Iм- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAYS AND FOR OTHER Uszs
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Armstrong, of Rotherham, in the County.
of York, Railway Wheel Manufacturer, for the Invention of “Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAYS AND FOR OTHER
Uszs."
Sealed the 8th April 1873, and dated the 13th February 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Armstrong at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his, Petition, on the
13th February 1873.
I, JOSEPH ARMSTRONG, of Rotherham, in the County of York, Railway
Wheel Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAYS AND FOR
OTHER USES," to be as follows: —
My Invention has for its object to increase the safety, durability, and
elasticity of wheels, and to simplify their construction.
For this purpose I form the part between the nave and the rim of two
separate plates or discs of iron or steel of suitable thickness, and I block,
bend, or roll them into the proper shape to give the required elasticity

page_text: and strength. I then heat the plates and parts to form the boss or nave
and weld them into one solid piece at the nave, and I also weld the two
plates and a "glut" or filling piece together at the outer edge, so as to
form a solid rim to the required strength and width, or this part may be
welded solid at intervals and rivetted or bolted between. The tyre may
be applied to the rim in any suitable or well-known manner.
By these means I leave a space or opening between the two plates
from the boss to the rim, the plates being so formed as to give sufficient
elasticity and prevent the unpleasant sound caused by the spoke wheel
when running.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Armstrong in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th August 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH-
ARMSTRONG, of Rotherham, in the County of York, Railway Wheel
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Armstrong, Her special
license that I, the said Joseph Armstrong, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Armstrong, 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 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 MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAYS AND FOR OTHER USES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Armstrong, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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

page_text: Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Armstrong, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to bo particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object to increase the safety, durability, and
elasticity of wheels, and to simplify their construction.
For this purpose I form the part betweeen the nave and rim of two
separate plates or discs of iron or steel of suitable thickness, and I block,
bend, or roll them into the proper shape to give the required elasticity
and strength. I then heat the plates and parts to form the boss or nave
and weld them into ono solid picce at the nave, and I also weld the two
plates and a "glut" or filling piece together at the outer edge, so as to
form a solid rim to the required strength and width, or this part may be
welded solid at intervals and rivetted or bolted between.
The tyre may
be applied to the rim in any suitable or well known manner.
By these means I leave a space or opening between the two plates
from the boss to the rim, the plates being so formed as to give sufficient
elasticity and prevent the unpleasant sound caused by the spoke wheel
when running.
And in order that my said Invention may be more clearly understood
and readily carried into effect I will proceed, aided by the accompanying
Drawings, more fully to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side view of a railway wheel constructed according to
my Invention; Figure 2 shows a cross section of the same taken on the
line A, B, of Figure 1, and Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7-shew modifications
in the mode of connecting the tyre to the rim of the wheel.
into the proper shape to give them
The nave 6 is formed of two solid
plates a already shaped are heated.
According to my Invention I form the part a between the nave 6 and
rim c of two separate plates or discs of iron or steel of suitable thick-
ness, and I block, bend, or roll them
the required elasticity and strength.
discs or washers, which with the two
to a welding heat and then placed in dies or swages and welded together
so as to form one solid piece at the nave. I also weld the two plates

page_text: or discs a and a glut or filling piece together at the outer edge, so
as form a solid rim c, as shown at Figure 3, to the required strength
and width, or if desired this part may be welded solid at intervals and
rivetted or bolted together between such solid parts.
Instead, however, of employing a glut or filling piece extending all
round the rim of the wheel I sometimes employ a glut or filling piece
at intervals only, so as to make the rim solid at the parts where the tap
screws d pass therethrough, or such gluts or 'filling pieces may be
dispensed with altogether if desired, as shown at Figures 2, 4, 5, 6,
and 7.
The tyre e may be applied to the rim in any suitable or well known.
manner, as shown at Figure 2, or a web e¹ may be rolled or formed on.
the tyre, as shown at Figure 5, and the plates a may be rivetted or bolted.
thereto, or such web e¹ may be undercut, as shown at Figure 7, and the
plates a may be formed at the rim to clip the web e', in which case the
two plates a would be bolted or rivetted together at a¹ to cause them.
to retain a firm hold of the web e¹.
I prefer, however, when using an undercut web e¹ to form the rim of
one of the plates a of a separate ring of steel suitably formed and bolted
to such plate a, as shown at Figure 7, or the web e¹ may be formed
separately on a ring e³, as shown at Figures 4 and 6, and the plates a
may be bolted or rivetted thereto, and instead of employing set screws,
as shown at Figures 2 and 6, a groove e³ may be formed in the tyre,
and stop plates f may be inserted therein, and bolted to the rim of the
plates a, as shown at Figures 3 and 4, to retain the various parts in
proper position at the rim of the wheel.
By these means I leave a space or opening of the form shown in the
Drawings, or any mere modification thereof, between the two plates or
discs a from the boss to the rim, the plates a being so formed as to give
sufficient elasticity, and prevent the unpleasant sound caused by the
spoke wheel when running.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the mode
in which I carry the same into effect, I would_here remark that I am
aware that it has before been proposed to form wheels hollow at the
part between the nave and the rim, but in such case the curves of the
plates a were reversed, and they were not caused to meet together at
the rim and at the nave, I do not therefore claim generally the making

page_text: of disc wheels hollow; but what I claim is the mode substantially as
herein shown and described of making elastic wheels for railways and
for other uses by first blocking or shaping the plates or discs a to the
form shown in the Drawings, or to any mere modification thereof, and
then welding them and the nave or boss together into one piece at the
boss, whilst the plates a are so formed and placed as to meet together at
the boss or nave, and leave a space between them from the boss to the
rim, where they again meet, or nearly so, and are welded, bolted, or
rivetted together, and fastened to the tyre as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Armstrong, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.