Improvements in Rims for Vehicle Wheels.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Jan., 1895-Accepted, 23rd Mar., 1895
Improvements in Rims for Vehicle Wheels.
I, WILLIAM THEODORE COOLEY, residing at the corner of Montrose
Boulevard and Commercial Avenue in the City of Chicago, in the County of
Cook and State of Illinois, United States of America, Cabinet-maker, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The present invention relates to that class of rims that are made of wood and
particularly to such as are made of a single piece or felloe and intended for the
wheels of bicycles and other velocipedes.
The object of the invention is to provide an improved joint for the meeting ends
of the felloe or felloes of rims of this class, and to this end the invention consists in
the features of novelty hereinafter described.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figures 1 and 2 are plan views of a portion of the rim of a wheel having the
improved joint, Figure 1 being a view of the inner, and Figure 2 of the outer
periphery thereof.
Figure 3 is a side elevation thereof.
•
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the meeting ends of the felloe before they are
united and dressed, the ends being separated so as to more clearly show the
construction of the tongues and grooves.
Figure 5 is a transverse section of the completed joint on the line 5-5 Figs. 1, 2
and 3.
When intended for use on bicycles and other velocipedes, the rim is made of a
single felloe, and in the rough this felloe is of rectangular shape, in cross section,
as shown in Figure 4. While in this shape its ends are so cut as to produce
complementary tongues and grooves, and the present invention resides in the
construction and arrangement of these tongues and grooves. Heretofore the end
of the blank has been provided with a number of cuts extending through it from
top to bottom and resulting in corresponding tongues, so that when the ends of the
blank are brought together the tongues of each end occupy and fill the grooves of
the other end. According to the present invention each end of the felloe is
provided with a number of tongues a that are cut away on one side and a number
of tongues that alternate with the tongues a and are cut away on the opposite
side, so that when the two ends of the felloe are brought together, each of the
tongues on each end will lie in the same plane as another tongue on the other end,
and the tongues of one end will be complementary to the tongues of the other end.
Or, in other words, the cut-away face of each of the tongues a on one end of the
felloe will fit against the cut-away face of one of the tongues à on the other end of
the felloe, and this is true as to the tongues balso. The tongues on each end of
the felloe are formed by two series of cuts that are equal in width and distance
apart, one series being made from one side of the blank and the other series from
the other side of the blank, and preferably the cuts increase in depth at a constant
ratio from the inner to the outer ends of the tongues, so as to produce tongues that
have straight but converging sides.
In Figures 1, 2 and 3 the tongues have the appearance of differing in length,
and so they do in the finished article, one side of which is concave while the other
18 convex.

page_text: The great advantage of a joint thus constructed is that it cannot be opened by
lateral strains put upon either or both of the ends that are joined. The over-
lapping of the tongues in the manner shown and described makes it impossible to
open the joint, excepting by pulling the parts directly away from each other and
since it is not possible for any strain that can be put upon the rim in use to pull
the parts directly away from each other, it follows that in use the joint will not
open. I prefer to unite the meeting faces of the tongues with glue, but even
without this it is not possible to open the joint by strains put upon the parts
laterally.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A rim for wheels having a felloe provided on each of its meeting ends with a
series of tongues that are cut away on one side and with a second series of tongues
that alternate with the tongues first aforesaid and are cut away on the opposite
side, the tongues being so located and arranged that when the two ends of the
felloe are brought together, each of the tongues on each end will lie in the
same plane as another tongue of the other end, the tongues of one end being
complementary to the tongues of the other end, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 18th day of December 1804
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.