PROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAIL OR TRAMWAY LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND CARRIAGES OR VEHICLES, AND IN THE PERMANENT WAY FOR THE SAME
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Francis Fairlie, of Victoria Chambers, in
66 IM
the City of Westminster, Engineer, for the Invention of
PROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAIL OR TRAMWAY LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND
CARRIAGES OR VEHICLES, AND IN THE PERMANENT WAY FOR THE SAME.”
"
Sealed the 13th May 1870, and dated the 19th March 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Francis Fairlie
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his. Petition, on
the 19th March 1870.
I, ROBERT FRANCIS FAIRLIE, of Victoria Chambers, in the City of
Westminster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAIL OR TRAMWAY LOCOMOTIVE
ENGINES AND CARRIAGES OR VEHICLES, AND IN THE PERMANENT WAY FOR THE
SAME," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the application of india-rubber to the tyres
of the wheels of locomotives and carriages or other vehicles running on

page_text: rail or tramways, and also to an improved construction of permanent
way to be used therewith. Wheels so provided being noiseless are
especially adapted for tramway carriages running through the streets of
a town or on cheap lines of railway worked at moderate speeds where
expense in construction and maintenance of the permanent way is an
object, as the wear of the latter would be reduced to a minimum and
when applied to the coupled wheels of a locomotive increased adhesion
is obtained in ascending steep inclines.
According to one method of carrying out my Invention, I form the
rim and tyre of an ordinary railway engine or carriage wheel of con-
siderable breadth to receive an india-rubber ring or tyre which must be
of sufficient section to sustain the weight brought to bear on it. The
metal tyre I form with a small additional flange on the outer edge to
keep the india-rubber tyre on the wheel, the ordinary flange being
provided at the inner edge to keep the wheel on the track. I, however,
make the flange of considerably greater depth than usual as the india-
rubber tyre even when compressed on the rail by the weight of the
vehicle occupies a portion of the depth of the flange. The india-rubber
tyre I secure on the wheel either by making its internal diameter
somewhat less than the external diameter of the wheel on which it
would thus be simply sprung and retained by the flanges or it may be
cemented or otherwise firmly attached thereon during the process of
curing or vulcanization. The india-rubber I form with a small flange
which serves to cover the working side of the metal flange, and so
prevent the contact of any part of the metal wheel with the rail, the
support given to said flange preventing all liability of the wheel leaving
the rail. In this manner the rubber intervenes between the mass in
motion and the rail, ensuring a soft and noiseles action with a corre-
sponding easy motion of the vehicle. A locomotive driving wheel thus
constructed bears partly on the metal rail and partly on tram surfaces
disposed alongside each rail on the outside. These trams, which may be
composed of wood, asphalte, or other suitable material, I form partly or
entirely with a corrugated surface, into the hollows of which cor-
rugations the india-rubber would sink, whereby considerable adhesion is
obtained. The rubber tyred wheels of the carriages which are not used
for obtaining adhesion may be made of less width, so as to run only
on the plain part of the tram, or ordinary wheels may be employed to
run on the rail while the locomotive engine wheels would run on the
rail and tram. For tramways, the metal rail would be dispensed with,

page_text: and if required the inner edge of the tram (which in this case would be
preferably composed of timber) might be protected from excessive wear
by a metal guard. I have stated that the guiding flange is formed on
the inner edge of the wheel, but it will be understood that it may also
be placed at the outer edge, the tram being in this case disposed inside
thic rails.
According to another arrangement I form the metal flange at or near
the centre of the tread of the wheel, and dispose india-rubber tyres one
on either side, where they are retained by small flanges formed at the
edges of the metal wheel or by being cemented or cured thereon as
before mentioned. On each side of the metal rail of the permanent
way I dispose tramways having corrugated or partly corrugated and
partly plain surfaces as before described and corresponding in width to
the tread of the india-rubber tyre. A groove is formed in the timber at
one side of the rail for the reception of the metal flange which projects
from the surface of the india-rubber tyre. The contact of the metal
flange with the rail is prevented by extending the india-rubber tyre to
the edge of the flange on that side. When running this wheel on tram-
ways I dispense with the rail and form a longitudinal groove in the
surface of the wooden tram for the reception of the flange, which in this
case would be entirely covered by a layer of india-rubber.
In either of the above described arrangements of wheel when used on
railways the india-rubber tyre may in some cases be made to cover a
portion only of the width of the metal wheel, so that the metal part
would run on the rail and the india-rubber on the tram, the level of
which would be so adjusted in relation to that of the rail that the super-
incumbent weight may be borne equally on the india-rubber and metal
tyres, or otherwise varied or proportioned as circumstances require.
Thus for ascending steep inclines the tram would be raised so as to throw
the greater weight on the india-rubber to obtain increased adhesion,
whilst in passing round curves, when one of each pair of wheels must
of necessity slip to a certain extent, the tram surface would be sunk so
as to avoid grinding of the india-rubber tyre on the tram surface.