IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLES SHAFTS. AND BEARINGS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Black, of Hampstead Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Sculptor, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLES
SHAFTS. AND BEARINGS."
Sealed the 12th October 1855, and, dated the 25th April 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Black at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petitiou, on the 25th April
1855.
I, JOHN BLACK, of Hampstead Road, in the County of Middlesex, Sculptor,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
AXLES, SHAFTS, AND BEARINGS," to be as follows:-
Where it is intended that the axle or shaft shall revolve, my Invention
consists in providing a bearing fixed upon the carriage spring bed for carriage
axles, and in any convenient position for shafts. This bearing is recessed in the
centre for the reception of a collar or ring upon or fitted to the axle; the recess
is filled with oil or other lubricating material, and carries at the side two or
more chambers, coutaining an additional supply of lubricating material, which
communicate by an aperture with the recess; the axle revolving and carrying
the collar with it becomes lubricated by the material being taken up by the
collar. Where the axle is not to revolve, then at each end of the nave of the
wheel. I provide an endless rail in the form of a ring. These two rings form

page_text: the bearings for the axle, and prevent the axle from touching the inside of the
nave. The space between the axle and the inside of the nave forms a chamber
for the reception of lubricating material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Black in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BLACK, of Hampstead Road, in the County of Middlesex, Sculptor, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
Que thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Black, Her special licence that I, the said John Black, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Black, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLES, SHAFTS,
AND BEARINGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Black, 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 perforined, 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 John Black, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My Invention is intended to facilitate the draught, and effect the better
lubrication of axles, shafts, and bearings, diminish friction, and increase the
efficiency of such parts, and is applicable to locomotive engines, tenders, and
all kinds ofrailway carriages, and for every description of carriage for common
roads, for shafts for steam vessels, and every description, of machinery...

page_text: The
My improvements consist, firstly, in providing a revolving shaft or axie,
fitted with a pair of fixed endless rail bearings or supports, placed in a suitable
position and recessed, so as to form a reservoir in the centre, and receive a
lubricator, collar, or ring, rising above the horizontal line of the said shaft or
axle, cast upon or fitted to the shaft or axle, by which it is considerably
strengthened. The reservoir is filled with oil or other lubricating material,
which is taken up by the lubricator on the shaft as it revolves, and distributes
it over its fixed endless rail bearings and axle so as to lubricate them.
bearing is also provided with one, two, or more chambers for containing a
sapply of lubricating material. These chambers are placed at the side of the
centre reservoir, in which the lubricator revolves independently, as it is in
contact with nothing but the oil or other lubricating material, or in any
other convenient position, and communicate with it through an aperture or
passage. The lubricator on the axle may be rectangular, round, or of any
other convenient shape. For carriage axles I prefer to place the fixed endless
rail bearings in the carriage spring bed, or I form or fit it in the block fixed
to the carriage spring.
My Invention consists, secondly, in fitting a pair of revolving endless rail
bearings, collars, or rings at each end of the nave or stock of a carriage or
other wheel, which revolving endless rails form bearings for the axle, and
prevent it from touching the inside of the nave or stock, the space inside the
nave around the axle between the rings or revolving endless rails forming a
chamber for the reception of oil or other lubricating material. The inner
portion of the revolving endless rails or rings or collars fitted at each end of
the nave or stock may be constructed straight, round, rectangular, or of any
other convenient shape. This arrangement is particularly adapted for axles
not intended to revolve. Or I provide a shaft or axle with both these arrange-
ments, employing the second arrangement at the part where the axle passes
through the nave or stock of a wheel, and the first arrangement at any other
part or parts of the axle, applicable to spring or carriage bed; or I combine
both arrangements in the nave or stock of the wheel; that is to say, I provide
rings, collars, or revolving endless rail bearings at each end of the nave to
serve as bearings for the shaft or axle to rest upon instead of the ordinary box,
and I also fit the shaft with a lubricator, ring, or collar, which revolves in the
reservoir made to receive it in the centre of the fixed endless rail bearings,
which may be fitted either to the spring or carriage bed.
Figures 1 to 8 of the Drawings annexed exemplify my first arrangement.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 are side elevations of a shaft, fitted with a lubricator, ring,
or collar.ou
its exterior surface, rising above the horizontal line of the said

page_text: be
axle or shaft, intended to take up the lubricating material from the reservoir in
the centre of fixed endless rail bearings. A is the shaft in all three Figures;
13, the lubricator, rings, or collars, or fixed endless rail bearings, which
made rectangular, as in Figure 1; polygonal, as in Figure 2; or round, as in
Figure 3, or of any other convenient shape.
may
Figure 4 is a plan of shafting constructed according to my first-named
improvements; Figure 5 is a sectional elevation of the same; and Figure 6, a
section through the line a, b, of Figure 5. A is the shaft; B, the lubricator,
ring, or collar, fitted on and revolving with the shaft A; C, a pair of fixed
endless rail bearings with reservoirs, as shewn at D, the centre reservoir to
receive the lubricator, ring, or collar on the shaft; E, E, are supplementary
chambers or reservoirs, one on each side of the centre reservoir D, intended to
contain a supply of oil or other lubricating material, and communicating with
the reservoir D by passages a, a; b, b, are passages through the bearings by
which the lubricating material is supplied to the chambers E, E, and thence
through the passages a, a, to the reservoir D; these passages may be closed
when required by screwed plugs, hinged covers, or valves.
Figure 7 is a sectional view, and Figure 7a a plan, of the same arrangement
as applied to a carriage axle; here the fixed endless rail bearing is formed or
fitted in the block fixed to the carriage spring bed. A is the axle; B, the
lubricator, collar, or ring; C, the block fixed on the carriage spring, hollowed
out 80 as to form a bearing to support the axle, and a reservoir to receive the
lubricator, ring, or collar B; D is the reservoir; E, E, are supplementary
chambers, supplied with oilor other lubricating material through the passages
b, b, and communicating by means of the passages a, a, with the reservoir D,in
which the lubricator revolves.
Figure Sisa sectional view, shewing my second arrangement,applied to a fixed
axle. A is the axle; B, the nave or stock of a wheel with which it is connected;
C, C, are revolving endless rail bearings, rings, or collars, fitted into the nave
one at each end,aud bolted to the nave or stock, as shewn in the plan, Figure 9,
or otherwise secured thereto. The space in the interior of the nave round the
shaft and between the two revolving endless rails, collars, or rings C, C, forms
a reservoir or chamber D, for the reception of the oil or other lubricating
material, which is supplied through a passage a, cut through the body of the
'nave or stock, the mouth of the passage being closed by a screwed plug b,
which is removed when it is required to supply the reservoir with oil or other
'lubricating material. Thus, the axle, bearings, and wheel may be lubricated
without unfixing or taking the wheel off.
Figure 10 is a sectional view of a revolving carriage axle, with both

page_text: arrangements applied thereto. A is the axle; B, the nave or stock of the
wheel; C,C, revolving endless rail bearings, rings, or collars, fitted one at each
end of the nave or stock; , passage through the naye for the supply of
lubricating material; b, plug or stopper; E,a pair of fixed endless rail bearings,
of the description represented in Figure 4, and placed at a convenient distance
from the nave or stock; F, lubricator, ring, or collar, fitted on and revolving
with the shaft G, reservoirs or oil chambers.
Figure 11 is a vertical section, shewing both of my improved arrangements
combined, and applied to the axle of a railway engine, tender, or carriage;
Figure 12 isa vertical section on a line at right angles to the shaft; Figure 13,
an end view of the nave of a locomotive or railway carriage wheel; and
Figure 14, plan in section of axle box. The same letters indicate the same
parts in these four Figures. A is the shaft; B, nave of railway wheel;
C, G, lubricators, collars, or rings fitted to or formed on the shaft, the collar C
being at that part which passes through the nave of the wheel, and the collar G
atasuitable distance from the nave or stock; D,reservoir in the nave, supplied
with lubricating material through the passage a (by removing the slide);
E, E, are revolving endless rail bearings, collars, or rings, fitted one at each
end of the nave, and forming bearings for the shaft. These endless rails or
rings are bolted to the nave or stock by bolts c, c, or otherwise secured thereto,
and they are fitted in in halves, so as to allow of the lubricator or collar on
the shaft passing between them. Thus, by the combined employment of the
revolving endless rail bearings in the nave or stock, and the lubricators or
collars on the shaft, and fixed endless rail bearings, the risk of accident to the
shaft is diminished. In the case of one of the bearings becoming overheated,
or of the shaft itself sticking or becomini locked, or working aneasily in one of
the bearings, and by fitting the endless revolving rail bearings into the nave in
halves or segments, an accident to the bearing or shaft may be more easily
repaired. Fare fixed endless rail bearings in axle box, placed at each end of
the axle or shaft; G, the lubricators or collars, fitted on and revolving with the
axle; H, the oil chambers or reservoirs.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not restrict myself to
any precise form indicated in the Drawings annexed, so long as the particular
features and principles of my Invention be retained; neither do I restrict
myself to any particular plan for conveying the oil or other lubricating matter
into the reservoir or reservoirs, as circumstances must alone dictate the most
suitable means or any particular plan for fixing my antifriction lubricating
axles aud shafts working in fixed or revolving endless rail bearings; but I

page_text: claim the various improvements in axles, shafts, and bearings, herein-before
described, and represented in the Drawings annexed, whereby draught is
facilitated, friction diminished, lubrication effectually provided, and the
efficiency of such parts increased, all as herein-before fully described.
hand
In witness whereof, I, the said John Black, have hereunto set my
and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
JOHN BLACK. .(L.S.)