464 
STEPHENSON’S PATENT 
Fig. 42. 
to each other, and will remain parallel when moved up and down. Each side, 
CC, has a small projection on its inner side, fitting into a corresponding groove 
in each wedge, as shown in fig. 41, to guide it when moved; and a bolt, F., 
is carried upwards from each of the wedges E, through the upper piece E, having 
a nut screwed upon it at the top; the holes for the bolts are made oblong to 
allow for the lateral motion of the wedges 
when they are screwed up. The two 
brass bearings, G G, are inserted be- £ ~ 
tween the wedges, having flanehes on j 
each side fitted on the faces of the 
wedges; they are three inches wide, 
and bored out to five inches diameter, to 
fit the cranked axle. One of the brasses, 
G, overlaps the other, which is fitted 
steadily into it, but not quite touching 
at the ends. They are made to close 
upon the axle by screwing up the two 
wedges E E, thereby forcing the two 
brasses nearer together; and they are 
then free to slide up and down between 
the wedges to allow for the play of the 
springs, which affects the engine only 
and not the axle ; and are readily tight 
ened up as they wear from friction, by 
screwing up the wedges farther. 
The cranked axle is thus steadied against the horizontal force of the connect 
ing rods, which is the greatest strain that it is subjected to; but it can have no 
vertical support in consequence of the play of the springs. A shoulder is made 
on the bottom of the nuts on the bolts E, and cut into teeth, as shewn in the 
plan, fig. 44, which catch the ends of a small spring H, fixed by a screw in the 
middle. This prevents the nuts from turning round and getting loose with the great 
jolting to which they are subject, the spring having to be forced out from each 
tooth in succession to let the nut turn ; and though this does not impede the 
screwing up of the nuts, it is sufficient to prevent their getting loose. The same 
contrivance is applied to all the nuts in the engine that are used for the adjustment 
of some moveable part, as those in the glands of the piston rod and slide valve 
spindle; as these nuts are not screwed hard up so as to keep them fast. 
Some engines with four wheels are made without the outside frame, and also 
lQj| 
H 
Figs. 43 and 44.