Improvements in Wheels for Vehicles.
Year: 1893

page_text: This Print is in accordance with the Original Specification as it stands after
Amendment (under Section 18 of the Patents, &c., Act, 1883), as allowed by
the decision of the Chief Examiner of the 2nd day of October 1896.
Date of Application, 11th July, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 9th May, 1894--Accepted, 9th June, 1894
Improvements in Wheels for Vehicles.
J, RICHARD WILLIAMS THOMAS, of 121 Cheapside, in the City and County of
London, Photographer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to wheels for vehicles and has for its object to provide an
improved elastic hub, that is to say, a hub which will intercept the vibrations
caused by stones and the like on the road and prevent the same from being
communicated to the frame of the vehicle. My improved hubs are especially
suited for velocipede and similar light wheels.
According to my invention I provide a compound hub that is to say, a hub made
in two parts. The inner part is adapted to rotate on the wheel axle or, if the axle
is permitted to rotate, it may be fixed to the said axle, and the outer part which
has the spokes attached on its periphery carries the rim or felloe of the wheel.
I will call the inner part of the compound hub the "centre" hub and the outer
part thereof the "spoke" hub. The two parts of the compound hub are separated
by an elastic ring or cushion which may take the form of a bag of air or it may be
made of india-rubber or other suitable material.
The chief feature of my invention relates to the provision of means whereby the
spoke hub is not in contact with the elastic ring or cushion along the whole extent
of the largest circumference of the same, but is corrugated or furnished with
prominences on the inside which touch the said cushion at intervals along its
circumference. In some cases the inner hub is made in a similar fashion with
regard to the smallest circumference of the ring or cushion.
Another important
feature of my invention relates to the means, whereby a positive connection is
effected between the centre hub and the spoke hub, without diminishing the freedom
of movement of one hub relatively to the other.
This connection is especially useful in the case of driving hubs, when the spoke
hub is driven from the centre hub.
In order that the nature of my invention may be more easily understood I will
now give by way of example one or two methods of carrying the same into
practice.
The centre hub may take the form of a tube which rotates on the axle on
suitable ball-bearings. In the case where I provide an air-tube or bag for the
elastic cushion I secure two flanges on the centre hub at a suitable distance apart.
between which flanges the air cushion is placed and which therefore do not permit
of the axial movement of the said cushion along the centre hub. The centre hub
is moreover provided with two outer flanges formed in one piece with or firmly;

page_text: secured to the same. These outer flanges are some little distance away from, and
do not touch the sides of, the air-tube or cushion. The spoke hub is provided on
the interior with rounded prominences or corrugations which bear on the largest
circumference of the air cushion. On the outer flat periphery on each side of the
spoke hub are pins which project into shallow depressions forined in the two outer
flanges of the centre hub above mentioned, and which communicate driving power
from the axle to the spoke hub. The said depressions are preferably circular in
plan and sufficiently large in diameter to allow the spoke hub to move eccentrically
to the centre hub when necessary; at the same time they prevent axial movement
of the said spoke hub, and the sides thereof in conjunction with the pins above
mentioned form a positive connection between the two hubs. The said pins may
be furnished at their ends with balls to reduce the friction, I preferably provide
that the plane surfaces of the shallow depressions shall be movable in and out in
order that the spoke hub may be held without shake, or the ends of the pins may
be made movable for the same purpose. I sometimes provide discs on the pins
which discs fill the shallow depressions in the flanges and are preferably supported
on ball bearings therein. Said discs are mounted eccentrically on the pins with or
without ball bearings; the spoke hub can then move eccentric to the centre hub
without causing jarring or noise which might occur from the pins striking the sides
of the shallow depressions.
Instead of providing pins on the hub I sometimes use rods passing through the
same parallel with the wheel axle the ends of the rods being furnished with anti-
friction balls, and in this case the prominences on the interior of the spoke hub may
take the form of balls of suitable size through which the aforesaid rods pass.
said balls are preferably confined between flanges on the rods or between the sides
of the spoke hub, and may be allowed to turn on the said rods if necessary.
The
It will be readily seen that a middle section, perpendicular to the axle of the
spoke hub constructed as above described would appear somewhat like an internally
toothed gear wheel the teeth being very large and far apart. I sometimes carry
out this idea a little further, as follows: The centre hub having outer flanges with
shallow depressions as above described has secured on it in a suitable manner a
kind of star wheel of say four teeth which may communicate a driving power from
one hub to the other; said teeth are however very deep and rounded at the tops.
The spoke hub is constructed in the same manner as above described, but the
corrugations are formed of four teeth of suitable size the tops of which bear
against an india-rubber band placed round the star wheel fixed to the centre hub.
The tops of the teeth of the spoke hub do not reach to the roots of the teeth in
the centre hub when the two hubs are in their normal position, that is to say,
concentric, but when, through roughness in the road for instance, the two hubs
are brought to an eccentric position the band or cushion between the teeth will be
deformed.
It will be observed that in my improved compound hub the elastic ring or cushion
is not cemented to either of the two hubs, and I thereby secure the advantage that
when one part of the said ring or cushion is compressed, the part of the cushion on
the other side of the hub is not extended but is free to move in any direction;
this is not the case with elastic hubs as hitherto constructed. Moreover since the
spoke hub bears on only a small part of the surface of the elastic cushion the same
is much more easily deformed and responds more readily to roughness in the road
thereby rendering the wheel very fast.
Although I have herein described one
or two methods of carrying out my
invention I do not limit myself to these methods, for instance, I inay arrange that
the spoke-hub instead of sliding between the outer flanges of the centre hub shall
be so constructed as to partly enclose said flanges; the pins in the spoke hub will
then be screwed through the same from the outside, the plane faces of the
depressions in the outer flanges being on the outside of the said flanges instead of
inside as hereinabove described. I may make the hubs of any suitable metal,
aluminium or brass for instance, using preferably steel anti-friction balls and steel

page_text: faces for the plane surfaces on which said balls bear, and I very often in order
to gain lightness use wood or other materials for certain parts of the hubs.
The elastic ring or cushion is preferably made of india-rubber which may or may
not be strengthened with canvas or the like. In cases where I use a bag of air for
the cushion I provide a suitable inflation tube and valve for the same.
My improved compound hub can be readily and quickly fitted on existing wheels
in which case the spokes thereof are shortened, and the original hub of the wheel
is made into the centre hub of the combination.
Wheels fitted with my elastic hub are very springy and resilient rendering the
wheel almost if not quite as * fast as a pneumatic tyred wheel, while the danger
of puncturing the air bag when such is used is reduced to a minimum.
Such hubs as herein before described can be used with wheels already fitted with
pneumatic tyres of any pattern and in such cases the possibility of vibrations
being communicated to the frame of the vehicle is almost entirely avoided thus
rendering the vehicle when it is a cycle of any kind very
"fast
moreover ensuring that the tyre shall be less liable to puncture.
Dated this 11th day of July 1893
and easy and
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Wheels for Vehicles.
I, RICHARD WILLIAMS THOMAS, of 41 Cheapside, City and County of London,
Photographer, 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 :-
My invention relates to wheels for vehicles and has for its object to provide an
improved elastic hub therefor, that is to say, a hub which will intercept the
vibrations caused by stones and the like on the road and prevent the same from
being communicated to the frame of the vehicle. My improved hubs are especially
suited for velocipede, and similar light, wheels.
According to my invention I construct a compound hub, that is to say, a hub made
in two parts. The inner part or "centre hub is adapted to rotate on the wheel
axle or if the axle is permitted to rotate it may be securely fixed to the said axle,
and the outer part or "spoke hub" which has the spokes attached on its periphery
carries the rim or felloe of the wheel. The two parts of the compound hub are
separated by an elastic ring or cushion which may for example take the form of a
hollow ring or annulus filled with air or gas under pressure, or it may be made of
india-rubber or other suitable material.
An important feature of my invention is that the spoke hub is not in contact
with the elastic ring er cushion along the whole extent of the largest circumference
of the same but is corrugated or furnished with suitable internal projections or
prominences which touch the said ring or cushion at intervals along its outer
circumference or the elastic cushion may be corrugated on its periphery as herein-
after explained. In some cases 1 make the inner hub in a similar fashion with
regard to the smaller circumference of the ring or cushion.
Another important feature of my invention relates to the provision of means
whereby a positive connection is effected between the centre hub and the spoke hub
without diminishing the freedom of one hub relatively to the other.
This con-
nection is especially useful, in the case of driving wheels when the spoke hub is
driven from the centre hub.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood I will now proceed to
describe the manner of carrying the same into practice.

page_text: In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a longitudinal central section of a compound hub constructed in.
accordance with the present invention.
Figure 2 is a section of the hub on the line a, a Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 shewing a modified form of hub.
Figure 4 is a half section on the line y, y Figure 3.
Figures 5 and 6 are half sections similar to Figures 1 and 2 shewing a modified
form of compound hub.
Figure 7 is a longitudinal section similar to Figure 1 of a hub in which the air
cushion is replaced by an elastic band.
Figure 8 is a section similar to Figure 4 shewing a modified form of the hub
illustrated in said figure.
Like letters of reference denote similar parts in all the drawings.
A is the stationary axle of the wheel, B is what I call the inner or centre hub,
C is the elastic cushion, and D is the spoke hub.
Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 the centre hub B is provided with two collars
or flanges B' which serve to keep the elastic cushion C in place on the hub. Said
elastic cushion is in this case an air tube of india-rubber which may be covered with
a jacket of canvas or other textile fabric and is not secured to the centre hub in
any manner but is kept in place merely by projections as hereinafter described.
Two plates B2, B2 are placed on the said centre hub being prevented from rotating
relatively thereto by means of the pins B³, B³; said plates are secured by
nuts B, B. I provide internal projections B* which when the plates B2, B² are
in position press into the sides of the air cushion. Channels or keyways may be
cut in the flanges of collars B' for said projections to pass through, the plates B³, B³
being thereby keyed to the hub B. The pins B³ B³ may then be dispensed with.
The spoke hub D consists of a shell which is enclosed between the plates B³, B²,.
said shell has tubes or rods D³ passing from one side to the other thereof forming
internal projections which press on the outer periphery of the air cushion Cas
shown very clearly in Figure 1; the said tubes or rods D¹ are preferably provided
with sleeves D2 of india-rubber or other suitable material to protect the air cushion
from wear as much as possible. The outer ends of the tubes or rods D¹ project a
short distance beyond the sides of the spoke hub into circular shallow depressions B³
in the plates B2, B2 the balls D³ being provided to lessen the friction between the
ends of the pins D₁ and the bottoms of the said shallow depressions B³. It is
easily seen that the length of the pins D' regulates the distance between the two
plates B2, B2, the nuts B, B, being screwed up so that the spoke hub is held
without shake between the said two plates. The spokes E of the wheel are screwed
into the rims D, D' of the spoke hub as shewn. In case the hub is for a driving
wheel the crank or gear wheel is fixed on the centre hub B as shewn for
instance at F. I provide a suitable valve C¹ through which the air cushion can be
inflated.
The full lines in Figures 1 and 2 shew the position and size of the air cushion
before it is inflated, after inflation it will bulge at the sides in the manner shewn.in
dotted lines in said figures.
The action of my improved hub is very simple. The upward pressure on the
wheel rim is of course transmitted by the spokes E to the spoke hub D and thence
through the medium of the tubes or rods D' to the elastic cushion (which is
compressed where the said rods bear against its outer periphery. If a sudden
pressure is transmitted from the wheel rim owing to the wheel running over a stone
for example the rod D¹ is pressed farther into the air cushion on the side nearest
the ground but the opposite rod furthest from the ground naturally moves farther
away from the cushion not being secured thereto in any manner so that said cushion
is free to expand at that place; moreover since there is a considerable space between
the periphery and the spoke hub D the cushion will be free to expand in any
direction, except at the places where it touches the tubes D¹. At the same time a
positive driving connection is maintained between the centre hub and the spoke hub

page_text: independent of the cushion, the projecting portions of the tubes or rods D' engaging
with the sides of the depressions B as shown in Figure 1 in any position of the
two hubs and allowing freedom of movement between them, by this means
obviate
a large amount of wear on the elastic cushion which would occur if I used the
said cushion to transmit the power from either hub to the other hub. To prevent
noise I preferably provide rings D³ of india-rubber or the like on the ends of the
tube or rods D' and line the flat bottom of the depressions with leather as shewn
at B. The bottoms of said depressions are preferably steel faced inside under the
leather to withstand wear.
In a modification of the above described hub the air cushion is corrugated with
a suitable number of corrugations. For example as shewn in Figures 3 and 4 the
air cushion may be of a somewhat triangular form, the outermost portions or
rounded angles ( being received in shell-like projections 18 of the spoke hub.
Said spoke hub is formed in two parts each of which consists of a ring or plate D
with a triangular portion cut out of its centre as shewn at D. The shell-like
portions D projecting from the said plates meet in the middle line and are there
united by bolts, one of which is shewn at D in Figure 4, passing through lugs D".
The tubes or rods shewn at D' Figures 1 and 2 are dispensed with and in place
thereof I provide ball cups D12 screwed through the plates 1) and fitted to receive
large balls D³.
By using large balls I prevent the ball cups from coming in
contact with the sides of the recesses B in the plates B². The plates B2 are of a
similar design to those hereinabove described with reference to Figures 1 and 2.
The air cushion is in this modification provided with blocks C³ which lie between
the projections B* on the plates B2 and so prevent the air cushion rotating
relatively to the centre hub. I prefer that the valve ("through which the
cushion is inflated should pass through one of the projections (2 instead of being
placed at the circumference as shewn in Figure 1. The cushion and shell-like
portions D are enclosed in a casing of any suitable description as shewn at D¹³
which casing can be easily removed when desired. The ball cups D12 are adjusted
from within by means of a tool shaped to fit the square hole D in the ends of said
ball cups or other means of adjustment may be adopted.
It will be seen that the hub shewn in these figures differs from that shewn in
Figures 1 and 2, chiefly in the following particulars, namely the rods D'are
dispensed with, the cushion being corrugated and touching projections on the spoke
hub. Moreover the spoke hub is made in two pieces so that the entire hub may be
readily taken apart. The other portions of the hub are substantially similar to the
corresponding parts of Figures 1 and 2.
Figures 5 and 6 illustrate another modification of the construction shewn in
Figures 1 and 2. The spoke hub D is placed outside the plates B2 B2 which
enclose the air cushion at the sides, said plates being furnished with internal
projections B* which prevent the air cushion from turning round the hub as
hereinabove described. The said plates are somewhat star-shaped as shewn in
Figure 5 and furnished with cups for balls D³ which bear against the internal
surfaces of the spoke hub D. The spoke hub is formed of two plates connected
together by the tubes or rods D', said rods pass between the projecting portions B
of the plate B2 and by their engagement with said portions a positive driving
connection is maintained between the centre hub B and the spoke hub D. The
plates forming the spoke hubs have large central apertures Do through which the:
axle of the wheel passes so as to allow said plates to move relatively to the axle:
The portion of the plates against which the balls D³ bear is bounded by projecting
flanges D', D' the distance between said flanges being wide enough to allow the
spoke hub to move freely relatively to the centre hub. It is obvious that when
the spoke hub moves nearer the axle of the wheel owing to roughness of the road
the air cushion () is deformed by the pressure thereon of the tubes or rods D¹ in a
similar fashion to that herein before described with reference to Figures 1 and 2.
Instead of using an air cushion as shown in Figures 5 and 6 1 may substitute a
band of india-rubber or the like as shewn in Figure 7. The two plates B2 B are

page_text: The
then connected by rods or tubes B' B' preferably furnished with sleeves B8 B8 and
a band of flexible and elastic material is placed encircling the same as shewn.
In this case the inner hub only touches the internal periphery of the ring at certain
places namely, where the rods or tubes B B7 come into contact with the same.
rods or tubes D' which connect the plates forming the spoke hub bear on the outside
of the band and the other portions of the hub are constructed in a fashion similar
to that described for the other figures.
In a further modification I arrange that the plates B2, B2 forming part of the
centre hub shall be outside the plates D, D which form the spoke hub. This is
shewn in Figure 8 in which figure the air cushion is shewn inflated. The rods or
tubes D' project on the outside of the spoke hub and engage with the projecting
arms Be of the plates B2, the inside portions of the said rods or tubes pressing on
the air cushion as herein before described with reference to Figures 5 and 6 of the
drawing. The balls D³ are received in cups on the inner surfaces of the plates B
and. bear on the outer surfaces of the plates D¹. The action of this form of hub is
similar to that of the hub described with reference to Figures 5 and 6 and does not
call for further description.
I may make the hubs of any suitable metal aluminium or brass for instance, using
preferably steel anti-friction balls and steel faces for the plane surfaces on which
said balls bear and I very often, in order to gain lightness use wood or the like for
certain parts of the hubs. At those parts where jarring or noise can
occur I
preferably provide leather or india-rubber linings or sleeves in order to render the
action noiseless.
The air cushion where such is used may be of any suitable construction, and
need not be of tubular form. For example I may so fashion the inner hub with
its flanges B', B¹ that an air chamber may be secured thereto in a fashion similar
to that used for securing pneumatic tyres to the rims of wheels or I may use other
devices suitable for the purpose.
My improved compound hub can be used for driving wheels as well as for
ordinary wheels, it can be moreover readily and quickly fitted on any existing
wheel in which case the spokes of the wheel are shortened and the original hub of
the wheel is made into the centre hub of the combination.
Wheels fitted with my elastic hub are very springy and resilient rendering the
wheel almost if not quite as "fast" as a pneumatic tyred wheel while the danger of
puncturing the air bag when such is used is reduced to a minimum.
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. For wheels, an elastic hub, consisting of a centre hub adapted to turn in the
wheel bearings, a spoke hub to which the spokes are attached, an air or other
elastic cushion interposed between the centre hub and spoke hub in such a manner
that the said spoke hub does not touch said cushion at every part of its greatest
external circumference, and means whereby a positive connection is maintained
between the two hubs without interfering with the relative movements of the same
in the plane of the wheel.
2. In an elastic hub for wheels, an elastic cushion which is not in contact with
the spoke hub along the whole circumference of the same, substantially as described
for the purpose specified.
3. An elastic hub for wheels constructed substantially as described with
reference to any of the accompanying drawings and operating as specified.
Dated this 9th day of May 1801
R. W. THOMAS.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.