page_title: George Walther Sr.
section_title: Dayton steel wheel patent
hierarchical_section_title: George Walther Sr. / Dayton steel wheel patent
caption_attribution_description: English: Cast steel wheel designed and patented by George Walther for the Dayton Steel Foundry in 1913
context_page_description: George Walther Sr. was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, civic leader and the holder of over 100 patents for truck wheels, brake drums, fifth wheels, and landing gear/legs for the trucking industry. He was the founder of the Dayton Steel Foundry.
  Walther developed the first practical cast steel wheel for solid rubber tires. This was a basic but critical contribution to the evolution of the early trucking industry and the U.S. Army trucks in World War I.
  Walther followed the design of the cast steel wheel for solid rubber tires with the design of a cast steel wheel for pneumatic tires and then the design of an improved brake drum. When semi-trailer trucks were developed, he designed improved versions of the fifth wheel and landing legs for semi-trailer trucks. Walther's engineering skills resulted in patents for many developments of truck wheels, brake drums, fifth wheels, and landing legs that have helped to expand the role of trucks in the transportation industry.
context_section_description: The Dayton Steel Foundry Company focused on steel castings for the automobile industry. Sales began to climb and soon Walther was spending most of his time traveling around the country selling castings for passenger cars.
  Around 1910 Walther heard talk about a new vehicle in the automotive industry - trucks.  Walther listened more and more to discussions about trucks, especially at White Motor Company and Packard Motor Company. Walther reasoned, if Dayton Steel Foundry could manufacture castings for automobiles, the trucks should offer more opportunities for steel casting sales.
  Initially wooden-spoke wheels were being used on passenger cars and these were used on the first trucks. The wheels were not satisfactory, but they were the only wheels available. Walther heard that the White Motor Company was looking at a cast steel wheel that had been made in Belgium. Walther was able to see the Belgium steel wheel at the White Motor Company. A look at the wheel and Walther's engineering knowledge convinced him that this wheel would break if it were jarred. Walther discussed it over with his brother, telling him that he was certain that he could design and build a wheel that would not break.
  Existing wheels with either 6 or 8 wooden or solid steel spokes would break from either the weight of the cargo or from jarring from bumps in uneven roads. Walther designed a wheel with an odd number of spokes, either 5 or 7, that would better distribute the weight of the cargo across the truck wheels and axles.
  They decided to test Walther's design, and two years later, in 1912, the Dayton Steel Foundry produced a cast steel cruciform spoke-type wheel that used solid rubber tires for the White Motor Company. The Dayton Steel Wheel featured an odd number of spokes that were hollow steel with sweeping curves where the spoke joined the rim.
  This opened new horizons for the Dayton Steel Foundry to an entirely new industry – trucks. 
  
  The wooden spoke wheel was on its way out. A patent was granted for the first practical cast steel wheel for solid rubber tires to Walther and the Dayton Steel Foundry on December 13, 1913.
  This first patent marked the beginning of more than 100 trucking industry patents that were to be granted to Walther and the Dayton Steel Foundry.
caption: The Dayton Steel Wheel featured an odd number of spokes that were hollow steel with sweeping curves where the spoke joined the rim.
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