IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS AND AXLETREES FOR CARRIAGES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Upfill and William Morton, of Birming-
ham, in the County of Warwick, Iron Merchants and Manufacturers,
and William Asbury, of the same Place, Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS AND AXLETREES FOR
CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 6th January 1868, and dated the 29th August 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Upfill, William
Morton, and William Asbury at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 29th August 1862.
We, WILLIAM UPFILL and WILLIAM MORTON, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Iron Merchants and Manufacturers, and WILLIAM
ASBURY, of the same Place, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS AND AXLETREES
FOR CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention of improvements in the construction of wheels and axletreos
for carriages relates to a novel mode of constructing and combining the naves
and axle boxes of wheels, and also to a novel model of securing the nave or
axle box of the wheel to the axletree.
In carrying out our Invention the nave and axle box are constructed
separately, but previously to being adapted to the axletree they are secured
together by screwing or otherwise. The nave which receives the spokes

page_text: of the wheel is bored out or cast with a hole to fit on to the axle box, on
which it is secured by a screwed cap or otherwise. By this means the nave
with its cap and axle box are all connected together and form one piece which
is secured on to the axletree by means of tongues, pins, studs, or projecting
pieces which are made to take into a groove or grooves cut or made round
the axletree. These tongues, pins, studs, or projecting pieces are made
moveable and are inserted in dovetailed grooves or sockets made in the
metal washer, which is by preference cast on to the end of the axle box, but
may if desired be made separate, and in order to prevent these tongues or
their equivalents from coming out accidentally they are secured in their places
by cross pins or screws.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Upfill, William Morton, and William Asbury in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th February 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
UPFILL and WILLIAM MORTON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Iron Merchants and Manufacturers, and WILLIAM ASBURY, of the same Place,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said William Upfill, William Morton, and William Asbury, Her
special license that we, the said William Upfill William Morton and
William Asbury, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said William Upfill, William Morton, and William Asbury,
our executors, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS AND AXLETREES FOR CARRIAGES,"
upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Upfill, William
Morton, and William Asbury, by an instrument in writing under our
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and

page_text: 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 we, the said William Upfill, William Morton,
and William Asbury, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and. ascertained in and by the following statement, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Our Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of Wheels and
Axletrees for Carriages," relates to a novel mode of constructing and
combining the naves and axle boxes of wheels, and also to a novel mode of
securing the nave or axle box of the wheel to the axletree.
In carrying out our Invention the nave and axle box are constructed
separately, but previously to being adapted to the axletree they are secured
together by screwing or otherwise. The nave which receives the spokes of the
wheel is bored out or cast with a hole to fit on to the axle box, on which
it is secured by a screwed cap, or by bolts, or otherwise. By this means
the nave with its cap and axle box are all connected together and form
one piece, which is secured on to the axletree by means of tongues, pins,
studs, or projecting pieces which are made to take into a groove or grooves
cut or made round the axletree. These tongues, pins, studs, or projecting
pieces are made moveable and are inserted in dovetailed grooves or sockets
made in the metal washer, which is by preference cast on to the end of the
axle box, but may, if desired, be made separate, and in order to prevent these
tongues or their equivalents from coming out accidentally they are secured in
their places by cross pins or screws.
In the accompanying Drawing we have shewn various views of the mode
or modes in which we propose to carry out our Invention. Fig. 1 is an
end view of an axle box constructed according to our Invention, but with
the axle removed therefrom; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of
the same, taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section,
taken in the line 8, 4, of Fig. 1.
a, a, is an iron nave, in which the wooden spokes are secured in the
ordinary or any convenient manner. On to this nave is screwed the axle
box b, b, and cap piece 6', 6', the parts being held together securely by the
screw bolts c, c, which also pass through the butts of the spokes, as indicated
by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. The axle d has a groove d¹ made in it, to hold
a supply of oil, and is provided with two collars, between which there is another

page_text: groove d, d, into which fit the inner ends of moveable tongues e, e.
These tongues are bevilled at their edges and fit into dovetailed grooves
made in the inner face of the axle box, and they are secured in their
places by the ring or collar f, the screws e³, e', and the linch springs which
pass through them. In order to prevent the escape of oil from the
annular grooves d¹ and d³, leather or other soft washer 9 is interposed
between the ring f and the face of the axle box b. It will be seen that
the axle d is held in its place in the axle box by the tongues e, the inner ends
of which project into the annular groove d³, in the axle. And the nave of
the wheel is secured to the axle box by the screw bolts c, c, as well as by the
two parts being screwed together, as shewn in the sectional view. All the
several parts are therefore so perfectly combined that no part can come
away by accident, and therefore all risk of the wheel coming off is effectually
obviated. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a modification of Figures 1, 2, and 3,
the form of the axle box not being materially different, but shewing another
mode of holding in or securing the tongue pieces e, e. Fig. 5 is an end
view of the axle box, with the end plate or cover f, and also the axletree
removed. The end plate or cover f is provided on its inner face with a circular
projecting rib f¹, which when the end plate f is secured in its place
corresponds with and fits into an annular semicircular groove f*, made in the
end face of the axle box and also in the tongue pieces e, as shewn in Fig. 4.
A washer g, to prevent the escape of oil, is provided as in the other case.
Fig. 6 is a sectional view, and Fig. 7 an end view of another modification
shewing another mode of securing the tongue pieces in their place. This is
effected by means of a projecting piece cast on the back of the tongue and
bored out to receive a spring pin or linch pin which also passes through two
lugs cast on the end plate of the axle box. The nave may either be made of
iron as in the former instances, or it may be constructed of wood as shewn in
the Drawing.
Having now described our Invention of "Improvements in the Construction
of Wheels and Axletrees for Carriages," and having explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, we would observe that instead of the tongues e
being made to enter grooves cut round the axle or axletree, as shewn in the
Drawing, the same object may be effected by causing them to bear against a
projecting flange; we do not therefore mean or intend to confine ourselves
rigidly to the precise arrangement or construction of parts herein shewn, nor
to the means whereby the tongues or keys are held in their place, as these
parts may be varied without departing from the nature and object of our
Invention, which we claim to consist,―

page_text: First, in the mode herein set forth of combining the axle or axletree, axle
box and nave.
Second, we claim the use of the tongues or transverse keys e, which are
made to drop into a groove formed in or made to bear against a shoulder or
projecting piece made on the axle or axletree so as to prevent the axle
from coming out of the box as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Upfill, William Morton, and
William Asbury, have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Twenty-
sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three.
WILLIAM UPFILL. (L.B.)
WILLIAM MORTON. (L.s.)
WILLIAM ASBURY.
(L.S.)