IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR OMNIBUSES, RAILWAY OR TRAHWAY CARRIAGES, AND OTHER VEHICLES
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Henry Small at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th August 1874.
I, JAMES HENRY SMALL, of Buffalo, New York, United States of
America, now of No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS
FOR OMNIBUSES, RAILWAY OR TRAHWAY CARRIAGES, AND OTHER VEHICLES," to be
as follows:-
My said Invention is designed to furnish a wheel which will run
equally well on a railway or tramway and a common road.
The said Invention is more especially applicable to tramway or street
railway carriages or cars to enable them to pass from one line of rails
over any required distance upon an ordinary paved road to another line
of rails, that is to say, on arriving at the terminus of a tramway the
carriage or car can be drawn through a street or road upon the ordinary
pavement thereof to another tramway or line of rails, so that it can
make a continuous journey for any required distance in towns or cities
and their suburbs where only a part of the distance is laid with rails.

page_text: My improved wheel is constructed as follows:-It is formed of cast
iron or other suitable material; it has a plain or smooth bearing or
running surface. I prefer that its intermediate part which connects
the tire with the hub or boss should be solid. I form ribs on this
intermediate part extending from the rim to the boss, and which are t
grooved or channelled to receive the edges of plates of steel or iron;
theso plates fill the spaces between the said ribs, and are so formed
that the outer edges of all of them may project beyond the periphery
or bearing surface of the wheel and form a flange around the same.
The peculiar feature of my Invention is the automatic adjustment 1
of these plates whereby they will be projected from the periphery of
the wheel or retracted within the same to adapt the vehicle on which
they are placed to the road whereon it is travelling for the time being,
that is to say, when the said vehicle is running on a rail or tramway
the said plates will project and form a flange which keeps the vehiclo 1
properly on the rails; but whon the said vehicle passes from the rails
to an ordinary road paved with stone, wood, asphalt, or the like, tho said
plates retire within the periphery of the wheel, which then presents only
a plain or smooth bearing surface to the road.
This automatic action of the aforesaid plates is effected as follows:― 2
Tho said plates are fitted to slide in the grooves or channels of the ribs
so that they can move freely in and out, or toward and from the centre
or hub of the wheel. At the inner end of these plates between the
same and the hub or boss I place springs whose force is sufficient to
cause the projection of the plates, and to keep them out when the 2
wheels are running upon rails, but which will readily yield and permit
tho said plates to retire within the periphery of the wheel when the same
is running upon an ordinary road.
I prefer to uso spiral springs which may be placed in radial holos
bored in the boss or hub of the wheel. The plates must be provided 3
with stops to provent their projecting too far outward.
Instead of forming the said wheel with grooves or channels for tho
said plates to work in, I may form slots in the plates, and provido tho
wheel with studs or pins projecting through the said slots with nuts or :
collars at the outer ends of the said studs. Or I may use any other 3
suitable means for securing and guiding the said adjustable platos upon
the wheels.

page_text: In some instances I may construct my improved wheel in the form of
a double wheel, or two wheels placed side by side, a space being left
between the two parts of the wheel, in which space I arrange the afore-
said adjusting plates and springs.
In some instances I provide my improved wheels with an excentric
or other means in combination with the adjustable plates, and with a
lever or rod under the control of the driver or conductor, so that by
means of the said lever or rod the driver or conductor can adjust the
said plates and lock them in either their inward or outward position.
This apparatus may be used instead of the springs or other means for
automatic adjustment, or in combination with the same.