IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF BEARINGS AND GREASE BOXES FOR SHAFTS AND AXLES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE BOSSES OF WHEELS
Year: 1861

page_text: Sealed the 16th July 1861, and dated the 11th February 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th February 1861.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF BEARINGS AND
GREASE BOXES FOR SHAFTS AND AXLES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE BOSSES OF
WHEELS," a communication from abroad by Jose Gallegos, of Paris, in the
Empire of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of bear-
ings and grease boxes for rotating shafts and axles of all kinds, which improve
ments are also applicable to the hoses of wheels intended to run loose upon
Price 8d.1

page_text: their axes, whereby a considerable reduction of friction is effected and economy
of lubricating material obtained. According to this Invention, it is proposed
to employ a number of antifriction rollers, which are fitted loosely on to
separate and independent axes of their own, and so disposed inside the grease
box as to leave a space in the midst, into which space the main journal of the
shaft or axle is introduced, resting upon the peripheries of the lower antifriction
rollers.
The grease box is packed so as to be grease-tight, and is kept always full of
oil or other suitable lubricant, so that the rubbing surfaces are constantly im-
mersed in lubricating material. Openings may be made in and through the
antifriction rollers, so as to allow the oil to circulate freely all round. These
rollers, which it is preferred to make of steel, may, if desired, be made so as
to bear upon the journal at their extremities only, the centre portion being of
a slightly reduced diameter, and for the sake of economy the ends or working
parts only may be of steel, whilst the central portion is of cast iron with
suitable apertures, and the three parts are bolted together by longitudinal
bolts, so as to form one roller. In the case of wheels which turn loosely upon
their axes, the same arrangement of rollers may be applied to the naves or
bosses of such wheels, in which case they will revolve round the axle journal
as well as rotate on their own individual axes. Suitable provision is made for
inspecting the state of the oil supply by having small glass-covered apertures
in the oil chambers, and this applies equally to the fixed bearings for rotating
shafts and to the bosses of wheels running loose on stationary shafts or
axles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th August 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain.
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry

page_text: "
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Henry Johnson, 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 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF BEARINGS AND GREASE
BOXES FOR SHAFTS AND AXLES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE BOSSES OF WHEELS,'
a communication from abroad by Jose Gallegos, of Paris, in the Empire
of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
The said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
bearings and grease boxes for rotating shafts and axles of all kinds, which im-
provements are also applicable to the bosses of wheels intended to run loose
upon fixed axes, whereby a considerable reduction of friction is effected and
economy of lubricating material obtained. According to this Invention, it is
proposed to employ a number of antifriction rollers, which are fitted loosely on
to separate and independent axes of their own, and so disposed inside the grease
box as to leave a space in the centre of them, into which space the main
journal of the shaft or axle is introduced, resting upon the peripheries of the
lower antifriction rollers of the circular series.
The grease box is packed so as to be grease-tight, and is kept always full of
oil or other suitable lubricant, so that the rubbing surfaces are constantly
immersed in lubricating material. Openings may be made in and through the
antifriction rollers, so as to allow the oil to circulate freely all round. These
rollers, which it is preferred to make of steel, may, if desired, be made so as to
bear upon the journal at their extremities only, the centre or middle portion
being of a slightly reduced diameter; and in order to lower the cost, the ends
or working parts only may be of steel, whilst the central portion is of cast iron,

page_text: with suitable apertures, and the three parts are bolted together by longitudinal
bolts so as to form one roller. In the case of wheels which turn loosely upon
their axes, the same arrangement of rollers may be applied to the naves or
bosses of such wheels, in which case they will revolve round the axle journal
as well as rotate on their own individual axes. Suitable provision is made for
inspecting the state of the oil supply by having small glass-covered apertures
in the oil chambers, and this applies equally to the fixed bearings for rotating
shafts and to the bosses of wheels running loose on stationary shafts or
axles.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a transverse vertical section, and
Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of a bearing or plummer block con-
structed according to this Invention; Figure 3 represents a detail side eleva
tion, and Figure 4 a section of one of the antifriction rollers mounted on its
axis, which axis is shown detached at Figure 5. Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10
represent various views of an antifriction roller composed of three distinct
parts, by which mode of construction the cost of these rollers is greatly
reduced.
The grease box C is made in two parts, united by bolts passed through the
lugs or flanges D, between which a packing of leather, caoutchouc, or other
suitable material is introduced for the purpose of keeping the joint perfectly
grease-tight. The two parts of the box being thus united they are inserted
into a frame E, which may be either fixed or moveable, according as the
journal of the shaft or axis is moveable or fixed. In the rolling stock of rail-
ways and in other vehicles where the axles rotate, the axle box is fixed in
suitable guard plates so as to be capable only of a slight vertical movement:
in this case the frame E of the axle box may be of any convenient shape, and
carries on its upper surface an oil or grease reservoir F, in communication
with which are the two passages f. f. made in the frame E. and corresponding
with other openings e. e, made in the grease box C. by which arrangement oil
or grease is conducted into the interior of the grease box, so as to surround or
envelope the rollers and axle journal contained therein. g is a piece of glass,
which may be inserted into the side of the oil reservoir for facilitating the
inspection of the oil and enable the same to be maintained always at about the
same level, as shown by red lines at 1 2, in the Drawings. When the shaft

page_text: is fixed, the grease or axle box constitutes the boss of the wheel, and in this
case the frame E is made square, and the oil passages c and are disposed
upon each of the four faces, so that at whatever part the wheel stops one of
the reservoirs will be uppermost, so as to allow of the amount of oil contained
in the box being examined, and of a further supply, if desired, being intro-
duced. The axle box C is retained in its place in the outer frame E by the
two metallic rings H, H, which overlap the edges of the axle box, and are
bolted firmly to the frame E by the bolts j. On each face or side of the axle
box C there are made a series of apertures, disposed exactly opposite to each
other; the diameter of the apertures in the one series corresponds with that
of the axes B of the antifriction rollers, terminating in a head b, as shown in
Figure 5, whilst the diameters of the opposite set of apertures correspond
with those of the reduced end portions of the axes above referred to. The
antifriction rollers A may either be made of one single piece of steel, as shewn
in Figures 3 and 4, or they may be composed of three parts, as shewn in
Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
In the first arrangement the two ends a, a, are of larger diameter, as
these parts alone act as rollers, whilst the middle and interior parts are reduced
in diameter, and are made hollow, as shown, the oil being allowed to circulate
through the rollers freely by the orifices z, z, made on the surface thereof.
The ends of the roller rest upon the axis B, either by having a shoulder at the.
ends, or by inserting a steel ring inside the roller at each extremity, which last-
mentioned arrangement is shewn at Figure 4. These rollers may, however, be
made much more economically in the following manner:--A steel cylinder is
turned down to the desired diameter of the discs a, a, and from it are cut the
discs or rings a of the proper thickness or width, one of which is shewn in
section and side view at Figure 6. The middle length or section of the
roller may be made of cast iron, of the form shewn in longitudinal and trans-
verse section in Figure 10, wide openings being left, in order to allow the
oil to pass and circulate freely, and bolt holes z made for the purpose of
enabling the end steel discs a, a, being secured firmly to the middle portion wc,
as shewn in the longitudinal and transverse section of a complete roller at
Figures 7 and 8. These rollers are adjusted inside the box C, and are retained
or secured therein by passing through them and through the sides of the box
the small axes B. B: the journal P is now inserted between the series of rollers
A, and rests solely upon the enlarged ends or discs a of those rollers, which
rotate on their own axes during the rotation of the journal.
exist between the shaft and the axle box are packed by means of india-rubber
The openings which
packing rings, and leather dises are further added, so that the oil in spite of

page_text: the rotation of the shaft cannot escape from the interior of the axle box. R is
a nut terminating the axle and serving to adjust the box thereon. It is obvious
that the rollers might be disposed in mathematically correct positions, in such
a manner that the journal P should rest precisely upon the peripheries of the
discs a. As the centres of the fixed axes are outside, the mounting is ren-
dered very easy, and the parts may be set up as fast as wear takes place, by
giving a quarter or half turn to the heads of the axes B.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,--
First, the general construction and arrangement of axle boxes and bearings
for stationary and rotating axles or shafts, as herein-before described.
Second, the peculiar mode of combining antifriction rollers to be used with
axle boxes and bearings, as herein-before described and illustrated by the
Drawings.
Third, the peculiar construction of antifriction rollers to be used in axle
boxes and bearings, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)