IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON WHEELS FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1842

page_text: SLAUGHTER'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD'
SLAUGHTER, of Bristol, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fourth day of March, in the fifth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Edward
Slaughter, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Edward Slaughter, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as.
I, the said Edward Slaughter, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON
WHEELS FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso, that I, the said Edward Slaughter, shall cause a par-
ticular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference.
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Slaughter, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and

page_text: the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a wheel, four feet in diameter, constructed according to my
Invention; Figure 2 is a section of the same; Figure 3 is a section across
two abutting spokes, as at A, B; and Figure 4 is. a section of the outer ring
and crown of spoke, as at C, D. The same letters in all the Drawings indicate
the same parts. A, A, are the spokes; any desired number may be used, (I
prefer eight for a four feet wheel,) of malleable iron, rolled or otherwise manu-
factured, produced with a dovetailed projection on the outer side, and bent
(when hot) round a cast-iron block of any suitable form, and of such dimen-
sions that they may collectively serve as an inner framing to the wheel.
B is an outer ring, also of malleable iron,, furnished on its inner circum-
ference with a dovetailed recess corresponding with the projecting dovetail
of the spoke.. But it will be evident that the. recess may be formed' in
the spoke, and in that case the dovetailed projection-must be produced upon
the outer ring. The making of the dovetail groove, or the dovetail projection
to the outer ring B. may be made, in various ways, such as. by rolling or by
forging; a hoop of iron being formed; the dovetailed groove or the dovetail pro-
jection thereto may be turned in the lathe to the form shown in the Drawing,
but I make no claim to the forming, dovetail grooves.or dovetail projections in
or on bars of iron, that being no, part of my Invention.C is the nave, which
is cast round the spoke, ends when placed together. within the ring.B, when
the outer ring has been hooped or welded so. as to form a perfect hoop.. The
space D where the weld was taken is dressed out on the face side of the wheel,
of just sufficient width to receive the circular end of one of the spokes, thereby
leaving the dovetailed recess perfect throughout its entire inner circumference.
The outer ring is then made hot, and one of the spokes dropped into the slot;
the dovetailed recess of the ring being a little expanded, the spoke is readily
entered and left there; a second spoke is entered and passed completely round
till it is placed in contact with the first; a third is placed against the second,"
and the same method being adopted for all the spokes till all the spokes are
introduced into the ring B; the framing of the wheel is then completed.
Previous to running the metal round the ends of the spokes to form the nave,
the wheel is perfected by by being placed upon a cast iron table of suitable
dimensions, with clamps and screw bolts to maintain it in the shape and figure
represented in Figure 1, care being taken that that portion of the spoke con-

page_text: tained between e and ƒ be made sufficiently round to meet the contraction of
the nave. The slot at D is then filled with a piece of metal driven into, which
will occupy all the space between two spokes for the entire depth from the
face to the bottom of the dovetailed recess, and maintained in that position by
one or more tap bolts, which, in addition to the natural shrinkage upon each
spoke end, will effectually prevent the wheel from turning in the outer ring.
I would remark that the figure or shape of the dovetail might be varied. I do
not therefore confine myself to that shown, and the shape of the spokes may
be varied.
I hereby declare that I claim as my Invention the framing a wheel for
railways or common roads, with an outer ring having a dovetailed groove or
recess, and spokes having a corresponding projection, dovetail or vice versâ,
with spokes having a dovetail groove or recess, and an outer tyre having a
projecting corresponding dovetail, so that the wheel shall be held together by
means of dovetails to the spokes and rings, as above explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Slaughter, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of August, One thousand eight hun-
dred and forty-two.
EDWARD (L.s.) SLAUGHTER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirtieth day of August, in
the year of our Lord 1842, the aforesaid Edward Slaughter came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Third day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-two.