US738796A - Holder for journal-box lubricators. - Google Patents

Description

No. 738,796. PATENTBD SEPT. 15, 1903.

- J. R. HARRISON.

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UNITE STATES .Tatented September 15, 190s.

JAMES R. HARRISON, OF RACINE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE AS- SIGNMENTS, TO BRUSH LUBRICATING SYSTEM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

HOLDER FOR JOURNAL-BOX LUBRICATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 738,796, dated September 15, 1903.

Application filed October 24, 1899.

T0 aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES R. HARRISON, of Racine, Racine county, Wisconsin, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Lubricators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to lubricating devices for journal-boxes, and particularly to brush lubricators for use in car-axle boxes. A device of this class comprises a brush composed of bristles the free ends of which engage or make contact with the under surface of the axle, capillary attraction being depended upon to raise oil from the reservoir or the lower part of the axle-box. Such a brush-lubricator is illustrated in the patent to Steele, No. 616,812, of December 27, 1898. The adoption of the Steele lubricator has been hindered by the cost of the fixture or holder for the brush and by reason of the difficulty and cost of adapting such fixtures to the many and varying sizes of axle-boxes in every-day use and also because it is difficult to insert the Steele brush and holder beneath an axle.

I now propose and the object of this invention is to dispense with the cumbersome and expensive Steele fixture and holder in either of the forms illustrated in said patent and to replace the same by a cheap and light open spring structure that will be capable of easy compression into small compass and which will therefore be easy to insert into or withdraw from an axle-box and which will accommodate itself to the dimensions of said box regardless of its size or the roughness of its inner wall.

It is not alone necessary to provide a rest or platform upon which to erect the lubricating-brush, but it is also necessary, particularly when the structure is light, to provide means for holding such structure down upon the bottom of the axle-box to prevent the tipping, tilting, or displacement of the brush and consequent improper or non lubrication; and a particular object of my invention is to provide a brush-holder which will be self-securing in the axle-box, to the end that auxiliary fastenings, clamps, and clasps may be Another object of the invention is to pro- Serial No. 734,675. (No model.)

vide a brush holder or fixture which will not interfere with the flooding of the axle-box with oil and which will permit the easy clean ing of the box and of the lubricator-brush without being removed from the box.

My invention consists generally in the combination, with the axle and axle-box, of an upright brush located beneath said axle to sweep and lubricate the same and which is held in place by a spring-wire structure or holder capable of compression and which when in the box expands and forcibly engages the bottom and sides of said box to hold the brush in proper position therein.

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of an axle-box, showing my improved lubricating device arranged therein. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line a: a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the lubricating-brush and holder.

In the drawings, 2 represents an axle-box, 3 the axle, and 4 the bearing-brass arranged in the upper part of the box and having a curved under surface to fit over and rest upon the upper surface of the axle. Within the space beneath the axle, resting upon the bottom of the box, is an oil feeder or brush 5 of flexible bristles or hairs having their free upper ends in engagement with the surface of the axle and their lower ends bound together within a suitable retaining clasp or clamp 6. The brush is preferably arranged directly beneath the axle, and the bristles are of such length that their free ends engage the under surface of the axle and serve to spread the lubricant evenly thereon. It is desirable that means he provided for retaining the brush in position beneath the center of the axle, and I therefore provide a compressible spring frame or holder, preferably of steel or brass wire, having a horizontal base portion 7 bent back and forth to form a series of substantially \I-shaped bends or turns which lie in the same horizontal plane upon the bottom of the axle-box. To one of these bends or turns, preferably the middle, the retaining clamp or base of the brush is secured by solder or in any other suitable way. The end portions 8 are preferably turned up wardly at right angles to the base portion and are bent into a similar series of bends or turns, terminating with the ends of the holder which bear against the under surface of the bearing-brass at. The holder may be easily placed in the box by passing a string around and compressing the bends su'fiticiently to per-- mit the device to be slipped into position, when the string may be removed, and the bends, being released, will spring out to their normal position and engage the sides and bottom of the box and the bottom of the brass hearing which constitutes the top of the box and will hold thelubricating-brush firmly and prevent it from tilting or tipping out of its proper position beneath the car-axle. A quantity of oil is then poured into the bottom of the box until the lower portion of the brush is submerged, and the oil coming in contact with the bristles will be fed by capillary attraction to the top of the same and be deposited thereby upon the surface 'of the axle, thus at all times keeping the bearing well lubricated and preventing the annoyance and danger arising from heated boxes.

I am aware that in various ways the holder or retaining device may be modifedas, for instance, in respect to the shape and relative arrangement of the bends and the position of the brush thereon or the manner of securing the same thereto; but such changes I do not regard, however, as material or as a departure from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination with the axle-box and the axle of the lubricator-brush occupying a vertical position beneath said axle and the holder whereon said brush is erected, said holder comprising three distinct spring portions pressing respectively upon the sides and bottom of said box and secured therein by such pressure, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the axle-box and the axle of the lubricator-brush occupying a vertical position beneath said axle and the wire holder whereon said brush is erected and comprising three sets of bends or turns of 1 wire occupying planes corresponding to the bottom and sides of said box and said bends pressing upon said bottom and sides, substantially as described.

3. The herein-described device, comprising the brush and the spring-holder whereto said brush is attached, said holder comprising three sets of wire bends or turns constituting a base and side-wall engaging portions, and said side-wall sets or portions being crimped at the top, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the axle-box and the axle, of the lubricator-brush adapted to be held in a vertical position beneath said axle and the spring-holder for said brush, the said holder comprising three sets of bends or turns occupying three planes corresponding to the bottom and sides of said box and each set expansible in its respective plane, substantially as described.

5. The herein-described device, comprising the lubricator-brush and the spring-holder to which the butt or lower end of said brush is attached, said holder comprising three sets of bends or turns corresponding to the bottom and sides of the axle-box, and adapted, when inserted therein, to press respectively upon the bottom and sides of said box and to occupy a greater space when removed therefrom, substantially as described.

6. The combination of the journal-box and the axle with the lubricating-brush upright beneath the axle and the expansible-spring brush-holder arranged to expand into firm engagement with the sides and bottom of said box and holding the brush in place, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the axle-box and the axle journaled therein with the lubricatingbrush having its lower end in the oil-cellar of said box, the holder whereto said brush is fastened at its lower end and said holder being compressible for easy insertion into said box and expansible against the sides and bottom of the box to firmly holdthe said brush in place with its free end in contact with the axle, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 18th day of October, 1899.

JAMES R. HARRISON.

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