IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES, WAGONS, CARTS, AND OTHER VEHICLES."
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Laurence Stewart, of Edinburgh, in the County
of Mid Lothian, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES, WAGONS, CARTS, AND OTHER VEHICLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Laurence Stewart at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th April 1870.
I, LAURENCE STEWART, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian,
North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES, WAGONS, CARTS, AND OTHER
VEHICLES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention, which relates to improvements in wheels for carriages,
wagons, carts, and other vehicles, consists in the employment of
vulcanite as the material of which such wheels are made. The Inven-
tion is carried into effect by employing moulds of the requisite shape and
size to receive the caoutchouc for forming the several parts of the wheels
and it is to be understood that under this Invention the wheel may be
made in one piece or in several pieces which may afterwards be joined

page_text: together after the manner adopted in constructing wooden wheels, and
for the purpose of giving further strength to the wheel so constructed,
bars, rings, or plates of metal, wood, or other material may be insert.cl
in the caoutchouc before it is vulcanised. After the wheels are made in
either of the modes herein-before described they are bound with iron or
steel tyres or hoops, and the nave or boss is fitted with an axle box, and
to give lightness when desired any number of the parts of the wheel
be made tubular.
may
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Laurence Stewart in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LAURENCE
STEWART, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the 33rd
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto ine, the said Laurence Stewart, Her special license that I, tho
said Laurence Stewart, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Laurence Stewart, my exccutors, administrators, or
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 CARRIAGES,
WAGONS, CARTS, AND OTHER VEHICLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Laurence Stewart, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and scal should particularly describe and ascertain the naturo
of the saiu Invention, and in what mauner 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 Laurence Stewart, do hereby declaro
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is

page_text: to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by.
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
My said Invention, which relates to improvements in wheels for
carriages, wagons, carts, and other vehicles, consists mainly in the
employment of vulcanised caoutchouc, commonly known as vulcanite,
as the material of which such wheels are constructed, and it may be so
used as to constitute under one arrangement the entire substance of
which the said wheels are formed, or under other arrangements it may.
constitute a part or parts only of the said wheels, the other part or
parts being made of wood, metal, or other suitable material. When
the said wheels are constructed wholly of vulcanised caoutchouc they
are manufactured by pressing the caoutchouc when in the plastic state.
usually employed for vulcanisation and admixed with sulphur or other
suitable material usually employed in the manufacture of vulcanite in
metallic or other moulds of the requisite shape, that is to say, an upper
and an under mould each having hollows or recesses of the shape of the.
wheel to be produced formed in it in order to receive the plastic
caoutchouc and sulphur or other material. After the said admixed
caoutchouc and sulphur is thus moulded it is submitted to thic licat
requisite for vulcanising it in the manner usually employed for effecting.
that change. In place, however, of moulding the wheels in one piece
several moulds may be employed for forming the wheel in different
pieces or divisions, for example, the naves or hubs may be moulded in
distinct pieces and holes may be either moulded therein for receiving
the inner ends of the spokes or arms or after being vulcanised the holes
may be bored therein as well as that for receiving the axle bush. The
spokes or arms and felly being also made separate and put together in
the manner adopted at present for uniting the parts of wooden wheels.
In place, however, of forming the wheels entirely of caoutchouc as
herein-before set forth, it is preferred to construct a light framework of
any suitable material of the form and dimensions of the wheels required,
and to lay the plastic caoutchouc over it, so as to completely cover the
said framework to any depth or thickness requisite to ensure sufficient
strength and according to the dimensions of the wheel.
For the sake of more completely elucidating this part of my said
Invention, I have hereunto annexed an explanatory Sheet of Drawings on
which are shewn several different methods of carrying it into practice.

page_text: Figure 1 is a vertical section of one half of a carriage wheel; and
Figure 2 is a half transverse section of the same on the line a, a,
Figure 1. In this instance a light framework of wood is employed
as the basis of the wheel and over it a coating of plastic caoutchouc is
laid as shewn so as to completely cover the said frame.
At Figure 3, which is also a half vertical section of a carriage wheel,
and at Figure 4, a half transverse section of the same on the line b, b,
Figure 3, is shewn another modification of this part of my said Invention ;
in this case the nave or hub A is formed of wood or metal and the
frame of the felly or rim and of the spokes or arms of the wheel is
constructed of metallic tubes, as more particularly shown at that part of
Figure 3 marked 13, the whole being covered with a suflicient thickness
of plastic caoutchouc as shewn, or the framework of the felly of the
wheel and of the spokes or arms may be constructed of plates or hars of
metal as shewn at Figures 5 and 6, but more particularly at O, Figure 5,
the whole being thereafter covered with plastic caoutchouc. After the
caoutchouc is thus laid on the framework the whole wheel is submitted
to heat for vulcanising the caoutchouc in the usual manner, for which
purpose the said wheel may or may not be placed in a correspondingly
shaped mould.
Under another mode of constructing the said wheels pieces of wood
or metal covered with caoutchouc may be used so as to constitute the
naves or boss, spokes or arms, and felly separately, these, after the
caoutchouc covering is laid upon them and vulcanised, being put
together after the manner in which wooden wheels are at present con-
structed. In lieu of constructing a wooden or metallic framework as
herein-before set forth, pieces of wood or metal or metallic tubes may
be surrounded with the said caoutchouc, and each piece laid in the
vulcanising moulds separately until the wheel is built up in the said
moulds and the caoutchouc united at all the joints so as to completely
encase the several pieces of wood or metal or tubes in such manner that
after vulcanisation the vulcanite holds all the pieces firmly together.
Under another modification of this Invention the inuer portion of
the felly or rim of the wheel is constructed of vulcanised caoutchouc,
and a thin iron or other metallic hoop (to which the arms & are affixed),
placed on the outside so as to completely encircle the outer portion
thereof, as shown at a, Figure 7 of the accompanying Drawings, and
when the tyre is placed thereon it bears on the hoop a. All wheels

page_text: manufactured under this Invention, whether constructed entirely of
vulcanite or of a composition of vulcanite and iron, wood, or other
suitable material, are provided with iron tyres, as is usual for wheels
whereon vehicles are carried, and such tyres are secured to the felly of
the wheel by means of bolts or rivets as shewn at e, Figures 1, 3, 5,
and 7, of the Drawings hereunto annexed. In place of putting the frame
of wood, iron or other material into a mould or moulds after the plastic
caoutchouc has been laid thercon, in order that the said caoutchouc may
be pressed or moulded into the required shape, a framework, con-
structed either of wood, iron, or other suitable material may be dipped
into a solution of caoutchouc and sulphur or other material until the
requisite thickness is obtained and then vulcanised.
It is furthermore to be understood that any desired colour may be
imparted to any part or parts of the said wheels by inserting coloured
caoutchouc in lines, bands, or strips, so as to have the appearance of
the lines, bands, or strips at present painted on wooden carriage wheels,
or the wheels may be entirely constructed of coloured caoutchouc or
painted in the usual manner, and the said wheels are finished by having
their surfaces scraped, rubbed down, and polished. In place of using
caoutchouc and sulphur only to form the vulcanite a portion of gutta
percha, tar, asphalt, flax, hemp, or other fibrous substances, wire or
other similar material may be admixed therewith, but it is preferred to
employ caoutchouc and sulphur only.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be
used or practically carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion
that what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the construction of wheels for carriages, wagons, or other
vehicles of vulcanised caoutchouc in either of the modes herein-before
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Laurence Stewart, have hereunto
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