IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY TURNTABLES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Greenway, of Albert Place, Cheltenham,
in the County of Gloucester, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
RAILWAY TURNTABLES."
Sealed the 14th March 1865, and dated the 4th October 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Greenway. at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with. his Petition, on the
4th October 1864..
+ I, CHARLES GREENWAY, of Albert Place, Cheltenhani, in the County of
Gloucester, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAILWAY TURNTABLES," to be as follows:-
This, Invention has for its object improvements in railway, turntables. For
these purposes the central axis or pillar of a turntable turns in a bearing con-
structed in the centre of the foundation, and is stayed thereto by diagonal or
other stays or supports. The central axis or pillar rests by its lower end on a
step or bearing, whilst it is surrounded by upright antifriction rollers or,
cylinders which are arranged to turn freely within a hollow frame or upright
cylinder which is fixed to the foundation and stayed as above stated. The
upright cylinder and the antifriction cylinders or rollers rise up nearly to the
under side of the table, so that the supporting bearing, constructed as above
explained, presents a very extended support, whilst it offers but comparatively
small friction to the central axis or pillar of the table. The upper part of.
the central axis of the turntable comes above the upper surface of the table,
and becomes a pillar in the centre of 'the table, from which suspending rods

page_text: descend, and are fixed to those parts of the outer circumference of the table
or to the under framing thereof which come between the pair of rails fixed on
the surface of the table, by which means the outer circumference of a turn-
table is suspended in place of being propped by diagonal or other supports on
the under side of the table, as has heretofore been the practice..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Greenway in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th April 1865.
..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
GREENWAY, of Albert Place, Cheltenham, in the County of Gloucester, send
greeting:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Charles Greenway, Her special licence that I, the said
Charles Greenway, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
ns I, the said Charles Greenway, 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 RAILWAY TURNTABLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Greenway, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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 Charles Greenway, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 thereof, that-is-to-say--
This Invention has for its object improvements in railway turntables. For
these purposes the central axis or pillar of a turntable turns in a bearing con-
structed in the centre of the foundation, and is stayed thereto by diagonal or

page_text: other stays or supports. The central axis or pillar rests by its lower end on
a step or bearing, whilst it is surrounded by upright antifriction rollers or
cylinders which are arranged to turn freely within a hollow frame or upright
cylinder which is fixed to the foundation and stayed as above stated. The
upright cylinder and the antifriction cylinders or rollers rise up nearly to the
under side of the table, so that the supporting bearing, constructed as above
explained, presents a very extended support, whilst it offers but comparatively
small friction to the central axis or pillar of the table.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe
more fully the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a plan of a turntable; Figure 2, a transverse section;
Figure 3, a vertical section of the upright cylinder; and Figure 4, a horizontal
section of the upright cylinder in which the antifriction rollers are placed
vertically around the central axis or pillar of the table, and Figure 5 is a
section taken at right angles to Figure 2.
a cylinder which is fixed and
that the cylinder is made as
Within the upright cylinder
in contact with the central
a, a, is the surface of the table, which is strengthened by the cross piece a*,
and also by deep beams a¹ below the rails; b is the central axis or pillar, on
the upper end of which the table a, a, is fixed; the lower end of the pillar is
stepped in, and turns in a step or bearing. c is
stayed to the foundation by diagonal stays, so
secure to the foundation as may be required.
are vertical antifriction rollers d, d, which are
pillar or axis of the table, and they are kept in position by the filling
uprights e, e, which are all connected by the base plate e'. By these means
a turntable will be well supported by a central pillar or axis, whilst such
central pillar or axis will be securely retained in a vertical position by the
fixed cylinder and vertical antifriction rollers, whilst the pillar or axis will be
able to turn freely within the fixed cylinder.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Greenway, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
CHARLES GREENWAY. (L.S.)