Improvements in the Manufacture of Certain Parts of Railway Trucks or Wagons.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Apr., 1894-Accepted, 9th June, 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Certain Parts of Railway
Trucks or Wagons.
1 WILLIAM MALAM of 911 Ashton Old Road Fairfield, near Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, Boiler Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is to manufacture certain parts of railway trucks or
wagons (which have hitherto been made from two or more pieces of wrought metal
welded together) from a single solid piece of metal without welding.
The particular parts of the railway trucks or wagons to which my invention
relates are the axle guards and stays the vee-hangers for supporting the fulcrum
of the brake lever, the draw-bar cradle, and the draw links.
The nature of my said invention and the manner in which the same is to be
performed or carried into practical effect will be readily understood on reference to
the two sheets of drawings and the following explanation thereof.
To make a weldless axle-guard with its two diagonal stays I first take a plate of
wrought iron or mild steel of the required thickness (say inch) and (say) about
five feet long and six to seven inches wide, (see Fig. 1 Sheet 1 on the annexed
drawings). About one foot (more or less) from each end I drill a small hole a
through the plate preferably not in the centre of its width but (say) about one inch
nearer to one side thereof. I then cut through or slit the plate longitudinally from
one hole to the other, thus dividing the part between the holes into two bars
of unequal widths, which are united at both ends, and I then divide or cut through
the narrower one of these bars transversely about the centre at b.
The wider bar is bent and doubled in the centre (as shown by the dotted lines)
so as to form two vertical limbs parallel to each other, and at a suitable distance
apart to carry the axle box, the two narrow limbs a' being forced outwards, and by
these means I rough out a wrought iron or steel axle guard with its two diagonal
stays all made in one single piece without welding, which is then finished and fitted
in the usual way, as seen at Fig. 2.
The vec-hangers for supporting the fulcrum of the brake lever I also make
weldless in a similar way by taking a piece of plate metal (say inch thick), about
four and a half to five inches wide, and two feet five or six inches long (see
Fig. 3).
About six or seven inches from one end 1 drill a small hole c through the plate
about the centre of its width, aud I cut or slit the plate through from this hole to
the other end, thus forming two bars of equal width united together at one end,
which bars I then open out into a vee-shape as shown by the dotted lines.
The solid end is then "upset" to increase its thickness, and a hole drilled or
punched through it, and opened out to form a boss to receive the fulcrum pin of the
lever, and finished as shown at Fig. 4.
Sometimes instead of upsetting the solid end of the bar to give the required
thickness for the boss, I take a bar of this thickness originally as shown by
the dotted lines at Fig. 5, and I reduce it down and draw it out under the hammer
to the required thickness and length.
The draw bar cradle, end view of which is shown at Fig. 6 and side view dotted
at Fig. 7, I also form weldless from a single plate of metal of the required thickness
width and length (see Fig. 7), by drilling or punching holes e in the required
positions, and opening out the same until I obtain a blank in the form of two
circular discs g united by two straps / all in the one plane.

page_text: I then turn the discs g one quarter round so that they are at right angles to the
straps h, thus roughing out a draw bar cradle of the usual form made from a single
piece of metal without welding, which is then finished as usual, as shown in end
view at Fig. 6 and dotted elevation at Fig..7.
Another way of making a weldless drawbar cradle is to take a bar of the required
width length and thickness see Fig. 8, then drill or punch a hole i at a suitable
distance from each end, unite these two holes by a longitudinal cut or slit and then
"upset" the solid ends to form two discs (see k Fig. 9); after which I open and
draw out the two short thick bars into the form of two straps of the dimensions
required, as shown at Fig. 9.
Another way is shown at Fig. 10; I first punch a blank out of sheet metal in the
form shown at Fig. 10, the discs and straps being all in one plane, which I then
draw out, and I flatten the same. bringing the discs to the ends and giving the
whole one quarter turn in the process so as to obtain the form shown by the dotted
lines.
To make the weldless coupling chain of three links all from one single piece, I
take a bar of suitable size and about equal in thickness to twice the thickness of a
single link, and by means of dies I press or stamp the same into a rough form
approximate to that of three circular links interlocked and lying one over the other,
the centre of each link being filled in with a web as shown at Figs. 11 and 12
Sheet 2. I then punch out five spaces of suitable form removing the web so as to
open out the rings which are still joined together in one piece, after which cut
the rings asunder at the points where they cross each other, draw them out into
an oblong form, and finish by means of suitable dies, as shown at Fig. 13.
Or I take a square bar of suitable length and thickness and Hatten out the
centre part (see Fig. 14), then turn it one quarter round and flatten out the two
ends (see Fig. 15) at right angles to the centre part, after which I punch out the
suitably formed holes, open out (see Figs. 14 and Fig. 154) and divide the three
rings, and finish as before as shown at Fig. 16.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
The manufacture of the parts of railway trucks or wagons above referred to, each
from a single piece of wrought iron or mild steel without welding or joint,
substantially as herein before particularly described and illustrated by the drawings
annexed.
Dated this 28th day of A 1004
GEO. DAVIES & SON,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for the Applicant.