IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
"
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES." A communication
from abroad by Almond Franklin Cooper, of Cambridge, Massachusetts,
United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th April 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAILWAY
VEHICLES." [A communication from abroad by Almond Franklin Cooper, of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.]
This Invention relates to improvements in wheels for railway vehicles.
According to this Invention a wheel is made with a central piece comprising the
hub or nave, the web and the rim or tread, a steel tyre being placed while
expanded by heat upon the rin; the contraction which takes places in cooling
causes certain parts designed for the purpose and hereinafter described to interlock
with each other and thus prevent the tyre from coming off except by heating; a
space is left between the tyre and the wheel to be filled with india-rubber which
is there vulcanized. The tyre and central portion of the wheel are so constructed
that the outer edges of the face of the rim or tread of the wheel and the outer
edges of the inside periphery of the steel tyre when the latter is placed on the
rim come together and fit to each other, thus enclosing a cavity or groove between
the tyre and the wheel, which cavity receives the said india-rubber packing in
such a manner that the latter cannot escape while being forced into it and
vulcanized and cannot be forced out at the sides while the wheel is in use.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I cast the central portion of the
wheel of good iron (or it may be forged or made of wrought iron), in one piece
including the hub, web, or plate, the rim or tread having a groove in its face about
three sixteenths of an inch deep extending all around the wheel and to about
The outer
seven eighths of an inch from the outer sides of the said rin or tread.
sides of the rim or tread are turned off so that the diameter of the wheel through
them is very nearly the same as the inside diameter of the tyre at the outer sides
31

page_text: of the locking projection. In casting the wheel I leave two or more holes through
from the inside of the rim or tread to the groove on the face of the rim in which
the india-rabber is to be deposited. Those holes are reamed out to receive the
conical nozzle of the press which forces the indin-rubber into the wheel, and are
securely plugged after the india-rubber is forced in. The tyre is made of the best
quality of steel for the purpose, of proper width and thickness, and with or
without a flange, as may be desired, its outer and inner sides being turned off to
the proper form and dimension with a locking rib or projection extending around
its inner periphery and to within about seven eighths of an inch from its outer
edges, the depth of this locking ridge or projection being about one twentieth of an
inch or less. The tyre is then heated uniformly throughout its whole circumference
to a dark red heat, and thus so expanded that it will fit over the central part of
the wheel. Or its cooling the rib or locking projection is brought by the con-
traction of the tyre into the groove in the face of the rim or tread of the wheel,
thus locking the wheel and the tyre together so that they cannot be separated
except by heating and expanding the tyre.
Outside the groove of the rim the steel tyro and the face of the rim come
in contact with and fit to each other so closely that when the india-rubber is
forced in it cannot escape between them, but the air will be forced out and a
thin film of india-rubber will be forced between the steel tyre and the rim.
The india-rubber is prepared by grinding and mixing with the proper chemical
substances for vulcanizing, and the wheel and tyre are moderately heated, and
then by an apparatus properly constructed for the purpose and operated by
hydraulic power, the india-rubber is forced through the holes in the rin or tread of
the wheel herein before described into the cavity or groove between the face of the
rim of the wheel and the steel tyre until it is completely filled with the prepared
india-rubber, the pressure in the forcing apparatus being continued and increased
until the india-rubber is driven in a thin film between the outer edges of the steel
tyre and the outer sides of the face of the tread appearing on the outside of the
wheel. The holes through which the india-rubber is forced are then securely
plugged and the wheel is placed in the vulcanizing oven and the proper degree of
heat being applied and continued the required time, the india-rubber is vulcanized
and the wheel is complete and ready to be fitted to the axle. Several wheels may
be so finished at one time.
A wheel so made cannot be broken by use, and the wear upon the points of
contact with the rail is very slight; the durability of this wheel is much greater
than that of ordinarily-constructed wheels.
It will be perceived that this wheel is not, in the ordinary acceptation of the
term, elastic, the indiu-rubber being so confined as to be practically unyielding, but
it cuts off the vibration between the wheel and its tyre, destroys the constant
jar, and obviates any tendency to crystallization of the metal of either wheel or
tyre.
Other substances, for instance soft metals, might be used in the space between
the wheel and the tyre with good effect; but I believe india-rubber to be better
than any other substance for this purpose.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd
October 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAILWAY
VEHICLES." A communication from abroad by Almond Franklin Cooper, of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.
This Invention relates to improvements in wheels for railway-vehicles.
According to this Invention a wheel is made with a central piece comprising the
hub or nave, the web, and the rim or tread, a steel tyre being placed while
expanded by hent upon the said rin; the contraction which takes place in cooling
causes certain parts designed for the purpose and hereinafter described to interlock
with each other, and thus prevent the tyre from coming off except by heating; a
space is left between the tyre and the wheel to be filled with india-rubber packing
which is there vulcanized. The tyro and central portion of the wheel are so
constructed that the outer edges of the face of the rim or "tread" of the wheel and
the outer edges of the inner periphery of the steel tyre when the latter is placed
on the rim come together and fit to each other, so as to enclose a cavity or groove
between the tyre and the rim, which cavity receives the said india-rubber packing in
such a manner that the latter cannot escape while being forced into it and
vulcanized, and cannot be forced out at the sides while the wheel is in use.
In the accompanying Drawing.
Figure 1 represents a transverse section and face view of a portion of a wheel
constructed according to this Invention, and
Figure 2 represents similar views of a modified form of the same.
Figure 3 is a section of a portion of my improved wheel drawn to an enlarged
scale.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I cast the central portion a of the
wheel of good iron (or it may be forged or made of wrought iron) and in one piece
including the hub, the web or plate, and the rim or "tread" b, the latter having a
groove in its face about three sixteenths of an inch deep and extending all around
the wheel and to about seven eighths of an inch from the outer sides of the said
rim or tread. The outer sides of the rim or tread are turned off so that the
diameter of the wheel through them is very nearly the same as the inside diameter
of the tyre c at the outer sides of the locking projection cl. In casting the wheel
I leave two or more holes d through it from the inside of the rim or tread to the
groove on the face of the rim in which the india-rubber is to be deposited. These
holes are reamed out to receive the conical nozzle of the apparatus which forces
the india-rubber into the wheel, and are securely plugged after the india-rubber
is forced in. The tyre is made of the best quality of steal for the purpose, of
proper width and thickness, and with or without a flange, as may be desired, its
outer and inner sides being turned off to the proper form and dimension with the
locking rib or projection c extending around its inner periphery and to within
about seven eighths of an inch from its outer edges, the depth of this locking ridge
or projection being about one twentieth of an inch or less. The tyre is then
heated uniformly throughout its whole circumference to a dark red heat, and
thus so expanded that it will fit over the central part of the wheel. On its cooling,
the rib or locking projection is brought by the contraction of the tyro into the
groove in the face of the rim or tread of the wheel, thus locking the wheel and the
tyre together, so that they cannot be separated except by heating and expanding
the tyre.
Outside the groove of the rim the steel tyre and the face of the rim come in
contact with and fit to each other so closely that when the india-rubber is forced

page_text: in it cannot escape between them, but the air will be forced out and a thin film of
india-rubber will be forced between the steel tyre and the rim.
The india-rubber is prepared by grinding and mixing with the proper chemical
substances for vulcanizing, and the wheel and tyre are moderately heated, and then
by an apparatus properly constructed for the purpose and operated by hydraulic 5
power, the india-rubber is forced through the holes in the rim or tread of the
wheel hereinbefore described into the cavity or groove between the face of the
rim of the wheel and the steel tyre until it is completely filled with the prepared
india-rubber, the pressure in the forcing apparatus being continued and increased
until the india-rubber is driven in a thin film between the outer edges of the steel 1
tyre and the outer sides of the face of the tread and appears on the outside of
the wheel. The holes through which the india-rubber is forced are then securely
plugged, and the wheel is placed in the vulcanizing oven, and the proper degree of
heat being applied and continued for the required time, the india rubber is
vulcanized and the wheel is complete and ready to be fitted to the axle. Several
wheels may be so finished at one time.
"
A wheel so made cannot be broken by use, and the wear upon the points of
contact with the rail is very slight; the durability of this wheel is much greater
than that of ordinarily constructed wheels.
It will be perceived that this wheel is not, in the ordinary acceptation of the
term, elastic, the india-rubber being so confined as to be practically unyielding; but
it cuts off the vibration between the wheel and its tyre, destroys the constant
jar, and obviates any tendency to crystallization of the metal of either wheel or
tyre.
Other substances, for instance soft metals, might be used in the space between
the wheel and the tyre with good effect; but india-rubber appears to be preferable
to any other substance for this purpose.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I am aware that vulcanized india-rubber has been used in wheels for railway
vehicles between the hub and the tread in many different forms. I am also aware
that wheels for railway-vehicles have been made with a cast iron central portion
in one or more parts with steel tyres, and packed with vulcanized india-rubber, and
that india-rubber has been injected into the wheel and vulcanized therein, and there-
fore I do not claim broadly or irrespectively of my improvements its employment in
such wheels, but I claim,-
A wheel for railway vehicles consisting of a hub, a web or plate, or spokes, and
a rim or "tread" all in one piece, a steel tyre with a rib or projection which lies
in a groove in the periphery of the tread, locking the tyre and wheel together but
only partially filling the said groove, a packing of india-rubber vulcanized in the
same and enclosed by the contact of the outer edges of the steel tyre and the
periphery of the tread, all constructed, combined, and arranged substantially as
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty third day of October, in the year of our Lord