IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES AND LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES INTENDED TO BE EMPLOYED ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1842

page_text: LOSH, of Newcastle on Tyne, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-eighth day of April, in the fifth year of Her reign, did for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Losh, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said William Losh, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Losh, my exors, adiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES AND LOCOMOTIVE
ENGINES INTENDED TO BE EMPLOYED ON RAILWAYS;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso, that I, the said William Losh, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Losh, do declare that the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained in

page_text: and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is
to say)-
:-
My Invention consists in certain modes of securing the iron tyre of wheels
upon the ring or felloe produced by the prolongation of the bars of iron
employed to make the wrought iron spokes thereof, with or without the inter-
vention of wood, felt, rope, or such like flexible or yielding material between
the same, by which method I avoid the necessity of heating the tyre to secure
it by contraction, as hitherto usually practised, and can consequently use either
a malleable iron tyre or a cast iron tyre, at pleasure, and also of certain modes
of fixing a cast iron tyre upon straight or curved malleable iron spokes, as
hereafter described. My Invention further consists in an improved method of
forming the malleable iron arms or spokes of wheels, as hereafter also fully
described. And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will describe the Drawings hereunto annexed, and
the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 represents a side view of a railway wheel, the spokes and felloes
being produced by bending bars of iron in such manner that the two ends of
each bar are made fast in the nave and produce two spokes, the middle
portion of each forming part of the ring or felloe, and the whole producing
nearly a complete ring or continuous felloe, so as to give the requisite support
to the tyre when applied to the wheel. Now the mode generally practised of
fixing the tyre upon the felloe or ring of this wheel, either with or without the
intervention of wood, felt, rope, or such like flexible or yielding material be-
tween the same, is by heating the tyre to full redness, and driving it in the
heated state upon the felloe, so that, on cooling, its contraction may secure it
firmly on the felloe, after which it is kept in its place by screws or rivets, as
shewn in the Figure. The principle here employed is that of producing firm
attachment between the felloe and the tyre by diminishing the size of the tyre
till it firmly grasps the felloe; but it is obvious that the same thing will
be accomplished by increasing the size of the felloe when placed within the
tyre. This is the peculiar character or principle of this part of my Invention,
and the mode in which it is carried into effect will be understood by the
following description:. Figure 2 represents a wheel, differing from that
represented in Figure 1, in this particular, that the bends or angles of the
compound arms at a, a, Figure 1, constituting the ring or continuous felloe
already described, are not brought in contact, but left a distance of an inch or
thereabouts, as shewn at a, a, Figure 2; within this space, between the bands
or angles of each pair of adjacent compound arms, I introduce two pieces or

page_text: blocks of malleable iron or other suitable material, properly shaped at the sides
to fit the space between the said angles, curved at the top to correspond with
the circumference of the felloe, and having a groove in each of their flat sides
to receive a suitable key. These pieces or blocks are represented in their
places applied to the wheel at b, b, Figure 2, and separately with the wedge at
A' and A. When the tyre is placed on the felloe, with or without the inter-
vention of wood, felt, rope, or such like flexible or yielding material, and the
pieces or blocks being properly applied between each pair of compound arms,
I introduce the iron keys, which being driven between the blocks and dividing
them, increases the circumference of the felloes and necessarily forces the part
at c, c, Figure 2, against the inside of the iron tyre, so that when the keys are
sufficiently driven it is found to be firmly secured upon the felloe, after which
the tyre may be kept in its place by rivets or screws, as already explained.
The pieces or blocks have also the further advantage of supporting and
strengthening the angles or bends of the compound arms constituting the felloe,
which are the places where they are most liable to fail. I prefer this mode of
wedging, but instead of the key introduced between the two blocks, as described,
I sometimes use a key without blocks, or two keys driven from different sides
of the wheel, in which case the compound arms may be brought nearer together
at the bends or angles, and the key or keys must be properly formed to fit the
curved surfaces between which they are introduced. Figure 3 shews another
form of wheel in which the felloe or ring is composed of the parts a, a,
Figure 3, which are continuations of the parts b, b, Figure 3, constituting the
spoke; and it will be seen that in this case the parts a, a, Figure 3, have each
only one arm or spoke, which is either a continuation of the same bar of iron
or welded thereto. In fastening the tyre upon this description of wheel, I alter
the form of each felloe, as shewn at c, c, Figure 3, and at the end of each
bent bar, where it rests upon the adjacent one all round the wheel, I
introduce a key d, d, Figure 3, which being sufficiently driven enlarges
the circumference of the felloe, so as to fix the tyre, after which it is to
be kept in its place by screws or rivets as before. Those keys are shewn at
B and B², separately in view and cross section. In both these cases, when the
wedges are sufficiently driven, I cut off their projecting ends and secure them,
together with the blocks when used, by clinching or other suitable means.
Instead of this mode of fixing the tyre by expanding the felloe, as described, I
sometimes proceed as follows:-I take the wheel formed as represented at
Figure 4, without its tyre, and apply round the circumference of the arms a
strong iron hoop, formed of segments capable of being drawn together by
means of keys or screws, as shewn at C and C². In doing this I allow a

page_text: portion of the felloe to project beyond the edge of the hoop, as shewn at C³.
I now draw the hoop together by driving the keys or tightening the screws, so
as to powerfully compress the arms, and in this state I apply the tyre, previously
made of a proper size, to that part of the felloe projecting out of the hoop at
a; a, C. I then withdraw the hoop, and by powerful pressure, force the arms
to their proper place within the tyre, obtaining by the elasticity of the arms a, a,
Figure 4, aided by their peculiar shape, sufficient outward pressure to thoroughly
secure the tyre, which may be prevented from stirring by screws or rivets, as
usual. My methods of securing a cast iron tyre upon straight or curved
malleable iron spokes are as follow:-I cast the tyre with bosses corresponding
to the number of spokes, each spoke being double, that is, consisting of two
iron bars or one iron bar bent upon itself and inserted in the nave a, a, D'.
These bosses have each, a dovetailed space to receive the spoks of the wheel,
as shewn in Figure 5, at a, a; and although this is not essential I prefer to
make the bottom of each space a suitable curve or a segment of a circle, the
radius of which is much less than that of the wheel, as seen at a, a, E. The
double arms or spokes being placed within the tyre, each in its proper boss, as
shewn at Figure 5, and fitting somewhat tightly as diameters within the tyre,
are to be divided by a wedge or wedges, and forced asunder against the sides
of the space within each boss (by which and the peculiar shape of the bottom
of the space of each boss (when the same is curved, as described), acting like a
wedge; as the arms are driven within it in that direction the tyre is firmly
secured. My improved method of forming the malleable iron arms or spokes
of wheels consists in this; that instead of the arms or spokes and part con-
stituting the felloe of the wheel, shewn at section I, being formed of one piece
of iron, I form them of several pieces, bent exactly alike, and placed together,
so as to constitute a combined arm or spoke and felloe, of the same breadth
and shape as the arm or spoke and felloe formed of one piece. In Figure 2
and section 2. are represented wheels constructed in this manner, by which the
method will be fully understood. The number of pieces of which I compose
my. compound arm or spoke and felloe may be varied, but I prefer to make
them of four separate pieces, all of which are secured into the nave by casting,
as usual, bent to form the felloe, as already practised, and having the tyre
secured either by shrinking, according to the plan hitherto generally followed,
or. by wedging, as already fully described in this Specification; or instead of
laying the several portions of each compound spoke together, so as to be exactly
above each other when placed horizontally, I allow the joints of the different
layers to intersect each other, as shewn in Figure 6 and Figure 7, in which
case I materially improve the general elasticity of the wheel.

page_text: Now, having fully described the nature of my several Inventions, and the
mode in which the same are to be carried into effect, I would have it under-
stood that I claim,-
First, the method of fixing the tyres, whether of cast or malleable iron, upon
the felloes of wheels by iron keys employed, so as to enlarge the circumference
of the felloe, and thus produce the necessary pressure against the tyre.
Secondly, I claim the method of fixing tyres, whether of cast or malleable
iron, upon the felloes of wheels by powerfully compressing the felloes, and in
this state fixing them within the tyres.
Thirdly, I claim the mode of fixing cast iron tyres upon straight or curved
malleable iron arms by wedging, in the manner described; and,
Fourthly, I claim the making of the malleable iron arms and felloes of
wheels in several pieces placed against each other, and secured in the nave as
usual, so as to form a compound spoke or arm and felloe, instead of having the
same formed of one piece, by which I secure a very firm and tenacious junction
with the nave, and cbtain greater flexibility in the arm or felloe, and, con-
sequently, a wheel less liable to fail when exposed to the action of sudden
shocks or twists. And I also claim the placing of these separate pieces of
each compound spoke, either directly above each other when the wheel is
placed horizontally, or with the joints of the different layers intersecting each
other, in the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Losh, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.