AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WROUGHT- IRON WHEELS, AND MACHINERY FOR EFFECTING THE SAME
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
STOUGHTON CHRISTIE, of No. 13, Craven Street, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS, in consequence of communications from abroad, I am in
possession of a new Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WROUGHT-
IRON WHEELS, AND MACHINERY FOR EFFECTING THE SAME;" and whereas Her
most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent under the
Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing
date at Westminster, the Tenth day of December, in the thirteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, grant unto me, the said
John Stoughton Christie, my exors, adiňors, and assigns, Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Stoughton
Christie, my exors, admors, and assigns, and every of them, by myself and
themselves, or by my and their deputy or deputies, servants, or agents, or
such others as I, the said John Stoughton Christie, my exors, adñors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend the said Invention within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also within the
Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso requiring that I, the said John Stoughton Christie, shall par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under

page_text: my hand and seal, 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 John Stoughton Christie, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention to consist,-
First, in fastening the various parts necessary, to form a wrought-iron wheel
temporarily together, then bringing the whole to a welding heat and placing
it in a mould, and by stamping welding the various parts together, and so
forming a perfect wrought-iron wheel for carriages whether for ordinary or
railroad purposes.
Second, of new and peculiar apparatus and machinery for effecting said
process.
In further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said John Stoughton
Christie, do hereby declare the following Specification, with the Drawings
appended to and referred to therein as forming part thereof, to be a full and
complete description of the manner in which the said Invention is to be
performed, that is to say:-
The iron used in the construction of the wheels is of various forms and
sizes, and such as can be prepared by the ordinary process of making bar iron.
It is so prepared and then cut from the bar into the lengths required for the
members of the various sizes of wheels. To form the hub, the material is
cut from iron rolled into prismatic bars, whose cross section is isocoles
triangular, thus 7, or , as shewn at c, c, in the various Figures of
the Drawings, these prisms being proportional to the size of the hub and the
size and the number of the spokes to be inserted therein. The bars, being cut
into pieces of the length which the hub is intended to be, are placed in the
positions shewn at c, c, in Figure 1, round a temporary centre or axle b. To
form the tire of the wheel a, a, a flat bar of iron of proper width and thick-
ness is bent round into a circle of the required circumference, and has its ends
welded smoothly together. This being placed concentric with the hub, the
spokes, cut from flat bar iron of the width and thickness required, are cut
of the proper length, so that when one end is inserted between the prismatic
pieces of the hub and bent to lie just inside of the tire they may reach (as
shewn in Figure 1) from the hub to the tire, with their bent arms reaching
nearly from spoke to spoke, or so far as to make a good and sufficient welding
surface between the tire and spokes. The spokes are now to be secured to

page_text: the tire by a small rivet z, or in any other convenient way, and the parts
forming the hub also secured by driving on the hoops or rings m, m, and the
wheel is then ready for the process of bringing it to a welding heat, which
having been done, the machinery in and by which the process of welding is to
be performed is represented by Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5. Figure 2, A, A,
represents a vertical section through the centre of a cylindrical box of metal
of great solidity, whose internal diameter is a very little larger than that of the
wheel just described. The bottom of the box is formed into a die (as the
profile of its section shews) to correspond with the intended shape of one side
of the finished wheel. On the bottom are placed iron blocks (which I call the
welding blocks), represented in profile at g, h. They are shaped and fitted
to lie between the spokes of the wheel described, and nearly to fill up the
spaces between the hub, tire, and spokes, as will be seen in plan at Figure 5,
where a portion of the wheel is shewn lying on the bottom of the box or
mould and the welding blocks g, h, lying in their places. Each of these
blocks has an oblong narrow fin i, j, projecting from its bottom and extending
below the outside bottom of the mould through a narrow radial slot, as shewn
in plan at Figure 4, the intent of this being not only to guide the blocks when
operating but by means of these projecting fins to move them whenever it
should become necessary. These blocks, each pair of them, g, h, are kept
(except when in operation) close to each other by springs R, S, the former
pressing out and the latter driving in, attached to the fins which are thus
pressed towards each other below the bottom of the mould. Through
the centre of the bottom of the mould there is a circular hole for the passage
of a mandril M, which is of the diameter required for the eye or bore of the
hub of the wheel. This mandril may, if required, be attached to the hammer
or ram (to be described), yet loosely, so as to detach itself after the first blow
of the machine. Over the box or mould a heavy hammer or ram B, B,
Figures 2 and 3, traverses up and down, guided and kept from turning by
guides C, C. The lower face of this ram is formed into a die corresponding.
with the intended shape of the side of the wheel, not formed by the bottom of
the mould, as shewn by its section Figure 2. On this lower face there
are fixed directly over the points where the blocks g, h, touch each other,
wedges k, k (shewn in plan at Figure 8), and in profile at Figure 2. The
edges of the blocks g, h, are sloped or bevelled each at the angle corresponding
to the side of the wedge that faces towards it, so that when the ram is let fall,
the wedges enter between the blocks and force them outward from each other
with a steady horizontal movement, and the welding of the various parts of the
wheel is effected. If it be deemed expedient, instead of using the single ram

page_text: with the wedges attached, it may be divided into two parts, a lower section as
just described with the wedges attached, and an upper section, simply a weight
or ram, by which several blows can be struck upon the lower section without
removing that section with its wedges. The bottom of the mould A, A, is
shewn at Figure 2, where D, E, G, a, x, represent the wheel, the part from
D to E shewing a portion of the face of the tire, and the part G, a, x, being
a section through a part of the wheel. The instant the wheel is in its bed in
the mould, the ram is brought down with great power, forcing the wedges
between the welding blocks, and pressing them apart, the blocks g, g, pressing
the component parts of the hub against the mandril, and the blocks h, h,
pressing the curved arms of the spokes with the tire against the inner wall of
the mould A, A. At the same time the blow of the ram compresses or upsets
the edges of the tire spokes and hub of the wheel between its face and the
bottom of the mould, the joint operation of which pressures results in com-
pressing and welding the separate parts of the wheel firmly together and giving
it a proper form. This makes a wheel for ordinary use, but for a railroad car
wheel it is necessary to add the outer or flanged tire for which it is now
ready. The flanged tire is to be made by means of the apparatus now to be
described. Figure 6, A, B, represents a perspective view of a strong
cylindrical metal box or mould, similar to that shewn by Figure 2, with one
half removed, shewing a vertical section of the mould at its centre. A tire
a, b, c, as completed is shewn lying in the mould. The height of the inner
side of the mould is such as to receive the lower part (being the inner part in
reference to the position of the wheel on its axle) of the tire up to the extreme
outer edge of the flange at g, as measured from the centre of the wheel, and
the upper edge of the mould, as shewn in profile section at g, h, is formed to
suit the finished form of the flange. Over the mould there is (as at Figure 2)
a heavy ram C traversing between, and guided and kept from turning by
guides B, B. The lower face of this ram is hollowed out like a saucer (see its
section, Figure 6, and plan, Figure 7). That part of it g, which lies directly
over the flange of the tire g, o, is shaped to form that part of the flange when
completed. On the bottom of the mould are placed welding blocks m, m,
similar to those at g, Figure 2, with fins projecting like theirs through radial
slots in the mould. These fins, and thereby the blocks, are kept by springs,
similar to S, Figure. 4, pressed toward the centre of the mould when not in
operation. The welding blocks in number are as many as experience shall
show to be most convenient, their height is equal to the width of the tire, and
their outward surfaces (those next to the tire) are conformed to the intended
inner surface of the tire when finished. The centre of the mould is a solid

page_text: .
projection E, equal in height to the width of the tire; its outer face is divided
into facets corresponding to the number of blocks m, m, leaving a space
between them for wedges. On the lower face of the ram C there are fixed
directly over the spaces just described wedges p, p, p. The inner faces of the
blocks m, m, and outer facets of projection H are sloped or bevelled to cor-
respond, each with the face of the wedge above it, so that when the ram C
falls the wedges shall force forward the blocks with a steady horizontal move-
ment. As in the case of the ram employed to make the wheel, if it be deemed
expedient, instead of using the single ram with the wedges attached, it may be
divided into two parts, a lower section with the wedges attached, and an upper
one, simply a weight or ram, by which several blows can be struck upon the
lower section without removing that section with its wedges. The process of
making the tire is thus:-The bars of which it is to be composed are to be
laid together in any manner deemed most suitable and expedient for securing
the best combination thereof into one whole mass, one form of which is shewn
in section at Figure 8. The parts to be rivetted or otherwise secured together
for the purpose of handling them, to be submitted to a suitable welding heat;
when heated to be laid quickly into the mould. When in its bed the ram to
be brought down upon it, which by its wedges forcing up the welding blocks m,
compressing the material between the welders and side of the mould, and by
its own weight between the lower face of the ram and the bottom of the
mould completes the work. It is proposed by the same operation and at
the same time to face the tread and flange of the tire with steel. This is to
be done by laying on the outside of the tier of bars of iron, which are laid up
to compose the tire, a bar of steel previously formed of proper width and
length and shape for that purpose, heating the whole mass, and then welding
them together by the process above described.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I hereby claim as the said Invention,-
First, the making of a wrought-iron wheel by fastening the various parts of
which it is to be composed temporarily together, then bringing the same to a
welding heat, and lastly welding the same by stamping in a mould to form a
perfect wrought-iron wheel for carriages, whether for ordinary roads or for
railroad purposes, as hercin-before described.
And, secondly, I claim the machinery and apparatus set forth and described
in Figures 4, 5, and 6, viz., the mould welding blocks with their springs, the
hammer or ram with the wedges thereto appended, and the mandril, in combi-
nation with each other, for the purposes set forth in the above Specification,
that is, for the purpose of making wrought-iron wheels.
Thirdly, I claim the machinery and apparatus set forth and described in

page_text: Figures 7 and 8, viz., the mould welding blocks with their springs, the hammer
or ram with the wedges thereunto appended, and the combination with each
other, for the purpose set forth in the above Specification, that is, the making
of tire for railroad car wheels.
And, lastly, I claim the entire machinery and apparatus set forth and
described in this Specification in combination with each, other, for the purpose
of making wrought-iron wheels for railroad purposes.
And such my Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion
of Wales, nor Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, nor within Her Islands of
Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, nor in any of Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, I do hereby declare this to be my Specifi-
cation of the same, and that I do verily believe this my said Specification doth
comply in all respects fully, and without reserve or disguise, with the proviso
in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained; where-
fore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to the said
Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Stoughton Christie, have hereunto set
hand and scal, this Twenty-first day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
my
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of February, in
the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid John Stoughton Christie came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifica-
tion 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.