CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES, AND IN DEVICES FOR LUBRICATING JOURNALS, WHICH ARE MORE ESPECIALLY INTENDED FOR CAR AXLE BOXES, BUT MAY BE APPLIED TO OTHER JOURNALS AND BEARINGS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of No. 11, Wellington
Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES, AND IN DEVICES FOR
LUBRICATING JOURNALS, WHICH ARE MORE ESPECIALLY INTENDED FOR CAR
AXLE BOXES, BUT MAY BE APPLIED TO OTHER JOURNALS AND BEARINGS."
-A communication from abroad by Charles Theodore Pierson, of
Ramapo, in the State of New York, and United States of
America.
"PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 14th October 1874.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand,
5. in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature ⚫
of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES AND IN DEVICES
FOR LUBRICATING JOURNALS, WHICH ARE MORE ESPECIALLY INTENDED FOR CAR

page_text: AXLE BOXES, BUT MAY BE APPLIED TO OTHER JOURNALS AND BEARINGS," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Charles Theodore Pierson, of
Ramapo, in the State of New York, and United States of America, to
be as follows:-
This Invention relates more particularly to the devices for lubricating
the axle and for preventing a waste of the lubricating material, and it
is more closely defined in the following Specification and description,
reference being had to the Drawings which represent the improvements
applied to a car axle box. In these Figure 1 is a vertical section of the
box showing the end of the axle; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section with the
axle withdrawn; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the box, a portion being
cut away to show some of the interior devices; Fig. 4 is a view of the
packing devices; and Fig. 5 is a detached view of the scraper.
A is a box formed, shaped, and constructed for the most part like a
common car axle box; B represents the axle, having a portion C reduced
in size for the bearings; E is the cover of the box, through which the
oil or other lubricating material is introduced, secured as usual by the
bolts F; G, G, represent two curved or hooked bearings on the side of
the box, in which is hung the yoke H by its arms or lugs K, K. This
yoke is jointed by the pivot i to the arm I, from which is hung in
swinging bearings the wheel D. The lower part of this wheel Dis
immersed in the oil, and being made to revolve by the axle against
which it bears feeds the oil on to the axle and keeps the latter well
lubricated. The spring L, L, L, tends to bring the yoke H and arm I
together, thus forcing the wheel up against the axle B, C, and securing
the yoke H firmly in the curved bearings G, so that it may not
be jarred out through the slots g. When however it is desired
to remove the wheel and its bearings for the purpose of cleaning
or otherwise, it can be done by pressing the yoke H back toward the
end of the box until the lugs K can be raised through the slots g, and
the whole device including the wheel may then be removed from the
box through the cover E. M is the ordinary bearing for the axle,
secured in place by the draw piece N; and O is a tube leading through
the bottom of the box, where it is closed by the screw plug P. This
tube is for the purpose of drawing off the oil in case the box should be
overfilled. This form of lubricator is in practice not found to be
economical, owing to the great waste of oil which escapes through the

page_text: back of the box, between the axle and the sides of the hole through
which it is introduced. To remedy this a packing ring, washer, or
collar has been placed around the axle at this point with the intention
of making a tight joint through which the oil could not pass.
The form of packing devices used in this Invention is shown in detail
at Fig. 4. The rear wall of the box is made double, as shown by the
sectional views, Figs. 1 and 2, and in the mortise thus made are placed
two half rings R, R¹, which are intended to embrace the axle closely,
being compelled to do so by the wire U and the rigid flat bar T, between
which and the upper half ring is placed the bearing picce S. The screw
nuts on the ends of the wire U force the bar T and bearing piece S on
to the ring R, forcing the latter on to the axle, and at the same time
drawing up the wire U and the packing ring R' on to the lower half of
the axle. The proximate ends of the ring are rabbeted so as to slip
past each other, as shown at V, Figs. 1, 2, and 4, and thus allow them-
selves to be fed down to each other as the inner sides become worn.
The screw nuts are adjusted so as to bring the packing ring into exactly
the proper degree of bearing upon the axle, and when the ring becomes
worn should be readjusted.
In previous devices of this kind where a spring has been used to force
the packing on to the axle the spring has the effect of perpetually
keeping the ring in actual contact with the axle and with some degree
of pressure, which is not wanted.
In the arrangement used in this Invention if the axle is packed too
tightly in the first place it will quickly wear to a correct bearing, which
has been proved by experiment, and will after that wear slowly, and can
then be kept at such bearing by the nuts. It has thus been found that
a very great advantage is, in practice, gained by dispensing with a
spring. In practice, however, it is found that these and all other
packing devices permit a large waste of oil, and a series of experiments
have led to the conclusion that it is practically impossible to make an
oil-tight joint at this point. Any device therefore which pretends to
accomplish this by a ring which surrounds the axle in a line parallel to
its revolution is useless as an oil saving device, although of service in
keeping dust and dirt from the box.

page_text: Experiments have further shown that the desired effect can be gained
by scraping the oil from the axle, that is, by presenting to the axle an
edge at right angles to the line of its revolution, that is to say, parallel
with the axle itself. The device which I use is then a scraper."
"
In the lower part of the box, just inside of the packing, is made a
tube leading through the bottom of the box and closed by a screw cap h.
In this screw cap is a spring a which supports a scraper b, Figs. 1, 2,
and 5, and presses against the under side of the axle. Its effect is, that
as the axle revolves, any oil, which after being fed on to the axle by the
wheel D is spread along the axle as far as the scraper 6, will be removed
by the latter and run down its sides on to the tube, from whence it
passes back to the oil chamber over the inner wall and shelf which are
lower than the outer wall at rear of the box, or runs back into the oil
chamber through perforations in the tube which holds the scraper. In
this way no oil is allowed to travel along the axle as far as the packing,
The screw cap / can
and consequently now escapes through the latter.
also be removed for the purposes of cleaning the scraper when necessary,
and by means of it the latter can be fed up to the axle as it wears off,
and the tension of the spring can be regulated.
Instead of at the bottom the scraper might be placed at the side or
top of the axle, but the first position will be found the most advan-
tageous, as the oil will more readily run away from the axle when once
removed by the scraper.
With this device the oil is practically pre-
vented from ever reaching the packing, and the loss from wasted oil
is practically inconsiderable. It will be found useful not only where the
lubricating wheel or other device, by means of which oil is fed from a
reservoir on to the axle, is used, but also where a packing of "waste
saturated with oil is used as a lubricant.
"
The scraper and packing pieces may be constructed of wood, metal, or
rubber, or any elastic or semi-elastic substance of sufficient hardness to
withstand the wear, hardness and elasticity being the essential qualities,
and that substance being best for the purpose which best combines these
qualities.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of October, in the year
of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Edward Gedge, Her special license
that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward Gedge, 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
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES AND IN DEVICES FOR LUBRICATING JOURNALS
WHICH ARE MORE ESPECIALLY INTENDED FOR CAR AXLE BOXES, BUT MAY BE
APPLIED TO OTHER JOURNALS AND BEARINGS," a communication to me from
abroad by Charles Theodore Pierson, of Ramapo, in the State of New
York, and United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 William Edward Gedge, 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:—
This Invention relates more particularly to the devices for lubricating
the axle and for preventing a waste of the lubricating material, and it is
-

page_text: more closely defined in the following Specification and description,
reference being had to the Drawings, which represent the improvements
applied to a car axle box. In these, Figure 1 is a vertical section of the
box showing the end of the axle; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section with
the axle withdrawn; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the box, a portion
being cut away to show some of the interior devices; Fig. 4 is a
view of the packing devices; and Fig. 5 is a detached view of the
scraper.
A is a box formed, shaped, and constructed for the most part like a
common car axle box; B represents the axle, having a portion C
reduced in size for the bearings; E is the cover of the box, through
which the oil or other lubricating material is introduced, secured as
usual by the bolts F; G, G, represent two curved or hooked bearings on
the side of the box, in which is hung the yoke H by its arms or
lugs K, K. This yoke is jointed by the pivot i to the arm I, from
which is hung in swinging bearings the wheel D. The lower part of
this wheel D is immersed in the oil, and being made to revolve by the
axle against which it bears, feeds the oil on to the axle and keeps the
latter well lubricated. The spring L, L, L, tends to bring the yoke H
and arm I together, thus forcing the wheel up against the axle B, C, and
securing the yoke H firmly in the curved bearings G so that it may not
be jarred out through the slots g. When however it is desired to
remove the wheel and its bearings for the purpose of cleaning or
otherwise, it can be done by pressing the yoke H back toward the end
of the box until the lugs K can be raised through the slots g and the
whole device, including the wheel, may then be removed from the box
through the cover E. M is the ordinary bearing for the axle, secured in
place by the draw piece N; and O is a tube leading through the bottom
of the box, where it is closed by the screw plug P. This tube is for
the purpose of drawing off the oil in case the box should be overfilled.
This form of lubricator is, in practice, not found to be economical,
owing to the great waste of oil which escapes through the back of the
box, between the axle and the sides of the hole through which it is
introduced. To remedy this a packing ring, washer, or collar has been
placed around the axle at this point with the intention of making a tight
joint through which the oil could not pass.
The form of packing devices which I have used is shown in detail at
Bio 4. The rear wall of the box is made doubla
00 shown hy the

page_text: The screw
sectional views, Figs. 1 and 2, and in the mortise thus made are placed
two half rings R, R', which are intended to embrace the axle closely,
being compelled to do so by the wire U and the rigid flat bar T, between
which and the upper half ring is placed the bearing picce S.
nuts on the ends of the wire U force the bar T and bearing piece S on
to the ring R, forcing the latter on to the axle, and at the same time
drawing up the wire U and the packing ring R' on to the lower half of
the axle. The proximate ends of the ring are rabbeted so as to slip
past each other, as shown at V, Figs. 1, 2, and 4, and thus allow them-
selves to be fed down to each other as the inner sides become worn.
The screw nuts are adjusted so as to bring the packing ring into exactly
the proper degree of bearing upon the axle, and when the ring becomes
worn should be readjusted.
In previous devices of this kind where a spring has been used to force
the packing on to the axle, the spring has the effect of perpetually
keeping the ring in actual contact with the axle, and with some degree
of pressure, which is not wanted.
In the arrangement used in this Invention if the axle is packed too
tightly in the first place, it will quickly wear to a correct bearing,
which has been proved by experiment, and will after that wear slowly,
and can then be kept at such bearing by the nuts. It has been found
that a very great advantage is, in practice, gained by dispensing with a
spring. In practice however it is found that these and all other packing
devices permit a large waste of oil, and a series of experiments have led.
to the conclusion that it is practically impossible to make an oil-tight
joint at this point. Any device therefore which pretends to accomplish
this by a ring which surrounds the axle in a line parallel to its revolution
is useless as an oil saving device, although of service in keeping dust
and dirt from the box.
Experiments have further shown that the desired effect can be gained
by scraping the oil from the axle, that is, by presenting to the axle an
edge at right angles to the line of its revolution, that is to say, parallel
with the axle itself. The device which I use is then a scraper."
66
In the lower part of the box, just inside of the packing, is made a
tube leading through the bottom of the box, and closed by a screw
cap h. In this screw cap is a spring a which supports a scraper b,
Figs. 1, 2, and 5, and presses against the under side of the axle. Its-

page_text: effect is that as the axle revolves any oil which after being fed on to
the axle by the wheel D is spread along the axle as far as the scraper 6
will be removed by the latter and run down its sides on to the tube,
from whence its passes back to the oil chamber over the inner wall and
shelf, which are lower than the outer wall at rear of the box, or runs
back into the oil chamber through perforations in the tube which holds
the scraper. In this way no oil is allowed to travel along the axle as
far as the packing, and consequently now escapes through the latter.
The screw cap h can also be removed for the purposes of cleaning the
scraper when necessary, and by means of it the latter can be fed
up to the axle as it wears off, and the tension of the spring can be
regulated.
Instead of at the bottom the scraper might be placed at the side or
top of the axle, but the first position will be found the most advan-
tageous as the oil will more readily run away from the axle when
once removed by the scraper. With this device the oil is practically
prevented from ever reaching the packing, and the loss from wasted oil
is practically inconsiderable. It will be found useful, not only where
the lubricating wheel or other device, by means of which oil is fed from
a reservoir on to the axle, is used, but also where a packing of "waste"
saturated with oil is used as a lubricant.
The scraper and packing pieces may be constructed of wood, metal,
or rubber, or any elastic or semi-elastic substance of sufficient hardness
to withstand the wear, hardness and elasticity being the essential
qualities, and that substance being best for the purpose which best com-
bines these qualities.
What I claim as secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is,―
1. The scraper 6 constructed and applied, substantially as and for the
purpose described.
2. The combination of the scraper 6, the spring a, and the screw
cap h, as set forth.
3. The slotted bearings G and yoke K, H, in combination with the
spring L and wheel carrying arm I, substantially as described.
4. The overflow tube O in combination with the axle box used as an
oil reservoir, as set forth.

page_text: 5. The adjustable springless packing device consisting of the rigid
bar T, screw rod V, and the semicircular packing pieces R, R', all com-
bined as set forth.
.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.