IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street, in
the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES."-A com-
munication.
aled the 31st October 1854, and dated the 15th May 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 15th May 1854.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES,"
(communicated to me by a foreigner residing abroad,) to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of certain improvements in the manufacture of
wheels for railway carriages, and the chief or distinguishing feature thereof
consists in making or forming the body of the wheel, that is, the central
portions between the rim and nave, out of a sheet or plate, by means of corru-
gations worked in the said plate from one side or edge, and in such manner as
to effect the curving of the other side or edge into the form of a circle, so
that the plate will have assumed the shape of a disc. The corrugations are
radial and of unequal depth, the greatest depth being near the centre, while at
the circumference it is small, diminishing as the corrugations recede to nothing.
or nearly nothing at the rim. Hence, every concentric section of the wheel
will contain the same quantity of material that corresponding sections of the

page_text: plate had before being formed. This principle of constructing a railway wheel
has great advantages in regard to economy of materials and as respects strength
and durability. In the first place, the whole sheet is absorbed without waste or
loss, and is applied in the form of greatest strength; for as the corrugations are
deepest at the base, i.e. the centre, they afford powerful braces to resist lateral
shocks, and these are the most violent in railway travel. Many mechanical
arrangements may be employed to produce the corrugations. The following
will serve to explain the principle as well as the method of constructing this
improvement: In the first place, to form the centre piece, a sheet or plate is
prepared of suitable width and length; the width must be rather less than the
radius of the intended wheel, and the length must be sufficient to measure its
circumference; this is then bent into the form of a cylinder. The abutting
edges may be welded, if preferred. The cylinder, if of iron, is then to be
heated to a proper degree for easily working, and is then to be hammered into
shape upon a suitable former. The corrugations are worked from the upper
edge of the cylinder towards the bottom, deepening as they are beat down
towards the centre until the superfluous metal is wholly gathered in, when the
lower edge, having been turned over, becomes the rim or circumference. These
corrugations, beginning at nothing from the lower edge, increase in depth as the
space in which the sheet is to be gathered up diminishes towards the centre,
until finally the whole is absorbed as the disc is completed; thus the centre
piece is formed, to which are now to be added the rim and nave or. hub. These
may be of wrought or cast metal, as preferred; if of cast metal, the centre piece
is to be properly combined with the moulds, and the metal run in ;. if the nave
is to be of wrought iron, two pieces are formed, one for each side; these are
shaped on one of their ends, so as to match the surface of the corrugations,
and the whole then brought to a welding heat and the weld effected.
A second feature of the Invention consists in the method of combining a
wrought-iron tyre with the centre piece. This may be done in two ways. By
the first, it is formed out of the solid, and rolled at the same time with the
sheet from which the centre is to be made. Another plan is to roll the tyre
separately, with a dovetail groove formed on its inner edge. For this latter
plan, one edge of the plate is also to be rolled with the dovetail to match;
the tyre is then to be slipped on the edge. When thus attached, another
method than that first described for forming the corrugations may be employed.
This consists in crimping the metal without first forming it into a cylinder,
commencing at one end, or any other part preferred, and gradually gathering up
the metal upon the former until the disc is completed. While this process is
going on, the tyre will be bent round in conformity to the shape assumed by

page_text: the edge. The welding of the edges and the addition of the nave complete
the wheel.
It is evident there may be several modifications made in this Invention.
For instance, a wheel constructed of but one centre plate is herein described;
two or more might be employed, the corrugations being so arranged as to lie
within each other. The wheel has also been described as made of a straight
sheet, whereas a curved sheet might be employed, and no doubt would be an
advantageous form for some kinds of wheels, as where less metal would be
required. If the centre is to be made from such a plate, when the ends
abutted together the form would be, instead of a cylinder, that of a frustrum of
a cone, consequently, there would be less metal to take up in the form of
corrugations, and these, therefore, would either be less in number or of less
general depth.
Another plan would be to roll the sheet, so as to be thinner at one edge than
at the other, the plate tapering from side to side. This, if the plate were
straight, would not alter the size of the corrugations, but the metal would be
less; each concentric section of the wheel will in all cases, however, have the
same quantity of metal that would be found in a like section in the plate. In
forming the corrugations also, instead of dividing them equally above and
below, the general level of the wheel may be made deeper on one side, and the
dished form secured:
The wheel may also be made from several plates, worked into corrugated
sectors, several being joined together to form the wheel, and held by the tyre
and hub; or the edges of the several sections may be welded or rivetted together,
as may be preferred.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th November 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard

page_text: 66
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the sail Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES,"
(communicated to me by a foreigner residing abroad), upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
This Invention consists of certain improvements in the manufacture of
wheels for railway carriages, and the chief or distinguishing feature thereof
consists in making or forming the body of the wheel, that is, the central
portions between the rim and nave, out of a sheet or plate, by means of
corrugations worked in the said plate from one side or edge, and in such
manner as to effect the curving of the other side or edge into the form of a
circle, so that the plate will have assumed the shape of a disc. The corruga-
tions are radial and of unequal depth, the greatest depth being near the centre,
while at the circumference it is small, diminishing as the corrugations recede
to nothing or nearly nothing at the rim. Hence, every concentric section of
the wheel will contain the same quantity of material that corresponding sections.
of the plate had before being formed. This principle of constructing a railway
wheel has great advantages in regard to economy of materials-and-as-respects
strength and durability. In the first place, the whole sheet is absorbed without
waste or loss, and is applied in the form of greatest strength; for as the
corrugations are deepest at the base, i. e. the centre of the wheel, they afford
powerful braces to resist lateral shocks, and these are the most violent in
railway travel. Many mechanical arrangements may be employed to produce
the corrugations. The annexed Drawing and the following description will
serve to explain the principle as well as the method of carrying out thes

page_text: improvements. In the first place, to form the centre piece a sheet or plate is
prepared of suitable width and length. The width must be rather less than
the radius of the intended wheel, and the length must be sufficient to measure
its circumference. This is then bent into the form of a cylinder, as shewn by
the full and dotted lines a, a, in Figure 1. The abutting edges may be welded,
if preferred. The cylinder, if of iron, is then to be heated to a proper degree
for easily working, and is then to be hammered into shape upon a suitable
former. The corrugations are represented at a', in Figure 1, as having been
partially worked from the upper edge of the cylinder towards the bottom,
deepening as they are beat down towards the centre, until the superfluous
metal is wholly gathered_in, when. the lower edge, having been turned, over,
becomes the rim or circumference. These corrugations, beginning at nothing
from the lower edge; increase in depth as the space in which the sheet is to be
gathered up diminishes towards the centre, until finally the whole is absorbed
as the disc is completed. Thus, the centre piece is formed, to which are now
to be added the rim and nave or hub. These may be of wrought or cast metal,
as preferred. If of cast metal, the centre piece is to be properly combined
with the moulds and the metal run in. The wheel when thus finished will
appear as represented in Figures 3 and 5. If the nave is to be of wrought
iron, two pieces are formed, one for each side; these are shaped on one of their
ends so as to match the surface of the corrugations, and the whole then brought
to a welding heat and the weld effected.
A second feature of the Invention consists in the method of, combining a
wrought-iron tyre with the centre piece. This may be done in two ways.. By
the first, it is formed out of the solid, and rolled at the same time with the
sheet from which the centre is to be made. Another plan is to roll the
tyre separately, with a dovetail groove formed on its inner edge. For this
latter plan, one edge of the plate is also to be rolled with the dovetail to
match; the tyre is then to be slipped on the edge, and will be as seen at e
in the section, Figure 4. When thus attached, another method than that first
described for forming the corrugations may be employed. This consists in
crimping the metal without first forming it into a cylinder, commencing at one
end, or any other part preferred, and gradually gathering up the metal upon
the former until the disc is completed. This plan is represented in Figure 2.
Thus the distance from, b to b' is equal to the circumference of the central
portion of the wheel. When that part of the sheet from c to d has also been
corrugated, the edge b, c, will abut against the edge b, c, and the disc will be
completed. While this process is going on, the tyre will be bent round, in con-
ト

page_text: The welding of the edges
When the tyre is attached
appear as at e in Figure 4,
formity to the shape assumed by the edge b, b.
and the addition of the nave complete the wheel.
by the dovetail plan a section of the wheel would
but when the tyre is rolled with the plate a section would appear as at e¹.
It is evident-there may be several modifications made in this Invention. For
instance, a wheel constructed of but one centre plate is herein described; two
or more might be employed, the corrugations being so arranged as to lie within
each other. The wheel has also been described as made of a straight sheet, as
in Figure 2, whereas a curved sheet might be employed, and no doubt would
be an advantageous form for some kinds of wheels, as where less metal would
be required. If the centre is to be made from such a plate, when the ends
abutted together the form would be, instead of a cylinder, that of a frustrum
of a cone; consequently there would be less metal to take up in the form of
corrugations, and these, therefore, would either be less in number or of less
general depth.
Another plan would be to roll the sheet, so as to be thinner at one edge than
at the other, the plate tapering from side to side. This, if the plate were
straight, would not alter the size of the corrugations, but the metal would be
less; each concentric section of the wheel will in all cases, however, have the
same quantity of metal that would be found in a like section in the plate, as
may be seen by the dotted lines in Figure 2. In forming the corrugations
also, instead of dividing them equally above and below the general level of the
wheel, they may be made 'deeper on one side than on the other, and the dished
form secured, as seen in Figure 6.
The wheel may also be made from several plates worked into corrugated
sectors, several-being joined together to form the wheel, and held by the tyre
and hub; or the edges of the several sections may be welded or rivetted
together, as may be preferred.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as the said
Invention is,
First, the method herein described of making the central portion of a railway
carriage wheel, by forming corrugations upon a plate of metal, so as to be
deepest at one edge, and taper off gradually to nothing, or nearly so, at the
other edge, whereby the said first-named edge, and all lines parallel thereto,
will be gathered towards a central point, in proportion to the number and depth
of the said corrugation; and thus the opposite edge will become a circle and
the corrugations become radii, a disc being thereby formed, as described..

page_text: And second, the combining of a wrought iron tyre with the plate of metal
out of which the centre of a wheel is to be formed, either by a dovetail, or by
rolling it out of the solid, and subsequently bending the said tyre into a circular
form, at the same time that the plate of metal is receiving its corrugations, as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of November, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)