Improvements in the Manufacture of Metal Rims for the Wheels of Bicycles and other Velocipedes and Motor Cars and Road Vehicles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Improvements in the Manufacture of Metal Rims for the Wheels of
Bicycles and other Velocipedes and Motor Cars and Road Vehicles.
I, HENRY WALTON LUDLOW, of the firm of Fisher and Ludlow, of 83, Rea
Street, Birmingham, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention
to be as follows:-
This Invention has reference to the manufacture of those metal wheel rims
which are of an enclosed hollow section and which are commonly known as
"hollow" rims in this Invention consists in making the said hollow rims
junctionless from sheet steel or other suitable sheet metal or alloy in the manner
which I will now describe. By junctionless" I mean that the said wheel rims
will not have a brazed joint as is the case when the wheel rims are made from
strips of metal drawn to the proper section and bent into a circular form and the
ends brazed together.
I will describe my Invention as applied to a wheel rim which is somewhat
of a hollow crescent form in cross section, but it is to be understood that my
Invention is similarly applicable to hollow rims of other forms and to such
hollow rims as have their edges turned inwardly as for tyres of the Clincher type
or turned outwardly and rolled over as for what are known as Dunlop-Welch
tyres as well as other hollow rims. The said hollow crescent wheel rim may be
said to consist of a trough section wheel rim forming the outer wall of the crescent
and an inner trough section wheel rim of rather larger diameter at the bottom
of the trough and arranged within the outer rim and forming the inner wall of
the crescent the peripheries of the two rims being joined together.
According to this Invention I make both the outer wall of the wheel rim and
the inner wall of the same in halves the division being in the central plane of the
wheel. The wheel rim thus consists of four half rims two of which are the
inside halves and two the outside halves joined together respectively at the
central plane of the wheel and at the periphery. I make the said two inside
halves as follows:-I take two circular sheet metal blanks of somewhat larger
diameter than the required wheel rim and by means of suitable dies in a press
or by spinning tools in a lathe or by wheeling or other means I raise each of
these blanks into a shallow dish shape the rim of each having somewhat the shape
in cross section of one of the inner halves of the required wheel rim as if the
rim were divided in the central plane of the wheel. Nearly the whole of the
bottoms of these two dish shaped blanks are pierced out leaving each of their
rims with a projecting inner flange which during the process of raising the
blank as aforesaid, or afterwards; is so grooved or shaped that when the two rim
parts of the two dished blanks are placed together concentrically back to back
the edge of the internal flange of one of the rims can be and is spun or closed
over the internal flange of the other half of the rim thus securing the two half
rims together and forming the inner portion of the crescent section hollow rim.

page_text: I form each of the two outside halves of the rim in a similar manner and I turn
up their edges all round. The inside portion of the rim is now laid in one of the
outside halves and the outer edge of the latter is engaged with and closed over
the edge of one of the inside halves thus firmly securing these parts together.
The second outside half is now laid on the first said outside half so as to enclose
the inside part of the rim. The inner edges of the two outside halves are secured
together by being closed by dies or by rolling or spinning over thus forming a
joint or seam on the central plane of the wheel.
The outer edge of the said second half is closed over and into or otherwise
caused to engage with the outer side of the corresponding inner half thus com-
pleting the wheel rim.
The outer edges of the wheel rim may by the same closing process or by a
subsequent process or processes be turned inwardly as is required when the rim
is to take a tyre of the Clincher type; or when the said rim is for a Dunlop tyre
which does not require to have the edges of the wheel rim turned inwardly the
said edges may be turned outwardly during the process or processes of securing
the inner and outer halves of the wheel rim together or by a subsequent process
or processes.
The joints may if required be further strengthened by soldering or brazing.
Dated this 9th day of December 1896.
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Metal Rims for the Wheels of
Bicycles and other Velocipedes and Motor Cars and Road Vehicles.
I, HENRY WALTON LUDLOW, of the firm of Fisher and Ludlow, of 83, Rea
Street, Birmingham, 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:
This Invention has reference to the manufacture of those metal wheel rims
which are of an enclosed hollow section and which are commonly known as
"hollow" rims and this Invention consists in making the said hollow rims
junctionless from sheet steel or other suitable sheet metal or alloy in the manner
which I will now describe. By "junctionless" I mean that the said wheel rims
will not have a brazed cross joint as is the case when the wheel rinis are made from
strips of metal drawn to the proper section and bent into a circular form and the
ends brazed together.
I will describe my Invention as applied to a wheel rim which is somewhat
of a hollow crescent form in cross section, but it is to be understood that my
Invention is similarly applicable to hollow rims of other forms and to such
hollow rims as have their edges turned inwardly as for tyres of the Clincher type
or turned outwardly and rolled over as for what are known as Dunlop-Welch
tyres as well as other hollow rims. The said hollow crescent wheel rim may be
said to consist of a trough section wheel rim forming the outer wall of the crescent
and an inner trough section wheel rim of rather larger diameter at the bottom
of the trough and arranged within the outer rim and forming the inner wall of
the crescent the peripheries of the two rims being joined together.
According to this Invention I make both the outer wall of the wheel rim and
the inner wall of the same in halves in the manner hereinafter described the

page_text: division being in the central plane of the wheel. The wheel rim thus consists
of four half rims two of which are the inside halves and two the outside halves
joined together respectively at the central plane of the wheel and at the periphery.
On the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a cross section of a wheel rim con-
structed in accordance with this Invention shewing also two of the ordinary
spokes and spoke nipples of the wheel; Figs. 2 to 14 both inclusive illustrate
the progressive stages in the manufacture of this wheel rim from four sheet
metal blanks as hereinafter described; Fig. 15 shews a small washer or plate
(forming no part of this Invention) which may be used in the rim for the spoke
nipples to pass through; Fig. 16 shews another form of wheel rim made in
accordance with this Invention suitable for a tyre of what is known as the
Clincher type and Fig. 17 is a cross section of another form of my improved
wheel rim.
The same letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all
the Figures of the drawings.
My improved wheel rim illustrated by Fig. 1 consists of what I may call four
half rims marked respectively A, B, C and D, the half rims A and B forming
what I call the outer wall of the rim and the two half rims C and D forming
what I call the inner wall of the rim joined to the outer wall A B at the periphery
of the rim the two halves C and D being joined together at the central plane of
the wheel and the two halves A and B being also joined together at the central
plane of the wheel. I make the outside half rim Å as follows:-
I take a sheet metal blank of the proper thickness and preferably of sheet
steel of somewhat larger diameter than is the required wheel rim and by means of
suitable dies in a press or by spinning tools in a lathe or by wheeling or other means
I raise this sheet metal blank into a shallow dish shape as shewn by Fig. 2 the
rim part A having about the same shape in cross section as the main portion
of the half rim A the periphery a¹ of the rim of the said shallow dish being
turned outwardly as shewn in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. Nearly the whole of the bottom
of this dish shaped blank Fig. 2 is pierced out leaving the rim part A with a
projecting inner flange a² as shewn in Fig. 3 which flange a is in the next process
partly turned outwardly at a3 as shewn by Fig. 4. The other half rim B is of
the same shape and similar form to the half rim A except that the inner flange
is made of such a diameter as to fit upon the outwardly turned part a³ of the
flange as hereinafter described. The half rim B has the periphery turned in
at 6 similarly to the turned in part a¹ of the half rim A.
72
The inner wall C D of the rim is formed of two half rims C D in a similar
manner to that above described for the formation of the half rims A B, that is
to say, the half rim C is formed from a circular sheet metal blank of the proper
thickness and preferably of sheet metal of somewhat larger diameter than is the
half rim C and by means of suitable dies in a press or by spinning tools in a lathe
or by wheeling or by other means I raise the sheet metal blank into a shallow
dish shape such as shewn by Fig. 6 the rim part C having about the same shape
in cross section as the main part of the half rim C. Nearly the whole of the
bottom of this dish Fig. 6 is pierced out leaving the rim part C with a projecting
inner flange ca as shewn in Fig. 7, which flange 2 is in the next process partly
turned outwardly at 3 as shewn in Fig. 8. The other half rim D is of the same
shape and similar form to the half rim C except that the inner flange is made
of such a diameter as to fit upon the outwardly turned part 3 of the flange as
hereinafter described.
In the next process the half rims C D are placed together side by side as shewn
by Fig. 10 the flange of the half rim D fitting on the outwardly projecting
flange and against the flange c; then by means of closing tools in a stamp
or press or by spinning in a lathe or other means the outwardly projecting
flange is turned over the flange d as shewn in Fig. 11 thus firmly securing
together the two half rims of the crescent section hollow rim shewn by Fig. 1.

page_text: The
The inside portion CD of the rim shewn by Fig. 11 is now laid between the
outside halves A B of the rim as shewn in Fig. 12 and then the outwardly pro-
jecting flange a of the half rim A is closed over the flange 6 of the half rim B
as shewn in Fig. 13 thus securing the two half rims A and B together.
peripheries a 6 of the half rims A and B are now turned in so as to embrace the
peripheries of the inner portion C D of the rim thus completing the same and
securing the inner walls and outer walls together as shewn in Fig. 14 and Fig. 17.
The spoke nipples E are or may be passed through washer plates such as F
shewn by Fig. 15 which are placed within the rim to bear against the outer
walls A B through holes which are formed in the inner walls CD as is usual
in other hollow rims.
It will be seen that the flanges of the half rims which are closed together on
the central plane of the rim form annular ribs a³ ³ which considerably strengthen
the wheel rim as these ribs are between the spokes.
The example of my Invention shewn by Fig. 16 is similar to that above.
described with reference to the preceding Figures except that the peripheries of
the half rims CD are turned inwardly and the peripheries of the other half
rims A B are turned over these inwardly turned edges so as to form a rim with
inwardly turned edges a¹ b' to suit what is known as a tyre of the Clincher type.
Instead of the two inner half rims CD being fixed together by the inner pro-
jecting central flange of one half rim being closed over the projecting central
flange of the other half rim as in the example of my Invention above described
with reference to Figs. 1 to 14 and Fig. 16, the said inner flanges may be
made to form the rib on the central plane of the rim by fitting together and then
being turned outwardly again as at d to bear against the outer walls A B of
the rim as shewn in Fig. 17, and thus make the parts of the outer walls A B
through which the spoke nipples pass of double thickness of metal. After the
parts of the rim have been fixed together as shewn in Figs. 1, 14, 16 and 17 tha
rim is or may be dipped in a tinning bath so as to cause the meeting faces of
the parts to adhere together or the parts may be soldered together.
The dish A shewn in Fig. 2 from which the half rim A is formed is by pre-
ference made very slightly shallower than the dish from which the half rim 33
is formed, so that the flange 62 will come exactly central in the finished rim,
and in the same way the dish C from which the inner half rim C is formed is
made very slightly shallower than the dish from which the inner half rim ])
is formed so that the flange c³ will be exactly in the centre of the finished rim.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A hollow junctionless metal wheel rim made of four junctionless half rims
raised from sheet metal blanks and secured together so as to form a hollow wheel
aim having two annular strengthening ribs at the central plane of the rim, sub-
stantially as herein before set forth.
2. A hollow junctionless metal wheel rim composed of the junctionless half
rims A B, forming the outer wall of the rim having the central strengthening
rib a, and the two junctionless half rims CD forming the inner wall of the
rim having the central strengthening rib c³, the peripheries of the outer and
inner walls of the rim being fixed together so as to form a hollow wheel rim
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by Figs. 1, 14 and 16 of
the accompanying drawings.
3. A hollow junctionless metal wheel rim composed of the junctionless half
rims A B, forming the outer wall of the rim having the central strengthening
rib a, the two junctionless half rims C D forming the inner wall of the rim fixed
together and flanged outwardly to hear against the outer walls the peripheries
of which outer walls A B are closed over the peripheries of the inner walls CD

page_text: thus forming a hollow junctionless wheel rim, substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated by Fig. 17 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 16th day of July 1897.
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicant.