IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILROAD CAR SPRINGS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Perry Green Gardiner, of the City of New York,
in the County and State of New York, in the United States of America,.
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILROAD CAR SPRINGS."
Sealed the 26th February 1864, and dated the 1st December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Perry Green Gardiner
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st December 1863.
I, PERRY GREEN GARDINER, of the City of New York, in the County and
State of New York, in the United States of America, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD. CAR SPRINGS,"
to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists in the manner of using and applying the elastic
compressible qualities of natural or raw wool in combination with springs of
steel in a spiral or. circular frame, and operating together in a cell or cells,
so as to form a spring sufficiently strong, durable, and elastic for railroad
cars. Other animal or vegetable fibrous substances, such as hair or cotton,
may be used and combined and applied in a similar manner, but I consider
wool the most durable and in general the best material to be used and applied
according to my Invention.
This spring is constructed in the following manner :-I place spiral steel
springs within an iron shell or case having a cover to shut over said body ór
shell. This case consists of a group of cells or chambers united together in
one casting. The spiral steel springs are made of a size to fill the cells and

page_text: work freely. Into the hollow part or central space of these spiral springs I
pack the wool or other fibrous elastic material. While packing or compressing
the wool into the spring the springs should be held firmly within a hollow
cylinder, and the wool be forced in by a rammer or by blows. These spiral
springs may be made of the same height or they may be all of different height
so as to have one or more of the number of columns of spirals in action
when the load is light, the others coming in action as the load increases so
as to graduate the action of the resisting force according to the load. The
cap or cover which passes over the shell or case is made to fit very accurately
and slide easily upon it. Hollow cylinders all of equal diameters and corres-
ponding to the number and position of the spiral springs are cast upon the
interior surface of this top, projecting downwards over the corresponding
columns beneath. The cylinders are made hollow for the purpose of lightness,
and their hollow spaces are filled by plugs of wood. These projections or plugs
constitute the followers by which the spiral columns are acted upon by the
load. The wooden blocks in the hollow cylinders project a short distance
into the interior space of the springs, and act as guides for the upper ends of
said springs. The inside of the cover may also be made to act upon the top
of the springs, and the projections or plugs cast are only sufficiently large to
enter the springs and guide the upper ends of the same. A bolt is inserted
through the centre by which the cover and body of the spring are kept
adjusted together.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Perry Green Gardiner in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th March 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PERRY,
GREEN GARDINEB, of the City of New York, in the County and State of New
York, in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Perry Green Gardiner,, Her special licence that I, the said Perry
Green Gardiner, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Perry Green Gardiner, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and

page_text: 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 RAILROAD CAR SPRINGS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Perry Green Gardiner, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under the
hand and seal of one of them, 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 Perry Green Gardiner, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 :-
My Invention consists in the manner of using and applying the elastic
compressible qualities of natural or raw wool, in combination with springs of
steel in a spiral or circular form, and operating together in a cell or cells, so
as to form a spring sufficiently strong, durable, and elastic for railroad cars.
Other animal or vegetable fibrous substances, such as hair or cotton may be
used and combined and applied in a similar manner, but I consider wool as
the most durable and elastic, and in general the best of any material capable
of being used & applied according to my Invention.
In the accompanying Drawings Figures I. and II. represent vertical cross
sections of springs; Fig. III. represents a horizontal cross section of the cap
or cover for spring represented in Fig. I.; Fig. IV. represents a horizontal
cross section of the cap or cover for a spring as represented in Fig. II., and
Fig. V represents a horizontal cross section of the cells or case, the spiral
steel springs and the wool packed or compressed within the spirals. In all
the Figures the same letters represent the same parts.
My spring is constructed in the manner following:-I place the operating
parts of the spring within a cast-iron shell or case A, and which case has a
cover or top B, which shuts over the body thereof and slides upon it to give
the required play or action of the spring. The shell or case A consists of
a group of cells or chambers in the form of hollow cylinders (usually four or
eight in number), united together in one casting so as to resemble a group
of columns, the shape of which is shewn in cross section in Figure V. I
construct the steel spiral springs S of a size just sufficient to fill the cells or
chambers and work freely each within its own cell. These steel spirals-should

page_text: be made upon a mandrel very slightly conical or tapering from the base, as
well for the purpose of being easily disengaged from the mandrel as for
allowing a slight recess or space between the upper exterior surfaces of the
spirals, and the corresponding interior surfaces of the cells within which they
are made to operate. The inside diameter of the coils for journal springs for
ordinary cars is about three times the diameter of the wire composing the
spring, and the size or diameter of the wire composing them is about three-
eights of an inch, and I think that a good proportion of the diameter of the
.wire and the diameter of the coil is as three to one, or nearly so. Into the hollow
part or central space of these spirals, I pack the wool (or other fibrous elastic
material), as shewn at a, a, Figure I., II.,V. The wool best adapted to this purpose
is the long fibre coarse wool, such as Buanos Ayres wool, and requires no other
preparation than being washed or cleansed so as to free it entirely from dirt.
It should be as free as possible from moisture when put into the spring. While
packing or compressing the wool into the spring the spring should be held
firmly within a hollow cylinder or a vice with circular jaws so as to surround it;
the wool should then be forced in by a follower or rammer by pressure or by
blows, and it would be best to have the wool passed into the spring through
a tube of the size of the hollow of the spring to be filled. It should be forced
and compressed into the hollow of the spiral so as to fill it completely, but
should not be permitted to bulge out of the exterior line of the coils, as this
would interfere with the action of the spiral spring within the cell, and create
friction and clogging between it and the interior surface of the cell. The
quantity of wool to be forced into the hollow of the spiral should be about as
much as it would bear to have forced into it and not rise above the top of the
spiral. These spirals being thus firmly packed and filled with the wool are
placed in the cells as shewn in Figures I. & II. The plate or base C is a flat
disk of iron to form a base and close the openings in the bottom of the cells,
which are made merely for convenience in inserting the cores of the castings.
It is to be observed that these spiral columns are not all to be of equal height,
but they may be all different, or two may be of the same height, and the other
two of less height, as shewn in Figures I., II., at n. The object of this
arrangement is to have only a part of the number of columns of spirals in
action when the load is light, the others coming into action as the load
increases, in other words, to graduate the action of the resisting elastic force
according to the load. This is effected by means of the arrangement of the
interior parts of the cap or cover B. This cover is of cast iron and shuts
down over the lower case A so as to fit very accurately and slide easily upon
it. In Figure I. the lower case A is nearly of the same length as the height

page_text: of the spiral columns; the cover B is in that case provided with hollow
cylinders b, b, all of equal dimensions and corresponding to the number and
position of the spiral springs. These hollow cylinders are cast upon the interior
surface of the cover B and project downwards directly over the corresponding
spiral columns beneath. These cylinders 6 are made hollow for the purpose
of lightness and economy, and their hollow spaces are filled by plugs of
wood b, b'. The cylinders 6 constitute the followers by which the spiral spring
columns are acted upon by the load, and their length will correspond to the
amount of action or play given to the spring. The wooden plugs b¹.are made
to project about one half of an inch so as to enter the hollow space of the
spiral columns and act as guides for the upper end of said columns. In
Figure II. the lower case A is made as much shorter than the height of the
spiral columns as is necessary for the amount of action or play to be given to
the spring. The cover B in this case is provided with plugs or projections f,
cast upon the interior surface of the cover, and project downwards directly
over the spiral spring columns beneath. These projections fare of a size capable
of entering the interior of the spiral columns for the purpose of guiding the
upper ends of said columns, while the interior surface of the cover B in this
case constitutes the follower, by which the spiral spring columns are acted
upon by the load.
The advantage of the manner of arranging the case A and cover B, as
represented in Figure II. over the arrangement shewn in Figure I. consists in
the saving of height, while the height of the spiral columns and the amount
of action or play allowed is in both cases the same. A screw bolt with head
and nut is inserted through the centre, as shown at d, d, by which the cover B
and body of the spring A are kept adjusted together. This manner of com-
bining the wool and the steel spring does not permit the wool to wear or cut
to pieces or lose its elastic and vital force, and the spiral steel spring holds it in
column and in a sufficiently solid form to allow its force and lively action, and
at the same time to afford sufficient elastic resistance to the load, while it also
aids the spiral in its elastic active properties, the whole being supported and
arranged by and into a neat, compact, and beautifully shaped spring by means
The access of
of the group of collomns constituting the case and the cover.
dirt and dust and other matter, likely to destroy or impair the vitality of the
wool is effectually guarded against. The springs of the dimensions herein
given are adapted to the journals of the ordinary passenger cars upon
American railroads having eight wheels, there being a spring attached to each
journal box. These springs may also be used whenever desired for body
springs.

page_text: I am aware that the application of wool, cotton, and other vegetable and
animal materials as elastic agents is not original with me, nor do I claim the
use of such as my Invention; but only the manner in which I apply them in
combination with the steel springs, and the combining them with the case
in cells and in the column form. Owing to the remarkably soft and easy
action of the springs thus constructed, I call them for the sake of distinction
the cushioned steel springs."
Having now fully described and set forth my Invention and improvements,
and the manner of constructing the same, I hereby declare that I claim as my
Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,-
First, the manner of applying wool (or other fibrous materials) within a
spiral or circular steel spring, so as to hold the wool in a columnar form and
compressed to a sufficient degree of compactness to act as a spring itself, and
also aid and strengthen the spiral spring at the same time, and hold it in
straight line.
Second, I claim the peculiar construction of the followers b, b, in being
composed of a wooden plug 6', within the hollow cylinders b, b, thereby
producing lightness and economy.
Third, I claim the arrangement of the plugs or projections f, on the cap or
cover B to guide and steady the upper end of the spiral columns.
Fourth, claim in combination with the other parts of the spring the
manner of giving a progressive or increased elastic resistance according to
the increase of the load by making the columns constituting the springs of
different height as described.
In witness whereof, I, Perry Green Gardiner, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this First day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Signed and sealed in presence of
F. G. WHEELER.
HENRY E. ROEDER.
PERRY GREEN GARDINER.. (L.S.)