CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lucien Arbel, of Rive de Gier, Town in the French
Empire, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MANUFACTURING WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES ON RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 22nd January 1858, and dated the 16th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lucien Arbel at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th October
1857.
I, LUCIEN ARBEL, of Rive de Gier, Town in the French Empire, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTUING WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES ON RAILWAYS," to be
as follows:-
My Invention consists in manufacturing wheels for carriages on railways by
forging the nave, the spokes, and the felloe separately, bringing them together
in a suitable frame or die, heating them while thus brought together to a
welding heat in a suitable furnace, and then welding the whole together with
any necessary appendages (such as an eccentric crank or other such part) in
dies under a steam or other hammer. A steel or other tyre may simul-
taneously be welded upon, the wheel if required. In order that the whole
of the parts may be brought to a uniform or nearly uniform heat in the
furnace, the nave may be formed in two or more parts. The mortices or
recesses for the spokes are formed in the nave (or in the parts of the nave)
by means of the hammer, and a suitable tool, which the hammer drives into
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page_text: the nave and into corresponding recesses made in a die containing the nave.
This die is reversed when the operation is completed, and the nave driven out
of it by bolts which pass through holes in the bottom. The dies in which the
parts are finally welded together are furnished with guides, which prevent
the one moving or riding upon the other when under the action of the
hammer. The lower die is also furnished with holes in the bottom, through
which holes bolts pass to drive out the finished wheel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Lucien Arbel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th
April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LUCIEN
ARBEL, of Rive de Gier, Town in the French Empire, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the "Sixteenth day of October, 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 me, the
said Lucien Arbel, Her special licence that I, the said Lucien Arbel, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Lucien
Arbel, my 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MANU-
FACTURING WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES ON RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Lucien Arbel, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, 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 I, the said Lucien Arbel do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same: is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained-in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed
(that is to say):-

page_text: My Invention consists in manufacturing wheels for carriages on railways by
forging or otherwise forming the nave, the spokes, and the felloes separately,
bringing them together or setting them up in a suitable frame, then heating
them to a welding heat in a suitable furnace, and then welding the whole
together with any necessary appendages (such as an eccentric crank or other
such part) in dies under a steam or other hammer or press. A steel or other
tyre may simultaneously be welded upon the wheel if required. 'In order that
the whole of the parts may be brought to a uniform or nearly uniform heät
in the furnace, the nave may be formed in two or more parts. The mortices
or recesses for the spokes are formed in the nave (or in the parts of the nave)
when at a 'white heat by means of the hammer and a suitable tool, which the
hammer drives into the nave and into corresponding recesses made in a die
containing the nave. This die is reversed when the operation is completed,
and the nave driven out of it by 'bolts, which pass through holes in the
bottom. The dies in which the parts are finally welded together are furnished
with guides which prevent the one moving or riding upon the other when
under the action of the hammer. The lower die is also'furnished with holes
in the bottom, through which holės bolts pass to drive out the finished
wheel. Mortices' or 'recesses are made by a morticing machine in the felloe
to receive tongues in which the'outer ends of the spokes are made to
terminate.
The method of carrying my Invention' into effect is illustrated in the several
Figures of the Drawings hereunto arnexed.
Figure' is a section through the line A, B; of the plan Figure 2 of two
dies X, Y,'ready to be submitted, with the parts of a wheel between them, to
the action of a' steam or other hammer or press. Figure 3 is a plan of the
frame in which the parts are brought together in a cold state, and Figure 4
is a section through the line A, B, of Figure 3. Figure 5 is an enlarged
plau of the die Z employed' for shaping the nave M, and Figure 6 is a section
of the same through the liue A, B, of Figure 5. Figures 7 and 8 are two
views of the nave recessed to receive the spokes. Figure 9 is a sectional
view shewing the manner in which the parts of a wheel are combined in a
cold state before they are placed in the furnace, M being the'nave, B, B, the
spokes, and J the felloe, the whole of the parts being held together by
wedges. The parts thus prepared are lifted from the frame by pincers or
clips which surround the 'felloe, and by means of a crane are placed in a
furnace, from which they are removed when at a welding heat into the lower
of the two dies Y. The two dies X and Y are not in all respects similar.
The lower die Y'is furnished with a rim or flange C, D, which gives form to

page_text: the whole surface of the felloe or periphery of the wheel, and prevents the
inequality or imperfection in that part which would result if the junction of
the dies occurred there. The said rim or flange also facilitates the imbedding
of the wheel in the die when it is withdrawn from the furnace. The dies
X, Y, are furnished with guides G, G, which prevent them from sliding or in
any way moving one on the other while under the impulses of the hammer.
In the lower die Y is a set of holes K, K, through which levers or rods are
forced upward to remove the completed wheel from the dies. Figure 9ª is a
section of a wheel in a finished state. The frame, Figures 3 and 4, is formed
with as many divisions D, D, as there are spokes to the wheel. The nave is
placed in the space E, E, with its recesses respectively opposite the divisions
1), D; the felloe J is similarly placed, and the spokes are inserted between
the two, the inner ends thereof being inserted in the mortices in the nave,and
the tongue on the outer ends in the mortices formed in the felloe, as shewn
in the plan, Figure 4ª. c, c; are wedges to block up and hold the spokes in
the nave. In Figures 5 and 6 the recesses E¹, E¹, in number the same as
the spokes, are to receive part of a tool, which, on being driven down by the
hammer, forms the required recesses in the nave which lies in the space M¹.
The horizontal holes T, T, are for receiving levers by which the die may be
removed as required, and the hole L is to receive a flat pointed lever, by
means of which the die is inverted. J', J, are holes through which rods are
driven to force the finished nave or half nave,as the case may be,out of the die.
The foregoing description relates only to the wheels of tenders, carriages
(other than locomotives), and waggons. For the manufacture of the wheels
of locomotives I modify the dies, as indicated in Figures 10, 11, 12, 13,
and 14. The nave h, shown in plan and side view in Figure 10, is formed of
a block of iron heated to a white heat, and brought to the required form by
means of the stamps or dies a, a¹, shown in side, end, and plan views in
Figure 11; the same is then reheated and brought to the die b, shown in plan
and section in Figure 12, in which it rests, to be completed by the descent
of the stamp d, shown in face view and section in Figure 13. In the dove-
tailed grooves of the stamp d are placed the dovetailed steel cutters c,
Figure 13.
When the hammer falls upon the stamp d, the divisions for
receiving the spokes are made in the nave and also the holes for the axle and
the crank pin, the latter by-the punches e, e. These punches are moveable,.
and serve after the shaping of the nave is completed to lift the nave from the
die 6 when acted upon by levers suitably arranged for the purpose.
Figure 14 are shewn two sectional views of the dies and stamps which I
employ for shaping those ends of the spokes which are welded to the felloe
In

page_text: for all the descriptions of wheels before mentioned. The bar which is to form
the spoke is cut to its proper length, heated at one end to a white heat,
placed in the die i, and there receives a blow from the stamp g, which is
carried by a suitable hammer. The end of the spoke is thus brought by one
or two strokes of the hammer to the shape shown in Figures 4 and 9 ready
to be combined with the felloe.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim manufacturing
wheels for carriages on railways by forging or otherwise forming the nave, the
spokes, and the felloe, and any other required appendages separately, bringing
them together in a suitable frame, then removing them to a furnace, heating
them to a welding heat, and welding the whole together in dies under a steam
or other hammer or press.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lucien Arbel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
LUCIEN ARBEL. (L.S.)