IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY AXLES AND WHEELS
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
OLIVER YORK, of Upper Coleshill Street, Eaton Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-first day of December, in the fifth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Oliver York, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said John Oliver York, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Oliver York, my exors, adiñiors, or assigns, should at any
timo agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY AXLES AND WHEELS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John Oliver York,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
my

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Oliver York, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say):
My Invention relates, first, to a mode of making hollow axles for railway
carriages.
Secondly, my Invention relates to a mode of making wheels for railway
carriages.
Thirdly, my Invention relates to a mode of bending the tyre of railway
wheels.
And fourthly, my Invention relates to hardening the working surfaces of the
wrought iron tyre of railway wheels, in order to render them more durable.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me in
carrying out my Invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents an axle of a railway carriage constructed according to
my Invention, one end being in section. Figure 2 shews an end view or
transverse section of two bent plates of iron, which, being welded together,
form a tube a, a, see Figure 3, which represents one end of such tube, the
other end being similar. On to this tube, at each end, is to be placed the
two bent plates b, b, and retained by a hoop c. These bent plates b are to
give strength to the necks or parts d, d, of the axle, which are keyed into the
wheels. At each end of the two bent plates a, a, of which the axle is com-
posed, there is a hoop e, placed as is shewn at Figure 3. The parts a, b, c,
and e, being thus combined, are to be welded and forged into the figure or
shapo shewn at Figure 1; and I perform such welding by hammering and
using suitable hollow tools or swages, as is well understood by forgemen,
tho hoops c, e, producing the parts c', e', of the axle, and the additional bent
plats produce the greater substance of the axle, as is shewn at d. And I
would state, that when desired, I make the ends of the axles which turn in the
bearings of cast steel.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention, which relates to a
mode of applying wood between the iron felloe and the tyre of railway wheels,
and in such manner that the part of the wood which composes the ring being
made wedge shaped, or having inclined surfaces, they may, by sliding against

page_text: other inclined surfaces, cause the diameter of the wood ring to be encreased,
and thus tighten the tyre.
Figure 4 shews a wheel constructed according to this part of my Invention.
Figure 5 is a section. Figure 6 shews some of the parts on a larger scale,
and in section. Figure 7 shews a transverse section of some of the parts on
a similar scale to those in Figure 6. f, f, shews the spokes, nave, and felloe
of the wheel, which may be of cast or wrought iron; and the construction
and arrangement of spoke may be varied, this part of my Invention
relating only to the mode of applying wood between the felloc and tyre,
and not to the construction of the iron parts of the wheels. g, g, is the
railway tyre. I would remark, that there is a groove formed in the interior
of the tyre of the width of the wood ring, and a similar groove is formed in
the periphery of the felloe. Within these grooves the wood ring is securely
held, as is shewn in the section Figure 7. h, h, are some of the portions of the
wood ring between the felloc and the tyre; and i, i, are the other portions of
the ring of wood; and it will be seen that each portion of wood h and i has
inclined surfaces, so that when moved, the ring or circle they form will be
cnlarged in diameter. j, j, are plates of iron let into the ends of the blocks of
wood i, there being female screws formed through such plates, and which screws
have a right and left hand thread, so that when the screw is turned in one
direction the wedges or inclined surfaces of wood are forced to move. In
the centre of the screw is a collar a, which has holes in its periphery for the
purpose of inserting a pin for moving the screw, and thus to expand the
wooden ring. The screw is prevented from movement when the wheel is in
use by a pin 6 being either screwed through the felloe or merely passed through
a hole in the felloe, and held in its place by a split cotter or key, as is shown
in Figures 6 and 7; or the parts of the wood ring of the wheel may
be separated, and the ring expanded by other means. The portions of the
wood ring h, h, are secured to the felloe and to the tyre by means of the screw
bolts, as is shewn. In putting the parts of this wheel together the ring of
wood is to be placed round the felloe, and then the tyre is to be placed thereon
without heating the same; the parts i, i, of the wood ring are then to be
caused to move from each other by the screws, or by other suitable means,
which will enlarge the diameter of the wood ring, and thus securely hold the
tyre, and the screw bolts will retain the parts from moving during the
expanding of the wood ring. I would remark, that in place of having the
parts of the wood ring for a wheel itwh inclined surfaces such as I have
described above, the wood ring may have inclined surfaces formed on the
inner edges, as is shewn at Figures 8 and 9, and the side plates k, k, being

page_text: cause the wood ring
The wheel, Figures
drawn together, and, having other inclined surfaces, will
of the wheel to expand, and thus securely hold the tyre.
8 and 9, is shown to consist of two side plates k, k, the nature of whichi is
clearly shewn in the Drawing, such plates being combined together by means
of the screws and nuts 1, 1, the ring of wood m being in several pieces, and
having inclined surfaces resting within the inclined groove or channel formed
by the inclined surfaces at the outer circumference of each of the side plates k,
hence, when those plates are drawn closer together, the wood m will be caused
to expand, in consequence of the inclined surfaces k', ', forcing the wood ring
outwards. In all cases I prefer to have a groove in the interior of the tyre to
receive the wood ring, as is shewn in the Figures now under description
as well as in those before described; at the same time I would remark, that
such groove is not absolutely necessary. I would remark, in respect to this part
of my Invention, that I do not confine myself to the precise form of the parts
of the wood ring so long as such parts arc wedge-shaped or have inclined sur-
faces, which being moved, in respect to the other inclined surfaces, will cause
the wood ring to be expanded, so as by enlarging the diameter of the wood
ring to hold the tyre; for it will be evident that such means of constructing
wood rings of parts may be varied, and yet retain the peculiar property
of expanding the diameter of the ring by having inclined surfaces, as
explained.
I will now describe another mode of making railway whicals with wood
felloes. Figure 10 shews a side view of a wheel constructed according to this
part of my Invention, and Figure 11 shews a section thereof. z is the wood
felloe, which is made of several parts. y, y, are the spokes which are so
formed at their outer ends as to partly embrace the wood felloc, as is shewn.
The spokes are each affixed to the plates a, a, by being cast into them or
otherwise, and these plates a, x, are capable of approaching each other on the
axle w, on which are formed screws at w¹; on these screws the nuts u are
screwed up when necessary to tighten the tyre. And it will be evident that by
such arrangement of parts and uniform means of adjusting all parts of the
circumference of the wood or iron felloe will be obtained, and the nuts will be
held from movement by means of screws and nuts v, which pass through the
projecting plates u² of the nuts, and through one of the holes in each of the
plates a, .
I will now describe the third part of my Invention, which relates to a mode
of bending railway tyre. Figures 12 and 13 shew two views of a pair of
rollers and their axes, suitably arranged for bending railway tyre, and for cutting
the same into proper lengths. A, B, are the two rollers, the lower roller A

page_text: having knives or cutters a, a', to cut the tyre to the length desired. The axis
of the roller A is driven by a steam engine or other suitable power, the upper
roller revolving simply by the surface motion of the roller A acting on the bar
of railway tyre. C is a presser lever carrying three rollers D, D, between
which and the periphery of the roller B the bar of railway tyre is moved,
the pressed lever being kept to its place by the diagonal stay bar E, as
is shown. The bar of railway tyre, when in a heated state, is to be passed
between the rollers A and B, the end of the bar being placed just beyond the
cutter a', by which a portion of the end of the bar will be cut off as the bar
passes between the nip of the rollers A, B. The bar of railway tyre will then be
carried forward between the rollers A and B, and be bended over the roller B
by the presser bar, and the cutter a will cut off the other end of the railway
bar, and thus will the length of bar for a wheel be guaged, and cut and bent,
and thickened at the ends for welding, at one operation; and in order to save
fuel it is desirable to convey the bar when in a heated state from the rollers by
which it has been formed to the rollers A, B, so as to save reheating. Or, in
place of using the rollers A, B, above described, a small pair of rollers A', B',
Figure 14, may be used; in this case the bar must be cut to the proper length
by other means. The presser bar in this machine will be similar to that
before described, and there will be a semicircular guage plate Fused, over which
the bar of railway tyre is moved in order to bend it. The bar of railway
tyre being thus bent is conveyed to the second bending machine, Figures 15,
16, and 17. In this machine G is the circular ring or mould around
which the tyre is bent. This ring or mould is capable of sliding on the bed or
table H by means of the lever I, which moves on an axis at J, carried by the
table H. The ring or mould G has two straight edges G¹ formed thereon,
which slide under the plates K, affixed on the table of the machine, there
being a raised plate L affixed on the table, which acts as a guide to the
plates G. By this arrangement it will be seen that the lever I being lowered,
the ring G is capable of being moved back, so as to allow of a bent bar of
railway tyre from the previously described machine being introduced between
the ring G and the pressing rollers M, N, and when it has been introduced
by raising the lever I it will force the ring G towards the rollers M, N, and
the bent bar of railway tyre is held between the rollers M, N, and the ring G,
and the bar of railway tyre will be completely bent into form by the rollers
M, N, being each caused to pass half-way round the ring G, pressing the
railway tyre into shape as they move round. The rollers M, N, arc respectively
carried by arms affixed to two segments of wheels O, P, and the arms O', P',
which carry the rollers M, N, move in curved slits formed through the bed

page_text: or table, as is shewn. Q is a pinion on the shaft or axis R, which receives
motion from a steam engine or other power by means of a bevelled cog
wheel S, which takes into and drives one or other of the cog wheels T, U, on
the axis R, according as it is desired to cause the rollers M, N, to move from
their present position to the opposite side of the ring G, or back again to
their present position.
I will now describe the fourth part of my Invention, which relates to
hardening the working surfaces or periphery of railway wheels, in order to
render such surfaces more durable. In carrying out this part of my Invention,
I place one or more railway wheel tyres into a circular oven of brick,
Figure 18, and in contact with the working surfaces thereof I introduce
ground charcoal, for the purpose of permanently hardening the iron; I then
close the oven and heat it by external flues, and raise it to a good red heat,
and retain it at that temperature for two days or more, and then withdraw the
tyres from the furnace or oven used, and place such tyre on to a cylindrical
form or mould, in order to ensure that the tyre shall be cylindrical, and I
plunge the tyre and mould into cold water and let them remain till cold. The
cylindrical mould used for this purpose should be made up of parts so as to
separate, in order to get off the tyre readily.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that what
I claim is,―
First, the mode of constructing hollow axles of railway carriages, as above
described.
Secondly, I claim the mode of introducing a ring of wood between the
felloe and tyre of a railway wheel, by forming the parts of the wood ring
with inclined surfaces, so that by being acted on by inclined surfaces, the
wood ring may be expanded; and I also claim the mode of applying felloes
of wood to railway wheels, and adjusting the diameter thereof, so as to hold
the tyre securely by means of the parts a and w, as above described in
respect to Figures 10 and 11.
Thirdly, I claim the mode of bending the tyre of railway wheels as above
described; and,
Fourthly, I claim the permanent hardening of the working surfaces of
railway wheels in order to render them more lasting.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Oliver York, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
JOHN OLIVER (L.S.) YORK.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventeenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord 1842, the aforesaid John Oliver York came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-two.