IMPROVE- MENTS IN RAILWAY AXLE BOXES AND SPRING FITTINGS
Year: 1854

page_text: Sealed the 18th May 1855, and dated the 11th December 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Grindley Craig
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th December 1854.
I, WILLIAM GRINDLEY CRAIG, of Gorton, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RAILWAY AXLE BOXES AND SPRING FITTINGS" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a new description of axle box grease cover, in
combination with a separate cup and plug, to prevent the entrance of dust,
grit, and other materials which are injurious to bearings. My improvements
in spring fittings are as follows:-To the ends of railway bearing, buffing, and
draw springs I fix a sliding shoe, which yields to the play of the springs. My
Invention also consists of a new description of strap and fixing of the same
for bearing springs; also of a projecting piece on the back of the bearing,
which is made to fit into a recess in the under side of the spring strap, before
mentioned, whether used separately or in combination with the strap.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Grindley Craig in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 8th June 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GRINDLEY CRAIG, of Gorton, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of IIer
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Grindley Craig, Her special licence that I, the said
William Grindley Craig, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Grindley Craig, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY AXLE BOXES AND SPRING FITTINGS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Grindley Craig,
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 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 William Grindley Craig, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of a new description of axle box grease cover, in com-
bnation with a separate cup and plug, to prevent the entrance of dust, grit,
and other materials injurious to the bearings.
My improvements in spring fittings are as follow:-To the ends of railway
bearing, buffing, and draw springs I fix a sliding shoe, which yields to the
play of the springs. My Invention also consists of a new description of strap
and framing of the same for bearing springs; also of a projecting piece on the
back of the bearing, which is made to fit into a recess in the under side of

page_text: the spring strap, before mentioned, whether used separately or in combination
with the strap.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shewn the. method in which I
carry my Invention into effect.
Figure 1 represents a side view of a bearing spring and axle box with the
parts in connection therewith, shewn detached from the carriage; Figure 2 is
a section of the axle box and end part of the axle; Figures 2ª and 3 are
sections, representing the manner of connecting the ends of the spring and the
shoes together; Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of the axle box and part of
the spring; and Figure 5 represents a plan of the axle box. In all the Figures
the same letters of reference indicate similar parts. a, a, Figures 1, 2, and 3,
represent my improved sliding shoes. These shoes are attached by means of
bolts to the turned-over ends of the spring S, and have each a recess cut in
them to receive the spring. b, b, is a bed, which is fixed upon the framing of
the carriage, and upon which the shoes are free to slide, a lip or flange 1, 1,
being formed upon the shoes to guide them upon the bed. In Figure 2ª I
have represented the flanges or lips 1, 1, as bevilled, and the edges of the bar 6
being also chamfered off to fit them, while in Figure 3 the edges of the bar are
square, and fit into corresponding square recesses 1, 1, in the shoe. Other forms
and varieties of shoes may be used, but I prefer in practice the forms repre-
sented in the Drawings. By means of these shoes and bed, a greater freedom
of action is given to the springs, and less friction at their points of connection
with the carriage. c, c, Figures 1, 2, and 4, are my improved spring clips or
straps, which are secured to the springs S and axle box by means of the
cotters d, d, which serve to bind them all together, and also to form a recess
between the cotters for the reception of the head of the brass or journal n.
h, h, is an intermediate plate of iron, which forms the lid of the axle box, in
combination with the piece of wood k; j is the grease cup, which is secured
to the plate h and wood k; i, i, are plugs or stoppers to the grease cups j;
and s is a chain, for fastening the plugs or stoppers to the carriage, to pre-
vent their becoming lost; F is a projecting piece, cast upon the brass or
bearing. This brass is made hollow, and passages f', f', are formed, to
allow the grease, oil, or other lubricating material to flow through from the
grease cup on to the journal. g is a strip of india-rubber, or other suitable
elastic material, interposed between the projecting piece F and plate h, in
order to obviate the evils of jarring, arising from the ordinary or present
mode of bringing two metals together in railway rolling stock. By means of
this arrangement of axle box, cover, grease cup, and plug, I obtain a regular

page_text: pressure upon the lubricating material in the grease cup, and also a non-
conductor of heat, and a more perfect exclusion of dust, grit, and other
injurious substances, than in the ordinary axle boxes.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my
improvements in railway axle boxes and spring fittings is as follows:-
First, I claim the improved arrangement and combination of grease box
covers and cups upon the top of axle boxes, as herein-before described, and
represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Second, I claim the method of binding together the plates of the springs by
means of spring clips secured by cotters and plates, as herein-before described,
and represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Third, I claim the placing within the recess or space formed by the cotters
and plates, and between the spring and the top of the bearing, a pad or cushion
of an elastic material, for the purposes herein-before described, and represented
in the Drawings annexed.
Fourth, I claim the casting upon the bearing or brass of a hollow projecting
piece, which fits into the recess formed by the open strap or clip and the
cotters, by means of which the weight of the carriage is brought directly upon
the bearing, as herein-before described, and represented in the Drawings here-
unto annexed.
And, fifth, I claim the fitting upon the ends of railway bearing, buffing, and
draw springs, of a shoe, which is free to slide upon a metallic bed fixed to the
carriage, as herein-before described, and represented in the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Grindley Craig, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
A. HUTTON,
Witness.
WILLIAM GRINDLEY CRAIG. (L.S.)