IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR COMMON. ROAD CARRIAGES, IN TYRES FOR THE SAME, AND IN MACHINERY FOR BENDING THE TYRES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Lamb Hancock, of Tipton, in the County of
Stafford, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR COMMON.
ROAD CARRIAGES, IN TYRES FOR THE SAME, AND IN MACHINERY FOR BENDING
THE TYRES."
Sealed the 18th April 1866, and dated the 16th October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Lamb Hancock
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th October 1865.
I, JAMES LAMB HANCOCK, of Tipton, in the County of Stafford, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR
COMMON ROAD CARRIAGES, IN TYRES FOR THE SAME, AND IN MACHINERY FOR BENDING
THE TYRES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing wheels in the manner hereafter
stated. I surround the nave of wooden wheels, which may be considerably
reduced in consequence of the extra strength which my construction imparts
to it, with a ring or plating of iron or steel with apertures for the
passage of
the inner ends of the spokes into the nave. I construct my tyres in the
form of a shoe, that is with a flange on each side, within which the felloe is
received. I make these double-flanged tyres in one or more pieces. When
of one piece I unite the ends by forming apertures in them, and bring them
together by a cramp, and secure the ends by pins or keys. Should the tyre
after wear require to be tightened, I then drive larger pins or keys into holes
provided for the purpose in the tyre. In some cases I form the tyre with

page_text: one flange only, and bolt on a ring through the felloe and to the flange, the
felloe being held between the Bange and ring. I secure the outer ends of
the spokes to the felloe by forming a longitudinal tenon on the spoke, which
enters a corresponding mortice in the direction of the grain of the wood of
the felloe. In some cases I use my single or double-flanged, shoes, and
shrink an outer tyre on them; in such case I form them with another flange
depending from the inner or outer side to a less extent than the thickness
of the outer tyre to be applied. The shoes may then be comparatively light.
Among other advantages this method of construction affords ready means of
re-tyring the wheels when required.
I construct machinery for the bending of my double-flanged tyres, which
consists of an expanding and contracting segmental core, on the edge of
which the inside of the tyre rests, while the flanges overlap on each side;
I then apply rollers in sets of three, one for the outer surface and the
other two for the flanged surfaces of the tyre, or I use one roller. with
depending flanges. I impart rotary motion to the segmental core or to
the rollers. The heated tyre is bent round, and the flanges are kept true;
the ends are not united. When cool the core is contracted and the tyre is
removed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Lamb Hancock in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th April 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LAMB HANCOCK, of Tipton, in the County of Stafford, 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 sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Lamb Hancock, Her special licence that I, the said James
Lamb Hancock, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said James Lamb Hancock, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR COMMON ROAD CARRIAGES, IN TYRES FOR

page_text: THE SAME, AND IN MACHINERY FOR BENDING THE TYRES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Lamb Hancock, 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 James Lamb Hancock, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, 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 :-
My Invention consists in constructing wheels in the manner hereafter stated.
I surround the nave of wooden wheels, which may be considerably reduced
in consequence of the extra strength which my construction imparts to it, with
a ring or plating of iron or other metal with apertures for the passage of the
inner ends of the spokes into the nave. I construct tyres in the form of a
shoe, that is, with a flange in each side, within which the felloe is received.
I make these double-flanged tyres in one or more pieces. When of one piece
I unite the ends, forming apertures in them, and bring them together by a
cramp, and secure the ends by pins or keys. Should the tyre after wear
require to be tightened, I then drive larger pins or keys into holes pro-
vided for the purpose in the tyre. In some cases I form the tyre with one
flange only, and bolt on a ring through the felloe and to the flange, the felloe
being held between the flange and ring. I secure the inner ends of the spokes
to the felloe by forming a longitudinal tenon in the spoke, which enters a corre-
sponding mortice in the direction of the grain of the wood the fellowe. In
some cases I use single or double-flanged shoes and shrink an outer tyre in
them. In such case I form them with another flange depending from the inner
or outer side to a less extent than the thickness of the outer tyre to be applied.
The shoes may then be comparatively light. Among other advantages this
method of construction affords ready means of re-tyring the whole wheels when
required.
I construct machinery for the bending of double or single flanged tyres,
which consists of an expanding and contracting segmental core, on the edge of
which the inside of the tyre rests, while the flanges overlap on each side; I
then apply rollers in sets of three, one for the outer surface and the other two
for the flanged surfaces of the tyre, or I use one roller with depending flanges.
I impart rotary motion to the segmental core or to the rollers. The heated

page_text: :
tyre is bent round and the flanges are kept true; the ends are not united.
When cool the core is contracted and the tyre is removed.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a section of the nave of a
wheel constructed according to my Invention, and Figure 2 is another section
of the same taken at right angles to Figure 1. "A" is the nave; "B" is a ring
or plating of iron or other metal which surrounds the nave "A." Apertures
are formed in the ring B and nave to admit of the inner ends of the
spokes C, C, being inserted, the shoulders of which rest against the ring "A."
By constructing the naves of wooden wheels in this manner the diameter of
the nave may be considerably reduced in consequence of the extra strength
obtained by surrounding it with the iron or other metal ring B.
Figure 3 is a vertical section of a portion of a wheel with my improved
tyre fitted thereto, and Figure 4 is a front view of a portion of a wheel to
show the method of uniting the ends of the tyre. "E" is the tyre, and F
the felloe. The tyre is constructed in the form of a shoe, that is, with
a flange, as shewn at "e," extending outwards on each side, and within
which the felloe F is received. The inner part of the tyre at the flange e,
as shewn in Figure 3, and when fitted on the wheel it is flush with the
face of the felloe and forms a ring encircling the wheel. I make these
double-flanged tyres in one or more pieces, and when of one piece the
ends are united, as shewn in Figure 4. An aperture is formed near
each end of the tyre E; the ends are opened out by preference when cold,
so as to admit of the tyre E being slipped over the felloes; the ends are
then brought together by a cramp or other means and fixed to the felloes,
one end first by pins or keys G passed through the apertures.
Sometimes I
make the tyre further secure by vertical bolts in the usual way; lateral bolts,
as shewn in Figure 5, may also be applied. Sometimes I employ an iron
face plate at the point of junction of the tyres, placed between the tyre and the
felloe, and formed with apertures corresponding to the apertures in the tyre.
Should the tyre after wear require to be tightened, larger pins or keys are
driven into holes provided for the purpose in the tyre. When the double-
flanged tyre is formed in sections they are secured by pins passed through
apertures in the tyre in iron-face plates and in the felloes, or by vertical and
lateral bolts. In some cases I form the tyre E, as shewn in Figure 5, with
one flange e only, and I rivet or otherwise secure a ring of metal H to the
tyre E and felloe F, as shewn, the felloe being held between the flange e and
the ring H; vertical bolts may also be used to secure the tyre.
Figure 6 represents a portion of a felloe F formed with mortices I, I, for
the reception of longitudinal tenons on the spokes according to one of my

page_text: improvements. The mortices are made longitudinally in the direction of the
grain of the wood, and by being of an elliptical or oblong figure a smaller
quantity of the wood is required to be cut away in the lateral direction as
compared with the ordinary circular apertures, the felloe is thereby
strengthened and the mortice may be formed at the points of junction of the
felloes.
In some cases I use the single or double flanged shoes, having an outer
tyre shrunk on them. Figure 7 shews this improvement. E is the shoe,
which is formed in the manner before described in reference to Figures 3
and 4, but with another flange f depending or projecting from it, so as to form
a shoulder for the outer tyre K to bear against when put on the flange f,
being of less extent or depth than the thickness of the tyre K.
fication the shoes may be made comparatively light, and among other
advantages the method of construction affords ready means of re-tyring the
wheels when required. The shoe E and the tyre K are secured to the felloe F
by a bolt and nut.g.
In this modi-
My machinery for bending the double-flanged tyres is shewn in Figure 8.
L, L, L, L, and four sections which form the main portion of an expanding
and contracting core, on the edge of which the inside of the tyre rests; M, M,
are two right and left handed screws, which are operated upon by the hand
wheels N; 0, 0, are blocks inserted between the sections L to complete the
circular form of the core, each block being retained in its position when the
core is expanded by a bolt P. Three rollers are arranged to shape the metal to
the required form, one roller acts on the surface of the strip or length of
metal, while the other two bend the flanged parts of the tyre and prevent the
puckering thereof.
In some cases I use a single roller for shaping the tyres, constructed as
represented in Figure 9. O is the cylindrical portion of the roller which
forms the outside of the tyre, and R, R, are two flanges which bend the flanges
of the tyre to the edges of the core. The roller is arranged either to travers
round the segmental core, or it may simply rotate on its axis and squeeze or
press the heated tyre over the edges of the core, which is in this case made to
rotate. The tyre to be bent is secured in the core by
a bolt or cramp.
When the metal has cooled the bolts P, P, are removed, the blocks O are
shifted inwards, and the sections L are contracted by turning the screws M
to cause the sections to move towards the centre. This liberates the tyre so
that it may be easily removed from the machine..
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,-

page_text: First, constructing wooden wheels with a ring or plating of iron or other
metal surrounding the nave, substantially as herein-before described and
shewn in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
Second, constructing double-flanged open tyres for wheels which are secured
to the felloes, substantially as herein-before described and shewn in Figures 3
and 4 of the accompanying Drawings.
Third, constructing double-flanged tyres for wheels in sections, substantially
as herein-before described.
Fourth, constructing wheels with tyres having a single flange and with a
ring bolted or secured thereto, substantially as herein-before described and
shewn in the Figure 5 of the accompanying Drawings.
Fifth, forming the outer ends of the spokes of wheels with a longitudinal
tenon, which fits into a corresponding mortice cut in the felloe in the direction
of the grain of the wood, as herein-before described and shewn in Figure 6 of
the accompanying Drawings.
Sixth, constructing wheels with a single or double flanged shoe or tyre and
with an outer tyre shrunk or secured thereon, substantially as herein-before
described and shewn in Figure 7 of the accompanying Drawings.
Seventh, constructing and arranging machinery for bending flanged tyres
for wheels, substantially as herein-before described and shewn in Figures 8
and 9 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lamb Hancock, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.