CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES AND IN WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
GIBBS, of Kennington, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourth day of November, in the fifth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Gibbs, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Joseph Gibbs, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Joseph Gibbs, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
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, my
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES AND IN WHEELS FOR
CARRIAGES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said Joseph Gibbs, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
inrolled in His 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.

page_text: Joseph Gibbs, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention of certain improvements in wheels for carriages, which I
will first describe, consists in a peculiar arrangement of the spokes and naves
of wheels, whereby wheels may be constructed with greater facility, as will be
hereafter fully described.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a wheel constructed according to my improvements.
Figure 2 is an edge view in section. Figure 3 shows the nave in section,
which is of metal. This nave also constitutes the axle-tree box. Figure 4
shows part of a wheel in section in order to show the arrangement of the
spokes. In each of these Figures (1, 2, 3, and 4) the same letters indicate
similar parts; a, a, being the felloes of the wheel, there being mortices cut in
them to receive the ends of the spokes, as is clearly indicated in the Drawing
at Figure 2. b, b, are the spokes, which, it will be seen, stand at an angle to
each other, and each two (proceeding from opposite ends of the nave) appear,
when the wheel is viewed edgeways, to form the two sides of an isosceles
triangle, of which the nave represents the base, but it will be seen that the
spokes are inserted at equal distances from each other in the felloes, and they
are alternately placed at the two ends of the nave, as is very clearly shown in
Figure 2, and the ends of the spokes are slightly hollowed out in order to
abut against the axle-tree box which constitutes the nave of the wheel. c is a
plate formed on the outer end of the axle-tree box d. The spokes may be so
formed at the ends which come against the axle-tree box d that they just fill
in and wedge one another, as shewn in Figure 4, or there may be longitudinal
grooves cut or cast on the outer surface of the nave or axle-tree box. e, e, are
screw bolts which retain the parts of the wheel together, and also hold the
axle-tree within the axle-tree box, as will be hereafter fully described. f is a
washer which lies against the plate c. It will be seen that the spokes b, which
project outward from the felloes, come against the plate c, and the spokes b',
which project inwards, are retained in their position by the plate 9. and this
plate is held to its proper position by the screw bolts e, e, by means of the
nuts h. The axle-tree i has a collar ; formed thereon, and by means of the
plate k, the screw nuts l, and the screw bolts e, e, the axle-tree is held within

page_text: the axle-tree box d, as will be evident on inspecting the various Figures in the
Drawing.
Having thus described the various parts of the wheel when constructed
according to my Invention, it is necessary to point out more particularly the
peculiar novelty of the construction which constitutes the Invention secured
by the above recited Letters Patent. It will be evident that as any two
succeeding spokes b, b', may be said to form the two sides of an isosceles
triangle, the axle-tree box or nave d forming the base of such triangle; if the
plate g be made to approach the plate c, the spokes 6 will approach the
spokes b, that is to say, they approach more nearly to the perpendicular, which
will tend to expand the circumference of the felloes and make the whole wheel
more rigidly secured, and thus in case of the spokes becoming loose the wheel
may be made firm by merely screwing up the plate g; and it may be remarked
that a wheel constructed according to these improvements may be repaired in
much less time and at less expence than wheels formed in the ordinary manner,
for it will only be necessary to remove the plate g sufficiently to take out any
faulty spokes and replace the same with others, and then to screw up that
plate g and the wheel will be again complete.
Figure 5 represents a different arrangement for expanding the spokes and
felloes. The spokes, which are shown edgewise and in part at a, a, are all
placed in the same plane and held in their places by the plates c, c, and
bolts and nuts d, d, d, d. If the spokes are arranged so as to form a
smaller cone at their interior end than that of the exterior of the box e, e,
as at b, b, it is evident that by screwing up the nuts on the bolts d, d,
the cone e, e, would be forced through the conical hole formed by the spokes,
and thereby push the whole of them outwards towards the felloe, and so
produce an expanding action outwards. The box and spokes then screwed up
would appear as at A, Figure 5.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention of certain improvements
in wheels for carriages, and the manner of carrying the same into effect, I'
would have it understood that I lay no claim to the various parts of a wheel,
which are well known; but I do hereby confine my claim of Invention to the
arranging of the spokes, so that they are capable of expanding out the felloes,
and thereby offering greater facilities in constructing as well as in repairing
wheels so formed.
And further, as relates to my improvements in carriages (which I will now
describe), the same are ascertained and described by reference to the Drawings,
Figures 6 and 7, which represent such part of a carriage as are necessary to
explain my Invention. The same letters of reference are applicable to both

page_text: these Figures. a is the axletree of the carriage. b, b, is a box or barrel (shewn
at Figure 6 with one of its ends removed to exhibit the interior) which con-
tains a spiral spring c, c, one end of which is attached to the axis a and the
other to the box 6, b. The action and construction of this spring therefore is
similar to the main spring of a watch. Round the periphery of the barrel b, b,
is wound the leather strap d, d, d, attached to the barrel at the point c, and to
the supporting rod f, f, at g, which supporting rod is bolted to the shafts (or
any convenient part of the carriage at h, h. It is evident therefore that if
weight be added to the carriage such weight will tend to depress the body of
the carriage by pulling round the strap d, d, and causing the box or barrel b, b,
to turn on the axis a, and thus partially wind up the spring c, c. In the
application of this Invention I make use of two such boxes and springs, as
shewn at Figure 7, and thus arranged the motion of the carriage will nearly
correspond with that of a carriage with common springs. It will be evident,
however, that in this arrangement some apparatus is necessary to prevent
the axis from turning round, and also to prevent the carriage from rising
and falling in an improper direction. This arrangment is shewn at
Figures 6 and 7, and may be thus described:-Two flat bars of steel i, i,
are bolted at one of their ends to the flaps of the axes at j, j, and at the
other (by bolts) to the knuckle joints k, k. By this apparatus when the
carriage vibrates upon its springs it will describe a curve represented by the
red line e, e, Figure 6, being a segment of a circle of which the bars i, i,
are the radii, and the knuckles k, k, the centre. The motion of the
carriage therefore is nearly vertical, and sufficiently so for practical
purposes.
Having now described the nature of my Invention of improvements in
carriages, I hereby declare that I claim as my Invention, as far as relates to
my said improvements in carriages, the application of a spiral spring and
barrel as a substitute for the ordinary springs of carriages, when such spiral
springs are combined with the mode by which the axis is connected to the
body of the carriage, videlicet, by the radius bars i, i, and though these parts
ndividually may have before been used in machinery and carriages, yet I
claim the whole as a new combination forming an improved substitute for the
ordinary springs of carriages.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Gibbs, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.
JOSEPH (L.S.) GIBBS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-third day of April, in
the year of our Lord 1835, the aforesaid Joseph Gibbs came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
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 Fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-five.