AN IMPROVED AXLE BOX FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGE AND OTHER SIMILAR AXLES
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Lloyd Wise at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd September 1868.-A communication from abroad by Wilhelm
Basson and Ferdinand Lüdecke, both of Berlin, in the Kingdom of
Prussia.
I, WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of the Firm of Francis Wise and Company,
of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in the City of Westminster, Consulting
Engineers and Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED AXLE BOX FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGE AND OTHER
SIMILAR AXLES," to be as follows :-
This Invention has for its object an improved axle box for railway
carriage and other similar axles, and consists in a peculiar construction
of axle box in which the oil or other lubricant employed is contained in.
the lower part of the box itself, and is drawn up by capillary attraction
through wicks to a saturated pad, which transfers it to and thus lubri-
cates the neck of the axle, any excess of oil or other lubricant, after
passing on to the axle neck and falling therefrom, passing on its return
to the lower part of the box through a filtering medium formed of
canvass or other porous material held in position as herein-after described.

page_text: The box is constructed in two portions divided horizontally and fitting
together at their edges, each part being formed with a flange having
holes, through which bolts are passed for holding the two parts of the
box firmly together. To guard against the entrance of dust and escape
of the oil or other lubricant between the axle and box each portion of
the box at the open end where the axle enters is provided with a groove
or recess to receive a piece of leather or similar material, which is pressed
against the axle by means of a spring. The upper portion of the box is
formed to receive a brass or bearing which rests upon the neck of the
axle in the usual manner, and the bottom part of the box is provided
with a tube or spout (capable of being closed by a lid or cover) through
which oil or other lubricant can be supplied from without when
necessary. Some distance above the bottom part of the lower portion
of the box there is a plate for dividing off the oil or lubricant receptacle
from the upper portion of the box. This plate rests upon a ledge formed
on the sides of the box, and is constructed with an opening in its centre
portion which is surrounded by a perforated vertical wall or projection.
This opening in the plate receives the frame supporting the saturated
pad and wicks, which are kept up by spiral springs resting upon the
bottom of the box, so that the saturated pad continually bears slightly
against the under part of the neck of the axle. The centre portion of
the canvass or other filtering medium is secured to the pad frame, its
outer edges being held firmly between the division plate and the ledges
already referred to as being formed on the sides of the box. Oil or other
lubricant falling from the axle on to the division plate passes through
the perforations in the vertical wall, and from thence on to and through
the canvass or other filtering medium into the bottom of the box.