IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR TRACTION ENGINES AND OTHER PURPOSES to be as follows:
Year: 1884

page_text: We JOHN M'LAREN and HENRY MCLAREN, of the Midland Engine Works,
Hunslet, Leeds, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention
for " IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR TRACTION ENGINES AND OTHER PURPOSES
to be as follows:-
"
.This Invention relates to that class of wheels more especially adapted for traction
engines and the like wherein springs are employed in place of rigid spokes between
the boss and the rim.
According to this Invention the springs thus used in substitution for spokes are
made compound, that is to say, in two or more parts placed side by side to form
the width of spring required, in place of the said springs having their whole width
formed. by one piece in itself constituting the entire width of spring-By this
compound construction of the springs they are more flexible than the old form
and the strain in work is better distributed and the steel of the less widths
can be better rolled and tempered-The compound springs thus formed are attached
to the rim and the boss by turning the ends thereof and confining them in position
by means of spring saddle pieces of a bowed or partly circular section which are
forced against the turned over ends of the compound springs, which forcing may
be effected by screw bolts and screw nuts, the screws passing through the rim and
spring saddle pieces in the one case and through the boss and spring saddle pieces
in the other case-When the said screw nuts are screwed upon the bolts, the said
spring saddle pieces yield slightly and as the spring saddle pieces then tend to
return to their normal shape they press on the compound springs and keep them
firmly in position and they also take up wear of the parts.
The inside of the boss is preferably made with slots or grooves and with recesses
for the reception of the T heads of the fastening bolts, to prevent the bolts from
urning, and a guard plate is fixed to the face of the boss to cover the ends of the
lots and keep the springs in position sideways, the spring saddle pieces securing
he spring firmly in other directions-The compound springs are secured to the
im by means of shoes which extend across the width of the inside of the rim,
which is generally formed of T iron, in which case the shoes extend across the
nner edges of the webs of the said T irons and are partly let into the said webs
o hold the shoes firmly in position-At the sides of the shoes are flanges to secure
[Price 6d1

page_text: the compound springs sideways, the spring saddle pieces holding them in other
directions By this arrangement the springs can be readily put in place or removed,
which is difficult when the springs extend between the webs of the T irons, and
we also are enabled to have wide springs without any necessity for correspondingly
widening the T irons of the rim At the boss each spring saddle piece bears upon
the turned ends of adjacent springs, the said turned ends of each spring filling
recesses formed for them in the outside of the boss, so that the spring saddle pieces
cannot leave their bearing on the springs-At the part where the driving pin or
locking pin occurs we pass it through the space enclosed by that one of the spring
saddle pieces situated at this part--As we cannot in this case pass a screw bolt
through the saddle piece to secure it in position, we effect its securing by a screw
or screws tapped through a cross bar extending across the outside of the said saddle
piece and supported by the crank plates or the crank plate and front guard plate or
by projections from the boss.
It will be evident that the aforesaid spring saddle pieces can be used for securing
springs of one width as well as the compound springs herein before described.
J. HENRY JOHNSON,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.,
Agent for the said Petitioners.
2

page_text: We JOHN MCLAREN and HENRY MOLAREN of Midland Engine Works Leeds,
Engineers do hereby declare the nature of our invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WHEELS FOR TRACTION ENGINES AND OTHER PURPOSES" and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
This Invention relates to that class of wheels more especially adapted for traction
engines and the like wherein springs are employed in place of rigid spokes between
the boss and the rim.
According to this Invention the springs thus used as "spokes" in substitution
for rigid spokes are made compound that is to say in two or more parts placed side
by side to form the width of spring required in place of the said springs having
their whole width formed by one piece in itself constituting the entire width of
spring. The accompanying drawing represents in side elevation (partly in section)
in Figure 1 and in transverse section in Figure 2 a wheel constructed according to
our Invention. The example here shown is one in which the spring is in 3 parts
placed side by side. The parts are marked in Figure 2-A A¹ and A³ respectively.
By this compound construction of the springs they are more flexible than the old
form and the strain in work is better distributed and the steel of the less widths
can be better rolled and tempered. The compound springs thus formed are attached
to the rim and the boss by turning the ends thereof as at a and confining them in
position by means of spring saddle pieces or clips C of a bowed or partly circular
section which are forced against the turned over ends a of the compound springs
which forcing may be effected by screw bolts c and screw nuts c² the screws passing
through the rim and spring saddle pieces C in the one case, and through the boss
and spring saddle pieces C in the other case. When the said screw nuts are
screwed upon the bolts the said spring saddle pieces yield slightly and as the spring
saddle pieces C then tend to return to their normal shape they press on the
compound springs (A A¹ A³) and keep them firmly in position and they also take
up wear of the parts. The boss is preferably made with slots or grooves e for
the reception of the turned ends of the springs and with slots and recesses e³ for
the reception of the T heads c³ of the fastening bolts to prevent the bolts from
turning and a guard plate E is fixed to the face of the boss to cover the ends of
the grooves e and keep the springs A A³ in position sideways, the spring saddle
pieces C securing the springs firmly in other directions. The compound springs
are secured to the rim by means of bed pieces or shoes F which extend across the
width of the inside of the rim which is generally formed of T iron in which case
the bed pieces or shoes extend across the inner edges of the webs of the said T irons
and are partly let into the said webs as shown clearly in Figure 2 to hold the bed
pieces or shoes securely in position. At the sides of the shoes are flanges f¹ to
secure the compound springs sideways the spring saddle pieces holding them in
other directions. By this arrangement the springs can be readily put in place or
removed which is difficult when the springs extend between the webs of the

page_text: Tirons, and we also are enabled to have wide springs without any necessity for
correspondingly widening the T irons of the rim. At the boss each spring saddle
piece C bears upon the turned ends of adjacent springs the pairs of turned ends
each filling one of the recesses e formed for them in the outside of the boss so that
the spring saddle pieces C cannot leave their bearing on the springs. At the part
where the driving pin or locking pin occurs we pass it through the space G and
through that one of the spring saddle pieces C situated at this part. As we cannot
in this case pass a screw bolt through the saddle piece to secure it in position we
effect its securing by a screw or screws tapped through a cross bar K extending
across the outside of the said saddle piece and supported by the crank plates or the
crank plate and front guard plate or by projections from the boss.
It will be evident that the aforesaid spring saddle pieces can be used for securing
springs of one width as well as the compound springs herein before described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is
-
First In wheels for traction engines or for other purposes forming the
connection between the rim or periphery and the boss by means of springs made
in two or more independent parts placed laterally of each other or side by side
substantially as hereinbefore described.
Second: In wheels for traction engines or for other purposes effecting the
fastening of the "spokes" to the boss or to the rim or periphery or both by means
of spring saddle pieces or clips C substantially as hereinbefore described with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
#f
Third-In wheels for traction engines or for other purposes connecting the
'spokes" to the rim or periphery by means of bed pieces or shoes F and spring
saddle pieces or clips bearing upon the "spokes" substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Fourth-In wheels for traction engines or for other purposes connecting the
"spokes" to the boss by means of recess in the boss and of spring saddle pieces or
clips and bolts and nuts for pressing the said pieces or clips upon the "spokes"
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Fifth-The general arrangement and combination of parts constituting the
wheel for traction engines or for other purposes substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings whether the spring
'spokes" be each made in one or in more than one part.
64