NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLE BOXES AND OILERS FOR RAILWAY CAR AXLES
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Nottingham Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, on the 3rd January 1876.
JOSEPH NOTTINGHAM SMITH, of Jersey City, in the State of New Jersey, one of
the United States of America, Gentleman. "NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN
AXLE BOXES AND OILERS FOR RAILWAY CAR AXLES."
My Invention relates to that class of journal boxes or axle boxes in which there
is a universal or ball joint used between the lining or bearing and the frame of the
truck or car body, and its objects are,―
First. To provide for the introduction of such axle boxes into the pedestals now
in use.
Second. To improve the construction and operation of the said ball joint, and the
devices by which its motion is controlled and made available for use in a car
truck.
And, Third. To improve the construction and operation of the dust excluding and
oiling devices of the lining or bearing, and of the stopping bar. I propose to fit
my axle box and oiler to the pedestal now in use by merely drilling holes for the
bolts which secure the brackets to the pedestal.
The brackets are so formed as to leave a slotted way between themselves and
the pedestal for the flanges on the slide or saddle to slide up and down in. The
saddle is open at the bottom to admit the housing, and has a spherical seat in its
under side to receive the ball on the housing, whereby a ball-and-socket joint is
formed, allowing the housing to follow the motions and directions of the axle in
order to avoid cramping the bearing.
To prevent the thrusting of the housing out of the pedestal by any sudden and
excessive side swaying of the car I provide lugs or projections on the sides of the
housing which come in contact with the sides of the saddle as soon as the ball
leaves the socket, whereby the motion of the housing in a lateral direction is
confined within safe limits.
In case a sudden displacement of the truck or other accident take place, which
would permit the car wheels to drop or force the truck upward, the housing is
prevented from leaving the pedestal by striking inwardly projecting ledges, or
hooks on the brackets.
To facilitate the insertion and removal of the housing the strap is cut away
between the jaws of the pedestal, so that the strap need not be removed, slight
swells or ridges are formed on the middle of the inner faces of the brackets in

page_text: a vertical direction to permit the housing to swing slightly around a vertical
axis.
The bolts which secure the brackets to the pedestal are kept from unscrewing by
lock washers, one edge of which is turned up against one side of the bolt head, and
another turned down around a corner of the bracket. The axle journal is supplied
with oil for lubrication from the bottom cavity of the housing by an endless wick
carried and held up to the journal by a rocking pad, on which the wick is held by
an embracing spring strap.
The pad itself is supported on one end of a rocking frame hung in trunnions, the
opposite end of which frame is pressed down by a slide and spring pressing thereon.
It is held upon its trunnion bearings by legs depending from the stopping bar.
The endless wick is kept moving around its pad by means of a jumper hinged to
the pad supporting frame, and having projecting hook teeth on one side which
catch into one side of the wick, so that by the jolting of the truck or car the
jumper vibrates, and thereby its hook teeth move the wick in one direction of its
vibrations, and release themselves therefrom by the opposite vibrations.
The end of the axle journal where it bears against the stopping bar is supplied
with oil for lubrication by another endless wick which is supported and held
against the end of the journal by a tumbler that has a constant tendency to lean
toward the same. The wick is kept in motion by a sliding jumper secured in the
stopping bar, and having hook teeth to catch into the wick as the jolting of the
truck or car causes it to vibrate up and down and move the wick in one
direction.
The opening at the outer end of the housing is closed by a vertically sliding door,
which when shut is fastened by a spring bolt springing into a recess in the side of
the housing and released by a key. The bolt also holds the door raised by springing
into another recess of the housing; the door is packed at the top and bottom to
exclude the dust.
To further secure the door and prevent any tampering with the contents of the
housing a cavity is made in the housing behind the door, and opposite to this
cavity is a hole through a plate attached to the door with screw threads on its
periphery, in this hole a seal of lead or other suitable material is placed, and a key
stamp is employed to be driven by screwing into the said hole, and made thereby
to force a part of the leaden seal into the cavity behind. The door cannot be
opened until this seal is removed, which removal at the proper time and by
the proper person is effected by inserting another key on the other end of the key
stamp constructed for the purpose, namely with cutters, which as the key is screwed
into the keyhole cut out the seal.
A suitable design or lettering may be engraved on the end of the key stamp to
identify the genuineness of the sealing, and show that the seal has not been
tampered with. And a tag or ticket may be attached to the seal to indicate the
date of the last oiling which may be written thereon, or to record any other
desired particular. The sliding door when closed and locked also holds the stopping
bar in its place by means of a projection on the back of the door bearing down
upon a forward projection on the stopping bar.
At the rear end of the housing where the car axle enters it, the opening is closed
by two sliding plates, one of which fits down upon and around one half of the
circumference of the axle, and the other similarly fits up against and half way
around the axle. These two sliding plates also overlap each other at the sides of
the axle, and are pressed toward the axle, by a spring which is so secured in
the housing that it cannot become misplaced, but can be easily removed for any
purpose. The upper plate which moves up and down has a thin sheet metal
plate on its upper edge, which fits closely against the housing and excludes the
dust.
Inside of the housing at the top and resting upon the axle journal I place a divided
bearing, or two bearings separated by a narrow space longitudinally over the centre
of the journal; these bearings are made of any suitable lining metal cast into an

page_text: iron shell which has cross projections that become imbedded in the soft cast metal
of each bearing and hold it in place. The separation of the divided or double
bearings serves to keep the bearings cool, to condense the oil vapours when formed,
and to cause the journal to wear centrally upward, and to prevent the wearing
laterally from the alternate forward and backward pressure when the car is run
alternately in opposite directions, which in ordinary axle boxes is a fruitful cause
of the heating of the journals by lessening the bearing surface, particularly when
backing up the cars or carriages.
Above the iron backing of the bearings and between it and the top of the
housing is inserted a strip or plate of india-rubber or other soft yielding material,
which acts as a cushion to render the bearing more elastic and prevent noisy
vibrations and shocks disagreeable to passengers and injurious to the running gear
of the carriages, and to prevent the possibility of unsealing the bearing.
To facilitate the removal of the bearings when they are so far worn away as to
require renewal a slight inclination is formed on the bottom of the housing, against
which to place the head of a jack screw, upon the operation of which this inclination
causes the housing to roll on the ball joint so as to lift the outer end of the bearings
above the button or flange on the end of the axle, and then a slight lift of the jack
releases the rear end of the bearings when they may be readily removed.
These improvements in carriage axle boxes are applicable either to the pedestals
of trucks, or to pedestals attached to car bodies without trucks, or to skeleton
trucks without pedestals proper.