IMPROVEMENTS IN AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS ADAPTED PRINCIPALLY FOR TRAMWAY PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Lamb Scott, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS ADAPTED PRINCIPALLY FOR TRAMWAY
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Lamb Scott at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th December 1881.
GEORGE LAMB SCOTT of the City of Manchester in the County of Lancaster
Engineer "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS ADAPTED
PRINCIPALLY FOR TRAMWAY AND RAILWAY VEHICLES AND SUITABLE FOR OTHER
USES."
My Invention relates more particularly to the wheels of tram cars or tramway
vehicles and has for its principal objects to reduce their weight, to increase their
elasticity and to reduce the cost of production and maintenance. I make my
improved wheel of cast steel, but I cast the rim separately from the arms and hub,
principally in order that the rim may be able to contract equably and to retain its
true form and that tensional and compressive strains which occur in the cooling of
wheels which are cast in one piece with their arms and hub may be avoided. The
hub is cast with three or more sets of double arms or pairs of arms which are
each formed as a thin plate or are suitably formed to possess lightness combined
with a suitable degree of strength. I may curve the arms in order to make them
resilient to some extent. Snugs are cast upon the inside of the rim and when the
hub casting is placed within the rim and turned partly around, the said snugs pass
between the arms in the pairs and are secured thereto by means of bolts which
pass through the arms and the snugs. To lessen the strain upon the bolts I prefer
to form a recess on each side or on one side of each snug and to spring the arms
into position in these recesses.
If the ends of the arms do not fit the recesses,

page_text: I may run melted metal into the spaces left between the ends of the arms and the
sides of the recesses. I may enclose each bolt within a ferule of vulcanised
caoutchouc and I may use pads or packings of such material in order to reduce the
rigidity of the connections. To prevent the necessity for drilling bolt holes I
prefer to cast the snugs with open slots for the bolts and to cast similar slots or to
core holes in the ends of the arms. In some cases I may use cast iron for the rim
or for the hub and arms or for both, in which cases I should for some uses cast the
rim in a chill. My improved wheel is much lighter and more elastic both
vertically and horizontally than ordinary wheels and can be used without
requiring to be turned on the periphery. Although my said wheel is particularly
suitable for tram-way cars it is also suitable for railway vehicles, traction engines
and for some descriptions of agricultural implements and for other uses.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said George Lamb Scott in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th June
1882.
£8
GEORGE LAMB SCOTT of the City of Manchester in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS IN AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHEELS ADAPTED
PRINCIPALLY FOR TRAMWAY AND RAILWAY VEHICLES AND SUITABLE FOR OTHER
USES."
My Invention relates more particularly to the wheels of tram cars or tramway
vehicles and has for its principal objects to reduce their weight, to increase their
elasticity and to reduce the cost of production and maintenance. I make my
improved wheel of cast steel, but I cast the rim separately from the arms and hub
principally in order that the rim may be able to contract equably and to retain its
true form and that the tensional and compressive strains which occur in the cooling
of wheels which are cast in one piece with their arms and hub may be avoided.
The hub is cast with three or more sets of double arms or pairs of arms which are
each formed as a thin plate or suitably formed to possess lightness combined with
a suitable degree of strength. Snugs are cast upon the inside of the rim and when
the hub casting is placed within the rim and turned partly around, the said snugs
pass between the arms in the pairs and are secured thereto by means of bolts which
pass through the arms and the snugs. In some cases I may use cast iron for the
rim or for the hub and arms or for both, in which case I should for some uses cast
the rim in a chill.
In order that my Invention may be readily and fully understood I have attached
hereunto a Sheet of Drawings made to a scale of about four inches to the foot and
marked with letters of reference. In the said Drawings Fig. 1 represents an
elevation and Fig. 2 a vertical section of a wheel constructed in accordance with
my Invention and adapted for application to a tram car Fig. 3 representing a
section on the line A in Fig. 1. The wheel is cast in two parts a and b. The
part a which is the rim of the wheel is cast with five snugs a', a' in which bolt
holes are drilled or formed. The part b is formed with a central hub from which
radiate five pairs of arms 6', 6'. In the example the open space between the two
arms in each pair extends from the outer ends of the arms to the hub b but in
some cases if preferred the inner ends of the arms may be connected together by
means of a rib extending a short distance from the hub. The outer ends of the
arms are formed to suit the snugs a¹ and are also drilled or are cast with bolt holes.
In the example each side of each snug is formed with a concave recess as seen in
Fig. 3 and the outer ends of the arms have corresponding convex faces formed on
the insides of the arms. The arms have a little spring so that the distances between
their outer ends can be increased or decreased to some extent as is the case in a
greater degree with a pair of sugar tongs. A shoulder a³ is formed upon each side
of the snug and is by preference curved to the radius from the wheel centre or the
said shoulder may be turned and the outer ends of the arms be turned to correspond
thereto. To unite the two parts to form a complete wheel the part b is brought
into position with the ends of the arms between the snugs and is then turned
partly around so that the ends of each pair of arms pass on each side of a snug.
This may require the arms to be slightly sprung apart in order that the convex faces
in the arms can enter the concave recesses on the snugs. Bolts c are then inserted
in the holes in the arms and snugs and are tightened and rivited up so as to secure
the parts together. If preferred the ends of the arms may be cast a little wider apart
than is necessary to fit the snugs so that when the bolts are tightened the said

page_text: ends are drawn into close contact with the snugs. The use of the recesses or of
the convex and concave formation of the meeting surfaces is to lessen the strain
upon the bolts but if preferred flat surfaces which may or may not be turned may
be substituted for the convex and concave faces. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate one of
the modifications which may be made in the forms of the snugs and arm ends. In
this example the snug is formed with an open slot which answers the purpose of a
bolt hole. If preferred the ends of the arms might also be formed with open slots
so as to save the labour of drilling or coring bolt holes in the arms.
In lieu of the
concave recesses the snug is formed on each side with a flat surface which is
surrounded on three sides with a shoulder or raised edge 62 so as to form recesses
into which the ends of the arms are sprung. In cases wherein the ends of the
arms do not closely fit the recesses or the snugs I may run melted metal or alloy
or matter into any vacant spaces which may be left or I may purposely leave spaces
to receive such matter between the arm ends and the sides of the recesses in or on
the snugs. I may enclose each bolt within a ferule of vulcanized caoutchouc and
in some cases I may apply a packing of such material or of a suitably elastic
material between the arm ends and the snugs or the rim of the wheel in order to
reduce the rigidity of the connections. Rivets might be substituted for the bolts c
in some cases.. In-the-examples-the-arms-in-each-pair-are-straight but they may
be inclined or curved. I do not confine myself to the number of pairs of arms
represented in the Drawings. The wheel formed as described and illustrated is
much lighter and more elastic both vertically and horizontally than ordinary wheels
and can be used without requiring to be turned upon the periphery. Although
such wheels are particularly suitable for application to tramway vehicles, wheels
for railway vehicles and traction engines and wheels for agricultural implements
and for other purposes may be made according to my Invention.
Having now fully set forth and indicated the nature of my Invention and the
manner in which I carry the same into practical effect I would have it to be
understood that I claim —
First the wheel cast in two parts formed and secured together substantially as
and for the purposes set forth and indicated hereinbefore and by the accompanying
Drawings.
Secondly the wheel having a rim cast with anugs which enter between the ends
of pairs of arms which are cast upon a hub the parts being secured together by
means of bolts substantially as set forth and indicated.
And lastly the manufacture of tram and other supporting wheels which are in
each case cast in two parts the hub being cast with pairs of arms which when
sprung into position grasp snugs or projections cast on the inside of the rim the
parts being secured together substantially as set forth and indicated.
In witness whereof I the said George Lamb Scott have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Thirteenth day of June in the year of our Lord Oue
thousand eight hundred and eighty-two.
Signed, sealed and delivered
in the presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
41, John Dalton St.,
Manchester,
(Agent for the Patentee).
GEORGE L. SCOTT. (L.S.)