IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS, AXLES, AND BOXES FOR CARRIAGES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marcus Davis, of 5, Lyons Inn, Strand, in the City
of Westminster, Caoutchouc Wheel Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS, AXLES, AND BOXES FOR
CARRIAGES
"
Sealed the 25th November 1859, and dated the 30th May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marcus Davis at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th May 1859.
I, MARCUS DAVIS, of 5, Lyon's Inn, Strand, in the City of Westminster,
Caoutchouc Wheel Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS, AXLES, AND
BOXES FOR CARRIAGES," to be as follows:
I make a wheel with tubular spokes driven
on to iron bearings (supported
by cork or some other elastic material) into holes in a wooden stock. The
perimeter of the wheel I make U or V-shaped, or a figure similar thereto;
and to the end of the spokes I fit pieces of metal terminating in a figure
corresponding with the perimetrical ring, and rivetted or fastened thereto;
or the end of the spoke may be wrought to the figure of the perimeter.
In the recess of the perimeter of the wheel I place an india-rubber com-
position band to fit in such recess, which band may be cemented or fastened

page_text: therein. Or, I insert cork or other material in the recess, upon which I place
a thin plate of metal, overlapping the cork and bent or turned down into the
inner sides of the angle iron or perimeter, over which I then place an iron,
steel, or metallic tire.
The axle I make of tube. I place a bottle or cylinder inside each arm to
contain oil, and bore at the bottom of the axle a small hole. The oil leaks
out of the bottles through the holes in the axle arms; or I can, if necessary,
dispense with the bottles, by merely placing the oil in the axle arm, and using
stoppers to prevent the escape of the oil.
The axle-boxes I make of a combination of two metals, as follows, viz:-I
form or cast an iron inner box of brass, gun metal, white metal, or similar
composition, to fit the arm. I then cast or form an outer iron box on such
inner box. It is not necessary for the inner box to be in one piece, as it may
be formed of two or more pieces, and the iron cast on to it to form oil or
grease recesses.
I also adapt my iron perimeter above described to the ordinary wooden
spokes of wheels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Marcus Davis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th November 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARCUS
DAVIS, of 5, Lyon's Inn, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Caoutchouc
Wheel Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the
'
year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
the said Marcus Davis, Her special licence that he, the said Marcus
Davis, his executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as he,
the said Marcus Davis, his executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS, AXLES, AND BOXES FOR CARRIAGES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that he, the said Marcus Davis, his

page_text: executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under his, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Marcus Davis, do hereby declare
the nature of his said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This Invention consists in such improvements in the manufacture of
carriage wheels, composed chiefly of hollow iron, as to render them elastic
and more especially useful for fast work on any roadway, as hitherto iron
wheels have not been capable, by reason of the rigidity of the connections of
the several parts, namely, the rim spokes and nave together, of a speed
exceeding five miles an hour. The method by which these improvements are
effected, I will now detail.
The nave I make of elm or any suitable wood, and the spokes of hollow
metal or tube. I form holes in the nave. In each hole, I insert a piece of cork,
caoutchouc, or other elastic material, and over or upon this cork or elastic
material I place a flat circular piece of iron of the same diameter as the
spokes or holes in the nave. The cork or elastic material, if the nave be
made of wood, may be dispensed with; but I also make an iron nave with
holes in it similar to those in the wooden nave; then the cork, or caoutchouc,
or elastic material as described, is requisite. The spokes are driven into the
nave, on to these combination bearings of iron and elastic. This contrivance
prevents the spokes being forced in a wooden nave deeper than permitted by
the iron stops, and if either an iron or a wooden nave be used, the spokes are
supported on springs: A bar of angle iron is formed or machine curved
between rollers into a circular ring, the angular point being nearest the centre.
This ring is driven on to the tops of the spokes; the angular point bearing
nearest the nave of the wheel. Metal ties, one of which is represented by A,
Fig. I., are moveable in the spokes till ultimately affixed thereto, and to allow
the tire to be driven on, these ties are slipped down the spokes towards the
The angle iron ring is driven or placed on the spokes in such wise
that the two ends of the ring meet on one of the spokes between a tie, each
end being supported by the spoke, and rivetted or fastened thereto by pins or
screws through the tye and angle iron ends shewn in Fig. 2 at a, a. When
the rim is thus placed in the spokes, the several ties are brought up to it...
nave.

page_text: Pieces of leather, caoutchouc, or similar material, are placed between the
inner sides of the tie and outer sides of the angle iron; the ties are then
rivetted or fastened to the circular rims and spokes. Although joining the
two ends of the ring, as described, is preferable, yet it is not necessary, as the
iron may be welded or brazed at the points a, a.
Another method of affixing the ring to the spokes is, by permenantly
forming the ties or V-shaped pieces on the ends of the spokes, from the metal
spoke itself, or welding iron on thereto; then the ring is sprung open at the
ends a, a, and forced successively round between the tie of each spoke. This
is best effected by slightly tapping the sides of the spokes with a hammer, and
as the nave is thus made to revolve in the angle iron ring, each spoke, as it
arrives by this circular motion to the division in the ring, is made to clasp the
ring by its tie, by forcing part of the ring sufficiently on one side to allow the
tie to pass on the other part, and thus, till every tie is in its place. Leather
or similar material is then placed as described between the ties and angle iron
previously to the wheel being rivetted or fastened together.
The wheel may now be considered. complete and ready for the reception of
the tire. This is simply a band or ring of caoutchouc, shaped at bottom
similar, or somewhat similar, to the angular recess in the iron ring of the
wheel, and rounding outside or on that part of the caoutchouc that revolves
on the road. Fig. 3 represents a cut or sectional view.
Angle iron rings combined with caoutchouc have been described previously
by myself, but other india-rubber wheel schemers as well as myself have made
and described rubber bands, on the erroneous view that the india-rubber
required to be fastened in the wheels by pinning, squeezing, hugging, or con-
fining the material, and the bands were square or flat at bottom. These
principles not only caused destruction to the caoutchouc by its being held
against the flints and projections on the roads, but being square bottomed it
had no hold in the wheel, and therefore in addition to its being cut up, often
sprung off on the road. This is essential to be named, as the principle of
this Invention is not to confine myself to the precise angular shape of the
caoutchouc as represented in Fig. 3, but any figure similar thereto not
included or claimed in my former Patents, and not being square at bottom, or
supported by square or flat bearings.
Another and cheaper method of making these wheels with elastic tires is,
having made the wheel as described, ready for the reception of the tire,
firstly, a bed of cork is cut to fit and laid in the angular recess of the iron
ring of the wheel, over this bed of cork I place a thin casing of hoop iron to
prevent the cork burning away. An iron tyre, made in the usual way an

page_text: being red hot or of a necessary heat, is driven on the angle iron ring of the
wheel, and in cooling, it shrinks about an eighth of an inch, more or less,
below the two edges of the angle iron, to keep the tyre in its proper position
in the centre of the wheel; or the cork may be unburnt, and the iron hooping
intermediate between the cork and tyre may be dispensed with. The iron
hooping may also be dispensed by fixing the tyre in the angle iron ring of the
wheel cold, then the tyre must not be welded together at the two ends, but
joined by an iron plate being screwed immediately under the iron bar forming
the tyre. On the tyre being forced into the angular recess and the two ends
meeting, a screw or rivet is passed through each end of the tyre into the
iron plate underneath, thus joining the two ends together; there may also be
additional rivets, if required, passing through the tyre to rivet or further
secure it to angle iron rim. Caoutchouc or other material of a springy or
elastic nature, combined with or separate, can be used for insertion in the
angular recess of rim. When increased strength is required, or light wheels
for heavy work, I insert in the tube spoké a length of flat or hoop iron,
proceeding from the bottom of the tube with the stock about half, or as far as
may be necessary toward the top of the spoke, the two edges of the iron
being at front and back of the spoke as it lies in the wheel to prevent the
spokes bending by any sudden blow or concussion.
The axle I make of tubular iron. A small hole is formed at bottom of
each axle arm, another hole on top and about the centre, formed on top for
the convenience of filling with oil, which flows into the. box of each axle arm.
The boxes are iron, made red hot, and whilst in this state, two short gun-
metal, or white metal, or similar metal cylinders that fit the axle arms are
driven into each box from the two ends; the cylinders meet but near enough
to cause a vacancy that may be deemed sufficient to retain the necessary
quantum of oil. The iron box, in cooling, shrinks on the gun or other metal
used, making it like a solid metal box, and the axle forms a metallic oil bottle.
The spring bearing I make in two halves, which may be rolled or clipped
together by spring clips passing over or through the springs in the usual way.
The hollow part A, Fig. 4, is cut or notched similar to a gas plyers or gas