IMPROVEMENTS IN MOUNTING WHEELS ON AXLES, THE SAME BEING SPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO RAILWAY WHEELS.
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles William Dixon, of Wickham Market, in the
County of Suffolk, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MOUNTING WHEELS ON AXLES, THE SAME BEING SPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO
RAILWAY WHEELS."....
Sealed the 6th August 1867, and dated the 9th February 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles William Dixon
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th February 1867.
1,CHARLES WILLIAM DIXON, of Wickham Market, in the County of Suffolk,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MOUNTING WHEELS ON AXLES. THE SAME BEING SPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO
RAILWAY WHEELS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in inserting in the nave a stout ring of indian-rubber
or other suitable elastic material'; this I purpose to effect in the following
manuer-The boss of the wheel is first placed on its axle, and over that is
stretched the elastic ring aforesaid, and on that is placed the wheel, the spokes
thereof being inserted in a ring of metal or wood, or other material, as
the case may be, which with the boss aforesaid constitutes the whole nave of
the wheel. To prevent the lateral pressure of the elastic ring, and to secure
Price 8d.]

page_text: the wheel in its place, discs or plates of metal are fixed on each side and
secured by bolts or other suitable fastenings through the nave. If convenient
one of such discs or plates may be cast in one piece with the boss. In some
cases, in place of using a ring of indian-rubber, cork, or such similar elastic
material as aforesaid, I fill up the space between the boss and the wheel where
such elastic ring is intended to be inserted with small tubes of steel, so that
they touch one another all round and exactly fill the annular space between
the boss and the wheel. By my Invention much wear and tear is avoided,
and the wheels are more elastic and run more smoothly.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles William Dixon in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th August 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, CHARLES
WILLIAM DIXON, of Wickham Market, in the County of Suffolk, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles William Dixon, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
William Dixon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles William Dixon, 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 MOUNTING WHEELS ON AXLES, THE SAME BEING SPECIALLY
APPLICABLE TO RAILWAY WHEELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Charles William Dixon, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles William Dixon, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention,and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My Invention consists in inserting in the nave a stout ring of india-rubber
or other suitable elastic material hereafter to be mentioned; this I purpose to
effect in the following manner-The boss of the wheel is first placed on its
axle, and over that is stretched the elastic ring aforesaid, and on that is placed
the wheel, the spokes thereof being inserted, forged, or cast in a ring of metal,
orinserted in one of wood or other suitable material, as the case may be, which
with the boss aforesaid constitutes the whole nave of the wheel. To prevent
the lateral expansion of the elastic packing, and to secure the wheel in its
place, discs or plates of metal or wood are fixed on each side and secured by
bolts or other suitable fastening through the nave. If convenient one of such
discs or plates may form a flange to either the wheel or the boss. This method
of carrying out my said Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings
Figs. 1 and 2, the former being a section, and the latter a side view of a
railway wheel so constructed.
A, A, is the tire; B, B, B, &c., the spokes; C, the axle; D, D, &c., the
side plates which secure the elastic ring E, and keep the wheel Bin its place;
E is the elastic ring placed between the boss Fand the wheel B,which together
form the nave. The boss F being placed on the axle C, the elastic ring E
is placed over it as shown, and confined by the two side plates D, D, the inner
one of which may form a flange to the boss F on the wheel B, and which
plates are secured by bolts marked H, H, &c., and which pass horizontally
through the nave of the wheel. Here let it be noted that the letters denote
similar parts in all the Figures. Thus A is the tire; B, the wheel; C, the
axle; D, D, the side plates and flanges; E, the india-rubber ring or space
occupied by it; F, the boss; H, H, H, &c., the bolts or other fastenings;
S, S, &c., denote the corrugated spring, and T, T, &c., the steel tubes; P, P,
the grooves in the boss F and R, the spaces left for the side plates D to rise in
them when the wheel compresses with the load, hereafter to be mentioned.
In some cases in place of using a ring of india-rubber or other suitable clastic
material,as gutta percha,compounds of india-rubber and hemp,cork, and wood
as aforesaid, I fill up the space between the boss and the wheel, where such
elastic packing is intended to be inserted, with small tubes of steel which may
in some cases touch each other and exactly fill the annular space between the
boss and the wheel. This method of carrying out my Invention is illustrated
in Figs. 3 and 4, in which the annular space occupied by the elastic ring E in
Figs. 1 and 2 is filled up by a series of small steel tubes T, T, T, &c., which
fill the said space. Fig. 3 is a section of a railway wheel so constructed, and

page_text: Fig. 4 a side view of the same with one of the side plates D removed so as to
show the internal arrangement of the steel tubes above mentioned. In this
wheel, as in the other Figs. 1 and 2, the inuer side plate may form a flange to
the boss F. In place of the steel tubes just mentioned I sometimes prefer
to use a corrugated spring by preference of steel and of the shape shown in
Figs. 5 and 6, which represent a section and side view of a wheel so con-
structed. In Fig. 6 one of the side plates D which secure the wheel is
removed to show the internal shape and configuration of the corrugated spring
S, S, S, &c. This arrangement I may prefer to use for vehicles on ordinary
roads, but I do not lay claim to any special form illustrated or described in
this Specification for that purpose only, they all being more or less suitable for
it when mounted on moveable axles and fitted with suitable spokes and tires.
Sometimes I fill up the intervening spaces and hollows when corrugated steel
springs or tubes are used with india-rubber or other elastic material which
adds to the elasticity of the wheel, and in the event of the steel tubes or
corrugated spring breaking adds also to the safety.
Another modification of my Invention is illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, the
former being a section, and the latter a side view with one of the side plates
broken to show the internal arrangement of the steel tubes. The shape of
the side plates is annular, and they are marked D, D, &c., and they lap over
the boss F, and that part of the wheel or spoke ring B, and are secured by
bolts H, H, &c., which in this case pass through the steel tubes T, T, T, &e.
and an inner tube E, E, of india-rubber. The tubes T, T, T, &c. in this case
do not touch each other, but have a small space left between them to allow
them to compress without coming in contact with each other, and in this
arrangement, as aforesaid, the tubes are filled with india-rubber, through a
hole in the centre of which the aforesaid bolts pass which secure the side plates
D, D, which hold the wheel B in its place.
Another modification of my Invention as applied to wheels used for trans-
mitting motive power commonly called driving wheels is to make the space E
occupied by the india-rubber or other elastic material as aforesaid not of a
true circular form but corrugated, and this will effectually prevent the wheel
from turning round without the india-rubber packing E or the boss F, and so
enable it to transmit driving power. I also claim spaces of the form of a
square, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, and all other forms of polygons
for the same purpose as the corrugated space just mentioned. This method
of carrying out my Invention is illustrated in the following Drawings, Figs. 9,
10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.
Fig. 9 is a section, and Fig. 10 a side view of a wheel so constructed in

page_text: which the boss F is made octagonal on the outside, and the wheel Boctagonal
on the inside, which form the two boundaries of the annular octagon E which
is filled with india-rubber or other suitable elastic packing as aforesaid. In
Fig. 10 one of the side plates is removed to show the internal arrangeinent.
The side plates D are in this case made in two equal half parts, as shown in
Fig. 13 to enable them to be slided into grooves marked P, P, in Fig. 15,
which represents a separate view of the boss F, shown in Figs. 9 and 10.
When the axle C with the boss F sinks with its load and compresses the
india-rubber or other elastic material E the side plates D, which in this case
are bolted to the wheel B, will rise in the grooves P, P, P, &c., to allow for
which a small space R, R, shown in Fig. 9, is left at the bottom of each
groove. which forins an annular space between the bottom of each groove in
the boss and the side plates D, D. The grooves P, P, hold the side plates
laterally, but theyhave a little vertical play when the india-rubber E compresses,
to allow for which the space R, R, is left between the boss F and the side
plates D, D.
Figs. 14 and 15 are a side view and section of the boss F. Figs. 11 and
12 represent a wheel on the same principle, with this exception that the space
E which in Fig. 10 is made octagonal is in this case corrugated, and for the
same purpose as aforesaid.
Fig. 16 represents one of the side plates removed from the wheel B in
Fig. 12. The boss F and india-rubber packing E are shown in section, as are
also the axle C and the bolts H, H, H, &c.
Figs. 17 and 18 are a side view and section of the corrugated boss F.
Figs. 19 and 20 represent a section and side view of a wheel with an
hexagonal space E left for the india-rubber packing E. In this case one of
the side plates D forms a flange to the boss F; the other side plate D which
secures the india-rubber E and the wheel B is fastened with bolts H, H, &c.,
which pass horizontally through the nave of the wheel. This form of nave
like Figs. 10 and 12, is also suitable for driving wheels, but I do not claim
that as their exclusive use. I also claim that fly wheels of stationary engines
may be made on the same principle embodied in these driving wheels, and this
will enable them to find their own exact centre of gravity when revolving at a
high speed, which said centre of gravity from certain well-known causes is not
always in the centre of revolution, and as the fly wheels tend to turn on their
own centre of gravity this causes much vibration and oscillation which when
checked soon wears away the fly wheel shaft journals.
Figs. 21 and 22 represent a section and external view of another form of

page_text: boss FI sometimes prefer to use; it is made in two equal half parts, and
each is flanged on the outside as shown.
The Figures and descriptions I have herein given refer to a few of the
methods by which I carry out my Invention, its object being to impart that
elasticity in a wheel which is essential to its working smoothly, while it is
rendered less liable to wear out; this is especially requisite in railway wheels,
and I have accordingly illustrated my Invention as applied to them; but it is
to be understood that my Invention is at the same time perfectly applicable to
wheels of vehicles designed to run on common roads. By my Invention the
wheel may be permitted to slip round on the boss and elastic packing round it
to compensate the movementon two rails of different lengths, and thus prevent
a tension strain on the axles and wear and tear of the tires in rounding curves.
A kind of elasticity is also afforded not to be imparted by springs of the
ordinary kind, and it will be seen that these wheels may be made so elastic
that in some cases no other springs will be required, which will be a great
saving of expense.
I therefore claim as secured to me by Her Majesty's Letters Patent the
right to construct wheels with the appliances to obtain elasticity and avoid
wear and tear placed at or around the boss, as herein-before described and
illustrated, and substantially so constructed.
In witness whercof, I, the said Charles William Dixon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
DAVID MEDCALF,
CHARLES WILLIAM DIXON. (L.S.)
Charsfield Parsonage,
Wickham Market.