CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN REDUCING BUT FRICTION OF AYING AND AXLE TREES OF CARRIAGES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Léon Joseph Pomme, Gentleman, of Paris, in the
French Empire, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN REDUCING
BUT FRICTION OF AYING AND AXLE TREES OF CARRIAGES"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Léon Joseph Pomme at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
January 1854.
I, LÉON JOSEPH РOMME, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN REDUCING THE FRICTION OF AXLES AND AXLE-TREES
OF CARRIAGES" to be as follows:-
In lieu of the ordinary axle box I substitute a frame consisting of two side
plates united at the top, and having between them two cylindrical rollers which
rest upon the neck or journal of the axle. These rollers act as anti-friction
rollers, being of much larger diameter than the axle. The spring which
supports the carriage is provided with a clip in the centre, from the under side
of which projects a pin which enters a hole in the frame which carries the
rollers. The frame is thus enabled to adjust itself so that the rollers rest fairly
on the axle.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by
the said Léon Joseph Pomme in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th July 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LÉON
JOSEPH POMME, Gentleman, of Paris, in the French Empire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her, most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Léon Joseph Pomme, Her special license that I, the said Léon
Joseph Pomme, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Léon Joseph Pomme, my executors, administrators, and 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN REDUCING THE FRICTION OF AXLES AND AXLE-TREES OF CARRIAGES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Léon Joseph Pomme,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Léon Joseph Pomme, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereto annexed, and
to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention has for its object to avoid the absorption of motive power
caused by the friction of axles and axle-trees, in the axle boxes and bearings
of railway carriages and other vehicles used on common roads, and consists in
substituting for the usual axle boxes and bearings a frame formed of two side
plates united at the top, and having between them two cylindrical rollers which
rest upon the neck or journal of the axle. These rollers are of a larger
diameter than the axle, and serve as anti-friction rollers.
The frame is moveable, and causes the two rollers to be in constant contact
with the axle or axle-tree of the vehicle.
Figures 1 and 2 of the annexed Drawing represent an elevation and plan

page_text: of the truck or body of a railway carriage, with the new arrangement
applied; Figures 8 to 7 shew the details of the rollers and frame; Figures 3
and 4, an elevation and plan of the frame, provided with two anti-friction
rollers b, b; Figure 5 is a side elevation of the same; Figure 6, a vertical
section of the frame; and Figure 7, a plan of the under part. Each of the
rollers 6 is held suspended by its trunnions between the two plates of the
frame a, within which they turn freely without coming in contact.
The frame
a is set between the plates d of the truck or body F, in a similar manner to
the ordinary box, but above the axle-tree g, so that the rollers 6 have only a
tangential contact with it. The middle of the frame a is traversed vertically
by a pin i, set in the clip h, of the spring 1. The clip h slides in the groove
of the plate d, so as to allow the frame a to assume any lateral inclination
required by wear or derangement to secure the contact of the two rollers b,
with the axle-tree g. The connection of the frame a with the clip h of the
springs may be disposed as a joint.
To lubricate the axes of the anti-friction rollers, I perforate the head of the
trunnions as far as the axes, and cause the lubricating matter to pass through
the canal thus formed on to the axes of the rollers, by which means they are
kept in the desirable greasy condition. To prevent the oil from running out
I close the openings of the trunnions air-tight with a metal stopper or spring,
as seen at Figure 1.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein laid down, provided the principle
of my Invention be retained, as the said arrangements may be modified
and applied to the axle-trees of vehicles in general. But what I claim is,-
The construction of a frame with two anti-friction rollers and its free
inclination, as herein-before described and referred to in the Figures of the
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Léon Joseph Pomme, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four
Witness,
H GILBEE.
POMME (L.S.)