386 



CAREIAGES. 



justed to t"he proper thickness, on eacli side of tlie 

 shoulder, to prevent the wear of the boxes and plate against 

 the shoulder. On taking off the wheel, the nuts, before- 

 mentioned, are removed with a wrench, and the hub is 

 drawn off the end of the axle, leaving the plate c remain- 

 ing upon the axle. The leather washers require to be 

 occasionally renewed, if they wear so thin as to give too 

 much lateral motion to the hub. 



This form of axle has many advantages, among which 

 are : that it prevents rattling, or the lateral motion of the 

 wheel ; it is safer, for if the axle break at any point be- 

 yond the shoulder, the wheel is still retained in its place 

 by the plate behind the shoulder ; it forms a tight space 

 about the ajm of the axle for the lubricating oil, excluding 

 grit or other substances which would cut away the axle. 

 Its great disadvantage for small hubs is, that it is necessary 

 to cut away so much of the hub in boring for the bolts 

 that it is weakened. This is, however, very greatly obvi- 

 ated by the patent of E. M. Stratton, the gentlemanly 



Fig. 71.— a longitudinal section of Stratton's Patent Axle and Box. 



a The ax'e ; b The box inserted on the hub c ; d-^ are spaces for lioldin- the oil ; ^ The 



shoulder of the axle; /The plate attached to the inner end of the hub; r/ The 



bolts winch pass through the hub and the plate f, and are secured by 



tbe nuts h. 2 & 3 are leather Avashers on each side of the shoulder. 



editor of the Coach Maker's Magazine. The form of hub 

 for this axle is given in Fig. 71, and its peculiarity con.sists 



