IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO CARRIAGE-AXLES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the firm of Haseltine Lake
"
& Co Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO CARRIAGE-AXLES Communicated
to him from abroad by William James Varley, of Englewood, New Jersey,
United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th August 1882.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings London "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO CARRIAGE
AXLES [A communication to him from abroad by William James Varley, of
Englewood, New Jersey, United States of America.]
"
The present invention relates to axles for carriages
The common manner of constructing axles for carriages is to make the ends of
the axle which constitute the spindle, of a round taper form, smooth and hardened,
which ends are introduced into bushings or boxes in the hub of the vehicle wheel,
and the box or bushing turns upon this spindle. Some of the objections to such
construction are, that the weight of, and friction caused by, the load come upon the
under surface of the spindle only, which soon wears flat and its efficiency is greatly
impaired; also, by the hardening of the spindles they are extremely liable to break
just inside of the wheels; and when either of these results takes place it can only
be properly remedied by providing a new axle, at considerable cost and trouble.
It is the object of the present invention to obviate these difficulties, and also to
provide other advantages in respect to lubricating the spindles without removing
the wheels.
The present invention consists partly in providing the spindle of the axle with a
sleeve, which extends through the bushing or box of the hub and is fixed upon the
spindle so that it cannot turn upon it. For this purpose the spindle may be forged

page_text: upon the end of the axle in the usual manner and may be of about the usual taper,
but preferably of somewhat less diameter. The internal wall of the sleeve fits
closely upon the spindle. The inner end of the spindle, where it joins the main part
of the axle, is provided with a sloping shoulder and this shoulder, instead of being
round or cylindrical, is four sided or of some other polygonal form and the inner end
of the opening through the sleeve which corresponds to this part of the spindle is
of the same shape as this part of the spindle so that when the sleeve is slipped
home upon the spindle it is thereby secured from turning.
The outer end of the spindle may be flattened or squared, and the sleeve corre-
spondingly shaped, to prevent any twisting of the sleeve upon the spindle.
The end of the spindle is provided with a screw thread extending to such distance
from the end as to hold two nuts, one to secure the sleeve in place against the
sloping shoulder of the spindle, and the other to hold the wheel upon the spindle.
The sleeve may be made of metal of any desired thickness to obtain the proper
diameter of the spindle around which the wheel is to turn. It is desirable not to
make it too thick, as thereby the spindle proper would be too small to stand the weight
of the load. The sleeve may be made of steel and can be hardened to any desired degree.
When the sleeve, and what has thus far been called the spindle, are thus united,
they may be said to constitute the spindle proper of the axle, as it is upon the outer
surface of the sleeve that the axle-box or bushing of the hub will bear, and around
which it will revolve. It will be seen that by this construction the sleeve, when
it becomes slightly worn on its under part, can be readily turned partly around, by
simply removing it and putting it on the spindle so that a different part of its
surface shall be below and receive the friction of the load. Also, when the sleeve
is worn so as to be unfit for further use it can be easily removed and a second one
substituted without removing the axle. Also, that it is only necessary to harden
the sleeve, while the spindle can be of tough tenacious iron not liable to break.
The present invention also partly consists in a construction for lubricating the
surface of the sleeve on which the wheel revolves, as follows.-The wall of the inner
end of the sleeve is enlarged to about twice its main diameter for an inch or so in
length, and is provided with a groove or other chamber for containing a small quantity
of lubricant. One or more holes are formed leading from this chamber upon the
surface of the sleeve, and a cover is arranged to both be slipped on and off this
The cover is
chamber, and, when in place, to be turned around upon its seat.
provided with a hole, which, when properly adjusted, will register with one of the
holes leading to the surface of the sleeve so that the lubricant is conveyed directly
from the can or other vessel to the sleeve.
The enlarged part of the sleeve is provided with a lip which projects over o
slightly overhangs the rear part of the main portion of the sleeve and into which the
axle-box telescopes. This lip, in its relation to the axle-box, protects the sleeve from
the ingress of dust and dirt.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th February 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO CARRIAGE
A communication to me from abroad by William James Varley, of
Englewood, New Jersey, United States of America
AXLES"
The present Invention relates to axles for carriages or wheeled vehicles.
In the ordinary construction of axles for carriages, the ends of the said axles
which form the spindles and are of a round tapering shape are hardened and con-
stitute the journals of the axle boxes or bushings in the hubs of the carriage
wheels. Some of the objections to this construction are, that the weight and friction
of the load come mainly upon the under surface of the spindles and cause them to
wear flat at this part; and the hardening of these spindles renders them liable
to break just inside the w
can be properly remedied only
trouble.
.
when either of these results takes place they
oviding a new axle at considerable cost and
.ese difficulties and also to provide
The object of this Invention is to obvin.
further improvements in the manner of lubricating the journals without removing
the wheels. The said Invention partly consists in providing the spindle of an axle
with a removable sleeve, which fits upon the spindle so as not to turn, is secured
thereto by a tubular nut, and is adjustable thereon so as to sent different wearing
surfaces to the revolving bushing or box of the hub for wh it acts as a journal
and partly in constructing the said sleeve with grooves toive oil, and passages
for distributing it, these grooves being protected by a band which is provided with
an oil hole, and is capable of adjustment around the sleeve so as to bring the oil hole
into proper position for lubricating the journal.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section of an axle constructed according to this
Invention
Figure 2 is a section on the line x x of Figure 1 looking to the right the hub and
bush being removed
Figures 3, 4 and 5 are sectional views on the lines y, y, w, w, and z, z respectively,
the hub being romoved and
Figure 6 is a side view of the inner end of the adjustable sleeve.
A is the axle the body of which is made square, while its spindle A' is round
and tapered, and is screw threaded upon its end in the ordinary manner. Tho
shoulder of the axle where it passes from a square to a round form is rounded, as
shown in Figure 1, for convenience in constructing the sleeve B which is made of
such material size and shape as to fit closely upon the spindle A' and back far
enough upon the flat sides of the axle, so that it cannot turn; the forward end is
prevented from turning in like manner the spindle being flattened or squared at
the base of its screw thread for a short distance, and the sleeve correspondingly
shaped, thus rendering impossible any twisting of the sleeve should it heat and
bind in the axle box. This sleeve is made shorter than the spindle A' and is kept
in place by a nut C which. is flattened upon its opposite sides to allow it to be
readily screwed on and off as shown in Figure 4. When screwed up against the
end of the sleeve, this nut is to be flush with the outer end of the axle-box D which
fits upon the sleeve B and is secured in the hub of the wheel in the ordinary
manner.
The inner end of the sleeve B is enlarged somewhat and has a ring groove E
formed therein to receive the end of the axle-box D and act as an oil-reservoir, the

page_text: parts having shoulders to form a seat for a washer F which serves to lessen friction
between the parts and prevent the escape of oil. On the outer surface of the inner
part of the sleeve is also formed an annular groove G which also serves as an oil-
reservoir and communicates with the bottom of the groove E by four ducts H which
are located directly opposite the centres of the fat sides of the axle A. The
groove G is covered by a band I which has an oil-hole I' and is kept in place by
set screws J which are conically pointed, so as not to obstruct the flow of the oil,
and bear against the bottom of this groove to hold the band in position; thus which-
ever side of the sleeve B is upward one of the ducts H will also be upward, and oil
can be poured into it through the opening I¹, in the band, which being then turned
to one side, brings this opening over the solid part of the sleeve thereby sealing it.
Upon either side of the groove G are other grooves M intended as seats for packing
to prevent the escape of oil between the sleeve B and the band I.
The axle-box, and with it the hub of the wheel, are kept in place upon the journal
or sleeve B by a cap nut K and escape of oil is prevented by a washer L secured
in place by this cap nut.
With this construction, when the sleeve becomes worn on its under surface, it
may be turned partly around so as to present a new surface to receive the friction
of the load; also, when the sleeve is worn so as to be unfit for further use,
it can
be easily and cheaply replaced by a new one without removing the axle which
is protected from wear and is not liable to fracture from being hardened as has been
the case hitherto.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
Foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I am aware that it is not new to use a detachable and adjustable sleeve within
an axle box, and I do not claim such as.my Invention; but I claim.
:
First The combination, with a carriage axle, of an adjustable sleeve sccured
upon the said axle, by means independent of the nut or other device employed for
keeping the axle-box and hub upon the axle, substantially as described.
Second-The combination, with a carriage axle, of an adjustable sleeve provided
with grooves and passages for holding lubricating material and distributing it to
the wearing surfaces, the said grooves being covered by an adjustable band,
through a hole in which they are filled, substantially as, and for the purpose,
set forth.
Third The combination of an axle A A¹, a sleeve B, a nut C, an axle-box D,
and a nut K, the said sleeve being shorter than the said axle-box, substantially as
shown and described.
Fourth-The combination of the axle A, the adjustable sleeve B having grooves E
and G and passages H, and the adjustable band I provided with an oil-hole I¹, as,
and for the purpose, set forth.
Fifth The combination of the sleeve B, having the groove E, and the axle-box D,
whereby the said groove serves as an oil-reservoir, as set forth.
Sixth-The combination of the sleeve B having a groove G and passages H,
and the adjustable band I provided with the oil-hole I', whereby the said sleeve
is furnished with a supply of oil and the escape of the same is prevented, as
Bet forth.
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Fourteenth day of February in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty three.