AN IMPROVE- MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING SHAFTS, AXLES, SCREWS, AND OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING LUBRICATION
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Boyes Fraser, of Kenilworth, in the County
of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING SHAFTS, AXLES, SCREWS, AND OTHER
ARTICLES REQUIRING LUBRICATION."
Sealed the 23th March 1858, and dated the 30th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Boyes Fraser at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th October 1857.
I, JOSEPH BOYES FRASER, of Kenilworth, in the County of Warwick;
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING SHAFTS, AXLES, SCREWS,
AND OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING LUBRICATION," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists of the method or methods of lubricating herein-
after described with reference to a screw, a vertical and a horizontal shaft or
axis, which said method or methods may be applied for lubricating such
articles as require lubrication. In applying my Invention to a screw, such,
for example, as the horizontal screw of a planing machine or lathe, I suspend
under the screw box an open oil reservoir containing oil, and I hang over
the screw a chain, the ends of which are joined, so as to constitute an endless
chain, the lower portion of which hangs in the oil. By the rotation of the
screw a small portion of the oil is brought up by the chain, which travels

page_text: with the screw as a band on a pulley, and the lubrication of the screw is thus
effected by its own motion; any excess of oil falls down into the reservoir.
In applying my Invention to a vertical shaft, I place the oil vessel on the
shaft, and below the journal or bearing in which the shaft turns. The endless
chain passes in a horizontal plane around the shaft above the bearing, and
passing over small rollers hangs down vertically, its lower portion being
immersed in the oil. By the motion of the shaft motion is given to the
chain which carries up oil to the shaft, and deposits it above the journal.
In applying my Invention to horizontal shafts, I make an oil reservoir on
one or both sides of the journal, and use one or two of the endless chains
described, one of the said chains being placed. on one side only of the journal,
or one on each side. Although I prefer a chain as described, yet any band
sufficiently flexible and heavy, and made of a material not injuriously affected
by oil, may be employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Boyes Fraser in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BOYES FRASER, of Kenilworth, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical
Engineer, send greeting.
✰ WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, 'by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joseph Boyes Fraser, Her special licence, that I, the said. Joseph
Boyes Fraser, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Joseph Boyes Fraser, 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 "AN:
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING SHAFTS, AXLES, SCREWS, AND
OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING LUBRICATION," upon the condition. (amongst others).
that I, the said Joseph Boyes Fraser, 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,.

page_text: 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 Joseph Boyes Fraser, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the method or methods herein-after described, and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, of lubricating shafts, axles, screws,
and other articles requiring lubrication.
I have represented in the accompanying Drawing the application of my
Invention, first, to the lubrication of the bearings of a horizontal shaft;
second, to the lubrication of a vertical shaft; third, to the lubrication of a
screw; fourth, a modification applicable to horizontal shafts; fifth, the lubri
cation of the bearings and crank of a locomotive or other engine; and, sixth,
to the lubrication of the beam of a steam engine or other body oscillating
upon an axis.
By these illustrations I believe my said Invention may
be sufficiently understood and readily carried into effect; but my said
Invention is applicable to the lubrication of other articles than those I have
represented.
The nature of my Invention consists in lubricating the journals, bearings,
and other articles by means of oil contained in a reservoir situated below or
in the bearing or other article to be lubricated, and raising the oil therefrom
by means of an endless chain, band, or ring passing around or over the axle
or moving part of the apparatus to be lubricated; the said endless chain,
band, or ring dipping at its lower end into the oil or lubricating liquid, and
carrying up portions of the said oil or liquid as it is moved by the motion of
the shaft or other article upon which it rests. The size of the endless chain,
band, or ring employed, determines the quantity of oil carried up and deposited
upon the axle or article to be lubricated. Any surplus oil which may be
carried up will be returned to the reservoir by the descending side of the
endless chain, band, or ring, or will drop or fall from the shaft into the
reservoir.
Figure No. 1 represents in side elevation at a, in end elevation (partly in
section) at b, and in plan at c, the application of my Invention to the
lubrication of a horizontal shaft. Over the outer side of the shaft d an
endless chain fis passed, the lower end of which endless chain ƒ hangs in a
reservoir g containing the oil or other lubricating liquid. By the rotation
of the shaft d, oil is carried up. by the ascending side of the chain f, and

page_text: delivered on to the upper side of the shaft d; the said oil insinuates itself
between the bearings h, i, and diminishes the friction between the said
bearings and the shaft d.
Instead of using an endless chain f, and oil
reservoir on one side only of the journal or bearing, I sometimes use a
second endless chain k, and reservoir l, as represented, so as to deliver oil on
both sides of the journal or bearing.
Figure No. 2 represents in elevation (partly in section) a vertical shaft,
Jubricated according to my Invention. . m is the shaft ; n, the endless chain,
dipping at its lower end in the reservoir o containing the oil. The said
chain n passes over pullies p, q, round the top of the shaft m. By the motion
of the shaft m, oil is raised from the reservoir o by the chain n, and delivered
at the top of m, from whence it runs into the interior of the bearing r. The
lower end of the shaft m is represented lubricated by an arrangement similar
to that described with respect to the top of the shaft.
Figure No. 3 represents in side elevation (partly in section) a horizontal.
screw lubricated according to my Invention. An endless chains is hung on
the screw t, as represented; the said endless chain raises. oil from the
reservoir u, and deposits it on the screw.t; the said oil is carried by the
said screw t into the screw boxes v, v.
Figure No. 4 represents in side elevation (partly in section) at x, in
vertical transverse section at y, and in plan (partly in section) at 2, a
modification of the method of applying my Invention to horizontal shafts.
In the said modification I place the endless chain, band, or ring by which
the oil is raised, in the interior of the bearing instead of external to it, as
represented in Figure No. 1. In the said Figure No. 4, the endless chain
by which the oil is raised is marked 1; the said chain passes over the neck of
the shaft 2, a recess 3 being made in the upper brass 4 for its reception.
Holes are cut in the lower brass 5, as represented, for the chain 1 to pass
through. The oil is contained in a reservoir 6 in the lower bearing 7.
Figure No. 5 represents in front elevation (partly in section) the application
of my Invention to the lubrication of the crank shaft of a locomotive or other
engine. In the said Figure No. 5 the upper and lower brasses are marked 8
and 9 respectively. The endless chains are marked 10, and the reservoirs
containing the oil are marked 11. The upper and lower brasses 8 and 9 are
made as herein-before described with respect to Figure No. 4, for the purpose
of receiving the endless chains.
Figure No. 6 illustrates the application of my Invention to the beam of an
ordinary steam engine or other body having an oscillating motion on an axis.
The beam 12 oscillates upon the axis 13. A double ratchet wheel 14 turns

page_text: upon a pin 15 on, the end of the shaft 13.
A pall or click 16 is fixed on the
end of the shaft 13, and a second pall or click 17 is fixed on the upper
brass 18. The click 16 engages with the smaller ratchet of the wheel 14, and
the click.17 engages with the larger ratchet of the wheel 14. As the shaft 13
moves in the direction of the arrow, the larger ratchet 14 moves in the
direction of the arrow under the pall 17. When the motion of the shaft 13
is in a direction contrary to that of the arrow, the motion of the ratchet 14
with the axis 13 is prevented by the pall 17, the pall 16 sliding over the
teeth of the smaller ratchet 14. When the shaft, 13 resumes, its motion in
the direction of. the arrow, the pall 16 forces round the ratchet wheel, and
there is thus produced an intermitting motion in one uniform direction in the
ratchet. The endless chain 19 passes over a drum 21, moving with the
ratchet wheel 14, the lower end of the chain 19 dipping in a reservoir 20,
containing oil. By the motion of the chain 19, oil is raised from the
reservoir 20, and deposited on the upper. side of the drum 21, from whence
it passes to the shaft 13, and insinuates itself between the said shaft and the
brasses in which it turns. In applying my Invention to the axes of beams
or other oscillating bodies, I sometimes hang the chain on the shaft, and attach
a pall to the bearing. The said pall presses upon the chain, and allows it only
to move in one direction. The said chain is thereby made to have a pro-
gressive motion in one direction, similar to that of a ratchet wheel under like
circumstances, and by dipping into the reservoir to raise oil therefrom.
Although I prefer to carry my Invention into effect by means of a chain, as
described, yet I do not limit myself thereto, as a ring of metal or other
material, or a string of beads, or a band of any material sufficiently flexible
and heavy, and not injuriously affected by oil or the lubricating liquid employed,
may be used in place of the chain described in carrying my Invention into
effect. Instead of an endless chain, as described, a piece of chain fixed at one
end to the shaft may be employed in place of the said endless chain. The loose
end of the chain will by the rotation of the shaft drop from time to time into
the reservoir, and afterwards be coiled up by the shaft, thereby bringing up
oil, and lubricating the said shaft. When the article to be lubricated is not
in motion no oil is raised by my lubricator.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, and represented in the Drawing,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention ;
but I claim as my Invention the improvement or improvements in lubricating
shafts, axles, screws, and other articles requiring lubrication, herein-before

page_text: described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,
lubricating shafts, axles, screws, and other articles having a rotatory or
oscillatory motion, by means of an endless or loose chain, or ring, or band
hung upon a rotating or oscillating body at or near the bearings of the same,
the lower end of the said endless chain, ring, or band dipping into a reservoir
containing oil or: other lubricating liquid, as described and represented.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Boyes Fraser, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
WILLIAM FREEMAN..
JOSEPH BOYES FRASER. (L.S.)