AN IMPROVED WHEEL FOR RAILWAY PURPOSES
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
LATHROP, of No. 7, King Street, Cheapside, in the City of London, Esquire,
send greeting.
WHEREAS, partly in consequence of communications from certain
Foreigners residing abroad, and partly from my own Invention, I am in
possession of an Invention, being "AN IMPROVED WHEEL FOR RAILWAY
PURPOSES." And whereas Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixth day of June, in
the eleventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
grant unto me, the said Benjamin Lathrop, my exors, adñors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Benjamin Lathrop, my exors, admors, and assigns, and every of them, by
myself and themselves, or by my and their deputy or deputies, servants or
agents, or such others as I, the said Benjamin Lathrop, my exors, adñiors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend the said Invention within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also within the
Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad; in which Letters Patent is contained "a

page_text: proviso requiring that I, the said Benjamin Lathrop, shall particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, to 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said Benjamin Lathrop, do hereby describe the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings annexed, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
Hitherto it hath been the practice in making wheels of cast iron to have
a division or divisions across the nave to allow of the whole mass contracting
with as little strain as possible, malleable iron hoops being then fastened on
to the nave to keep it together. The nature of my Invention is the casting
of an iron wheel in one piece, of such shape as shall cause the iron to remain
without strain when cold. I will now describe a mode of carrying this into
effect, taking as an example a wheel three feet in diameter. I form the
wheel as shewn in the annexed Drawings.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the wheel, and Figure 2 a section
on the line A, A, Figure 1. The nave is formed with a hollow space in tho
interior, as shewn by Figure 2. It is about eight inches in length, eight
inches in diameter, with a hole in the centre for the axle, and the thickness
of the metal is about one and a half inches. The tyre or rim of the wheel is
of the usual form, and may be made with or without a flange as required,
the thickness of the tyre or rim being about one and a half to two inches.
The nave and tyre or rim are connected together by the part equivalent to the
spokes of a common wheel, and which I call the disc. The disc is about half
an inch thick, and is so formed as to be corrugated on the plane of the wheel's
motion, and at the same time in the line of the radii on the plane, at right
angles to that plane.
Figure 3 shews the form of the edge of the disc at its junction with the tyre
or rim, and Figure 4 at its junction with the nave.
In the Drawing, Figure 1, I have shewn the disc to consist of ten great
corrugations on the plane of the wheel's motion. A, d, Figure 2, shews the
form of section along the top of one of them, as at A, d, Figure 1. The
number of corrugations, or the dimensions here given, may of course be
varied according to circumstances.

page_text: I will now describe a second form of disc, which is the corrugated one above
described, with the addition of a set of curved or otherwise bent projections d,
extending from the tyre or rim more or less towards the nave, joining the disc
at right angles to the plane of the wheel's motion. Figure 6 shews a section
on the line D, D, Figure 5. Figure 7 shews the form of the edge of this disc,
and the projections at the junction with the tyre, and Figure 8 at the junction
with the nave.
A third form of disc is shewn by Figure 9, corrugated on the line of the
radii, and in the plane of the wheel's motion, as shewn by the section, Figure 10,
at b, b, with the addition of curved projections d, extending from the nave to
the tyre or rim, and intersecting the disc at right angles to the plane of the
wheel's motion.
Figure 11 shews the form of the edge of the disc and projections at the
junction with the tyre or rim, and Figure 12. at the junction with the nave.
A modification of this form of wheel is shewn in section by Figure 13, where
the disc is corrugated in concentric circles, and curved projections added.
Figure 14 shews the form of the edge of the disc and projections at the
junction with the tyre or rim, and Figure 15 at the junction with the nave.
A second modification of this form of wheel is shewn in side elevation by
Figure 17, in section by Figure 18.
Figure 19 shews the form of the edge of the disc and projections at the
junction with the tyre, and Figure 20 at the junction with the nave.
I may
here remark, that the above wheel or wheels may be made with a malleable
iron tyre, which may be fastened on to a suitable rim, or the outer edge of
the disc may be slightly hollowed out and the tyre shrunk on to it. The
inside of the tyre being convex, I recommend that the "tread" of the wheel
should be chilled in the usual manner well known to iron founders, and that
cast iron be used of the quality known to them to be best suited for taking a
chill.
I do not claim as my Invention wheels of cast iron in which the disc is
corrugated in concentric circles only. But I claim as my Invention,-
Firstly, wheels of cast iron of such a form that the part equivalent to the
spokes of a common wheel, and which I call the disc, shall be corrugated on
the plane of the wheel's motion, and at the same time in the line of the radii,
on a plane at right angles to that plane.
Secondly, I claim the combination of the corrugated disc mentioned in
claim 1st, with projections above described, as the second form of disc.
Thirdly, I claim the combination of a disc corrugated on radii, and in the

page_text: plane of the wheel's motion, with projections described, as the third form
of disc.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth
day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and forty-eight.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
within-named Benjamin Lathrop, in
BENJ (L.s.) LATHROP.