IMPROVE- MENTS IN RAILWAY WHEELS, AND IN AXLE BOXES AND BEARINGS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS 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 RAILWAY WHEELS, AND IN AXLE BOXES AND BEARINGS FOR THE
SAME." A communication from Dr. William B. Fahnestock, of the
United States of America.
Sealed the 19th November 1858, and dated the 4th June 1858.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 4th June 1858, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
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.
WHEREAS I have this day presented my petition to Her most Excellent
Majesty Queen Victoria, for a grant to me, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, of Letters Patent, in respect of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
RAILWAY WHEELS, AND IN AXLE BOXES AND BEARINGS FOR THE SAME," a com-
munication from Dr. William B. Fahnestock, of the United States of America.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnsou, 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:-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
the wheels and axle boxes of railway carriages, whereby the friction of the
flanges against the sides of the rails is avoided when passing over curves, and
the sliding of the wheels on the inner rail of the curve is prevented.
These improvements consist, firstly, in so constructing and arranging tho
wheels with their axles and bearings, that each wheel has the advantage of
being on a separate and independent axle, of having a single bearing, and of
being self-balancing.
Secondly, of an improved construction and arrangement of axle boxes, in
which the ends of each separate axle revolve, whilst at the same time they are
free to describe the necessary are of a circle, to enable them to adjust them-
selves individually to the radius of the curves of the rails along which the
carriages are passing.
I
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
shall refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
corresponding Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents an edge view of one of the improved
wheels adapted for an inside bearing, that is, for a bearing placed on the inner
side of the framing of the carriage. A is the body of the wheel, which is of
a concave shape, the concave plate or spokes curving from the outer edge of
the rim or bearing portion of the wheel to the outer edge of the hub or
boss B; this wheel is firmly attached to a short axle C, which may be about
two feet in length, and the shape of the wheel is such that the hub or boss B
shall be outside of the tread or rim F and line of rails, whilst the flange D is
on the inside edge of the rim, as in ordinary railway wheels. The axle C
protrudes sufficiently on each side of the wheel to extend into the axle boxes.
Figure 2 represents an edge view of a wheel E, of a similar construction to
Figure 1, but adapted to an outside bearing, that is, to a bearing placed on the
outer side of the carriage framing. In this wheel the concave plate or spokes
curve from the flange D to the hub or boss B, which is inside the line of
rails G in place of outside, as represented in Figure 1, the flange D being, as
before, on the inside edge of the rim. II, II, represents the longitudinal

page_text: shewn in Figure 4.
framing of a carriage or waggon, to which the axle boxes I and J, herein-after
described, are severally attached. Figure 3 is an outside elevation of the
wheel, shewn in Figure 2, with the outer box J and timber or frame H.
Figure 4 represents a vertical section of the corresponding opposite wheel to the
wheel E in Figure 2, shewing its outsido bearing K, axle C, and axle boxes
1 and J. In this Figure the bearing K is represented as being partially
within the perpendicular line of the rim F of the wheel. Figure 5 represents
a detail plan of the bearing K detached, which may be made of brass or other
suitable metal; it is of a circular shape in plan, with a circular hollow or
recess M formed in the upper side thereof, into which the projection N (cast
solid with the top plate or cover of the box J) rests, as
This projection thus forms a pivot or centre round which the bearing or brass
is free to turn, and so admit of the adjustment of the axle to the curves in the
line. The lower side of the brass is cut away in the usual manner to receive
the journal of the axle. The middle portion O of the box J (shewn in trans-
verse section at Figure 6) is shaped to receive the bearing and allow the axle
to play; the lower portion of the box is also shaped to allow the axle to play,
and at the same time hold the lubricating material for the journal. Figure 7
represents a detail horizontal section of the box I, within which the opposite
end of the axle C operates in a slot 2, and describes the necessary arc of a
circle according to the curve of the rail. The journal of this end of the axle
works in a moveable brass ring R, which is fitted to work freely upon the
journal to prevent friction.
The wheels herein-before described may obviously be cast with a double
flange, when the result will be the same, and they will also answer either
for an outside or inside bearing.
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 I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe
or refer to, as variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the
principles or main features of the said Invention; but what I consider to bo
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
hercin-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of railway
wheels and bearings, as berein-before described.
Second, the construction of railway wheels with their hubs or bosses outside
of the tread or rim of the wheel, and the bearing of the axle within the tread
or rim, or at the balancing point, as herein-before described.

page_text: Third, the combination of the independent wheel E. the bearing K, and
pivot or projection N, with the short independent axle C, for the purpose of
preventing the sliding and friction of the wheels on or against the rails when
passing over curves, as herein-before described.
In witness whercof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
. set my hand and scal, this Fourth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)