Improvements in Wheel Bearings or Connections.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Oct., 1892-Accepted, 5th Nov., 1892
K
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wheel Bearings or Connections.
+74309
A communication from HOERDER BERGWERKS- UND HÜTTEN-VEREIN, of. bas
Hoerde, Westphalia, in the Empire of Germany.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
.
The improved wheel hub forming the subject of this invention has for its main
feature the arrangement by which the wheel, loosely set upon its axle is enabled:
freely to turn about it and to move thereon both out and in so as to accommodate
varying gauges and curves without any dragging or friction.
The improved construction is represented in the accompanying drawings in which
it will be seen that the axles are at their outer ends provided with an elongated
recess for the reception of balls d engaging with a groove c provided in the hub
of the wheel.
The radius of the groove e equals that of the balls d, whereby the wheel is
retained in position upon the axle, and enabled in addition to its rotary motion, to
perform a forward and backward movement in the direction of the length of the
axle, this latter movement being provided for by the recess b.
The balls d may be inserted into the space between the hub and the axle through
an opening e adapted to be closed by means of a screw-bolt. As will be seen from
the drawings the balls in this case do not form complete ball-bearings, but serve to
connect the axle with the wheels, while at the same time, owing to the elongated
recess admitting of the before mentioned longitudinal displacement for the
accommodation of curves and variations of gauge.
The hub is closed on the outside and the hollow space & therein serves to receive
a suitable semi-liquid lubricant of proper consistency to lubricate the wheel and
axle as they work, the lubricant being fed to the axle automatically by the mere
reciprocal motion of the axle and hub. Internally the wheel is provided with a
lid which surrounds the axle a collar-like, as shown in the drawings, and may
either engage with (see the figure on the right) or cover the hub (see the figure on
the left). This lid is permanently retained against the inner end of the hub by a
spring or spring-controlled ring g supported by the ring h mounted on the octagonal
part of the axle. By this means any loss of lubricant is prevented and at the
same time the likelihood of dust or mud getting between and clogging the wheel
and axle is reduced to a minimum.
As the body of the carriage, truck or other vehicle may be secured to the axle
itself, the usual bushings or bearings are dispensed with, whereby the lightness of
the whole wheel connection is increased. This is a particularly valuable circum-
stance in the case of mining trucks in the conveyance of which up and down the
galleries a considerable amount of steam-power may thus be saved.
As before stated we prefer to make the elongated recess in the axle a.
It may
however be formed in the hub instead in which case the axle should have a groove
of the same radius in section as the balls.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invea-
tion, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is,―
1. An improved wheel connection in which the wheel and axle are connected by
means of balls interposed in recesses between the hub and axle one of these recesses
being of elongated section for the purpose of accommodating automatically any

page_text: increase or diminution of the width of gauge substantially as described and illustrated
in the accompanying drawings.
2. In the wheel connection referred to in the preceding claim the arrangement of
a lubricating chamber or oil-cup k from which the lubricant is automatically
conveyed to the axle owing to the coutinuous lateral displacement of the wheel and
axle in relation to each other in combination with a lid arranged against the inner
end of the hub and pressed in position by a spring or spring-controlled ring thereby
preventing outflow of the lubricant and obstruction from dust and impurities
getting between the parts substantially as described and illustrated in the accom-
drawings.
pany
Dated this 4th day of October 1892.
ALFRED J. BOULT,
Chartered Patent Agent.