IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS AND AXLES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Julian Bernard, of Pocock Street, in the County of
Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS AND AXLES."
Sealed the 22nd August 1879, and dated the 28th February 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Julian Bernard at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th February 1879.
JULIAN BERNARD, of Pocock Street, in the County of Surrey. " IMPROVEMENTS
IN WHEELS AND AXLES."
+
This Invention relates, first, to an improved method and means of securing tyres
on the wheels of ordinary vehicles, and is more particularly intended to secure
tyres made of such descriptions of steel as are not intended to be joined by the
process of welding into an endless hoop. In carrying out this head of the Invention
I employ a metal felloe or felloes in connection with ordinary wood felloes, each of
the metal ones being recessed, socketed, or otherwise formed to receive or take into
an ordinary felloe at each of its ends.
There is also a socket or recess formed in its inner side for receiving one end of
a spoke, while on its outer side or rim is formed a recess or recesses for receiving
the ends of the tyre which have been bent and shaped to a suitable angle to form
a connecting joint, and to take into the said recess or recesses; the outer side of the
joint is made flush and formed to correspond with the outline of the face of the
tyre, while the connected ends which project on the inner side are held in the recess
of the connecting felloe, one side only of which need have an opening to receive
the jointed part. These tyres may be rivetted or otherwise joined so as to retain
their proper form, and put on the wheels so joined in any convenient manner, care
being taken that the joint is brought exactly over the recess in the connecting
felloe previously to its being forced upon the wheel when it may be further secured
in the usual manner.
The second head of my Invention relates to such axles as are made with arms or in
two-separate parts, and consists, first, of making and forming each separate end of
such arms or parts sufficiently near each other in form and outline that when one end
is worn it can be reversed in its holder, and thus practically renewing the axle, and
saving cost and time for repair or a new one.
The holders for these arms are in
TD 037

page_text: the form of brackets with a socket underneath it, the upper part being for the
purpose of connecting the axle to the conveyance and a socket for receiving the arm,
which may be held in position by a bolt pin or fusible metal until its removal is
required. These socketed brackets may be connected by a tie rod or rods, or con-
nected to each other by a tube extending from one side of the conveyance to the
other, or inay be formed in one piece, and by preference of malleable iron, the socket
and bracket being formed on each end.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Julian Bernard in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
August 1879.
JULIAN BERNARD, of Pocock Street, in the County of Surrey.
IN WHEELS AND AXLES."
"IMPROVEMENTS
My said Invention relates, first, to an improved method and means of securing
tyres on the wheels of ordinary vehicles, and is more particularly intended to secure
tyres made of such descriptions of steel as are not intended to be joined by the
process of welding into an endless hoop. In carrying out this head of my Inven-
tion I employ a metal felloe, or part, or section or sections of felloes in connection
with ordinary wood sections or felloes, each of the metal ones being recessed;
socketed, or otherwise formed to receive or take into an ordinary wood segment or
felloe at each of its ends.
.
There is also a socket or recess formed in its inner side for receiving one end of
a spoke, while on its outer side or rim is formed a recess or recesses for receiving
the ends of the tyre which have been bent and shaped to a suitable angle to form
a connecting joint and to take into the said recess or recesses.
The second head of my Invention relates to the axles of vehicles, and consists in
forming each of the arms upon which the wheels turn, double ended so as to render
them capable of being reversed in their holders, whereby when one end of the arm
is worn it can be reversed in its holder, and the opposite end brought into use.
The holders for these reversible arms consists of a socket provided with lugs or
brackets for the purpose of connecting it to the vehicle, and the arms are secured
in these sockets by bolts or pins, or if desired by means of fusible metal. The
sockets for the two opposite sides of the vehicle inay be connected by a steel or
other tie rod or tie rods, or by a tube extending from one side of the vehicle to the
other, or a pair of holders may be formed in one piece if desired, by preference of
malleable iron.
I will now proceed to more fully describe my Invention by referring to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying Drawing illustrates the first part of
my Invention, Figure 1 being a side sectional elevation of a portion of a wheel,

page_text: shewing my improved mode of securing the tyre thereon; Figure 2 is a plan of
the saine; and Figures 3 and 4 are details of a portion of the tyre attached.
In carrying out this part of my Invention I employ in combination with the
ordinary wood felloc, or section of a felloe, a metal segment or holder A, provided
with a socket B on each end for the reception of the ends of the adjacent wood
segments C. It is also provided when great strength is required with a socket or
sockets D on the inner side for the reception of one or more of the spokes E of
the wheel, for wheels of light vehicles however the sockets D may be dispensed
with.
In lieu of forming the tyre into a complete ring by welding the ends together as
ordinarily practised, I either forge pieces on to or bend the ends of the tyre to about
a right angle, as shewn at a in Figure 3, and secure them together temporarily by
means of a clamp or bolt or by other suitable means. The tyre is then heated and
placed on the felloe in the usual way, the projections a being inserted in the
recess F, provided for their reception in the top surface of the metal holder or
segment A. The recess F may if desired have straight sides; but I prefer to under
cut it or make it of a dove, tail form, as shown, and force or expand the ends a
therein by means of a wedge driven in between the ends a so as to lock them in
the recess, and the tyre may be further secured if desired by inserting bolts or
pins at intervals round the circumference as in the ordinary mode of fixing tyres.
Figures 5 to 10 of my Drawings inclusive illustrate the second head of my
Invention, Figure 5 being a plan of my improved axle arm; Figures 6 and 7
represent respectively an end view and a plan partly in section of the socket or
holder for the axle arm intended more particularly for cabs and other similar
carriages; Figures 8 and 9 are similar views of a modified construction of the
holder intended to be applied to carts and other vehicles, having wooden axle trees
and employed more particularly for heavy traffic; Figure 10 illustrates this part
of my Invention as applied to axles of tram cars and similar vehicles, in which the
wheels are fixed on the axles and the axles caused to rotate in axle boxes; and
Figure 11 represents detail views of the ordinary cap and washer for the ends of
the axle.
The axle arm may if desired be made parallel throughout, as shewn by dotted
lines in Figure 5, but I prefer to construct it with its two ends a, a¹, of a slightly
tapering form from the central parallel part towards its two extremities c, c¹,
the end a being practically of the same shape and dimensions as the end a¹, and
each made to fit the socket or holder A (Figures 6 and 7) so as to have a bearing
therein at the parts marked b' and b² to ensure its being held firmly therein. The
arm is by preference retained in the socket or holder by means of a key or cotter
passed through the holder and through the hole d, provided in the extremity of the
axle for the reception of the ordinary linch pin employed for securing the wheel on
the axle; but if desired the arm may be secured in the holder by means of fusible
metal or other convenient means.
These axle arms may be made of wrought iron or other metal, but I prefer to
construct them of Bessemer steel, whereby their strength and durability is greatly
increased.
The holders A, Figures 6 and 7, which I construct by preference of cast malleable
iron, is provided with lugs or brackets & for the purpose of securing it to the spring
of the vehicle to which it is to be applied; it is also provided with a socket f for
the purpose of connecting it by means of either a solid or a tubular tie bar g (which
forms the axle tree) with a similar holder situated on the opposite side of the
vehicle. These ties or connecting rods g may be bent or curved for the purpose of
imparting the necessary cant to the wheels..
It will be obvious on referring to the Drawing that when one end of the double
ended arm becomes worn by the action of the wheel thereon the said arm may be
readily removed from the holder by simply removing the pin which secured it
therein, the worn end may then be inserted and secured and the end that was
previously in the holder mado to protrude for the reception of the wheel. The worn

page_text: end of the arm will have the same amount of bearing in the holder as the unworn
end had, inasmuch as the bearing parts, viz., the parts b and c, o¹, are not subjected
to the friction or any apreciable wearing action of the wheel and will remain
unaltered and their rigidity ensured.
It will thus be readily understood that by constructing axles and mounting the
same in the improved manner herein before described they will last twice as long
as the best axles at present in use, whilst at the same time they are cheaper, more
reliable in consequence of the absence of flaws to which ordinary forgings are liable,
and are also more convenient in their application, as both the operations of welding
and forging are entirely dispensed with.
In constructing holders for use in carts or other vehicles intended for heavy
traffic, and which are provided with wooden axle trees, I form the said holders
with extra lugs or brackets e', Figures 8 and 9, for securing them to the wooden
axle trees, and I provide the lugs or brackets with projecting flanges or lips h to
embrace the sides of the wooden axle tree, and thus ensure their being more firmly
and rigidly connected thereto.
The lugs e¹ are formed on the holder at a lower elevation than the lugs e, for
the purpose of imparting the necessary cant to the wheels.
When my Invention is to be applied to tram car and other axles upon which the
wheels are fixod, and the axles are caused to rotate in axle boxes, I inake the arm
parallel throughout, as shewn in Figure 10, and fit it into a tubular holder A
secured to and extending across the bottom of the vehicle to which it is applied,
and I fix the arm in the said holder by means of keys or bolts i passed through
the holder and through the central portion of the arm, as shewn.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, I
would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original, and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part recited
Letters Patent is,―
First. Securing tyres to the wheels of vehicles by combining with the ordinary
wooden felloe or sections of the felloe, a metal felloe or section of felloe provided
with a recess for the reception of the bent or angular ends of the tyre, substantially
as hereinbefore described, and illustrated by my Drawings.
Second. Constructing or forming both ends of that part of an axle upon which
the wheels are either keyed or caused to revolve sufficiently near each other in size
and form as to admit of it being reversed in its holder end for end, when one end
is worn or is out of repair, by which means the essential wearing parts of the axle
may be practically renewed, substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated
by my Drawings.
Third. The combination with reversible axle arms of a socket or holder, con-
structed and arranged substantially in the manner hereinbefore described, and
illustrated by my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julian Bernard, have to this my Specifi-
cation set my hand and seal, this Twenty eighth day of August, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.