearings in the openings of the said flange
yet permitting them to tip to accomodate the spindle, the bearings being restrained
from rotation with the spindle.
This invention also consists in a jack or mule carriage having a ➡-shaped rail,
combined with bearings placed in the horizontal or central flange of the said rail.
Figure 1 in elevation shows a spindle mounted in bearings in the rails of a mule
carriage, the latter, the rails and bearings, being in section.
Figure 2 is a top or plan view on an enlarged scale, of a part of the bolster rail
and bolsters therein, one bolster being partially broken out.
Figure 3 a section of Figure 2 in the dotted line X-X.
Figure 4 shows a modified form of rail in plan partially broken out, with bolsters
and bearing holding rod, and
Figure 5 is a section of Figure 4 in the line X³—X³.
The bolster and footstep rails are substantially alike, so I need describe
specifically but one of them, viz:-the bolster-rail; and briefly refer to like
parts of the step-rail by proper letters.
The mule or jack carriage A, its beams a, a, b, b, the spindle c, its whirl c¹ and
driving band c³, are all cominon to usual jacks or mules.
The rails d, m, of cast metal, or it may be of rolled steel, have respectively hori-
zontally projecting flanges d', m¹, which at suitable intervals, are bored or cut
through to provide openings for the reception of the bearings e, f, the former being
the bolster and the latter the footstep.
The edges of the flanges d', m², of each of the rails d, m, are grooved longi-
tudinally as at d², the groove being sufficiently deep to cut partially into and
to intersect the openings in the said Hanges so that the spring rods d³, m³, inserted
in the said grooves, will stand in and across one side of each of the bearing
receiving openings, as shown in Figure 2.
Each bearing e, f, is provided externally with an enlarged top part to receive oil,
and below the said top part the exterior of the bearing is preferably grooved
annularly or slightly curved as shown, or so shaped as to cause the periphery of
the bearing and the walls of the flange of the rail surrounding it to touch each
other in the line X-X, to leave spaces, see Figs. 3 and 5, above and below the said
centre line X-X¹ to enable the bearings to rock slightly in the openings made for
their reception in the flanges d¹, m³, the spring rods d³, m³ by entering the short
concaved grooves 3 of the bearings, see Fig. 3, keeping the latter from being readily
lifted out of the openings in the rail and from rotating with the spindles, but the
bearings may be removed by applying to them sufficient force or end-pressure to
cause them to spring the rods aside.
The bearing holding spring rods d³, m³, are held in place by like clamps h, h¹,
shown in Figures 1 to 3, as L shaped rails connected to the main rails d, m, by
means of suitable screws or bolts g, the said clamps having lugs or projections 4, 4,
to bear against the bearing holding rods in the grooved edges of the flanges d¹, m³,
midway between the holes or openings therein which receive the bearings, spaces 5
being left between the said lugs and opposite the grooved part 3 of the bearings.to

page_text: permit of the outward movement of the rods ɖ, m³, as when the bearings are to be
removed as stated, or are to be inserted in place.
The clamps, shown in Figures 1 to 4, are very stiff and add materially to the
strength of the rail, but I do not desire to limit my invention to the exact shape
of rail clamp shown, for instead I may employ a rail, the flange of which is
notched in from its inner edge, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, and on the clamping
part of the rail the lugs or projections may be made somewhat longer as shown
at 8, and the inner ends of the said lugs may be notched for the reception of the
bearing holding spring rod d³.
The rods d³, m³, will be made of spring metal so that they may be sprung back
far enough to enable a bolster or a step to be removed from its rail without with-
drawing the rod-The bolsters and the footsteps supported as described may tip a
very little in the sockets or openings of the rails but need not move laterally―The
bolsters are clamped, as it were, between portions of the two halves of the bolster-
rails, and the steps between the separate pieces of the step-rail, the said rails, being
held in place between the wooden beams a, a, and b, b.
The surface of the bolster and of the step, and the edge of the web or flange in
line with it, are made to touch each other in a certain line to avoid lateral move-
ment in case lateral movement be not desired, but the opposed surfaces of the web
or flange on the one side and the part of the bolster or step in line with it are so
shaped, curved, or rounded, as to permit the bolster and step to tip on the flange
or web as its fulcrum.
Bolsters and footsteps supported as described between their ends by a thin flange
or web permits of quick and easy adjustment of the bearings to correctly align
spindles.
The band pull is in the direction to keep the annularly grooved parts of the
bolster and footstep in contact with the webs or flanges which serve as their
fulcrum.
In a mule or jack it is very desirable to avoid the extension of the upper ends
of the bearings above the level of the beams a, a, or b, b, and to obviate this the
main body of the rail is made 4-shaped thus affording a nearly central flange to
receive and support the bearings and permit them to tip.
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. The metallic rail made in two parts, and the bearings supported between their
ends by and to tip or rock on a flange d' of one of the parts of the said rail,
combined with the rod which acts against the peripheries of the said bearings to
retain them in the openings in the rails, substantially as described.
2. The part d of the rail having the flanges d provided with openings to receive
the bolsters, or bearings, the latter being grooved as shown and described at their
peripheries in the plane of the web d¹, combined with the spring rod, and with the
part h of the rail having projections to bear against the rod at suitable intervals
to keep the rod in contact with the said bolsters or bearings, substantially as
described.
3. The rail portion d having the laterally extended flange provided with
openings for the reception of the bearings and the bearings shaped externally as
described to enter said openings loosely, combined with the rod intersecting the
said openings and acting against the bearings, and with means to hold the said rod
in place at suitable intervals, substantially as described.
4. The carriage A provided with the metal rails d, m, having respectively
laterally extended flanges d³, m³, provided with openings for the reception
respectively of the bolster and the footstep bearings loosely, the separate bolsters
and footsteps placed loosely in the openings of the said flanges, and the spindle
placed in the said bearings and sustained thereby above and below its whirl,

page_text: combined with means for holding the said bolsters and footsteps in the openings of
the said flanges permitting them to tip to accomodate the spindle but restraining
their rotation with the spindle, substantially as described.
5. A jack or mule carriage having a 4-shaped rail, combined with bearings
placed in the horizontal or central flange of the said rail, all substantially as
described.