IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEEL-DRESSING MACHINES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hiram Smith Jacobs, of the City of Portland, in the
State of Oregon, in the United States of America, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEEL-DRESSING MACHINES."
Sealed the 12th July 1864, and dated the 27th April 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hiram Smith Jacobs
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th April 1864.
I, HIRAM SMITH JACOBS, of Portland, in the State of Oregon, in the United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEEL-DRESSING MACHINES," to be as follows, that is
to say:-
This Invention consists,-
Firstly, in a peculiar device for securing or checking the wheel.
Secondly, in means of reaming the hub of the wheel.
Thirdly, in the means for dressing the rim of the wheel.
Fourthly, in the means for dressing the face and back of the rim to any
desired bovel.

page_text: And, fifthly, in a provision for adapting the machine to operate on wheels of
any size.
For this purpose the machine consists in the arrangement of a concave face
plate or chuck attached to a hollow shaft, against which said chuck the wheel
to be dressed is fastened by means of suitable hook or clamp bolts taking
hold of the spokes of the wheel. The shaft upon which the face plate is
fastened is provided with suitable gearing, whereby a slow or fast motion can
be communicated to said face plate as may be required. The object of
making the face plate concave or cup-shaped is for the purpose of allowing
any depth of hub on the wheel, and at the same time to enable the wheel to
be fastened by its spokes to said face plate, whereby I am enabled to draw
the wheel straight, and working by the faces of the spokes impart a symmetrical
form to wheels originally imperfect. Into this hollow shaft a movable spindle
is fitted, capable of sliding longitudinally within the hollow shaft, and acted
upon by a spring, whereby said spindle is pushed outwards, and at the same
time allow said spindle to be pushed again .inwards when desired. This
spindle acts as a centre for centreing or checking the hub of the wheel, and
consequently the wheel itself. while being fastened to the face plate. Opposite
the face plate a suitable slide or block is arranged, into which a boring tool, or
reamer, or any other desirable tool is fixed in a line with the spindle or centre
of the wheel; this slide is provided with suitable gearing to move the same,
and consequently the tool towards the wheel and through the hub, for the
purpose of boring or reaming out said hub. When the tool has passed nearly
through the hub of the wheel the same will meet the spindle on which the
wheel has been centred, as above described, but as said spindle is only acted
upon by a slight spring the forward motion of the reaming or other tool will
force said spindle inwards into the hollow shaft, and allow thereby the tool to
pass quite through the hub. Behind the face plate three revolving cutters are
arranged upon a suitable frame, capable of being moved nearer the centre of
the face plate, or further away, for the purpose hereafter mentioned. Two of
these cutters revolve in a line parallel or nearly so to the face of the wheel,
and are arranged so as to turn off the two sides of the rim of the wheel at the
same time. These cutters are fixed to suitable stands, capable of being moved
further apart or nearer together to suit any width of rim, and may likewise be
placed at an angle to the face of the wheel to give any desired bevel to the
rim. The third cutter is made to revolve at right angles to the face of the
wheel, so as to turn the edge or outer circumference or tread of the rim of
the wheel, at the same time the above-mentioned two other cutters turn the

page_text: face and back of said rim. These revolving cutters receive motion by means
of belts from a suitable drum or pulleys fast to a shaft placed some distance
above the machine. The frame to which these three revolving cutters are
attached is arranged so as to be capable of being moved towards the centre of
the machine, or further away from the same, in order to bring the cutters in
contact with the rim of the wheel, or away from the same, and at the same
time to suit any diameter of the wheel which is to be turned or dressed.
To
insure the proper action of the belts which operate the revolving cutters, and
to retain always the same tension upon the belts at any position, this frame,
and consequently the cutters, may be placed from the centre of the machine;
this frame is made to move by means of suitable gearing in ways concentric
with the centre of the driving pulleys situated above the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Hiram Smith Jacobs in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th July 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HIRAM
SMITH JACOBS, of the City of Portland, in the State of Oregon, in the United
States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Hiram Smith Jacobs, Her special license that I, the said Hiram
Smith Jacobs, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Hiram Lmith Jacobs, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and 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 " IM-
PROVEMENTS IN WHEEL-DRESSING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Hiram Smith Jacobs, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and
seal of one of them, 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

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Hiram Smith Jacobs, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say:-
This Invention consists,―
Firstly, in a peculiar device for securing or checking the wheels.
Secondly, in the means for reaming the hub.
Thirdly, in the means for dressing the rim of the wheel.
Fourthly, in an arrangement for dressing the face and back of the rim to
any desired bevel.
And, fifthly, in a provision for adapting the machine to operate on wheels
of any size.
In order that others skilled in the art to which my Invention appertains
may be enabled to understand and use the same, I will proceed to describe its
construction and operation, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of
reference marked thereon respectively. Similar letters represent similar parts
in all the Figures.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure I. represents a plan or top view of my improved machine; Figure II.
is a side elevation thereof; Figure III. is a vertical section of the same in
line a, a, of Figure I.; Figure IV. is a vertical section in the line y, y,
Figure I.; Figure V. is a section of a portion of the same taken in the
line,, Figure I., and Figure VI. is a plan of that portion of the machine
of which Figure V. is a section.
frame.
In the accompanying Drawings, A, A, represent various parts of a strong
frame, on which the several parts of the machine are attached and supported ;
B is a hollow shaft which is journaled in the cross pieces A', A', of the main
On the inner end of this hollow shaft B a concave or cup-shaped
face plate or chuck C is firmly attached so as to revolve with the same. This
face plate is provided with suitable orifices a in its rim to receive hook bolts
or clamps provided with nuts or thumbscrews to attach the wheel to said
face plate; D is a spindle fitted into the hollow shaft B, and capable of sliding
longitudinally within said hollow shaft. The end d' of this pin or spindle
projects beyond the inner end of the hollow shaft B, and is forced outwards

page_text: by means of a spiral spring d, situated in the inside of the hollow shaft, and.
acting against the end of said spindle D. d" is a set screw passing through.
one side of the hollow shaft B, and acting upon the spindle D, so as to hold
the same in any desired position against the action of the spring d. This
spindle D is employed to center the wheel, and the screw d" holds said spindle
in its desired position while the wheel is being adjusted and secured to the
face plate. E is a reamer or boring tool fixed into the sliding block F, working
in suitable ways n.
On the bottom of this block F a rack' m is attached, into:
which a pinion o works, fast to the shaft f, through which said sliding block:
and tool attaches is made to advance towards the wheel or retracted, for the:
purpose of boring or reamering out the hole through the hub of the required
size. P, P, P", are pulleys secured to a hollow shaft S, which is journaled in
the standards A" rising from the frame A. At each end of the shaft Sa
pulley P³, P, is fastened on the outside of the standards A". Through this
hollow shaft S a shaft g passes, carrying on each end a pulley R, R', as well
as a loose pulley R" between the pulleys R and P³. G is a frame or sliding.
table running in suitable ways G' of segmental form, concentric with the
pulleys P, P. Upon this said frame G are mounted three (3) rotary
cutters II, H, H", driven by belts h,h',h", from the respective pulleys P, P', P",
through the medium of the pulleys w, w¹, w", on the shafts of the said, cutters.
The two side cutters H', H", which are employed to dress the face and back:
of the wheel rim, are fitted to suitable frames, which are made to slide so as
to adapt them for rims of various thickness, and are made adjustable in their
distance asunder by means of crank screws v, v', working the cutter frames
back and forth in their guides in the frames L, L'; these frames L, L', are.
also made adjustable on a vertical axis by means of segmental slots p, p';.
provided with clamp screws in order to adapt the cutters to dress the front
and back of the wheel rim to any desired bevels. The cutter H is employed
to dress the tread of the rim or the outer circumference of the wheel, and may
likewise have a circular adjustment by like means. The action of the cutters
upon the wheel rim is clearly illustrated in Figures V. and VI. The table or .
frame G may be moved in either direction towards the centre of the machine,
or away from the same, to place the cutters in contact with the rim of the
wheel, or to remove them therefrom, as well as to accommodate any diameter
of the wheel by means of a crank shaft k, bevel pinions q, q', transverse
shaft r, pinion t, and rack s, or by a screw and pivoted nut, or by other
suitable means. The hollow shaft B, and cousequently the face plate c, has
a slow motion communicated during the time the rim of the wheel is turned.

page_text: or trimmed, and a quick motion while the hub of the wheel is bored or
réamered out. The slow motion is communicated to the hollow shaft B, and
consequently to the face plate C, by a belt K from the pulley P working on a
pulley N on the shaft 3, and acting through a suit of diminishing wheels 4, 5,
6, 7, and 8, on the wheel M fast on the hollow shaft B, so as to impart the
desired slow motion to the face plate C, and to the wheel thereto secured,
while the cutters H, H', H", are rapidly rotated. This said gearing 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
and pulley N work in suitable journals in a sliding frame W, which may be
moved in either direction by a lever Q and pinion 6 acting on a rack fast to
said sliding frame W, to throw the pinion 8 into or out of gear with the
wheel M on the shaft. B. M¹ is a second cog wheel fixed on the hollow
shaft B, which receives motion from the pulley R¹ on the centre shaft g,
through a belt K₁ working on the pulley N¹ fast on the shaft 2, on which a
pinion is fastened mashing into the cog wheel M' when it is required to
rotate the wheel at a higher velocity for the purpose of reamering out the hub
of the wheel. D, B, represents the main driving belt, and X the belt
shifter.
Operation of the machine.-The wheel to be dressed is centered upon the
face plate C by means of the sliding pin or spindle D, and is then secured to the
rim of the face plate through its spokes by means of suitable hook bolts. By
this arrangement of fastening the wheel to the face plate by its spokes said
wheel is at the same time pulled straight and in line. The driving belt D, B,
being then placed, by means of the belt shifter X, upon the pulley P³, motion
is communicated to the pulley P, P¹, P, as well as to the pulley P', whereby
motion is given to the cutters H, H, H", the said cutters having been set to
the required distance and angles. The frame W is then moved by means of
the pinion b, so as to throw the pinion 8 into gear with the cog wheel M; a
slow motion is communicated to the face plate C, and consequently to the
wheel clamped thereto. The table G is then moved forward, as already
explained, in order to place the cutters in contact with the rim of the wheel,
and the rim is dressed off with rapidity and accuracy to the form required,
a.single revolution of the wheel sufficing to dress its rim at the front and
back as well as on its outer circumference; this done, the table G is moved
back again, so as to bring the several cutters clear of the rim, and the
reamer E is advanced within the aperture in the hub. The frame W with
all its gear wheels is then moved backwards, so as to bring the pinion 8 clear
of the wheel M. The driving belt D, B, is then moved upon the pulley R,
whereby motion is given to the pulley R', which is communicated through its.

page_text: belt K' to the pinion i, mashing into the cog wheel M', whereby a more rapid
motion is imparted to the face plate C, and consequently to the wheel clamped
thereon. The block F, to which the reamer E is attached, is then slowly
moved towards the wheel, whereby the hub is quickly reamed out perfectly
true, as the position of the wheel upon the face plate has not been changed,
and in consequence of which the aperture thus formed in the hub for the
reception of the box must be accurately concentric with the tread of the
wheel. While the reamer E is being moved through the hub it meets
the spindle D, which latter is then made to recede within the shaft B, to allow
the reamer E to pass quite through the hub of the wheel, and on the reamer
being withdrawn the said spindle is thrown out again automatically through
its spring d in position for centering another wheel. The ways G' on which
the table G is moved being concentric with the shaft S, as above described,
the tension upon the belts h, h, h", will be the same in all positions of the
table G, and hence the cutters will operate equally well upon a wheel of six
feet in diameter, or on one of two feet, or any other required size.
It is well known that wheels are rarely made accurately true. For this
reason the customary practise of chucking the wheel by the hub for finishing
is objectionable and difficult in application, whereas by my mode of clamping
the wheel to the face plate by hooks applied at a distance from the centre of
the wheel to the spokes, I am enabled to draw the wheel straight, and working
by the faces of the spokes, impart a symmetrical form to wheels originally
imperfect.
Having now fully described and set forth my Invention, I hereby declare
that I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,-
First, the concave face plate C, provided with a sliding centering pin D, and
the manner of attaching the wheel to said face plate by means of clamp hooks,
operating substantially and for the purpose set forth.
Second, the combination with a suitable face plate of the cutters H, H¹, H",
driven simultaneously by bands from pulleys in the manner explained.
Third, in combination with the cutters H, H', H", driven as explained, I
claim the sliding table G, and segmental guides or ways, by means of which
the said cutters may be adjusted in the arc of a circle concentric with the
said driving pulleys, in order to adapt the machine to operate on wheels of
any size.
Fourth, in combination with cutters H, H', H", operated substantially in
the manner explained, I also claim the use of guides, ways, or bearings adjust-
able on vertical axis, in order to admit of dressing the face, back, and tread
of the rim of a wheel to any desirable bevels.

page_text: Fifth, I claim the reamer E, or an equivalent tool, carried by an advancing
and receding stock F, in the described combination with the yielding centering
pin or spindle D, in the manner and for the object specified.
In witness whereof, I, Hiram Smith Jacobs, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty-four.
. Signed and sealed in presence of-
HENRY E. ROEDER,
Patent Agent,
HIRAM SMITH JACOBS. (L.S.).
363, Broadway, N. Y.
JONATHAN MARSHALL,
247, Broadway, N. Y.