IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY WHEELS AND TYRES; AND IN' CASTING THE SAME AND OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING A HARD SURFACE COMBINED WITH STRENGTH AND TOUGHNESS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, of Buckau, in the
Kingdom of Prussia, Engineer, but at present residing at the West-
minster Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY WHEELS AND TYRES; AND IN' CASTING THE SAME
AND OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING A HARD SURFACE COMBINED WITH STRENGTH
AND TOUGHNESS."
Sealed the 10th May. 1867, and dated the 17th November 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jaques Hermann Auguste
Gruson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th November 1866.
I, JAQUES HERMANN AUGUSTE GRUSON, of Buckau, in the Kingdom of
Prussia, Engineer, but at present residing at the Westminster Palace Hotel,
in the City of Westminster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY WHEELS AND TYRES, AND IN CASTING THE SAME
AND. OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING A HARD SURFACE COMBINED WITH STRENGTH AND
TOUGHNESS," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention of "Improvements in Railway Wheels and Tyres,
and. in Casting the same and other Articles requiring.a Hard Surface combined
with Strength and Toughness," is to cast railway wheels and tyres for wheels

page_text: and other articles in such a manner that unequal expansion or contraction
during the cooling process shall be as much as possible prevented, so that the
article when produced shall be much stronger and more durable than similar
articles cast in the ordinary way.
-
In carrying out my Invention I employ a mould composed partly of iron
and partly of sand, and I so construct the mould that the thinner parts of the
wheel, tyre, or other article being in contact with the sand (which is not so
good a conductor of heat as iron) will not cool down too rapidly. By this
means the cooling of the tyre or periphery of the wheel which is the thickest
may be properly regulated.
In order to effect this object with the requisite certainty and facility I
provide a vacant space behind and in some cases underneath the iron ring of
the mould which forms the rim or tyre of the wheel. When the metal has
been poured into the mould to form.the casting I afterwards.run red-hot metal
into the vacant space above referred to, which will check the cooling process
and cause the casting to cool more gradually and with the required uniformity.
This metal will form no part of the casting, but will be turned out of the
mould with the casting, and may be melted up again and used for a similar
purpose in another mould. For making such articles as wheels and tyres it
will be desirable to make all the parts, such as the sides or spokes of the
wheel and the nave, as near as possible of the same thickness, so that they
may cool with the requisite uniformity.
In making new rims or tyres to be adapted to old wheels, the tyres of which
have been worn out, I do not cast the rim solid, but in two thicknesses, or in
the form of two concentric rings with a space between them. These rings are
connected together at the flange edges by a vertical piece of the same thick-
ness as the rings, and the outer ring or tyre is supported on the inner one by
a vertical flange of a zig-zag or other suitable form, and of the same thickness
as the rings, or nearly so. Holes to receive bolts are made in the inner ring,
and the zig-zag flanges will leave spaces to receive the nuts of the bolts,
whereby the new rim is secured to the old wheel.
A similar process of casting may be employed in the production of other
articles where it is requisite that the surface should be hard and the casting
be cooled in such a manner as to insure regularity in the molecular arrange-
ment of the metallic particles and strength and toughness in the finished
casting.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th May 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAQUES
HERMANN AUGUSTE GRUSON, of Buckau, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Engineer,
but at present residing at Westminster Palace Hotel, in the City of West-
minster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for, Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, Her special licence that I, the
said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, my
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY WHEELS AND
TYRES, AND IN CASTING THE SAME AND OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING A HARD SURFACE
COMBINED WITH STRENGTH AND TOUGHNESS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, my executors or admini-
strators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
The object of my Invention of "Improvements in Railway Wheels and
Tyres, and in Casting the same and other Articles requiring a Hard Surface
combined with Strength and Toughness," is to cast railway wheels and tryes
for wheels and other articles in such a manner that unequal expansion or con-
traction during the cooling process shall be as much as possible prevented, so

page_text: that the article when produced shall be much stronger and more durable than
similar articles cast in the ordinary way.
In carrying out my Invention I employ a mould composed partly of iron
and partly of sand, and I so construct the mould that the thinner parts of the
wheel, tyre, or other article which are in contact with the sand (which is not
so good a conductor of heat as iron) will not cool down too rapidly; by this
means the cooling of the tyre or periphery of the wheel, which is the thickest
part, may be properly regulated.
:
In order to effect this object with the requisite certainty and facility I
provide a vacant space behind and in some cases underneath the iron ring of
that part of the mould which forms the rim or tyre of the wheel. When the
metal has been poured into the mould to form the casting I afterwards run
red-hot metal into the vacant space above referred to; this hot metal will
check the cooling process and cause the casting to cool more gradually and
with the required uniformity; this metal will form no part of the casting, but
will be turned out of the mould with the casting, and when detached there-
from may be melted up again and used for a similar purpose in another
mould.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a transverse vertical
section of a mould for casting railway wheels constructed upon my improved
plan.
a, a, and a³, a¹, are the upper and lower halves of the flask; b, b, is the
metal mould plate or ring which forms the tyre c of the wheel; d, d, are the
sides of the wheel, and e the gate for pouring in the molten metal. A space
ff, is formed behind the metal ring b, b, to receive molten metal, which is
poured in through the gates f¹, f¹, in order to keep the iron ring 6 from too
suddenly cooling the metal which is to form the tyre c of the wheel.
system of casting and constructing the mould may be employed for casting
other articles, such as bells, rollers for crushing machines, crossing pieces,
guard rails, railway switches, and other similar articles requiring a hard
surface combined with strength and toughness.
This
In making new rims or tyres to be adapted to old wheels (the tyres of
which have been worn out) I do not cast the rim solid, but in two thick-
uesses, or in the form of two concentric rings with a space between them.
This mode of forming the rims or tyres of wheels is shewn at Fig. 2, which
represents a side view of part of a wheel constructed on the improved plan.
Fig. 3 is a cross section of the same; Fig. 3* is another cross section of the
tyre or rim taken at another point. The two concentric rings 9 and h which
form the tyre are connected together at the flange edges by a vertical piece of

page_text: the same thickness as the rings, and the outer ring or tyre h is supported on
the inner one 9 by a vertical flange i of a zig-zag or other suitable form and of
the same thickness as the rings 9 and h, or nearly so.
Fig. 4 is a developed view of part of a tyre constructed as shewn at the
upper half of Fig. 2, that is, with the vertical zig-zag flange above referred to;
Fig. 5 is a developed view of the tyre shown at the lower half at Fig. 2, that
is, with vertical flanges i and placed longitudinally and transversely instead
of being made in a zig-zag form, as shewn in Fig. 4. Holes to receive bolts j
(Fig. 8) are made in the inner ring 9 and the zig-zag or other vertical
flanges i will leave spaces to receive the nuts of the bolts j, whereby the new
tyre is secured to the rim k of the old wheel. A similar process of casting
may be employed, as above mentioned, in the production of other articles
where it is requisite that the surface should be hard and the casting be
cooled in such a manner as to insure regularity in the molecular arrangement
of the metallic particles and strength and toughness in the finished casting.
Having now described this new Invention of "Improvements in Railway
Wheels and Tyres, aud in Casting the same and other Articles requiring a
Hard Surface combined with Strength and Toughness," and having explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention which I
desire to secure by Letters Patent,―
First, the manufacture of railway wheels and tyres, and bells, and rollers,
and other similar articles usually cast in the manner and by means of moulding
apparatus, substantially as herein described.
Second, the construction of the tyres of railway wheels, as herein described
and particularly illustrated in Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, have
bereunto set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.