other Vehicles.
Year: 1888

page_text: other Vehicles.
I, JAMES MUNTON, of Maywood, in the County of Cook and State of Illinois, United
States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to the art of manufacturing car and locomotive wheels having
rolled steel tires and cast centers. In such wheels the rolled steel tire is usually
provided with a dovetail groove on its inner periphery for the purpose of locking the
center and tire together.
In making such wheels it has heretofore been customary to re-heat the tire after it
has been rolled and a dovetailed groove cut or turned therein preparatory to pouring
in the molten metal. This reheating of the tire after it has been rolled tends to
materially injure the wearing qualities of the tire by taking out the chill left by the
rolls on its tread, or outer periphery.
It is the object of my invention to provide a method or process of making the wheels
whereby the center may be cast within the rolled tire without destroying the chill or
hardened surface left upon the tire by the rolls.
In making such tires it has heretofore also been a matter of considerable labor and
expense to turn or cut the dovetailed groove upon the interior periphery of the tire.
By my process this labor and expense is entirely avoided.
My process consists in first rolling the steel tire in a pair of box rolls, thus
forming two plane or right angle flanges upon the interior periphery of the tire: and
next, while the tire is still hot from the rolls I bend or incline these two parallel
flanges towards each other, thus forming a dovetailed groove in the tire between the
inclined flanges; and thirdly, while the tire is still hot and without reheating it, I
place the same within a suitable mold and pour in the molten metal to form the cast
iron center of the tire.
The rolling mill for rolling the tire with interior plain flanges, which I employ, may
be of any well known construction familiar to those skilled in the art. The right angle

page_text: interior flanges on the tire may be turned or inclined towards each other by any suit-
able means, as for example a pair of beveled or cone-faced pressing dies adapted to fit
the interior of the tire; or a pair of rollers, one of which has a pair of cone-faced
collars adapted to bear against the interior flanges of the tire and bend them towards
each other or a pair of edging rollers having beveled shoulders to press against the
flanges of the tire, or any other suitable devices adapted to quickly turn the flanges of
the tire towards each other and form the dovetail groove. I prefer, however, to provide
the rolling mill with a pair of edging rollers having beveled shoulders which may be
forced against the interior flanges of the tire the moment the rolling of the tire is
completed by the box rolls; as in this way but little time is lost in turning down the
parallel flanges to form the dovetail groove. The moment the interior flanges of the
tire are turned down or inclined towards each other, the tire should be swung from
the rolling mill without delay and placed in the mold. The heat which the tire still
has when placed in the mold directly from the rolling mill, will be sufficient to allow
the tire to contract correspondingly to the contraction of the cast iron center of the
wheel, as the iron contracts much less than the steel. The steel which I use, or prefer
to use, for making the tire, is of a very hard and tough character, being high in
manganese or other alloy to make it hard and give a durable tread to the wheel. By
my process it will be observed that the dovetail groove is made without any cutting or
turning of the tire. This saving is a matter of importance, owing to the hard steel of
which the tire is made, and which cannot be readily turned.
In the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of this specification, I have shown
at Fig. 1 a sectional view of a tire and a pair of box rolls in elevation, such as may
be used for rolling the tire with the plain interior flanges, and also in elevation a pair
of edging rolls having beveled collars suitable for use in turning down the flanges, so
as to form a dovetailed groove. At. Fig. 2 I have shown a sectional view of the tire
in the mold ready for pouring in the molten metal to form the cast center. Figs. 3
and 4 are cross sections of the tire before and after the flanges are turned down to form
the dovetail groove. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the wheel, as produced by my pro-
cess. Fig. 6 shows a single roll having a pair of conical collars, and which operates in
conjunction with an ordinary box roll to incline the interior flanges of the tire. In
Fig. 71 have shown a pair of dies with beveled faces for pressing down the interior
flanges of the tire. The drawing will serve to illustrate my process and render the
same more easily and clearly understood, in connection with the description.
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.
In the drawing A represents the tire, a a the interior flanges, a' the interior dove-
tailed groove formed by inclining the flanges a a towards each other. The flanges are
rolled upon the tire by box rolls B B. The interior box roll B¹ is provided on its
periphery with one or more small projections which serve to make a number of
indentations on the interior peripheral surface of the tire. The molten metal of the
cast iron center C flowing into these indentations a² in the tire, serves to more rigidly
connect and fix the center and tire together. D D represent a pair of edging rolls,
having beveled shoulders d d adapted to bear against the flanges a a and bend or incline
them towards each other. In figure 6 a single vertical roll B₁ having two beveled
shoulders or collars dd, operates in conjunction with the box roll B to accomplish the
same purpose. In figure 7, the tire after being swung from the rolling mill is placed
in a stamp or press between two dies D D having beveled shoulders dd. The means
indicated in figure 1, is that which I prefer to use for inclining the interior flanges of
the tire, as the pair of rolls DD may be attached directly to the rolling mill the same
as ordinary plain edging rolls have heretofore been attached, and after the box
rolls B B have done their work and the rolling of the tire is completed, and the
rolls DD pressed against the tire the moment the interior box roll B₁ is withdrawn. In
figure 2 the mould is shown ready for pouring. E represents the cope, F the drag
and G the interior or the core of the mold. The tire A forms a part of the mold
and is placed therein while still hot from the rolling mill. After being rolled the
tire is not re-heated, the rolling of the interior of the flanges a, the inclining of
said flanges' to form the dovetailed groove and the placing of the tire in the mold

page_text: and forming the cast center therein, being all effected in one and the same heat,
so that the chill upon the outer periphery of the tire will not be injured by the
casting operation. The casting of the center within the tire will not of itself so
raise the temperature of the tire as to destroy or injure the chilled and hardened
surface produced by the rolls upon the tread of the tire.
The dovetailed groove may be formed on the interior periphery of the tire by
bending or inclining only one of the two flanges instead of both. The preferable way
however is to incline both flanges, as it makes a better shape dovetailed groove than is
made by inclining only one of them.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is -
1. The process of making car wheels with rolled tires and cast iron centers, consist-
ing in first rolling the tire and then without re-heating the tire, casting the iron center
therein, the rolling of the tire and the casting of the center in the same being both
effected at one and the same heat, substantially as specified.
2. The process of making car wheels with rolled steel tires and cast-iron centers,
consisting in first rolling the tire with a pair of plain or straight interior flanges;
second, bending or inclining the flanges towards each other and thus forming a dove-
tailed groove on the interior periphery of the tire, and finally casting the iron center in
the tire, all three of said steps or operations being performed at one and the same heat
of the tire, substantially as specified.
3. The process herein described, consisting in first rolling a tire with a pair of plain
interior flanges, and secondly bending or inclining said flanges towards each other to
form a dovetailed groove on the interior of the tire, substantially as specified.
4. The process of forming a dovetail groove in a hard steel tire without turning or
cutting the same, consisting in first rolling the tire with interior flanges and then
bending or inclining one or both of said flanges together, substantially as specified.
Maywood, Illinois, U.S.A., August 30th 1888.