IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLE BOXES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William George Beattie, of Nine Elms, in the
County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
AXLE BOXES."
Scaled the 4th January 1876, and dated the 7th August 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William George Beattic.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 7th August 1875.
I, WILLIAM GEORGE BEATTIE, of Nine Elms, in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLE BOXES," to be as follows:-
The first part of my Invention consists, as hereafter described, of
apparatus for regulating the supply of oil in the axle box, and for this
purpose I fix either interually or externally to the axle box and vertically
to it a rod passing down to a hollow. cylinder formed in or attached to
the lower part of the axle box. At the upper end the rod has a knob;
and at the lower end it has a piston attached to it and fitting the

page_text: cylinder. The lower end of the cylinder is level with the bottom of the
axle box, and the inside of upper end, through which the rod passes,
is at the proper level of the oil in the box. The rod is of such length
that the piston rests on the lower end of the cylinder. In the side of
the cylinder one or more apertures communicating with the interior of
the axle box are formed just above the piston when it is resting on the
bottom of the cylinder, and also one or more apertures of small size at
the upper end of the cylinder.
When it is desired to ascertain if there be oil in the axle box the knob
end of the piston rod is to be raised, and if there be oil in the box it will
have passed into the cylinder through the lower apertures, and will be
forced out through the upper apertures by the raising of the piston, and
the aperture being small the resistance of the oil passing out will be felt,
but if there is little or no oil in the box there will be no resistance
felt. By this operation the temperature also of the axle box will be
indicated.
If the supply of oil in the axle box be found to be deficient more oil
can be poured into the box through a cock or valve fixed at the lower
part of the axle box. At the proper level of the oil I fix the plug of the
cock to the axle box, and I make the seating of the cock movable on
the plug, which has a passage through it leading into the axle box. I
place in the passage through the plug a spiral spring, and attach the
external casing to it, so that it is kept pressed on to the plug. An
aperture is formed in the seating or casing to correspond to the passage
in the plug, and the seating has on one side a handle, the weight of
which tends to or causes the cock to shut itself if it be accidentally left
open.
Secondly. I place in the lower part of the axle box just above the
proper level of the oil a diaphragm, which may be of thin sheet iron, or
be formed solid with the box, and I make through the diaphragm one
or more apertures, preferably circular, through which I pass the carriers.
for the lubricating wicks. The carriers are hollow, and are formed of
tin or thin metal, and pass through the apertures in the diaphragm
plate, which they fit nearly to the bottom of the box, and are attached
to the diaphragm, and extend up through it nearly to the under side of
the journal: Inside the carriers I place the lubricating wicks, which I
make of a mixture of cotton wick and worsted, the strands of cotton and

page_text: worsted being placed together vertically, and passed through a light
spiral spring.
The wicks, which are cuit of suitable length, are placed in the carriers,
the lower ends resting on the bottom of the axle box, and the upper ends
pressing lightly on the under side of the journal by the action of spiral.
springs. I make a few perforations through the carriers to allow the oil
to feed the wicks.
Thirdly. To prevent the oil escaping from the box or dust entering I
place round the collar of the journal nearer to the wheel a shield of
wood or other suitable material formed in two parts, one part resting on
the upper side of the journal, and the other part being carried by a
spring resting on the under side of the recess in the axle box in which
the shield is contained, so that it is pressed up to the under side of the
collar.
The parts of the shield are pressed apart laterally by springs intro-
duced between them, and they are attached together for convenience of
handling. by two screws fixed in one part, and working in slots in the
other part, so that the two parts may slide one past the other. I divide
the axle box horizontally into two parts bolted together.
+
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William George Beattie in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GEORGE BEATTIE, of Nine Elms, in the County of Surrey, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William George Beattie, Her special
licence that I, the said William George Beattie, my executors, admi-.
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William George
Beattic, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time

page_text: agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make
usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AXLE BOXES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that 1, the said William George Beattic, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in, writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and scals, 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 William George Beattic, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 of reference marked thercon, that is to
say:―
The first part of my Invention consists, as herein-after described, of
apparatus for regulating the supply of oil in the axle box, and for this a
purpose I fix either internally or externally to the axle box and vertically
to it a rod passing down to a hollow cylinder formed in or attached to
the lower part of the axle box. At the upper end the rod has a knob,
and at the lower end it has a piston attached to it, and fitting the
cylinder. The lower end of the cylinder is level with the bottom of the 2
axle box, and the inside of upper end through which the rod passes
is at the proper level of the oil in the box. The rod is of such length
that the piston rests on the lower end of the cylinder. In the side of
the cylinder one or more apertures communicating with the interior of
the axle box are. formed just above the piston when it is resting on the a
bottom of the cylinder, and also one or more apertures of small size at
the upper end of the cylinder.
The accompanying Drawings illustrate the manner in which I carry
my Invention into effect.
Figure 1 is a transverse section; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section ;.
Figure 3 is a plan; and Figure 4 is a half end elevation of an axle box
constructed according to my Invention, and the contrivance for ascer-

page_text: taining whether or not the axle box be supplied with oil is shewn at
Figures 2 and 4. a is the cylinder being formed in the lower part of
the axle box, and the piston being fitted to it and attached to the rod c
passing to the upper part of the axle box, and ending in the knob d;
·e, e, are holes made at the lower part of the cylinder; and f, ƒ, are one
or more holes at the upper part of the cylinder.
When it is desired to ascertain if there be oil in the axle box the
knob end d of the piston rod c is to be raised, and if there be oil'in the
box it will have passed into the cylinder through the lower apertures e, e,
and will be forced out through the upper apertures f,f, by the raising of
the piston b, and the aperture being small the resistance of the oil
passing out will be felt; but if there is little or no oil in the box there
will be no resistance felt. By this operation the temperature also of the
axle box will be indicated by handling the knob d.
If the supply of oil in the axle, box be found to be deficient more oil
can be poured into the box through a cock or valve fixed at the lower
part of the axle box at the proper level of the oil. I fix the plug of the
cock to the axle box, and I make the scating of the cock movable on
the plug, which has a passage through it leading into.the axle box. .I
place in the passage through the plug a spiral spring, and attach the
external casing to it, so that it is kept pressed on to the plug. An
aperture is formed in the seating or casing to correspond to the passage
in the plug, and the seating has on one side a handle, the weight of
which tends to or causes the cock to shut itself if it be accidentally left
open.
The construction of the valve for supplying the axle box with oil is
shewn at Figures 1 and 3. is the plug attached to the axle box, and
formed with a passage through it, as shewn; 'h is the casing attached to
the plug by the spring k, and has a passage formed through it to
correspond to the entrance to the passage through the plug at 1; m is
the handle on the casing h, the weight of which tends to keep the valve
closed.
Secondly. I place in the lower part of the axle box just above the
proper level of the oil a diaphragm, which may be of thin sheet iron or
be formed solid with the box, and I make through the diaphragm one
or more apertures, preferably circular, through which I pass the carriers
for the lubricating wicks: The carriers are hollow, and are formed of

page_text: tin or thin metal, and pass through the apertures in the diaphragm
plate, which they fit nearly to the bottom of the box, and are attached
to the diaphragm and extending up through it nearly to the under side
of the journal. Inside the carriers I place the lubricating wicks, which
I make of a mixture of cotton wick and worsted, the strands of cotton
and worsted being placed together vertically and passed through a light
spiral spring.
The wicks, which are cut of suitable length, are placed in the carriers,
the lower ends resting on the bottom of the axle box, and the upper
ends pressing lightly on the under side of the journal by the action of
spiral springs. I make a few perforations through the carriers to allow
the oil to feed the wicks.
The diaphragm through which the lubricating wicks are placed is
shewn at Figures 1, 2, and 3. n,., is the diaphragm formed in the
lower part of the axle box, and above the proper level of the oil; and
0, 0, 0, are the circular metal carriers for the lubricating wicks, which
are passed through passages formed in the diaphragm; p, p, are the
wicks pressed up against the under side of the axle journal by the action
of the spiral springs through which the wicks are passed. The carriers
are perforated at r, r, as shown.
Thirdly. To prevent the oil escaping from the box or dust entering I
place round the collar of the journal nearer to the wheel a shield of
wood or other suitable material formed in two parts, one part resting on
the upper side of the journal, and the other part being carried by a
spring resting on the under side of the recess in the axle box in which
the shield is contained, so that it is pressed up to the under side of the
collar..
The parts of the shield are pressed apart laterally by springs intro-
duced between them, and they are attached together for convenience of
handling by two screws fixed in one part, and working in slots in the
other part, so that the two parts may slide one past the other. I divide
the axle box horizontally into two parts bolted together.
These shields to prevent the entry of dust or the escape of oil from
the axle box are shewn at Figures 2 and 3. s and t are the two parts of
which the shields are formed, the inner part being pressed up against
the under side of the collar of the journal by the spring u, and the part t
resting on the upper part of the collar of the journal. The two parts s

page_text: and are pressed apart by the springs at v, v, (Figure 3) so as to fit the
recess formed in the axle box in which they are placed. The parts s
and are attached to each other by the screws w, w, (Figure 2) in the
manner shewn, so that they are free to move vertically for a suitable
distance past each other.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, without limiting myself to the
precise details of the parts described and shewn, I declare that I claim.
as my improvements in axle boxes,—
First. The construction and arrangement of apparatus for ascertaining
whether the axle box is or is not supplied with oil, consisting of cylinder a,
piston b, rod c,, with knob d, and apertures e, e, and f, f, all combined
and operating substantially in manner shown and described.
Second. The valve for supplying axle box with oil, consisting of
plug g, casing h, spring k, the passage through the plug at 1, and
handle m, constructed and arranged substantially in manner shown and
described.
Third. The combination of diaphragm n, carriers o, o, wicks p, p, spiral
springs and perforations 2, 1, in an axle box, substantially in manner
and for the purposes described and shewn..
Fourth. The employment of shields for preventing the entry of dust
to-or the escape of oil from axle boxes, all substantially in manner
described and shewn in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William George Beattie, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.
WILLIAM GEORGE BEATTIE. (L.S.)