IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLE BOXES AND PARTS WORKING IN CONNECTION WITH AXLES OF CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES IN USE UPON RAILWAYS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Mackay Miller, of Inchicore, in the County
of Dublin, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLE
BOXES AND PARTS WORKING IN CONNECTION WITH AXLES OF CARRIAGES AND
OTHER VEHICLES IN USE UPON RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 20th February 1855, and dated the 4th September 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Mackay Miller
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th September 1854.
I, GEORGE MACKAY MILLER, of Inchicore, in the County of Dublin, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AXLE BOXES AND PARTS WORKING IN CONNECTION WITH AXLES OP
CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES IN USE UPON RAILWAYS" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, in the first place, in so constructing the axle box that
the grease or other lubricating matter passes through the bearing or step into
a chamber surrounding the journal, thereby coming into direct contact with
and effectually lubricating every part of the journal; or it may be introduced
into the lower chamber without passing through the step. And the better to
exclude sand, grit, water, or other foreign matter, as well as to prevent the
abstraction of the lubricating matter, the cap, of wrought or cast iron or
other metallic substance, is hinged at the front of the axle box, cither to the

page_text: axle box itself or to a separate plate, and is firmly retained in its position by
springs or otherwise. Sand, grit, &c. is excluded, and the lubricating matter
prevented from escaping at the back of the axle box, by a guard of metal, cast
on the step or bearing or otherwise, or by a guard of any description of
timber bushed with metal; and in order to prevent lateral motion of the axle,
or piece of wood, plated or bushed with any metallic substance to bear against
the end of the axle, is inserted in the axle box.
My Invention consists, in the second place, in introducing between the axle
and the nave or boss of the wheel a cylinder of wrought or cast iron, or
other metal, on which the wheel is secured, which cylinder is free to revolve
on the axle, and is retained in its proper position by a collar, which may be
either solid with, or shrunk on, or otherwise attached to, the axle, and a washer
of wrought or cast iron or other metal attached to the cylinder by bolts, screws,
or cottars.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Mackay Miller in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
MACKAY MILLER, of Inchicore, in the County of Dublin, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Mackay Miller, Her special licence that I, the said George Mackay
Miller, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Mackay Miller, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
AXLE BOXES AND PARTS WORKING IN CONNECTION WITH AXLES OF CARRIAGES AND
OTHER VEHICLES IN USE UPON RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said George Mackay Miller, 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

page_text: 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 George Mackay Miller, do hereby
icelare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
he performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in Axle Boxes and Parts Working in
Connection with Axles of Carriages and other Vehicles in Use upon Railways"
has reference, in the first place, to the axle box, and the parts in immediate
connection therewith, and is designed to increase the security of retaining the
grease and supplying it to the journal of the axle as required, as well as to
exclude dust, sand, &c. from the axle box. And my Invention has reference,
in the second place, to the mode of connecting the wheels with the axle,
and is designed to remove the liability to torsion of the axle when the carriage
is in motion.
My Invention, with the foregoing objects in view, consists, in the first place,
in so constructing the axle box that the grease or other lubricating matter
passes through the bearing or step into a chamber surrounding the journal,
thereby coming into direct contact with and effectually lubricating every part
of the journal; or it may be introduced into the lower chamber without passing
through the step. And the better to exclude sand, grit, water, or other foreign
matter, as well as to prevent the abstraction of the lubricating matter, the
cap, of wrought or cast iron or other metallic substance, is hinged at the front
of the axle box, either to the axle box itself or to a separate plate, and is firmly
retained in its position by springs or otherwise. Sand, grit, &c. is excluded,
and the lubricating matter prevented from escaping at the back of the axle
box, by a guard of metal, cast on the step or bearing or otherwise, or by a
guard of any description of timber bushed with metal.
My Invention consists, in the second place, in introducing between the axle
and the nave or boss of the wheel a cylinder of wrought or cast iron or other
metal, on which the wheel is secured, which cylinder is free to revolve on the
axle, and is retained in its proper position by a collar, which may be either
solid with, or shrunk on, or otherwise attached to, the axle, and a washer
of wrought or cast iron or other metal attached to the cylinder by bolts, screws,
or cotiars.
In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Drawings, which
contain several views, shewing the construction of the axle box, with the parts

page_text: the axle. In all the several Figures the same letters of reference indicate
corresponding parts.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal, and Fig. 2 a front elevation, of the axle box;
Fig. 3, a longitudinal section through the centre; Fig. 4, a transverse section
also through the centre of the same; and Fig. 5, a back elevation. A is the
axle; B, the cylindrical journal; D, the axle box; E, the upper grease
chamber or hopper; L, L, is the chamber containing the sand guard M, m,
formed of two flat pieces of timber, encircling the axle A, and retaining
between them a metal bushing or collar N, which also encircles the axle, and,
resting on it by its own gravity, maintains a close joint with the axle at top,
while, by the action of the screw O, the sand guard M is kept in close contact
with the lower part of the axle. H is the cap, covering the entrance to the
upper grease chamber or hopper E, to which it is attached by the joint I, the
female part of the joint being attached to the cap II, and projecting at either
side, where it is acted on by the springs K, K, which, when the cap II is shut
down, retain it firmly in its position. C is the step or bearing, having two
grease passages G¹, G', through which the lubricating matter is conducted from
the upper grease chamber or hopper E to the channels G, G, and the grease
chamber F, F, which surrounds the lower part and ends of the journal. The
lubricating matter, being poured in a melted or liquid state at II into the upper
grease chaniber or hopper E, flows through the grease passages E', E', e, e, at
the bottom of the upper grease chamber, and the grease passages G, G,
through the step or bearing into the lower grease chamber F, where it comes
in direct contact with the journal B and the step or bearing C; and also with
the axle A, the shoulders or collars R, R, and the sand guard M, m, with its
bushing or collar N. Fig. 6 is a top plan of the axle box; A being the axle;
D, the axle box; E, the upper grease chamber or hopper; H is the grease
cap, covering the opening to the grease chamber or hopper; I, the male part
of the joint; and K, K, the springs acting on the female part of the joint,
attached to the cap II; N is the metal bushing or collar of the sand guard,
and P, P, P, P, are holes through which the spring bolts pass.
Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of the back part of the axle box through the
centre, same as Fig. 3 in all respects but the sand guard M, m, which is formed
of two flat pieces of metal, timber, or other suitable material, encircling the axle
A, and capable of sliding vertically past each other when acted on by the screws
0,0. Fig. 8 is also a longitudinal section through the centre of the back

page_text: part of the axle box. A is the axle, and B the journal; C is the step or bearing,
having at the back and in solid with it a semicircular collar or flange M,
which, fitting closely to the axle A, excludes grit and retains the grease above,
and the sand guard m closes the back of the axle box below the axle, and by
means of the screw O is kept in close contact with the lower part of the axle.
Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section of the back part of the box. The sand guard is
formed of two pieces of timber, metal, or other suitable material, the part M
bearing against the under part of the axle, and kept in close contact with it by
the screw O, while the other portion of the sand guard m rests on the axle, and
is retained in that position by the screw O'; the upper part m and the lower
part M of the sand guard are halved together, and overlap each other at W,
the overlapping portion of each allowing them to slide vertically, when acted on
by the screws 0, O¹.
Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section of the axle box through the centre; the axle
box, grease chambers, and passages, the grease cap and the step or bearing
are the same as in Fig. 3; but the sand guard is formed of two pieces of wood
M, m, capable of sliding vertically past each other, and kept in close contact
with the axle A by the action of the screws 0, 0¹.
Fig. 14 is a sectional view of a wheel
A is the axle; B, the journal;
Fig. 11 is a top plan of the step or bearing; G', G', being the rectangular
grease passages. Fig. 12 is a longitudinal elevation of the step or bearing;
and Fig. 13, an end elevation of same. G, G, being the grooves or channels
running the entire length of the step.
and axle and axle box through the centre.
and D, the working bearing, extending from the journal in the direction of the
centre of the axle; E is a ring or collar, which may either be in solid with or
shrunk on the axle; F is the boss or nave of the wheel; and G is the cylinder
or box, free to revolve on D, and on which the boss or nave F of the wheel
is firmly secured; H is a flange formed on the back of the cylinder G; I is
the loose ring that is passed over the axle from the opposite end until it meets
the collar E; and K, K, are bolts, passing through the flange II and the ring
I, to retain the cylinder in its place. Fig. 15 is a sectional view of a wheel
and axle through the centre of the boss or nave. A is the axle; D, the
working bearing, extending from the journal in the direction of the centre of
the axle; and E, a ring or collar shrunk on the axle at the shoulder M; F is
the nave or boss of the wheel; and G is the cylinder or box, free to revolve
on the axle, and on which the nave or boss F of the wheel is secured. The
cylinder or box G is made with an internal flange at the front end, bearing
against the shoulder L, and an external flange H at back, bearing against the
collar E, where it is secured to the loose ring 1 by the bolts K, K. Figures

page_text: 16 and 17 are longitudinal sections of the back part of tlie axle box through
the centre. A is the axle; M, m, the sand guard, having slot holes S, S, S, S,
through which the bolts K, K, pass, securing the sand guard M, m, to-the
flange or lug L, L. is a set screw, tapped into the part of the sand guard
M, and acting on the other part m, either directly, as in Fig. 16, or by means
of a spring of indian-rubber, steel, or other material X, as in Figure 17.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I would remark that I am aware of other modes of
constructing the axle box and the parts in connection therewith, in order to
retain the lubricating matter, and to exclude sand, grit, &c. besides those
above described, which modes I do not claim as of my Invention; but what
I do claim as of my Invention is as follows:-
First, the form and arrangement of the upper grease chamber with the
grease passages G, G, shewn in Drawings, and extending along the under
face of the step or bearing, either separate or in conjunction with the ordinary
hole or holes and passages, together with the particular form of step, and in
conjunction with the sand guard at the back of the axle box, as described.
Secondly, the adaptation and application of a binge to the cap covering the
grease hopper at the front of the axle box, and retaining it in its position when
closed by springs, as described.
Thirdly, the application at the back of the axle box of two or more flat
pieces of timber, metal, or other suitable material, capable of sliding vertically
or laterally past each other by the action of screws or springs, as described.
And, lastly, the introduction, between the boss or nave of the wheel and the
axle, of a cylinder or box, free to revolve on the axle, and on which the wheel
is secured, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Mackay Miller, have hereunto
subscribed my name and affixed my seal, the Twenty-eighth day of
February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-five
GEORGE MACKAY MILLER. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of
B. I. TELFORD,
6, Grantham St., Dublin.