IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NAVES OF RUNNING WHEELS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ambrose Edmund Butler, of Kirkstall Forge,
near Leeds, in the County of York, Ironmaster, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NAVES OF RUNNING
WHEELS."
Sealed the 9th May 1871, and dated the 24th February 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ambrose Edmund
Butler at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 24th February 1871.
I, AMBROSE EDMUND BUTLER, of Kirkstall Forge, near Leeds, in
the County of York, Ironmaster, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NAVES
OF RUNNING WHEELS," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in the construction of the naves of
running wheels, relates to that description of wheels in which the naves
are made of cast metal. Heretofore in order to render the naves or
axle boxes more durable, they have usually been cast in hard metal and
chilled so as to render them hard and capable of resisting the wear or

page_text: friction of the axle. It has been found that in the chilling operation
the naves or boxes are apt to split or become damaged, so as to be
useless for the intended purpose, and the object of the present Invention
is to produce cast metal naves of sufficient durability without running
the risk of making defective ones.
To this end I first make an axle box or tube of hard metal by casting
or otherwise, and I cast round it in the usual manner, but with a softer
metal, the nave of the required shape. This metal will not require
chilling and will not be liable to split and damago in cooling. In this
manner I obtain all the required durability for the rubbing surfaces
without having recourse to the chilling operation when casting the
nave.
In carrying out my Invention I prefer to cast the axle box or tube
of hard metal, and I form thereon two, three, or more feathers or pro-
jecting ridges, and before this tube or axle box is placed in the mould
preparatory to casting the nave thereon, I knock off or otherwise remove
some parts of the projecting feathers of the axle tube, so that when the
nave is cast thereon the box or tube will be firmly held therein.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Ambrose Edmund Butler in the Great Seal Patent :
Office on the 24th August 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AMBROSE
EDMUND BUTLER, of Kirkstall Forge, near Leeds, in the County of
York, Ironmaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the.
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Ambrose Edmund Butler,
[er special licence that I, the said Ambrose Edmund Butler, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Ambrose Edmund Butler, 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

page_text: lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NAVES
OF RUNNING WHEELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Ambrose Edmund Butler, my exccutors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, 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 Ambrose Edmund Butler, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :-
•
. My Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of the Naves
of Running Wheels," relates to that description of wheels in which the
naves are made of cast metal. Heretofore in order to render the naves
or axle boxes more durable they have usually been cast in hard metal
and chilled so as to render them hard and capable of resisting the wear
or friction of the axle. It has been found that in the chilling operation
the naves or boxes are apt to split or become damaged so as to be useless
for the intended purpose, and the object of the present Invention is to
produce cast metal naves of sufficient durability without running the
risk of making defective ones.
To this end I first make an axle box or tube of hard white metal by
casting or otherwise, and I cast round it in the usual manner but with a
softer metal the body of the nave of the required shape. This metal
will not require chilling and will not be liable to split and damage in
cooling. In this manner I obtain all the required durability for the
rubbing surfaces without having recourse to the chilling operation when
casting the nave.
In carrying out my Invention I prefer to cast the axle box or tube
of hard metal, and I form thereon two, three, or more feathers or pro-
jecting ridges, and before this tube or axle box is placed in the mould
preparatory to casting the soft metal nave thereon I knock off or other-

page_text: wise remove some parts of the projecting feathers of the axle tube, so
that when the nave is cast thereon the hard metal box or tube will be
firmly held therein. The object of this projecting feather or ridge is
to hold the parts together, or rather to prevent them from being detached.
Instead therefore of casting a longitudinal feather on the hard metal
axle tube I sometimes cast a circumferential feather or flange, which
when the metal is run round it becomes imbedded in the body of the
nave, and thus prevents the tube from turning round in the nave or
becoming loose and coming out.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a front view of a
wheel nave of the ordinary form showing the end of the hard metal
tube a, a, in the centre; Fig. 2 is a side view of the nave; and Fig. 3
is a longitudinal section of the same; and Figures 4 are end and side
views of the hard metal pipe detached. In Fig. 3 a, a, is the hard
metal pipe with the longitudinal feather thereon; and c, c, is the soft
metal nave which is cast round the tubo a, a. The spokes which may be
of wood are fitted into the sockets d, d, Fig. 3.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Con-
struction of the Naves of Running Wheels," and having explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, forming the naves of
wheels of soft and hard cast metal as and for the purposes herein set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ambrose Edmund Butler, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, the Twenty-second day of 2
August, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-one.