IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGE WHEELS
Year: 1870

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGE WHEELS."-A communication
from abroad by Hiram Washington Moore, of Jersey City, County
of Hudson and State of New York, and Francis Bloodgood, Charles
Boughton Wood, and Frederick Wood, of the City, County, and
State of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 19th July 1870, and dated the 1st March 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville
Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 1st March 1870.
I, ALEXANDER Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGE WHEELS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in railway wheels whereby
the hammering or metallic noise of the wheel when in motion is very
greatly diminished, and the wheel is therefore eminently adapted to the
carrying of railway sleeping carriages where passengers prefer quietness.

page_text: or silence to the ordinary hammering noise produced by the wheels now
in common use.
The Invention consists in the introduction of dovetailed wooden blocks
between the rim and web of the wheel, the said blocks fitting into a
corresponding groove formed on the edge of the web.
Figures 1 and 3 represent face views of this improved wheel; Figures 2
and 4 are central sections of the same. Similar letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts.
A is the hub of the wheel through which the axle is fitted in the
ordinary manner. B, B, is a rim surrounding said hub, and attached to
it either by spokes, as shown in Figure 1, or by a web or disc of metal
in any desired form to suit the various conditions required. Said rim
has a dovetailed groove formed upon its outer face, as shown at B, B,
Figure 2, the bottom of which is parallel to the face of the rim, and
both are parallel to the axle or at right angles to the plane of the wheel;
said groove also extends nearly across the face of said rim, only allowing
a sufficient amount of metal on each side to form a rib or edge to said
groove of about equal strength in its radial and horizontal dimensions,
that is, the base of said rib is about equal to its depth. These dimensions
may however be varied. This groove may be formed either in the
process of casting, or it may be turned out in a lathe, or it may be cast
in nearly the shape required, and then finished in a lathe; but with
proper care the groove may be made sufficiently accurate by the process
of casting alone. At convenient distances upon said rim openings as
at, Figure 1, are formed in one of the ribs which form the sides of the
said groove, and these openings are of the exact depth of said groove,
and of such a width that blocks of wood of any desirable width may be
conveniently inserted through said openings. These blocks are formed
of some hard wood, such as maple, beech, elm, or oak, thoroughly
seasoned, and so saturated with some substance as to be impervious to
moisture, and to prevent any liability to expansion or shrinkage. A
dovetail is formed on one side of said blocks that will exactly fit into
the groove in the rim B, B, and the edges of the blocks are so formed
as to conform to the radii of the wheel, and the bottom side or that upon
which the dovetail is formed is so curved as to correspond with the
perimeter of the wheel and also the bottom of the groove. The blocks
being thus prepared are inserted through the opening r, or openings
if more than one is required, and the dovetail portion is fitted into the

page_text: groove, and the blocks are forced around from said opening or openings
until they meet at some point between said opening or openings, or
until the entire circumference of the rim B, B, is covered with wood.
The last block that is inserted at is dressed slightly tapering to serve
as a key for forcing the other blocks closely against each other, and also
for holding them firmly in said groove. In this condition the wheel is
mounted in a lathe, and the wood is turned off to correspond to the sides
of the rim B, B, but the circumference is made slightly conical or
tapering, so that the outer rim C, C, upon which the flange and chilled
tread are formed (being turned on the inside of a corresponding taper)
shall be drawn tightly upon the wood by screw bolts as at t, t, t, or by
being pressed together by some mechanical power shall be held in
working position by said bolts. In such manner a complete wheel can
be formed with a space between the tread and hub in which there is
no metallic contact except the small bolts t, t, t, that serve to hold the
two rims together, and the effect of such a construction is to render the
wheel comparatively noiseless, and which is therefore most admirably
adapted to the carrying of railway sleeping carriages.
Figure 3 shows a wheel of the same construction as the one above
described, with the only exception that the rim C is provided with an
inward projecting flange a which covers one edge of the wooden rim B.
It is well known that wood has been inserted before between the tread
and hub of the wheel by being driven as wedges or keys, and depending
upon the friction of their sides to hold them in place, but such a process
cannot be used unless the tires are made of wrought metal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the First day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third year.
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant

page_text: unto me, the said Alexander Melville Clark, Her special licence that
'I, the said Alexander Meville Clark, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, 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 RAILWAY CARRIAGE WHEELS," a communication to me from abroad by
Hiram Washington Moore, of Jersey City, County of Hudson and State
-of-New-York,-and-Francis-Bloodgood, Charles-Boughton-Wood, and
Frederick Wood, of the City, County, and State of New York, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alexander Melville Clark, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Alexander Melville Clark, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) :-
This Invention relates to an improvement in railway carriage wheels
whereby the hammering or metallic noise of the wheel when in motion
is very greatly diminished, and the wheel is thereby eminently adapted
to the carrying of railway sleeping carriages or coaches where passengers
prefer quietness or silence to the ordinary hammering noise produced by
the wheels now in common use.
The Invention consists in the introduction of dovetailed wooden blocks
between the rim and web of the wheel, the said blocks fitting into a
corresponding groove which is formed in the edge of the web.
Figures 1 and 3 represent face views of the improved wheel; Figures 2
and 4 are central sections of the same. Similar letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts.

page_text: A is the hub of the wheel through which the axle is fitted in the .
ordinary manner. B, B, is a rim surrounding said hub and attached to
it cither by spokes, as shown in Figure 1, or by a web or disc of metal
in any desired form to suit the various conditions required. Said rim
has a dovetailed groove formed upon its outer face, as shown at B, B,
Figure 2, the bottom of which is parallel to the face of the rim, and both
are parallel to the axle or at a right angle to the plane of the wheel;
said groove also extends nearly across the face of said rim, only allowing
a sufficient amount of metal on each side to form a rib or edge to said
groove of about equal strength in its radial and horizontal dimensions,
that is, the base of said rib is about equal to its depth. These proportions
may however be varied. This groove may be formed either in the
process of casting, or it may be turned out in a lathe; or it may be cast
in nearly the shape required and then finished in a lathe, but with
proper care the groove can be made sufficiently accurate by the process
of casting alone. At convenient distances upon said rim openings as
at r, Figure 1, are formed in one of the ribs which form the sides of
said groove, and these openings are of the exact depth of said groove,
and of such a width that blocks of wood of any desirable width may be
conveniently inserted through said openings. These blocks are formed
of some hard wood, such as maple, beech, elm, or oak, thoroughly
seasoned, and so saturated with some substance as to be impervious to
moisture and to prevent any liability to expansion or shrinkage. A
dovetail is formed on one side of said blocks that will exactly fit into
the groove in the rim B, B, and the edges of the blocks are so bevelled
as to conform to the radii of the wheel, and the bottom side or that upon
which the dovetail is formed is so curved as to correspond with the
perimeter of the wheel and also the bottom of the groove. The blocks
being thus prepared are inserted through the opening ", or openings
if more than one is required, and the dovetail portion is fitted into the
groove, and the blocks are forced around from said opening or openings
until they meet at some point between said opening or openings, or
until the entire circumference of the rim B, B, is covered with wood.
The last block that is inserted at is dressed slightly tapering to serve
as a key for forcing the other blocks closely against each other, and also
for holding them firmly in said groove. In this condition the wheel is
mounted in a lathe, and the wood is turned off to correspond to the sides
of the rim B, B, but the circumference is made slightly conical or
tapering, so that the outer rim C, C, upon which the flange and chilled

page_text: tread are formed being turned on the inside of a corresponding taper
shall be drawn tightly upon the wood by screw bolts, as at t, t, t, or by
being pressed together by some mechanical power shall be held in
working position by said bolts. In such a manner a complete wheel can
be formed with a space between the tread and hub in which there is
no metallic contact except the small bolts t, t, t, that serve to hold the
two rims together, and the effect of such a construction is to render the
wheel comparatively noiseless, and is therefore most admirably adapted
to the carrying of railway sleeping carriages.
Figure 3 shows a wheel of the same construction as the one above
-described, with-the-only-exception-that-the-rim-C-is-provided-with-an
inward projecting flange a, which covers one edge of the wooden ring B.
It is well known that wood has been inserted before between the tread
and hub of the wheels by being driven in as wedges or keys, and
depending upon the friction of their sides to hold them in place, but such
a process cannot be used unless the tyres are made of wrought metal.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention
to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, in
combination with a railway carriage wheel with wood interposed between
its web and rim the dovetailed groove in the perimeter of the web filled
with solid, dovetailed sections of wood through an opening in the side
of the groove, and keyed and bound therein, substantially as herein
described and represented.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of August, in
the rear of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy
Witness,
W. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)