Improvements in Wire Spoke Wheels.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Dec., 1897-Accepted, 5th Mar., 1898
CUMPLEIE DI MUITICATION.
Improvements in Wire Spoke Wheels.
I, SYDNEY PITT, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention (which has been communicated to me from
abroad by Arthur Irving Jacobs, of 9, Segourney Street, Hartford, Connecticut, in
the United States of America,) and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:
The invention relates to the construction and mode of connection of the hub and
spokes of a wire spoke wheel of that class more particularly designed and used for
bicycles and light vehicles.
The object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive wheel of this nature
having a neat and attractive hub and very simple and strong connections between
the ends of the spokes and the hub, made in such a way that the spokes can be
easily and quickly assembled or dissembled when desired, by anyone.
A wheel embodying the invention has a hub with recesses arranged to loosely
receive and hold the heads of the spokes in such manner that the ordinary tension
and strains to which the spokes are subjected when connected with the rim prevent
the removal of the heads of the spokes from the recesses in the hub, as more par-
ticularly hereinafter described and pointed out.
Referring to the accompanying drawings:
Figure 1 is a side view of a wheel which embodies the invention.
Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the hub of this wheel.
Figure 3 is a transverse section of the hub taken on a plane passing through
one of the sets of spoke recesses.
Figure 4 is a similar sectional view of the hub with the heads of the spokes held
in the recesses.
Figure 5 shows greatly enlarged views of the end of one of the spokes, and
Figure 6 is an end view of a hub with a part broken away to illustrate a modi-
fication of the invention.
The wheel shown in the views has a common tyre 1, ordinary rim 2, wire
spokes 3, and tubular hub 4. The spokes are shown as connected with the rim by
the usual nipples 5 and they are connected with the hub after the manner of the
present invention.
The spokes can, of course, be arranged to extend either tangentially or radially
from the hub to the rim. When the connections are to be made so that the spokes
extend tangentially sockets 6 are formed around the hub near each end. These
sockets are preferably made by drilling substantially radially into the material of
the hub or a collar secured to the hub, and two rows of these sockets are made
around the hub near each end.
Grooves 7 are made in the periphery of the hub to each of these sockets. These
grooves are narrower in width than the diameter of the sockets and are preferably
formed by milling away substantially tangentially a portion of the periphery of
the hub adjacent to each of the sockets. The milling cuts are made obliquely so
that the spokes can extend from near the ends of the hub into a single plane at
the rim, as do the spokes of the ordinary wheels of this class, and the grooves are
D
077

page_text: made in opposite directions to the adjacent sockets (see Figure 2) so that the spokes
may extend through the same tangentially to diametrically opposite sides of the
rim, as is common with tangential spoke wheels.
Small chambers 8 are preferably made in the walls of the radial sockets and
these are usually formed by drilling substantially tangentially in line with the
grooves 7.
The spokes are formed in the ordinary manner from the customary material and
are provided with enlarged heads 9. The head may be formed by swaging or
squeezing the metal of the spoke, and it is substantially spherical. Ordinarily
there is a protuberance or knob 10 formed on the head substantially in line with
the axis of the spoke so that the diameter of the head along the axis of the spoke
is somewhat longer than the diameter at right angles to the axis of the spoke, and
the body of the spoke, which is substantially round, near the head is usually
flattened or made oblong in cross section so that it may have one diameter longer
than another.
In assembling this form of wheel each enlarged head is thrust into a socket G
substantially radially and then the spoke is turned to a tangential position, the
tangential groove 7 receiving the shank of the spoke near the head and the
chamber 8 receiving the protuberance 10. When the outer threaded end of the spoke
in this position is engaged by its nipple in the rim and is drawn tight, the
head cannot be disengaged from the hub for the reason that the strain on the
spoke toward the rim cannot pull the enlarged head tangentially from the radial
socket which it fits through the smaller tangential groove 7 in which the smaller
shank of the spoke rests, and the protuberance 10 in the chamber 8 prevents the
enlarged head from lifting radially out of the socket 6. As the spokes are flattened
near the heads they cannot turn in the grooves 7 when the nipples are being
screwed on or off.
When it is desired that the spokes shall extend radially from the hub to the rim,
after the manner illustrated in Figure 6, sockets 11 are drilled longitudinally into
the hub or a collar adapted to be screwed upon the hub, and grooves 12 are milled
from the periphery radially to these sockets on one face of the end of the hub or
collar. The small chambers 13 are drilled radially by drilling through the radial
grooves.
To assemble a wheel with the recesses formed in this manner the heads are
thrust into the sockets 11 substantially longitudinally with the hub and the spokes
are then turned into the radial position, the bodies of the spokes near the heads
lying in the radial grooves 12 and the protuberances projecting into the
chambers 13. In this case the protuberances in the small chambers retain the
heads of the spokes in the sockets so that the enlarged heads cannot be pulled
through the smaller radial grooves when the nipples are tightened and the wheel
is subjected to the strains incident to use.
A wheel embodying this invention is inexpensive to manufacture, for the spokes
can be formed by ordinary tools and the recesses in the hub can be made in a
simple manner, and this wheel can be easily and quickly assembled, for the heads
of the spokes are readily inserted into the recesses and turned so that when the
nipples are screwed up the heads cannot be removed. Such a wheel is neat and
attractive in appearance on account of the simplicity of its construction and because
the periphery of the hub when the spokes are in position is free from projecting
nipples or unsightly flanges and is substantially smooth so that it can be nicely
cleaned. This wheel can be made as strong as any of this class of wheels and
slightly less in weight, and when a spoke is bent or damaged such a spoke can be
quickly taken out by any one and a new one inserted.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a wheel of the within described class, the combination of a hub having

page_text: sockets that extend inwardly from the periphery and having grooves that extend
along the periphery from the sockets, with spokes having enlarged heads that fit
and fill the sockets and having shanks that lie in and fill the grooves.
2. In a wheel of the within described class, the combination, substantially as
described, of a hub having sockets that extend radially inward from the periphery
and having grooves that extend tangentially along the periphery from the sockets,
and spokes having globular heads that fit and fill the sockets and having shanks
that lie in and fill the grooves.
3. In a wheel of the within described class, the combination of a hub having
sockets with openings of smaller size from the sockets to the periphery of the hub
and with chambers in the walls of the sockets, and spokes having heads that fill
the sockets and are held against movement longitudinally of the spokes by the
walls of the sockets, and with protuberances from the heads entering the chambers
and holding the heads against movement transversely of the spokes, and with
shanks that extend through and fill the openings from the sockets, substantially
as specified.
4. In a wheel of the within described class, the combination, of a hub having
sockets that extend radially inward from the periphery with the chambers extend-
ing tangentially from the walls of the sockets and with grooves that extend
tangentially along the periphery of the hub from the sockets, and spokes having
heads that fit and fill the sockets and are held against movement longitudinally of
the spokes by the walls of the sockets with protuberances from the heads entering
the chambers and holding the heads against movement transversely of the spokes.
and with shanks that fill and extend through the grooves, substantially as specified.
5. A spoke for a wheel of the within described class having a cylindrical body,
a shank without bend, a head at the end of the shank and a protuberance project-
ing from the head, substantially as specified.
6. In a wheel of the within described class, a hub having sockets that extend
radially inward from the periphery and having grooves that extend tangentially
along the periphery from the sockets, substantially as specified.
7. In a wheel of the within described class, the combination of a hub having
sockets that extend inwardly from the periphery and having grooves that extend
along the periphery from the sockets, and spokes having enlarged heads that fit
and substantially fill the sockets and having shanks of oblong cross section without
bend that lie in and substantially fill the grooves, as specified.
T: 09-1 daw of Nocamber 1807