Improvements in the Manufacture of Metal Hubs or Centres for the Wheels of Cycles and Road Vehicles and for Pulleys and Cycle Pedals.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Sept., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 17th June, 1897-Accepted, 17th July, 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFI
Improvements in the Manufacture of Metal Hubs or Centres for the
Wheels of Cycles and Road Vehicles and for Pulleys and Cycle
Pedals.
We, BENJAMIN JOSEPH HAMMERSLEY, of Selly Park, Birmingham, Warwick-
shire, Manufacturers' Manager, and CHARLES WILCOX, of Park Hill, Harborne,
Birmingham, aforesaid, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this
Invention to be as follows:-
This Invention has reference to metal hubs or centres for wheels and pulleys
of various kinds such as the wheels of bicycles and other velocipedes, motor
carriages, perambulators and other road vehicles, and for driving pulleys, guide
pulleys, and the like, which wheels or pulleys are provided with wire or metal
spokes connected to flanges on the hubs and to the wheel rim, and 'this Invention
is also applicable to the tubular centres of cycle pedals and consists in making the
said hubs or centres in a piece with their flanges or cupped ends from ductile
steel tubes or other suitable ductile metal tubes in the manner which we will now
describe.
We will first describe our Invention as applied to making a wheel hub.
In carrying out this Invention we take a length of round ductile metal tuhe,
preferably seamless steel tube, which is somewhat longer than the required wheel
hub. This piece of tube is placed on a punch or mandril which is an easy fit in
the tube and around the tube there is a collar which encloses the tube, except that
part which is required to form one of the flanges and the portion of the hub which
projects beyond the flange. The mandril or collar may be fixed on the bed of a
press. The end of the tube which projects beyond the said collar is enclosed in
a die so that the only part of the tube which is exposed is that required to form
one of the flanges. The adjacent faces of the die and of the collar have each an
annular recess turned in them corresponding with the shape and size of the
required flange. When the said top die descends it compresses the tube endwise
and causes that portion of the tube which is not enclosed to bulge outwardly all
round, and when the movement of the top die is completed the bulged out part
of the tube has been compressed between the top die and the collar and fills the
recess in the same thus forming one of the flanges of the required hub.
The other flange is formed on the hub in a similar manner to that above de-
scribed, but the collar which encloses the main portion of the hub is made in
halves so that it can be removed from between the flanges of the finished hub,
these two halves of the collar being dowelled together and fitted in another collar
or ring to keep the two halves together.
When the ends of the hub are required to be cupped out larger than the central
portion of the same to receive the cups of the ball hearings, this can readily be
done by press tools after the two flanges have been formed on the hub in the
manner above described.

page_text: We make a tubular centre of a cycle pedal with cupped ends from a seamless
steel or other metal tube similarly as above described with reference to a wheel
hub.
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicants.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Metal Hubs or Centres for the
Wheels of Cycles and Road Vehicles and for Pulleys and Cycle
Pedals.
We, BENJAMIN JOSEPH HAMMERSLEY, of 66 Dudley Road, Tipton, Staffordshire,
late of Selly Park, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Manufacturers' Manager; and
CHARLES WILCOX, of Park Hill, Harborne, Birmingham, aforesaid, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is 'to
he performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement -
This Invention has reference to metal hubs or centres for wheels and pulleys
of various kinds such as the wheels of bicycles and other velocipedes, motor
carriages, perambulators and other road vehicles, and for driving pulleys, guide
pulleys, and the like, which wheels or pulleys are provided with wire or metal
spokes connected to the flanges on the hubs and to the wheel rim, and this Invention
is also applicable to the tubular centres of cycle pedals and consists in making the
said hubs or centres in a piece with their flanges or cupped ends from ductile
steel tubes or other suitable ductile metal tubes in the manner which we will now
describe by referring to the accompanying drawings on which Fig. 1 is a
longitudinal section of a wheel hub constructed according to this Invention;
Fig. 2 shews the piece of tube from which the said wheel hub has been formed
and Fig. 3 shews one stage in the manufacture of the said wheel hub; .Fig. 4
is a sectional elevation of the tools for forming the tube shewn by Fig. 2 to the
shape shewn by Fig. 3; Fig. 5 illustrates the operation of the said tools; Fig. 6
is a sectional elevation and Fig. 7 is a plan of the tools for forming the flange at
the other end of the said tube; Figs. 8 and 9 are longitudnal sections of a portion
of a wheel hub illustrating how the end may be cupped to receive the separate
steel cup for the ball bearings; Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section of a back bicycle
wheel hub formed in accordance with this Invention: Fig. 11 shews the piece of
tube from which the wheel hub represented by Figure 10 has been formed and
Fig. 12 shews one process in the manufacture of the said hub.
The same letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all
the figures of the drawings.
. In carrying out this Invention we take a length of round ductile metal tube A,
preferably seamless tube, such as shewn by. Fig. 2, which is somewhat longer than
the required wheel hub represented by Fig. 1. This piece of tube A is, as shewn
by Fig. 4, placed on a punch or mandril B which is an easy fit in the tube and
around the tube there is a collar C which encloses the tube except the upper part
which is required to form one of the flanges a' of the wheel hub and the end-por-
tion which projects beyond the flange. The collar C fits in a die D on the
base of a press and the bottom end of the tube A rests upon the head of the
mandril B (see Fig. 4). The upper end of the tube A which projects beyond the

page_text: collar C is enclosed in the die E so that the only part of the tube which is exposed
is that which is required to form the flange a The adjacent faces of the die E
and of the collar C have each an annular recess turned in them marked
respectively eel corresponding with the shape and size of the required flange
The top die E has also a recess e turned in it against which the end of the tube A
abuts as shewn in Fig. 4. When the top die E descends to the collar or bottom
die C the tube A is pressed endwise so that that portion of the tube which is not
enclosed by the die E or by the collar C is by the end pressure caused to bulge
outwardly all round so that when the movement of the top die E is completed
as shewn in Fig. 5 the bulged out part al of the tube A has been pressed between
the top die E and the collar C and fills the recess e c¹ in the same thus forming
the flange a of the required hub so that the tube will now have the appearance
shewn by Fig. 3.
C3
The other flange a is formed in the hub in a similar manner to that above
described by using tools such as represented by Figs. 6 and 7. In this case the
collar marked C2 C3 which encloses the main portion of the hub is made in halves
so that it can readily be removed from between the flanges al a² of the finished
hub A these two halves C C of the collar being dowelled together and fitted in
the collar or ring 1 to keep the two halves together. The halves CC formning
the said collar are by preference turned taper as shown fitting in a corresponding
taper hole in the ring D2. When the top die E, shewn by Fig. 6 descends the
tube or partly formed hub A is compressed endwise causing the same to bulge
outwardly into the recesses ce¹ and forming the flange in the same manner
that the flange al was formed. Below the two half collars CC there is a circular
plate F which receives the head of the mandril B and is also recessed to receive
the flange a'.
When the ends of the hub formed as above described are required to be cupped
out larger than the central portion of the same to receive the separate steel cups
cf the ball bearings this can readily be done by well known means as by press
tools or by spinning in a lathe after the two flanges a have been formed on the
hub in the manner above described. The end portions have to be long
enough, (see Fig. 8) to form the required cupped ends one of which is represented
by Fig. 9.
For hack wheel hubs where one end of the hub is required to be enlarged to
receive the sprocket wheel we prefer to operate on a tube such as shewn for instance
by Fig. 11 where one end of the tube to form the enlarged end of the hub is jumped
up as shewn at a forming an enlarged collar which, after the flanges have
been formed on the hub by bulging the same outwardly as stated above and as
shewn in Fig. 10, is turned on the exterior and screw threaded as shewn in Fig. 10
to receive the sprocket wheel and nut for securing the same.
It will be evident that instead of operating on the ends of the tube by two
separate operations to form the flanges a a² as above described, we may so
arrange the tools as to similarly operate on both ends simultaneously and thus
form both the flanges a¹ a² at the same time.
We make a tubular centre of a cycle pedal with cupped ends from a seamless
steel or other suitable metal tube similarly as above described with reference to
a wheel hub.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. Making the metal hubs or centres for the wheels of cycles and road vehicles
and for pulleys and cycle pedals from a piece of ductile metal tube which by end
pressure in dies is bulged outwardly so as to form the two spoke flanges a a³ of
double thickness of metal substantially as hereinbefore described with reference
to the accompanying drawings.
2. A metal hub or centre for the wheels of cycles and road vehicles and for

page_text: pulleys and for cycle pedals, made of a piece of ductile metal tube which by end
pressure in dies has been bulged outwardly so as to form the two spoke flanges a¹ a
of double thickness of metal, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference
to the accompanying drawings.
100%
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicants.