IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY WHEELS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Turner, of Bradford, in the County of York,
Ironmaster, and John Charles Pearce, of Bowling, near Bradford, in
the same County, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY WHEELS."
Sealed the 12th February 1858, and dated the 15th December 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Turner and John
Charles Pearce at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 15th December 1857.
We, EDWIN TURNER, of Bradford, in the County of York, Ironmaster, and
JOHN CHARLES PEARCE, of Bowling, near Bradford, in the same County,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY WHEELS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to uniting the tyres and bodies of railway wheels
firmly together, so that their strength will be effectively combined, and the
danger of fracture greatly diminished. We form dovetailed or other suitably
shaped grooves or cavities in the inner surfaces of the tyres, and also in the
outer surfaces of the wheel bodies, or rims, so that when the tyres are placed
or shrunk upon the wheels, the grooves or cavities in the former will
correspond with those in the latter. The grooves or cavities thus formed in
the adjoining surfaces of the tyres and wheel rims are filled with fusible
metal, alloy, or other suitable material (by preference, cast iron or zinc), which

page_text: is poured in through suitable holes or channels formed in any convenient
parts of the wheel rims, or in the joints of the tyres and rims, or at the
angles formed by the junctions of the spokes. The metal or material thus
poured or cast into the grooves or cavities forms continuous double dove-
tailed or other shaped connections, extending all round or partially round
the wheels, as may be desired, whereby the tyres and rims are locked firmly
together.
We prefer the dovetailed grooves or cavities of the tyres and wheel rims
being formed at the iron manufactory during the process of rolling. For
this purpose we construct the rolls employed in finishing such tyre rim or
spoke bars with ribs or projections suitable for the purpose, and when the
wheels are of cast iron, we prefer casting the grooves or cavities in the rims
at once; but in cases where the grooves or cavities are not already made in
the material of which tho tyres and rims are composed, we form them by
turning or otherwise cutting away suitable portions of the respective surfaces.
We also make use of transverso keys or fastenings, either cast or driven into
suitable grooves formed in the adjoining surfaces of the tyres and rims, in
order to prevent separation of the tyres in case of fracture or failure of the
weldings.
Our Invention also relates to the construction of railway wheels with
intermediate parts cast between the tyres and rims, whereby both are firmly
bound together, and the necessity of accurately fitting the tyres and wheels
to each other is dispensed with.
SPECIFICATION in pursuanco of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin Turner and John Charles Pearce in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 12th June 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, EDWIN
TURNER, of Bradford, in the County of York, Ironmaster, and JOHN CHARLES
PEARCE, of Bowling, near Bradford, in the same County, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the 'twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Edwin Turner and John Charles Pearce, Her special licence, that we,
the said Edwin Turner and John Charles Pearce, our executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Edwin Turner and John
Charles Pearce, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY WHEELS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Edwin Turner and John Charles Pearce, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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 calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Edwin Turner and John Charles:
Pearce, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
This Invention relates to uniting the tyres and bodies of railway wheels
firmly together, so that their strength will be effectively combined, and the
danger of fracture greatly diminished. We form dovetailed or other suitably
shaped grooves or cavities in the inner surfaces of the tyres, and also in the
outer surfaces of the wheel bodies or rims, so that when the tyres are placed
or shrunk upon the wheels, the grooves or cavities in the former will corre-
spond with those in the latter. The grooves or cavities thus formed in the
adjoining surfaces of the tyres and wheel rims are filled with fusible metal;
alloy, or other suitable material (by preference, cast iron or zinc), which is:
poured in through suitable holes or channels formed in any convenient parts:
of the wheel rims, or in the joints of the tyres and rims, or at the angles formed:
by the junctions of the spokes. The metal or material thus poured or cast
into the grooves or cavities forms continuous double dovetailed or other shaped:
connections, extending all around or partially around the wheels, as may be
desired, whereby the tyres and rims are locked firmly together.
We prefer the dovetailed grooves or cavities of the tyres and wheel rims
being formed at the iron manufactory during the process of rolling, and for
this purpose we construct the rolls employed in finishing such tyre, rim, or
spoke bars with ribs, grooves, and projections suitable for the purpose, and when
the wheels are of cast iron, we prefer casting the grooves or cavities in the rims
at once; but in cases where the grooves or cavities are not already formed in

page_text: the material of which the tyres and rims are composed, we form them by
turning or otherwise.
We also make use of transverse keys or fastenings, either cast or driven
into suitable grooves formed across the adjoining surfaces of the tyres and
rims, in order to prevent the seperation of the ends of the tyres in cases of
fracture or failure of the weldings. Our Invention also relates to the construc-
tion of railway wheels with intermediate parts cast between the tyres and rims,
whereby both are firmly bound together, and the necessity of accurately fitting
the tyres and wheels to each other is dispensed with.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a partial elevation, and Fig. 2 a
transverse section, of an ordinary railway wheel as constructed in accordance
with our Invention. a is the tyre, and b; the rim, in the adjoining surfaces of
which.dovetailed grooves are formed for the reception of the improved fasten-
ing, which extends all around the wheel, as shewn in section at c, c, Fig. 2,
and by the dotted lines c, c, c, Fig. 1. The fluid metal of which the fastening
ring c is composed is poured into the grooves through small holes in the wheel
rim, corresponding with the holes usually employed for rivetting on the tyre, as
represented by the dotted lines d, d. To facilitate the pouring in of the fluid metal
wo place the wheel in a horizontal or slightly reclining position, and employ
moulders sand, clay, or other convenient material to form runners and rising
heads about the holes. Fig. 3 represents the improved fastening as applied to a
wheel with rim and tyre of different section from those shewn in Fig. 2. Figs.
4 and 5 are full size sections of the rims and tyres shewn in Figs. 2 and 3
respectively, shewing also in section at c the double dovetailed fastening. In
addition to the cast dovetail fastening, we sometimes form a dovetail on the edge
of the wheel rim, to take hold of a corresponding dovetail formed upon the tyre,
as shewn at c, Figs. 6 and 7; these dovetails being held firmly together by
means of the cast dovetails, which may be formed wholly or partially within the
tyre and wheel rim, as shewn at c. In forming the cast fastening c, Fig. 6,
which is not wholly surrounded by the tyre and rim, we employ métal segments
suitably curved, which are placed in the angle all round the wheel, as shewn
in section by dotted lines at s, the fluid metal is then poured through
suitable small openings into the cavity c, after which the segments 8 are
removed.
It will be observed that in the several sections hero given to illustrate the
Invention, the solid and cast dovetailed fastenings are all arranged, so as to
admit of the tyres being placed upon the wheels without having to be
¡njuriously expanded in order to. pass over projecting parts, as is very com-
monly the case. Before.casting in the dovetailed fastening, we always prefer

page_text: having the wheel and tyre finished in all other respects, in order to give ample
opportunity for the discovery of any defect or imperfection which may render
it necessary to take the tyre off again. When zinc or other easily fused metal
is employed for the fastening, it can be melted out by the application of heat,
but in cases of worn out tyres, and when the fastening is composed of cast
iron, we turn a groove around the tyre, as represented by the dotted lines g,
Fig. 4, thus cutting it into two parts, which are then taken off the wheel side-
ways, after which the cast fastening is easily got out of the groove in the
wheel rim. By forming the cast metal ring at the edge of the rim, where it
is partially uncovered, as shewn at c, Fig. 6, it can be cut away, so as to allow
the tyre to be drawn off without injuring either wheel or tyre.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same may be used or carried into effect, we wish it to
be understood that we do not restrict ourselves to the precise arrangements
which we have had occasion to describe, as many variations may be made
therefrom without deviating from the main features of our Invention; but what
we claim by virtue of the said Letters Patent is, the employment of double
dovetailed fastenings cast into suitable grooves formed in the adjoining surfaces
of the tyres and rims of railway wheels so as to lock them firmly together, the
adjoining surfaces being so formed as to require the tyres to be only very
slightly expanded in order to get them upon the wheels.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edwin Turner and John Charles Pearce,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Eighth day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
EDWIN
(L.S.) TUKNEK.
JOHN CHARLES (L.S.) PEARCE.
EDWIN
(L.S.) TUKNEK.
JOHN CHARLES (L.S.) PEARCE.