IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE, OF WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES, CARTS, AND ALL OTHER WHEELED VEHICLES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Fry, Perambulator Manufacturer, of 43,
Stephen Street, Lisson Grove, Marylebone, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE,
OF WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES, CARTS, AND ALL OTHER WHEELED VEHICLES."
Scaled the 19th March 1869, and dated the 24th September 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Fry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th September 1868.
I, JAMES FRY, Perambulator Manufacturer, of 43, Stephen Street,
Lisson Grove, Marylebone, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES, CARTS, AND ALL OTHER WHEELED
VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
I propose to have a circular metallic box and nave cast with lugs on
the outer edge of its circumference; the spokes are not to be driven in
to the outer circle of the nave, as is usually done, but into its side, so
as to completely fit in and fill the space between the lugs and the axle

page_text: box, in such manner as to form what is commonly known as a dove-
tail; then by fitting a metal disc or cap, which I rivet or fasten on the
lugs in any suitable way, I prevent the spokes from moving toward the
outer part of the axle box, or playing in any way, and render the whole
so compact and firm that the several parts can only be removed at the
discretion of the owner, who even though unskilled can replace at any
time any of the spokes without interfering with or loosening the others.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
filed by the said James Fry in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES.
FRY, Perambulator Manufacturer, of 43, Stephen Street, Lisson Grove,
and of 80, Edgware Road, Marylebone, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Fry, Her special license
that I, the said James Fry, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Fry, 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 CARRIAGES, CARTS, AND ALL OTHER WHEELED VEHICLES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Fry, my exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under his, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Fry, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My object is to make a wheel one of the spokes of which can be
readily removed and replaced by ordinary drivers, or persons who are
quite ignorant of the wheelwright's business, so that if upon the roadside
two or more spokes should be broken, in ten minutes, and quite as
securely as if done by a wheelwright, they can be replaced by the driver
from a set of spokes carried in the boot or box of the carriage or other
vehicle. In order to do this I abandon the usual plan of having a solid
nave for the wheel and of driving the spokes into the outer circle of the
aforesaid nave. Instead of that I cast a circular metal box and nave in
two parts with projecting lugs placed at equal distances on the outer
edge of their circumference (see Figure 4), the said lugs to correspond in
number with the spokes to be used in making the wheel. These two
parts when brought together fit so closely and firmly that they constitute
a better recepticle and rest for the nave end of the spokes than is given
by the old system of a solid nave, and with the advantage of being able to
remove and replace any spoke, without interfering with the others or
with the felloes or the tire.
Figure 1, in the accompanying Drawings, shews the wheel, with the
spokes fitted into one section of the nave. a, a, a, are the nave ends of
the spokes; b, the axle-box hole, and c, c, c, the lugs of the nave between
which the spokes are inserted. Figures 2 and 3 shew one section of the
nave, the projecting tube of which (Fig. 3, a) is driven into the axle-box
hole (Figure 1, 6) and its disc or plate (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, b, b,) is then
bolted up to the nave by means of ordinary bolts and fastened with nuts.
Figure 4 shews the two sections of the nave without spokes, and with
the bolts and nuts not quite screwed up. Figure 5 shews the other
section of nave with two broken spokes left between the lugs.
Figure 6 shews the disc or plate of Figure 5, on which the lugs are
prominently shewn.
When fitting the wheel together the nave ends of the spokes are first
fixed into the nave, as seen in Figure 5; the axle-box tube and plate
(Figure 3) is then inserted in the axle-box hole (Figure 1 6) and bolted
up; the felloes are then fixed as usual.
The objection so generally urged against the use of wood and iron as

page_text: spoke and nave, consequent upon their unequal shrinkage, cannot be
raised against this method. For as the projecting tube (Fig. 3, a) is
tapered should the spokes shrink and become loose all that is required to
tighten them is to screw up the nuts on the inner disc or plate (Fig. 4, a),
and that will force the thicker part of the tapered tube farther into the
The effect of this will be to drive the spokes outward and at the
same time to compress and fasten them laterally. This tightening
action will be assisted by the formation of the lugs, the spaces between
which taper outwardly as seen in Fig. 6.
In order to prevent any bending of the bolts when forcing the spokes
outward, in tightening them, the bolt holes in the spokes are made oval
(Fig. 1, d), thus providing for all the freedom and action necessary.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Fry, hereby set my hand
and seal, on the 24th day of March 1869.
JAMES FRI.
(L.S.)