IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GREASE BOXES AND BEARINGS GENERALLY
Year: 1859

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GREASE BOXES AND BEARINGS GENERALLY."-
A communication from Joseph Vallot, residing at Paris, in the Empire
of France, Engineer.
Sealed the 12th August 1859, and dated the 2nd March 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd March 1859.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GREASE BOXES AND BEARINGS GENE-
RALLY," a communication from Joseph Vallot, residing at Paris, in the Empire
of France, Engineer, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of the
grease boxes of railway carriages and waggons, and of bearings generally,
whereby a better lubrication of the working parts of the axle or shaft is
obtained, whilst the escape of the lubricating material is avoided, and the
entrance of dust or other foreign matters into the bearings effectually prevented..
In applying these improvements to railway axle boxes, the junction between
the upper and lower halves of the box (when so made) should be always,
placed above the level of the rubbing surfaces, so as to effectually preclude:

page_text: the escape of the lubricant at the point of junction of the two portions of the
box. A constant and regular supply of oil is obtained by using a pulley or
roller, the periphery of which is slightly recessed and filled with felt or other
suitable absorbent material, whilst its interior (if made hollow) may be filled
with cotton waste. This pulley rotates within a trough, which may be either
supported by a blade spring or by a weighted lever, so as to bear it up con-
stantly, and thereby press the periphery of the pulley against the under side
of the axle journal, which by its rotation imparts a rotatory motion to the
pulley. At the bottom of the trough which rests upon a saddle piece on the
spring above referred to, is a strainer of wire gauze or other suitable material,
and when the lower portion of the axle box is supplied with oil, the bottom
of the trough and lower portion of the pulley enclosed within it will be,
immersed therein, the oil straining itself from impurities by rising up through
the strainer in order to enter the trough. By enclosing the pulley in a trough
or envelope as described, the oil is not wasted by being scattered or thrown
by the rotation of the pulley over the interior sides of the axle box. In order
to prevent the oil escaping at the part where the axle enters the back of the
box, a trumpet mouth or metallic cone is fitted upon the shoulder of the
journal, the mouth-piece of the cone projecting inside the axle box, so that
any oil carried along the journal towards the back of the box will be arrested
by the cone, and will drop down into the oil reservoir below, to be again
strained and applied to the journal. A wooden shield divided vertically down
the centre, and having its two halves held together by a spring, is fitted on
to the shoulder of the axle at the back of the box, and is maintained in
position by being let into recesses or grooves formed in the sides of the back
part of the axle box.
By this means the entrance of dust is effectually prevented. When applied
to ordinary bearings, the lower brass should have an opening made therein
to allow the lubricating pulley to bear upon the under surface of the journal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 2nd September-1859.
.. TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS: SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in-the County of Middlesex, and
of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of March, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or
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
Jawfully 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 CONSTRUCTION OF GREASE BOXES AND BEAR-
ENGS GENERALLY," a communication from Joseph Vallot, residing at Paris,
in the Empire of France, Engineer, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :----
The said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
the grease boxes of railway carriages and waggons, and of bearings generally,
whereby a better lubrication of the working parts of the axle or shaft is
obtained, whilst the escape of the lubricating material is avoided, and the
entrance of dust or other foreign matters into the bearings effectually prevented..
In applying these improvements to railway axle boxes, the junction between
the upper and lower halves of the box (when made in two parts) should be
always placed above the level of the rubbing surfaces so as to effectually pre-
clude the escape of the lubricant at the point of junction of the two portions
of the box. A constant and regular supply of oil is obtained by using a pulley
or roller, the periphery of which is slightly recessed, and filled with felt or other
suitable absorbent material, whilst its interior (if made hollow): may. be filled
with cotton waste. This pulley rotates within a trough, which may be either
supported by a blade spring or by a weighted lever so as to bear it up con-
stantly, and thereby press the perephery of the pulley against the under side

page_text: of the axle journal, which by its rotation imparts a rotatory motion to the
pulley. At the bottom of the trough, which rests upon a saddle piece on
the spring above referred to, there is a strainer of wire gause or other suitable
material, and when the lower portion of the axle box is supplied with oil, the
bottom of the trough and lower portion of the pulley enclosed within it will be
immersed therein, the oil straining itself from impurities by rising up through
the strainer in order to enter the trough. By enclosing the pulley in a trough
as described, the oil is not wasted by being scattered or thrown by the rotation
of the pulley over the interior sides of the axle box.
In order to prevent
the oil escaping at the part where the axle enters the back of the box, a
trumpet-mouth or metallic cone is fitted upon the shoulder of the journal, the
mouth-piece of the cone projecting inside the axle box, so that any oil carried
along the journal towards the back of the box will be arrested by the cone, '
and will drop down into the oil reservoir below to be again strained and applied*
to the journal. A wooden shield divided vertically down the centre, and
having its two halves held together by a spring, is fitted on to the shoulder
of the axle at the back of the box, and is maintained in position by being let
into recesses or grooves formed in the sides of the back part of the axle box.
By this means the entrance of dust is effectually prevented.
When applied to ordinary bearings, the lower brass should have an opening
made therein to allow the lubricating pulley to bear upon the under surface
of the journal.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I
shall refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all
the Figures.
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents a longitudinal
vertical section of a railway axle box constructed according to this Invention ;
Figure 2 is a corresponding sectional plan of the same; Figure 3 is a trans-
verse vertical section of the box taken along the line 1-2 in Figure 1 ; and
Figure 4 is a back elevation of the end of the box shewn partly in section;
the rest of the Figures are details, which I shall herein-after more particularly
describe and refer to. A is a roller or pulley which may be made either
hollow as shewn, or solid and composed of any suitable metal. This pulley
is covered by a band of felt or other absorbent material, a groove being made
in its periphery to receive the felt which is countersunk therein. The interior
of this pulley a is filled with cotton waste, and the whole is contained within
à metal trough or reservoir A¹ (shewn on an enlarged scale at 7.& 7"),

page_text: through the centre of which is passed the axle b, b, of the pulley. The lower'
portion of this trough contains a wire gause strainer, shewn in dotted lines at.
d, d, and in Figure 7, which strains the oil in which the pulley A rotates in
the trough. A saddle piece B, B, (Figures 6 and 6") supporting the trough
rests upon the end of a blade spring C secured by a screw C¹ to the bottom of
the shell of the axle box. This spring by its elasticity maintains the pulley A,
and its trough A¹ in suspension, and keeps the former in constant contact at
the point R, with the under side of the journal D of the axle of the wheel,
the boss of which is shewn at E. The cone or trumpet-mouth F is fitted
tightly on to the shoulder D¹ of the journal, its function being to catch any oil
which may tend to escape towards the boss of the wheel, and to return it'
again to the main oil chamber in the axle box, to be again strained through
the strainer d before entering the trough A'. The cylindrical portion of the
cone which clasps the axle is embraced by a wooden collar G, G', (Figures 5
and 5), made in two parts, that is, divided virtically down the middle. This
collar fits accurately, but with slight friction, round the cylindrical portion of
the cone. The two halves of the collar are kept in constant contact along the
junction line H by the pressure of the blade spring I, secured to the top edge
of the collar. The two cheeks e, e, serve to maintain the collar in its vertical
position during the running of the axle.
This arrangement effectually prevents any foreign body from entering the
back of the axle box, which I propose to construct in two portions, namely,
an upper portion K. and a lower portion K³, connected by a perfectly dry joint
át L and L, and held together by two bolts, passing vertically through the
bolt holes O, O'. By thus forming the junction of the two parts of the box
above the rubbing surfaces, I obviate all loss from the escaping of the oil, and
am enabled to examine the state of the journals without the necessity for
raising the locomotive or carriage for that purpose. In front of the lower
portion K¹ of the axle box is a cup M, fitted with a stopper or cover M'
packed with leather at f, through which the oil is supplied to the axle box,
and the proper level maintained therein.
It is proposed to retain in the upper portion of the axle box the ordinary
grease box, which may be used should circumstances require it, or the oil in
the lower portion rua short. In place of fitting the lubricating pulley and
trough on to a spring as herein-before described, they may be carried with the
strainer on the end of a lever N (shewn' in red lines), having its fulcrum at
N¹, and carrying at its outer extremity a counterweight P, which keeps the
pulley in constant contact with the journal. The edges of the bearing brasses
are chamfered at Q, Q, by which means the oil applied to the centre portion

page_text: .
of the journal by the pulley A is spread or directed evenly over the entire
surface of the journal.
In applying this system of lubricating to fixed bearings or plummer blocks,
an oil reservoir is connected to the plummer block in a similar manner to
that adopted for connecting the lower with the upper portion of the axle
box as herein-before described, and the lower brass should be made with an
opening therein for the purpose of admitting of the lubricating pully bearing
against the under side of the journal.
.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of apparatus.
for lubricating railway axle and other bearings, and preventing the escape of
the lubricant and entrance of foreign bodies therein, as herein-before described
and illustrated by the Drawings.
Second, the enclosing the lubricating roller or pulley in a trough or casing,
for the purpose of preventing the oil from being thrown or scattered against
the sides of the axle box, as herein-before described.
.
Third, the system or mode of straining the oil before it reaches the lubri-
cating roller, as herein before described.
Fourth, the placing of the junction between the upper and lower portions
of an axle box or bearing above the level of the rubbing surfaces, for the
purpose of preventing loss of oil, as herein-before described.
Fifth, the application and use of an internal cone or trumpet-mouth for
the purpose of collecting the oil, and returning the same to the reservoir at
the bottom of the axle box, as herein-before described.
Sixth, the peculiar construction, arrangement, and mode of applying a
wooden washer or collar to the back of an axle box, in, the manner and for
the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-nine.