AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE AXLETREE OF WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES OF DIFFERENT DESCRIPTIONS
Year: 1813

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SPRATLEY, of the Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Coal Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Third, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twentieth day of December now last past, did give and grant
unto me, the said William Spratley, His especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said William Spratley, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William Spratley,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE AXLETREE OF WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES OF
DIFFERENT DESCRIPTIONS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso, obliging me, the said William Spratley, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
to cause the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately after the date.
of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the said recited Letters
Patent, reference being thereunto had, will more fully appear."

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Spratley, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, by the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and as follows, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in a certain combination of parts for securing the
wheel upon its axle, which will admit of giving any determinate degree of end
play or lateral motion to the wheel, which under some circumstances is so
much desired; at the same time it affords additional security, a more perfect
confinement of the oil in its various parts, less friction in motion, and a greater
ease of management than the most approved axles now in use.
In Fig. 1 of the Drawings or Figures hereunto annexed, the letters H, H,
denote the wheel box, having a shoulder at m to withstand the action of the
axle L, L, and another shoulder at t to resist the action on the clams C, C,
although either or both of them may be dispensed with; N, N, represents an
annular cavity for oil, which is retained by a leather collar, to be hereafter
described, and a longitudinal groove may be cut either in the wheel box H, H,
or in the axle L, L, to allow the oil to pass freely from the cavity N, N, to the
cap K, K, or vice versa, although this groove is not essentially necessary;
L, L, is the axle, made of wrought or cast iron, case-hardened or otherwise,
which is fixed to the carriage as usual, and is properly fitted into the wheel
box H, H; on the end of the axle L, L, is a knob or button at o, to be
received in the clams, to be hereafter described; C, C, are clams or clips of
iron, case-hardened, or of any other metal, which I generally make of two
pieces, but they may be made of any other number. One of these clams is
shewn seperate in Fig. 2, where the parts that receive the knob or button o
are exhibited; also a hole P, made in each clam, through which the linch pin
or bolt D passes; this at its head screws into the wheel box H, H, Fig. 1, and
is prevented from coming out by the cap K; it secures the clams to the box,
and thus prevents the wheel from coming off.. K, K, is the metal cap, before
mentioned, screwed or closely secured upon the wheel box H, H, between which
is a leather washer to prevent the escape of the oil; G is a stopper, screwed or
otherwise fixed into a hole in the cap K, which takes out when it is wished to
supply it with oil. By the mere removal of this stopper the various parts are
supplied with fresh oil without disturbing any other part, the advantage of
which is obvious. S, S, shews a cutter or dirt hoop fixed to the axle L, L; a
space is left between the wheel box H, H, and S, S.
The mode of allowing end play to the wheel, which constitutes the prin-
ciple of my Invention, is this: the hole through the clams which receives the
pin D is made oblong, as shewn in Fig. 2, which admits the clams to move

page_text: endways in the box to an extent determined by the length of the hole; but if it
is required to have the means of increasing or diminishing the end play at
pleasure, I use other contrivances, which form the principle feature of my
Invention. These are as follows:-
The outside of the clams have a male screw cut upon them, and a metal
collar or ferrule A, which I term the regulator, shewn in Fig. 4, screws upon
the clams C, C; when this collar is screwed home its shoulder comes in
contact with the end of the box, and no end play is allowed, in which case it
covers part of the hole P, Fig. 2; but as it is unscrewed the clams are allowed
so much end play as the hole P becomes uncovered. One, two, or more notches
are cut in the projecting shoulder or flanch of the regulator to admit of
corresponding prongs or forks arising out of a circular plate B, which circular
plate has attached to it a head,.going through the cap K and terminating on
its outside; this head being easily turned on the outside, and moving the prongs
attached to it, operates on the regulator, and at pleasure affords any degree of
end play that may be required, or removes it altogether without disturbing any
other part; a leather or other washer is placed between the circular plate B
and the inside of the cap K, K, to prevent the escape of the oil in that part.
This regulator may also be turned by any other simple contrivance.
I is a
screw, screwed inside C, C, having its thread reverse to that on the outside of
the clams, with a flanch head, which determines the extreme point to which
the regulator A may be unscrewed. In the action of this improved construc-
tion all the various parts revolve with the wheel, except the axle L, L, and its
knob o, and in the operation of the end play the wheel box H, H, the leather
collar F, with its ring E, E, the cap K, K, the linch pin or bolt D, and the
plate B, with its attached prongs, are the only parts which receive the lateral
motion. To prevent the oil escaping from this or any other kind of wheel
box, I use a leather collar F, screwed into the wheel box by the metal collar
or ring E, E, which has a male screw cut upon its circumference. This leather
collar F consists of a flat ring of leather to be held in the cell, and also a part
turned up from the same piece into a short cylinder to embrace the axle; it
acts in the same manner as what are called cup leathers for pumps, &c., and
while it allows the free motion of the axle in the wheel box, it prevents the
egress of the oil from its place of confinement.
Fig. 3 represents another mode of screwing the wheel upon its axle, which
may be adopted in lieu of the clams C, C. L represents the end of the axle;
and R, a ferrule or collar, which is applied in the same situation as the clams,
and has like them the hole P for the bolt D to pass through it, also the screw
cut on the outside, the difference consisting only in the mode of connecting it

page_text: with the end of the axle; thus, instead of making it in two clams, the button
o, o, is fixed upon the end of the axle by fitting a collar or ring upon the neck
or small part by a square or octagan, and securing it by a nut; or, as in
Fig. 5, the knob o of the button may be screwed into the end of the axle L,
and retained by a cross pin or screw a, which cannot come out when the axle
is in the box.
Both these modes of securing I claim as applied in any way to any kind of
axle independent of end play. If more convenient, the screw which holds the
flat part of the leather F fast may be made like a box, with a female screw
within it, to fit upon a male screw formed on the outside of the box. The
application of the cup leathers used in pumps to axletrees of any kind I claim
as my Invention. All the parts of my axletree may be made of any metal or
materials heretofore used for such articles, my Invention being in the form
and arrangement of the parts.
Fig. 6 shews the end of the axle L with its knob o.
Fig. 7 shews the cap K, with its circular plate B, and attached head, and
the stopper G.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Spratley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fourteen.
WILLIAM SPRATLEY. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named William Spratley, in the presence of
CHA HOLSKAMP.

page_text: thereto affixed, is of the proper handwriting of him the said William Spratley
therein named, and that the name or character "Cha Holskamp," set and
subscribed to the said annexed Deed Poll or Specification as the witness
attesting the execution thereof by the said William Spratley, is of the proper
handwriting of him this deponent.
Sworn at the Public Office in Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, this Nineteenth
day of February 1814, before me,
SAM. C. Cox.
CHA HOLSKAMP.
Inrolled the same Nineteenth day of February, in the year above written.