IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE AXLES OF RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Louis Tenting, ainé, of Paris, France,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
THE AXLES OF RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 11th April 1860, and dated the 11th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Louis Tenting,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th October 1859.
I, JOSEPH LOUIS TENTING, ainé, of Paris, France, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF THE AXLES OF RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES," to be as follows,
that is to say:
My Invention relates to a peculiar construction of axle for railway and
other carriages, having for object to render the two wheels of the same axle
independant, or able to turn independantly of each other according to require-
And the Invention communicated to me consists in the employment,
in addition to the ordinary axle, of a second hollow axle made of iron or other
suitable material of sufficient strength serving as an envelope to the former.
One of the wheels is fixed on the hollow axle, & the other on the ordinary
axle, the hollow axle being bored internally so as to permit the ordinary axle,
which is suitably turned in a lathe, to play within it freely. The hollow axle
extends from the external part of the nave of the wheel fixed to it to the
interior of the nave of the wheel adapted to the ordinary axle; its length may,
however, be modified according to requirement. The ordinary axle supports
the weight of the carriage.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Louis Tenting, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
LOUIS TENTING, ainé, of Paris, France, Engineer,' send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Louis Tenting, aiué, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Louis Tenting, ainé, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Joseph Louis Tenting, ainé, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE AXLES OF
RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Joseph Louis Tenting, ainé, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Joseph Louis Tenting, ainé, 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, reference being had to the Drawing bereto annexed, and
to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:
My Invention consists in the employment, in addition to the ordinary axle
of railway and other carriages, of a hollow axle, serving as an envelope or
casing thereto, and has for object the rendering of the two wheels of an axle
independent of each other, that is to say, each wheel. able to turn according to
requirement, and with facility in curves, whatever their radius, and without
friction on the rails, thereby effecting, firstly, a great decrease in the tractive
force required; secondly, a diminution, if not the annihilation of the chance of
rupture of the axles, which by this arrangement are no longer subject to be
twisted; thirdly, avoiding almost entirely the running of carriages off the

page_text: rails, resulting from the rigidity of the wheels, as at present set up. With
this system of axles railroads may be constructed with curves of a small radius,
which could not be effected until now without danger.
In the Drawing hereto annexed, a is the ordinary axle; b, a hollow axle,
made of iron or other material offering sufficient strength, which serves as an
envelope or casing to it. Upon this hollow axle 6 is fixed one of the two
wheels of the carriage, and the other wheel is fixed to the ordinary axle a.
The hollow axle b should be bored smoothly inside to permit the ordinary
axle a, the surface of which is truly turned, to work within it freely. The
hollow axle b may be of the same length as the distance between the outside
of the nave of the wheel B and the inside of the nave of the wheel A, but this
length may be modified according to requirement. The axle a alone supports
the carriage, which arrangement has the advantage of not rendering any
alteration necessary in the present construction of carriages, and by which
their strength is considerably increased. In case the axle a should break, no
accident can take place, as the hollow axle 6 will keep it in its place, and will
allow it to continue the journey without any dangerous result. Both axles
must be lubricated.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I would observe, that I do not confine myself to
the precise construction herein described and shown in the Drawing, provided
the principle or main feature of my Invention be retained. What I claim as
my Invention, and intend to be protected by the herein in part recited Letters
Patent, is the application to railway and other carriages of a hollow axle b,
serving as an envelope or casing to an ordinary axle, in the manner and for
the purpose herein-before described and represented in the annexed Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Louis Tenting, ainé, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.