Improvements in Iron and Steel Wheels.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Mar., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 6th Dec., 1893-Accepted, 17th Feb., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Iron and Steel Wheels.
I, PIERRE ARBEL, of Rive de Gier, Dept. de la Loire, France, Ironmaster, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
This invention relates to the manufacture of iron or steel wheels for railway or
other vehicles, these wheels having the spaces between the spokes filled in with
or "full" wheels.
webs, so that they may be termed "webbed
"
A rim, a nave and a set of spokes are prepared, all these parts being of such
tapering section that they can be readily withdrawn from a lower die in which
they are placed while at a welding heat. An upper die is then forced down upon
them by pressure or blows causing the spokes to be welded to the rim and nave,
and shaping on the nave an annular projection. A disc is prepared of sufficient
size to cover the wheel, with a central hole to fit the annular projection of the
nave. The spoke wheel, reheated, is placed again in the lower die, and the disc,
also at a welding heat, is placed upon it and welded to it by the pressure of the
upper die. The wheel, thus completely forged, requires little or no trimming.
For wheels of considerable diameter, the disc, instead of being in one piece
which it might be difficult to obtain, is made up of a number of segments cut from
a plate, each segment covering from midway of one spoke to midway of the next.
By manufacturing webbed wheels in this manner considerable economy of labour,
material and power is secured, especially by the fact that one lower die serves for
both the welding operations, and that most of the finishing operations usually
required are rendered unnecessary; thus, besides the avoiding of waste in material,
there is a large saving in respect of plant and tools, as well as in workmanship.
Dated this 7th day of March 1893.
ABEL & IMKAI,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Iron and Steel Wheels.
1, PIERRE ARBEL, of Rive de Gier, Dept. de la Loire, France, Ironmaster, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention relates to the manufacture of iron and steel railway and other
wheels, and has for its object to render the work more rapid and easy and the tools
more simple, also to economise material and labour. By the present improvements
the manufacture of solid ribbed wheels is effected as will be described.
The principle of the manufacture is to forge in dies by the hammer or press a
wheel having the spaces between ribs filled in with webs on the one side, thus
producing a wheel which has the character of a wheel with spokes and also of a
disc wheel, presenting the advantages of both.
In the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1 is a transverse section and Fig. 2 a plan of the lower die.

page_text: The disc D is of iron or mild steel plate of desired thickness, Figs. 20 and 21,
of the same diameter as the wheel with a central hole to fit the rib e¹ of the nave
Fig. 18.
Thus
When the spoke wheel still red hot in the lower die is seized by the pincers
(without subjecting it to any preparatory work either scraping or turning) the
disc D is placed on it with its central hole engaging the rib el of the nave.
the heat remaining after the first forging is utilised. The whole (Figs. 17 and 18)
is heated to white heat and replaced in the lower die. Care is taken to make
some mark on the periphery of the rim before the reheating to indicate the exact
place of one of the spokes so as to facilitate the introduction of the wheel with
the disc on it into the lower die. The heated wheel in the lower die has the disc
welded to the spokes the rim and the nave, by the pressure and blows of the
upper die which is the same as that employed for the first forging.
It is to be observed that in this manufacture all the fins of the spoke wheel
are utilised to aid in the welding of the disc, and far from being objectionable,
they are of advantage to ensure good final completion as indicated by the sections
Figs. 19 and 24.
The wheel thus forged and welded Figs. 22 and 23, is withdrawn from the die
as before, is reheated and taken to be finished, which is a much cheaper and
simpler operation than for ordinary spoke wheels. Indeed all the finishing
operations are dispensed with, as well as the expensive machines required for
these, and scarcely any chipping is required. It is necessary only to turn the rim,
the nave and the outer face of the disc to bring the work to the required
dimensions.
I
For wheels of large diameter the disc is expensive on account of the width of
plate required and the waste incurred in cutting the plate to the disc form.
therefore for large wheels employ instead of discs, segments B, Fig. 25, cut out
of a wide plate A. These segments B, one of which is shewn in Fig. 26, are
placed on the forged spoke wheel R Figs. 27 and 28 in such positions that all
their edges are laid on the spokes, (shewn in section Fig. 29) the rim and the
nave. There is thus obtained a disc Fig. 30 consisting of elementary segments
welded as above described when the disc is made in one piece. Figs. 31 and 32
shew the complete wheel, Fig. 33 being a section of a spoke.
The advantages of the described manufacture may thus be summarised :—
It simplifies the finishing operations, and consequently lessens the waste produced
by finishing machines and tools, economises labour, material and power and simplifies
plant.
The modified section of the spoke and nave facilitates withdrawal from the
lower die and ensures welding the disc on the spokes, and on the nave. The
turning of the rim and disc is dispensed with, the disc being centred by its middle
hole.
As a single upper die suffices for the whole operation, there is no interruption
in the process between the forging of the spoke wheel, and the welding of the disc,
for the purpose of changing the die. All the trimming is dispensed with and
consequently there is little cooling between the first and the second forgings and
the heat remaining in the wheel after the first forging is utilised resulting in
economy of fuel and increase of output.
As two dies suffice and machines and tools for intermediate trimming and turning
are not required there is a great simplification of plant and economy of material
and labour.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
The manufacture of iron and steel disc wheels by welding and shaping between a
pair of dies the rim spokes and nave, and after reheating the wheel thus formed
welding on it between the same dies a disc or segments constituting a disc
substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
Dated this 6th day of December 1893.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for Applicant.