IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLES FOR CARRIAGES
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Grice at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents on the 9th January 1877.
JOHN GRICE, of the Firm of Grice and Harrison, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Coachsmiths and Coach Ironmongers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLES
FOR CARRIAGES."
My Invention consists principally in constructing the front of the axle boxes of
axles for carriages in the manner herein-after described whereby an increased
bearing surface is obtained for the collet on the arm of the axle; the axle box is
made lighter and of less diameter than usual, and the axle is noiseless, or nearly so.
My Invention further consists in constructing the nave hoops of carriage wheels
in the manner and for the purpose herein-after described.
The front of the axle box is ordinarily constructed with a seat or bearing against
which the collet on the front of the axle arm bears, the said seat being made in one
piece with the axle box, the bearing surface of the said seat being limited by the
size of the axle box used.
According to one part of my Invention I make the axle box in two parts, namely,
of the ordinary barrel and a separate front end or part, the said separate front end
or part being situated outside the front of the nave or hub of the wheel. The said
separate front end of the box is of larger diameter than the barrel of the box, and
the said separate front part is connected to the front end of the box by screwing
the former upon the latter. The said separate part of the axle box has at its rear
end a large flange by which the said separate part is secured to the nave or hub of
the wheel, and in the front end of the said part of the box a cap of the ordinary
kind screws.
At the rear end of the separate part of the box an inner flange or
collar constituting a seat or bearing is formed. On the said seat an ordinary leather
washer is placed, and against the said seat the collet on the end of the arm of the
axle takes its bearing. The said seat or bearing on the separate part or end of the
axle box is much larger than that ordinarily made on the barrel of the box, and
hence the rate of wearing of the washer and collet at that part is proportionately
reduced. The collet is fixed on the arm of the axle in the ordinary way.
"
Instead of employing a separate front part to the axle box, as described, the nave
hoop may be constructed to answer the same purpose as well as to form an oil
chamber or reservoir for the front end of the axle. To adapt the nave hoop to.

page_text: these purposes I form in the rear end of the saine an annular chamber constructed
of two parallel rings situated a short distance apart. At the inner face of the back
ring of the said chamber a flange or collar is formed, the said flange or collar con-
stituting the seat or bearing for the collet on the end of the axle arm, the said seat
or bearing being provided with an ordinary leather washer. The chamber described
also constitutes an oil reservoir, and is used in place of the ordinary hollow cap by
which the front of the axle arm is lubricated. The back ring of the nave hoop is
screwed to screw it to the barrel of the axle box, and the front ring is also screwed
to receive the cap by which the front end of the axle arm is covered.
In addition to making the front end of the box separate from the barrel of the
box, as described, the rear end or head of the said barrel may also be made separate
from the barrel, and be secured to the barrel by screwing.