IMPROVE- MENTS IN CARRIAGE AXLES AND AXLE BOXES
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Holden at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents,, with his Petition, on the 25th March.
1873.
I, HENRY HOLDEN, of Harborne, in the County of Stafford, Accountant
Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CARRIAGE AXLES AND AXLE BOXES," to be as follows :—
. My Invention consists in constructing and combining or arranging
the parts of the said axles and axle boxes in the following manner :-
Instead of making that part of the axle called the axle box of wrought.
iron as is usual I make the said axle box by the casting process, and I
make it much lighter in weight than usual. I make it of the kind of
cast iron commonly called malleable or annealed cast iron, gun metal
or other hard metal or alloy may however be used in place of malleable
or annealed cast iron. The inside of the axle box is of sufficiently large
diameter to permit of the introduction of a steel or case hardened tube
between it and the arm of the axle. One end of this tube projects
through the collar end of the said box and has a conical or parabolic
figure at its extremity, while the other end of the said tube constitutes
the bearing for the collct. This end may either be conical or parabolic

page_text: in figure.
The said steel or case hardened tube is connected to the axle
box by a screw on the outside of the said tube taking into a corre-
sponding hollow screw in the inside of the axle box. A key or set screw
is employed to fix the tube in its place. Perforations are made in that
part of the steel or case hardened tube situated in the head of the axle
box to permit the oil from the reservoir to pass to the axle.
In conjunction with the improvements described in the axle box I
employ the following improvements in those parts of the axle called
the collar and arm. Instead of making the conical or parabolic end of
the steel or case hardened tube of the box take its bearing directly upon
the collar of the arm of the axle, I make the end of the said tube take
its bearing upon a separate bearing piece inserted in a recess in the
collar of the axle. This bearing piece consists of a ring the base and
circumference of which fit accurately in the recess formed for their
reception in the collar, the front face of the separate bearing piece being:
made of a conical or parabolic figure and accurately fitting the conical
-or parabolic end of the steel or case hardened tube of the axle box. In
order to prevent the rotation of the said separate bearing piece it is
furnished with lugs which take into corresponding recesses in the collar
of the axle, the conical or parabolic bearing described may be applied
to ordinary cast-iron axle boxes. I make the arm of the axle cylindrical,
that is of the same diameter throughout, and I dispense with the piece
called the cone. The arm of the axle is ordinarily case hardened, but
the case hardening process frequently injures the iron and renders the
arm liable to break. I dispense with the case hardening process, and
instead thereof I fit upon the arm of the axle a thin case hardened or
steel tube, the diameter of the said arm being slightly reduced for the
reception of the said case hardened or steel tube. This tube may be
fixed upon the axle arm by rivets or screws at the collet end. The
other end takes a support in the separate bearing piece described.
Although I prefer to use my said improvements in conjunction with
one another, yet they may be used separately.
My improvements are applicable both to carriage axles of the kind
called Collinge's axles and to carriage axles of the kind called mail
axles.
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