IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR GRINDING OR TURNING HARDENED METAL SURFACES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Haddan, of the Firm of Herbert and
Company, Solicitors of Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster,
Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
GRINDING OR TURNING HARDENED METAL SURFACES." A communication
from abroad by James Henry Gowan and Charles Daniel, both of Carson
City, State of Nevada, United States of America.
ealed the 29th August 1879, and dated the 4th July 1879.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Herbert John Haddan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th July 1879.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert and Company, Solicitors of
Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR GRINDING OR TURNING HARDENED METAL SURFACES."
A communication from abroad by James Henry Gowan and Charles Daniel, both
of Carson City, State of Nevada, United States of America.
This Invention relates to an improvement in the manufacture of that class of
cast iron car wheels consisting of a solid or hollow web uniting the hub and tread.
The latter in order to increase its durability being hardened by the process of
chilling, that is, allowing the molten metal as it fills the mold to come in contact
with an iron band or "chill" at those points which it is desired to harden. Wheels
cast in this way always have more or less defects in the surface of the tread,
caused by blisters, inequality of shrinkage or deviations from truth in the chills
employed. Under light loads these wheels will retain their integrity for a con-
siderable time owing to the excessive hardness of the chilled surface, but the
continual wear increases the defects in a ratio corresponding with the weight of load,
flat spots becoming larger, thus increasing the force of the concussions upon the
rail, soon rendering it necessary in order to save the rails to place new wheels under
the car trucks. In order to avoid these expensive evils it is necessary that the
wheels should have their periphéries turned perfectly true, a sufficient amount of
metal being cut from the tread and flange to remove all defects, thus causing the
wheel to wear evenly and obviate its destructive action upon itself, the rails, and

page_text: rolling stock generally... The great hardness of the chilled tread and flange has
hitherto rendered the operation of turning them impracticable owing to its
expensiveness which made it cheaper to frequently replace the worn wheels with
new ones. To obviate these-objections-and-reduce the cost of this process by
furnishing a machine capable of turning the wheels perfectly at small expense is
the principal object of this Invention, which consists essentially in the combination
and arrangement of mechanism by which the chilled tread or flanges of car wheels
may be turned or trued to any desired gauge or shape as will be hereinafter fully
-described..and specifically claimed. In the accompanying Drawings Figure one is
a plan of the machine showing the relative positions of the different-parts when_
acting upon a pair of car wheels secured to and revolving with their axle; Figure
two is an end elevation-showing-the system of gearing by which the axle with its
attached wheels is rotated, and the abrading apparatus by which the removal-of-the-
superfluous metal is accomplished; Figure three represents a vertical section of one
of the grinding wheel supports on the line y, y, of Figure one; Figure four is a
transverse vertical section of the support on the line 2, 2, of Figure one; Figure
five shows a horizontal section of the grinding wheel support on the line x, x, of
Figure three looking downward; Figure six is an end view of the machine showing
the adjustable tail stock and its grooved supporting bed. As has been heretofore
stated the great desideratum which would allow of the general introduction of
chilled car wheels with turned or trued peripheries has been the want of a machine
which would reduce the great expense attending the operation of turning them as
heretofore attempted, and I will now proceed to fully describe my Invention which
accomplishes this much desired result. Referring to the Drawings, A represents
the bed plate of the machine, upon which the whole superstructure is supported. It
may be cast in one or more pieces; but a single piece of metal is preferable as giving
greater rigidity with the same amount of metal. The supplementary bed A' is placed
upon the bed plate A, near one end, and securely fastened thereto by the bolts à;
upon this supplementary bed A¹ is secured by suitable bolts the head stock B,
which carries the mandril C in a long bearing made adjustable to the mandril by
the cap a, so that it may always be without shake or looseness.
Secured upon
the outer end of the mandril is the spur gear C¹, which engages with the pinion D¹
upon the shaft D. This shaft revolves in journal boxes on the standards B', which
are secured by bolts to the supplementary bed A¹ A belt pulley D² is also secured
upon the shaft D, and receives the belt from any suitable motor or for the purpose
of imparting rotation to the mandrel C. This mandrel is provided with a face
plate band centre a', similar to those used on ordinary lathes. At the opposite
end of the bed plate from the head stock is placed the grooved plate or ways E,
firmly secured by bolts to the bed plate, and provided upon its upper surface with
the two shape bolt grooves c, c, and a central guide groove c'. Upon this plate
is placed the tail stock F secured in any desired position with relation to the head
stock by the bolts d, the heads of which slide in the grooves c. A tongue d¹ upon
the bottom of the tail stock enters the groove-c-in the ways.E, and preserves the
parallelism of the tail centre e with the line centre a¹. The devices for moving
forward the tail centre with relation to the tail stock consists of a rotating nut
forming the hub of the hand wheel E¹, within which a screw thread upon the
spindle which receives the centre e works. A set screw el passes downward through
the top of the tail stock at its lower end, bearing against the spindle, so the latter,
together with the centre e, may be alternately fixed or released when desired.
These parts being substantially the same as those used upon ordinary lathes for
moving and retaining the tail screw in position. Between the two centres is placed
an axle G carrying the wheels G', which are to be turned. A dog b¹, secured to
the axle, being the means of conveying motion from the face plate b to the
axle, and consequently to the car wheels secured upon it. Sécured to the bed
platè A by the bolts f is a transversely grooved plate H. The grooves g in this
plate are also T shaped, and arranged at equal distances from each other so that
the tongue g¹ upon the base I of the tool carrier K shall enter any two of them,

page_text: thus allowing the tool carrier and its adjuncts to be shifted from one pair of grooves
to another to suit the work when wheels belonging to roads having different
gauges are to be turned up as a change of gauge causes a corresponding change in
the length of the axles. These bases are retained in position by T headed bolts i,
the heads of which move in the grooves g, and they are further provided with a
circular projection / on their upper side which enters a corresponding cavity in the
downward projection I¹ of the transverse plate .J. Two segmental slots kare
formed in the expanded flange of this part I', through which passes the stud
bolts, nuts upon which serve to hold the flauge, and with it the traverse plate J
parallel to the axial line of the centres or at an angle thereto corresponding to
the bevel of the tread of the car wheels to be turned: The traverse plate J has a
concavity of semicircular section in its top, in which is placed the traversing screw L
rotating freely in journal boxes at each end of the plate, and provided with the
hand crank m, by which it is turned to carry forward or back in line with the
screw the traversing plate M, which is provided with a dovetail groove upon its
under side, fitting on to corresponding ways on the plate J, and it is also furnished
with a nut n on its under side, upon which the screw L acts to move the plate back
and forth. The traversing plate M is likewise provided with a screw L'; journalled
in the end's plate M, as the screw L is in the plate J. It is also provided with the
handle o, by means of which the screw is turned, and the tool carrier, which is
furnished on its underside with the nut n'; made to move at right angles to the
axial line of the traverse plate J. This tool carrier K has a T shaped groove p in
its upper part to receive a similarly shaped part pl of the tool post N, which may
be moved to any point desired in the length of the carrier. The upper inner edges
of the groove in the carrier are bevelled, and the corresponding part of the tool
post likewise, thus avoiding sharp corners and giving greater strength to the post.
Through the upper part of this tool post is formed a mortise q, through which and
resting on the top of carrier K passes the bifurcated arm P. This arm may be
firmly secured in any desired position, to which it may be turned horizontally by
the set screw, which passes down through the top of the tool post into contact
with the upper side of the arm. Each bifurcation Pi of the arm P is provided with
a journal box Q, in which the shaft R rotates. This shaft is provided on one end
with a driving pulley R', through which it is driven at considerable speed by a belt
from any suitable motor. An emery or other grinding wheel S is secured upon the
shaft R between the journals Q by means of a washer and nut, which hold it firmly
against a collar on the shaft. The operation of the machine is as follows:-An axle
with the wheels secured thereon is placed between the centres. The traversing
plates J of the tool carriers are then brought parallel to the tread of the wheel,
that is, they are given the same inclination from the centre line of the axle as it is
intended to give the tread, and secured in that position, motion being imparted to
both the wheels and the grinding or abrading tools; the latter are moved forward
by the cranks o until the abrading tools have ground away the edges of the car
wheels to such a depth as may be needed to remove the defects from the tread, when
the cut is carried across their faces by means of the screw L and crank m. Should
the first cut not remove all that is necessary a second may be taken. It is evident
that the rotation of the screws L and L' may be made automatic, if desired, by
suitable gearing connected with some part of the revolving mechanism of the
machine or with the prime motor. It will be evident that this machine may be
employed in turning up old wheels, the peripheries of which have become so much
out of truth as to make it dangerous and unprofitable to retain them longer in use,
although, after turning, they become nearly or quite as good as new wheels, and the
operation may be repeated as often as necessary until the chilled part of the wheel
is used up. These car wheels will run much longer without becoming untrue than
those which have not been turned, and the wear of the track is also greatly reduced.
Having thus described my Invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters
Patent the following:-First. The rotating abrading wheel or wheels, provided with
means for operating the same as herein before described, in combination with

page_text: mechanism for centering and rotating the chilled car wheels and axles when firmly
united together for the purpose of rendering the peripheries of said wheels accu-
rately concentric with the axle bearing, all substantially as set forth. Second. The
ways E-bolted-to-the-bed-plate-A-and-provided with the T shaped grooves c, c, and
central guide c¹, in the top of the ways E between the T grooves, in combination
with the tail stock F, having tongue d¹ and T-headed securing bolts d, substantially
as and for the purpose specified. Third: The plate H bolted to the bed plate A,
provided with a plurality of transverse T shaped grooves g, placed at equal distances
from each other, for the purpose of giving a variable adjustment to suit axles of
different lengths, in combination with the abrading wheel carriers and their sup-
porting and adjusting mechanism, as set forth. Fourth. The bed plate A and
-supplementary bed A, in combination with the head stock B, mandrel C, spur gear
O standard B¹, shaft D, pinion D¹, and pulley D, constructed and arranged as and
for the purpose set forth. Fifth. The abrading wheel S, mounted upon the shaft R,
in combination with the bifurcated tool holder P and its supporting and operating
devices, all constructed and arranged for joint operation as set forth. Sixth. In
combination with the bed plate A, the grooved plate H, and base I, provided with
the screw studs or bolts b, in combination with the downward extension I' of the
traverse plate J, said extension 1' having in its enlarged flange segmental openings
k, for the purpose of giving a limited horizontally rotating movement to the tool
carrier, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert John Haddan, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtytieth day of June, A.D. 1879.