IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AXLES OR AXLETREES FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND SHAFTS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Cammell, of Sheffield, in the County of
York, Steel Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF AXLES OR AXLETREES FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND SHAFTS
FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES."
Sealed the 20th October 1857, and dated the 30th April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Cammell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
April 1857.
I, CHARLES CAMMELL, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Steel Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AXLES OR AXLETREES FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND
SHAFTS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
My Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of Axles or Axletrees
for Railway Carriages and Shafts for various Purposes" relates to the manu-
facture of these articles with a combination of hard metal, such as steel, with
a softer, tougher, and more malleable metal, such as wrought iron, whereby I
am enabled to produce articles of much superior quality to those usually
manufactured, and having a greater degree of strength, rigidity, and tenacity.
In carrying out my Invention, I propose to enclose a core of malleable or
wrought iron of good quality within a covering of steel of any desired and
suitable thickness, according to the dimensions of the article intended to be
produced and the purpose to which it is intended to be applied.

page_text: This object may be effected in a variety of ways. The method which I prefer
consists in combining cast steel or other metal with a number of wrought-iron
tubes, arranged concentrically one within the other, leaving annular spaces
between the tubes, which spaces will be filled with the cast metal, an outer
covering of steel being made to surround and enclose the outermost tube.
By this means an axle or shaft of very great strength and rigidity will be
produced.
Another plan consists in forming a malleable iron core and the steel
covering separately, and then combining them together subsequently by any of
the well-known processes, so as to form a homogeneous mass; or a steel axle
may be cast with a malleable or wrought-iron core; or a wrought-iron axle
may be produced, and the outer part (to any desired depth) afterwards con-
verted into steel in a cementing converting furnace in the ordinary manner,
so as to give it increased rigidity without destroying the tenacity of the metal,
which at the centre will still remain in the state of wrought iron.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Cammell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
CAMMELL, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Steel Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Cammell, Her special license that I, the said Charles Cammell,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Cammell, my executors, administrators, 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 THE MANU-
FACTURE OF AXLES OR AXLETREES FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND SHAFTS FOR
VARIOUS PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
Cammell, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-

page_text: ticularly 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 Charles Cammell, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of Axles or Axletrees
for Railway Carriages and Shafts for various Purposes" relates to the manu-
facture of these articles with a combination of hard metal, such as steel, with a
softer, tougher, and more malleable metal, such as wrought iron, whereby I
am enabled to produce articles of much superior quality to those usually manu-
factured, and having a greater degree of strength, rigidity, and tenacity..
In carrying out my Invention, I propose to enclose a core of malleable or
wrought iron of good quality within a covering of steel of any desired and
suitable thickness, according to the dimensions of the article intended to be
produced and the purpose to which it is intended to be applied.
This object may be effected in a variety of ways. One method which I prefer
when making shafts of several inches in diameter consists in combining cast
steel or other metal with a number of wrought-iron tubes, arranged 'con-
centrically one within the other in a suitable mould, leaving annular spaces
between the tubes, which spaces will be filled with the cast metal, an outer
covering of steel being mado to surround and enclose the outermost tube.
Fig. 1 in the accompanying Drawing represents a section of a shaft manu-
factured in this manner; the rings colored blue, and marked a, a, represent the
concentric wrought-iron tubes and core, which must be fixed in the mould one
within the other in such a manner as to leave annular spaces all round and
between them. These spaces and also the space between the outermost iron
tube and the inner sides of the mould must then be filled up with molten steel,
as indicated by purple color, marked b, b, in the Figure.
An obvious modification of the above consists in rolling up a strip of
wrought or malleable iron of suitable width, length, and thickness, according
to the nature and dimensions of the article intended to be produced, and pro-
ducing a convolute tube, such as is shewn in Fig. 2. This tube when produced
is placed in a mould and molten steel is poured therein until the mould is
filled and all the interstices between the folds of-the tube-a are filled with
molten steel, as shewn at Fig. 3. By these means shafts of very great.

page_text: strength and rigidity will be produced, and it is evident that railway axles,
may be manufactured in precisely the same manner, although, perhaps, some
of the plans hereafter described may be preferred on account of their com-
parative cheapness.
A convenient mode of making railway axles with a wrought or malleable
iron core and a hard steel outer surface consists in taking a picco of rod or bar
iron of a round, octagonal, or other suitable section and casting round it in
a mould a steel covering of any desired thickness, as shewn at Fig. 4, or if
preferred the wrought or malleable iron core and the steel covering may be
made separately. The latter must be cast in the form of a tube, as shown at
Fig. 5, and by placing the wrought-iron core, Fig. 6, therein, the two may be
combined together subsequently by any of the well-known processes of rolling
or drawing down by hammering, or otherwise, so as to form a homogeneous
mass, and produce a strong rigid axle with a steel surface and malleable iron
corc.
Another mode of effecting the object of my Invention consists in making
a wrought-iron axle, and afterwards converting the outer part (to any
desired
depth) into steel in a cementing or converting furnace in the ordinary manner;
so as to give it increased rigidity without destroying the tenacity of the metal,
which at the centro will still remain in the state of wrought iron while the
outer surface will have been converted into steel.
Fig. 7 represents a section of a railway axle made in this manner; the outer
part, colored purple, and marked b, represents the iron converted into hard steel
while the inner part or core of the axle remains in its original state; or tho
same object may be effected by taking a piece of bar iron rolled or formed by
preference of an octagonal section, as shewn at Fig. 8. A suitable length
of this bar iron is submitted to the operation of conversion in a cementation
furnace until the iron is converted into steel to about the depth indicated by
the dotted circle, when the process is stopped, and the bar may then be forged
or rolled into an axle, which if cut in two will present a section such as is
shewn in Fig. 7, the centre part, marked a, consisting of tough wrought iron,
while the outer part or surface 6 will be found to be hard steel.
Another mode of making compound axles consists in casting round a malle-
able or wrought iron tube or core a mixture of molten wrought or scrap iron
and blistered steel, as shewn at Fig. 9. If desired the casting may be made
of larger diameter than the finished article is required to be, and therefore the
billet may be drawn down by any of the well-known processes, and the surface
may be subsequently hardened by being submitted to the converting process in
a cementation furnace in the well-known manner. A compound hollow axle

page_text: may thus be produced by casting steel or a mixture of scrap wrought iron and
steel round a wrought-iron tube.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture
of Axles or Axletrees for Railway Carriages and Shafts for various Purposes,"
and having explained the means of carrying the same into effect, I would
observe, in conclusion, that I am aware that rollers and other articles havo
been heretofore made with core annealed centres and a hard outer surface, I
do not, therefore, mean or intend to claim the manufacture of such articles as
forming any part of my present Invention; but that which I consider to be
new in the present improvements, and as constituting the essential feature of
my Invention, is, the forming railway axles or shafts with a wrought or malle-
able iron centre of great toughness and strength with a hard and rigid surface
of steel, whereby the strength and durability of the axles is greatly increased;
and I therefore claim, as the Invention intended to be secured to me by
Letters Patent as aforesaid, the making of railway axles or shafts with soft
or core annealed centres and hard outer surfaces, as herein shewn and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Cammell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
CHARLES CAMMELL. (L.s.)