US122635A - Self and h - Google Patents

Description

31.) F, B. MORSE.

Imprvement in Axle Boxes for Carriages.

$10,122,635; I .Pafeneaiamgnwz duce a lighterbox have been resorted to-as, for instance, a wrought-metal pipe with cast- TES FRANCIS B. MORSE, or PLANTs'vILLE, CONNECTICUT, ASSICNOE To HIM- SELF AND H. I). SMITH ya Co., OE SAME PLACE.

HVIPRSVLEIl-IEN'I'l IN AXLE-BXES FOR CARRIAGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 122,635, dated January 9, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS B. MORSE, of Plantsville, in the county of Hartford and State oi'Gonnecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Axle-Box for Carria-ges and Ido hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawing constitutes part of this specification, and represents in- Figure l, a side view; Fig. 2, a longitudinal central section on line a' w; Fig. 3, a transverse section on line y y,- Fig. 4, a longitudinal seetion on line z z of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, one-half of the blank; and in Fig. 6, a section after the first operation, for the purpose of illustrating the process of manufacture.

This invention relates to an improvement in the article of manufacture known to the trade as axle-boxes-that is, the metal box which is arranged within the hub of a carriage-wheel to form a bearing `for the arm of the axle. Usually these have been made of cast metal, and to .give the required strength, and prevent the breakage ofthe boxes by the jar upon the wheel, it has been necessary to make the box. of considerable thickness, at least one-fourth of an inch; consequently the wooden hub itself must be made proportionately larger; but to be in keeping with the other parts of the carriage and wheels, as improved by the many devices for strengthening the hub, it is desirable that the wood center or portion of the hub should be very light` Various devices to prometal shoulders, the two parts secured together; and other devices for forming the box from several parts. This so multiplies the operations inthe process of manufacture as to make such boxes too expensive for practical use. The object of this invention is to overcome these difficulties and produce a box en tirely from wrought metal, at a cost little, if any, more than the common cast-metal box; and it consists of a wrought-metal axle-box, formed complete from a single piece of metal.

Of the various devices known to me for producing my new box, I believe the following to be the most desirable: From la blank of sheet metal of a little greater thickness than the pipe of the box to be produced, I cut a blank substantially the forln seen in Fig. 5, representing Onehalf only of the plate. The width of this blank corresponds about to the outer circumference of the box to be produced; but in length somewhat shorter, leavingA sufficient metal at the broader portion to form the shoulders and lugs, as hereafter described. By any suitable device this blank is then brought into tubular form, substantially as shown in see tion in Fig. 6, the edges meeting or overlapping; then this cylindrical blank, heated to a welding heat, is placed in a die of nearly the form of the exterior of the box to be produced; then a follower, conforming nearly to the interior of the box, is dropped with great force upon the said die, the follower entering the cylinder-blank, this action being sufficient to thoroughly weld the edges. Then a second die is employed of exactly the form required for the exterior, having recesses to form the ribs a. and the enlargement as at d, and the follower constructed to form the shoulders as at ff, and the blankremoved from the first die still hot is placed in the second die and the follower dropped thereon, completing the box as shown in the drawing. The amount of metal which was left at the broader portion of the blank is sufficient to form the ribs a, as also to completely form the shoulders f f. In the operations of welding and the last striking up, the metal is drawn to the length required for the box, and the box thus produced is so perfeet upon the inside as to require a very slight amount of labor to finish it for the axle-arm, very much less than that required for castmetal boxes.

While I have described the operation as to be performed by two dies, the follower striking into the dies, it will be evident that this operation may be reversed, and it is also evident that but a single die and follower, viz., the last, may be used but I think, practically, better results will be attained by the use of two dies. Instead of forming the box from a blank to be welded, it may be done from a solid blank of metal heated and placed in the die, the follower piercing the-blank and drawing it into the die to form the box.

As the process of manufacture is not the subject of this application, the above description is given simply as an illustration of the mode of procedure in the production of the box.

Other shoulders7 if required, or form of shoulders, may be produced in the saine manner.

It will be observed that I have formed the lugs or ribs a of A-shape. This allows the box to beforced into the hub Without previous- 1y cutting the hub to receive the ribs, as required t'or boxes of common construction, and

the box when thus inserted is fully as secure as by the usual construction of ribs.

I claim as my invention- As an article of manufacture, a Wroughtmetal axle-box forged complete from a single piece of metal.

F. B. MORSE. Witnesses:

A. J. TIBBITs, J oHN E. EARLE. (31)

Images