CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLES AND AXLE-TREE BOXES
Year: 1843

page_text: WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing dato at
Westminster, the Eleventh day of February, in the sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Wolferstan, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Thomas Wolferstan, my
exors, adñors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Thomas Wolferstan,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, Her Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLES AND AXLE-TREE BOXES ;". in
which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that I, the said Thomas
Wolferstan, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, under my hand
and scal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Wolferstan, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully set forth and
ascertained in and by the following Specification thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
The Drawing hereunto annexed represents a separate view of a carriage-axle
with its box and other accompaniments, constructed according to my said
Invention. A, A, A, A, is the axle; B, a reservoir in the centre of the body of the
axle for containing the oil; C, a screw tap which closes the passage through
which the reservoir B.is.supplied from time to time with oil; D, a small orifice
through which the oil flows from the reservoir B into the chamber E, whence it
passes by a groove or channel in the top of the axle along the whole line
thereof; F, F, F, F, are leather collars; G, G, the axle box; H, an iron collar;
and I, I, the snug and screw-fixing collars of the box. By thus placing the oil in
the centre part of the axle, instead of in the box, as usual, a much larger supply
can be carried than is ordinarily practicable, and the bulk of the oil is, besides,
kept in such a state of comparative rest, during the motion of the carriage, as
well as complete exclusion from the atmosphere, that it remains limpid and
unfouled to the last. Again, the orifice (D), through which the oil is admitted
to the exterior of the axle, and the spaces between the exterior of the axle and
the box are so small, in proportion to the area of the reservoir (B, B,) that the
quantity which escapes from the reservoir can never exceed what is required
to make up for waste, and to keep the parts subjected to friction sufficiently
lubricated; whenever, too, a new supply of oil is wanted, it is effected in an
instant by simply unscrewing the tap C, and, without disturbing in the least
the connections of the axle and the box; and should that screw be accidentally
left out, or work loose, the circumstance can be productive of no danger
whatever.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as new is,
the making of a reservoir for the oil in the centre or heart of the axle, and the so
placing and adjusting of the inlet and outlet passages of the same that no more
than the requisite quantity of oil shall be at all times supplied to the exterior
of the axle; and also so connecting the axle and box that the reservoir can be
replenished without disconnecting the axle and box, all as is herein-before de-
scribed; and I declare that my said Invention is not confined to the axles and
axle-tree boxes of carriages alone, but is applicable to revolving axles and shafts
of all sorts requiring lubrication.

page_text: And such my said Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion
of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare this to
be my Specification, and that I do verily believe this my said Specification doth
comply, fully and in all respects, without reserve or disguise, with the proviso in
the said in part recited Letters Patent. Wherefore I hereby claim to maintain
exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seven-
Enrolled the Tenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three.