IMPROVE. MENTS IN WHEELS AND WHEELED CARRIAGES TO BE PROPELLED BY STEAM HORSE, OR OTHER POWER, AND IN APPARATUS FOR RETARDING THE SAME
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Braby and James Braby, junior, of Bridge
House Place, Newington Causeway, in the Borough of Southwark,
Wheelwrights and Carriage Builders, for the Invention of IMPROVE.
MENTS IN WHEELS AND WHEELED CARRIAGES TO BE PROPELLED BY STEAM
HORSE, OR OTHER POWER, AND IN APPARATUS FOR RETARDING THE SAME."
Sealed the 10th December 1858, and dated the 13th October 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Braby and James
Braby, junior, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 13th October 1858.
We, JAMES BRABY and JAMES BRABY, junior, of Bridge House Place,
Newington Causeway, in the Borough of Southwark, Wheelwrights and
Carriage Builders, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS AND WHEELED CARRIAGES TO BE PROPELLED BY STEAM,
HORSE, OR OTHER POWER, AND IN APPARATUS FOR RETARDING THE SAME," to be as
follows:-
Our invention of improvements in wheels and wheel carriages, and in
apparatus for retarding the same, relates, first, to the construction of wheels
which are intended to support or carry heavy weights, or to resist concussion
and the great wear and tear to which such wheels are subjected in the
crowded thoroughfares of populous towns and cities.
Our first improvement in wheels relates to a novel mode of constructing
Price &1

page_text: them of solid blocks of wood so arranged and connected together as to be of
great strength, such as will be required for gun and other carriages. This
improvement consists in constructing the wheel in sections composed of
blocks of wood having the grain running all in the same direction, so that
when the blocks are all assembled together in the form of a wheel, the grain
throughout the whole will be from the centre to the circumference. The
blocks may if required be made to abut against a central cast-iron box to
receive the axle, or such box may be altogether dispensed with. The blocks
must be connected together laterally by straps and rivets, or other suitable
contrivances, so as to form one solid mass, with the endway of the grain always
presented as a rubbing or wearing surface. By thus arranging the blocks
with the grain always in the same relative position to the axle, not only is
increased strengih and resistance to wear obtained, but there is also no
liability of the wheel getting out of shape from warping or unequal shrinking.
This latter advantage may be also obtained by arranging the blocks of wood
in such a manner that the line of the grain may always be parallel to a
tangent or chord of the circumference with the endway of the grain of each
block abutting against the endway of the grain of the contiguous blocks.
This mode of arranging the blocks will not perhaps make so durable a wheel
as the former plan, but it possesses advantages over the ordinary construction
of solid wheels.
In constructing carriago wheels of a larger diameter than those made solid
in the manner above described, we propose to employ metal naves, having
sockets made therein to receive the ends of the spokes. A hollow recess or
chamber is cast in the nave to receive oil or lubricating material for the axle
which passes through the nave, and is secured therein by means of a metal
washer and a linch pin in the usual manner. At the outer end of the axle a
hollow hemispherical cap piece or cover is secured to the nave by bolts, screws,
or otherwise, and is provided with a hole whereby oil or lubricating material
may be supplied to the end of the axle when required. This hole must of
course be closed by means of a plug or screw, as is usual in box naves, and the
hemispherical cap piece will serve to protect the nave and the end of the axle-
tree from injury from concussions.
The second part of the Invention relates to a novel or improved mode of
mounting wheel carriages, and of adapting thereto a portable railway which
will admit of the carriage being propelled over rough, uneven, or soft ground
with facility. The carriage and the engine and gearing to propel it are
mounted on a strong framing which carries the running wheels and alsoguide
wheels. The peripheries of the running wheels and guide wheels have grooves

page_text: cut in them to fit on a rail or rib made on the inside of a large wheel or
narrow drum, which is placed on both sides of the machine; or if desired, the
running wheels and also the large side wheels may be furnished with teeth,
and made to gear into each other. These large side wheels or narrow drums,
with the projecting rib or rail or teeth on the inner side, will form a con-
tinuous line of rails for the running wheels of the carriage to run on.
The action of the carriage and its appendages is as follows:-Upon impart-
ing motion to the engine so as to actuate the running wheels, or upon causing
the same to move forward by the application of other power, the running wheels
will have a tendency to run up the projecting rib on the inside of the large
side wheels or drums within which they are placed, and by so doing will cause
the same to rotate, and thus lay down in advance of the running wheels a con-
tinuous line of rails for the running wheels to travel upon.
In order to maintain the large side wheels in a vertical position, grooved
guide wheels are fixed on the sides of the carriage or some convenient part of
the framing, and are made to run on the inner projecting rib of the side
wheels, and while allowing these side wheels to rotate freely, will prevent them
from moving laterally out of their proper position. A steering wheel and
apparatus for actuating the same is adapted to the fore part of the carriage,
and is provided with suitable gearing for moving the same in either direction,
as is well understood.
Another improvement in carriages consists in coating or covering the springs
of carriages with gutta percha, india-rubber, or some otheranalogous elasticor
flexible waterproof material, for the purpose of preventing water or damp from
the atmosphere getting on to the springs, and causing them to oxidate. By
thus preventing the oxidation that now goes on rapidly, the springs will not
be so liable to wear away, and will consequently last a much longer time than
if the springs were not protected from the atmosphere.
The last improvement relates to the means of retarding the progress of
carriages, and consists in adapting to some convenient part of the axletree or
framing of the carriage near the nave of the wheel, a drop lever or bar with a
kind of shoe or solid bent-up end or crank piece which will fit the periphery
of the wheel. This lever is suspended from the eye-bolt, and when not in
use it is held up by a hook or other suitable contrivance fixed to any con-
venient part of the carriage, but when required to retard the carriage, it is only
necessary to drop the lever down on to the fore part of the wheel, and by the
lever being mounted excentrically to the wheel, it will jam or grip on the peri-
phery thereof, and the more the wheel is drawn forward the tighter the lever will
be heldagainst it, and will thereby be prevented from turning, and consequently

page_text: the carriage will be retarded in its progress. When it is required to remove the
lever, it will only be necessary to back the carriagea few inches so as to relieve
the wheel from the grip of the lever, and when the hold of the latter is thus
loosened, it may be lifted up and supported out of the way of the wheel, which
will be allowed to rotate freely on its axle. It will be obvious that another
lever mounted in a similar way may if desired be adapted so as to act on the
back part of the wheel, and prevent it from running backwards when the
carriage is ascending or stopping on a hill or inclined plane.
As the brake lever is simply suspended over the wheel, it will be evident
that the driver may with ease let it down into action, and may also lift it up
again without leaving his seat, for which purpose the apparatus should be pro-
vided with a suitable chain or cord.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Braby and James Braby, junior, in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 13th April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
BEAUY and JAMES BRABY, junior, of Bridge House Place, Newington Cause-
way, in the Borough of Southwark, Wheelwrights and Carriage Builders,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said James Braby and James Braby, junior, Her special license that we,
the said James Braby and James Braby, junior, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said James Braby and James Braby,
junior, our 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 Chaunel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS AND
WHEELED CARRIAGES TO BE PROPELLED BY STEAM, HORSE, OR OTHER POWER, AND IN
APPARATUS FOR RETARDING THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said James Braby and James Braby, junior, by an instrument in
writing under our hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be

page_text: 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 we, the said James Braby and James Braby, junior,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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 Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The first part of our Invention of improvements in wheels and wheeled
carriages, and in apparatus for retarding the same, relates to the construction
of wheels which are intended to support or carry heavy weights, or to resist
concussion, and the great wear and tear to which such wheels are subjected
in the crowded thoroughfares of populous towns and cities.
Our first improvement in wheels relates to a novel mode of constructing them
of solid blocks of wood, so arranged and connected together as to be of great
strength, such as will be required for gun and other carriages or railway trucks.
Our next improvement under this head of the Invention relates to an
improved construction of cast-iron nave for wheels.
Our first improvement consists in constructing thewheel in sections composed
of blocks of wood having the grain running all in the same direction, so that
when the blocks are all assembled together in the form of a wheel, the grain
throughout the whole will be from the centre to the circumference, or parallel
to radial lines. The blocks may, if required, be made to abut against a central
cast-iron box to receive the axle, or such box may be altogetherdispensed with.
The blocks must be collected together laterally by straps and rivets, or other
suitable contrivances, so as to form one solid mass, with the endway of the
grain always presented as a rubbing or wearing surface. By thus arranging
the blocks with the grain always in the same relative position to the axle, not
only is increased strength and resistance to wear obtained, but there is also no
liability of the wheel getting out of shape from warping or unequal shrinking.
This latter advantage may be also obtained by arranging the blocks of wood
in such a manner that the line of the grain may always be parallel to a tangent
or chord of the circumference with the endway of the grain of each block
abutting against the endway of the grain of the contiguous blocks. This
mode of arranging the blocks will not, perhaps, make so durable a wheel as
the former plan, but it possesses advantages over the ordinary construction of
solid wheels.
In the accompanying Drawings we have shewn the two different modes
above referred to, of making solid wooden wheels. Fig. 1 is a side view of a

page_text: wheel in which the endway of the grain of the blocks of wood a, a, 18
presented as the rubbing or working surface; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional
view of the same. The blocks are secured together by circular straps or
rings b, b, one on each side of the wheel, and bolted, rivetted, or secured
together by the transverse bolts or rivets c, c. Fig. 3 is a side view of a solid
wheel, in which the grain of the wood runs parallel with a chord or tangent of
the periphery, the several blocks being secured together in the same way as in
the former instance.
Our next improvement in wheels relates to the construction of carriage
wheels of a larger diameter than those made solid in the manner above
described. In making such larger wheels, we propose to employ metal naves,
having sockets made therein to receive the ends of wooden spokes, as shown
in the sectional view, Fig. 4. The nave is cast in one piece d, d, of cast iron,
leaving sockets e, e, for the ends of the spokes, and hollow recesses or cham-
bers, are cast in the nave to receive oil or lubricating material for the axle,
which passes through the nave at 9, and is secured therein by means of a
metal washer haud a linch pin i in the usual manner, or by means of a
screwed nut. At the outer end of the axle a flanged hollow hemispherical
cap piece or cover; is secured to the nave by bolts or screws h, k, or in any
other convenient manner, and is provided with a hole 1, whereby oil or
lubricating material may be supplied to the end of the axle g when required.
This hole must of course be closed by means of a plug or screw, as is usual in box
naves, and the hemispherical cap piece; will serve to protect the nave and the
end of the axletree from injury from concussions. In order to prevent the
leakage of the oil, a washer m, m, of india-rubber, gutta percha, leather, or
some other suitable material is placed between the flanges of the cap piece j
and the iron nave, and when this washer is compressed between the cap piece
and nave, it will form a perfectly tight joint.
The second part of the Invention relates to a novel or improved mode of
mounting wheeled carriages, and of adapting thereto a portable railway, which
will admit of the carriage being propelled over rough, uneven, or soft ground
with facility. This part of our Invention is shewn in Sheet II. of the
accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. 5 is a side elevation representing the
improvement applied to a traction engine to be used on common roads or for
agricultural purposes. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same. The carriage and
engine are not shewn in the Drawing, but both the carriage, the engine, and
the gearing connected therewith are secured to a strong framing, part of
which is shewn at a, a, a. This framing is mounted on the running wheels b,b,
and guide wheels c, c, are also secured to some convenient part of the framing

page_text: a, a, or to the carriage. The peripheries of the running wheels b, b, and the
guide wheels c,, have grooves cut in them to fit on a rail or rib d, made on
the inside of a large wheel or narrow drum c,e, one of which is placed on each
side of the machine. Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of one of the driving wheels b
and large wheel e, as applied to a locomotive engine for a railway, shewing
the V-groove in the driving wheel, and the rib d on the inside of the large
wheel c. It will be seen that by the peculiar form of the groove in the
running wheel and the elevated rib d on the inside of the large side wheels e,
the greater the weight that is put upon the running wheels, the more they
will be made to bite on the elevated rib d of the large wheels e, e. If desired,
the running wheels b, b, and also the large side wheels e, e, may be furnished
with teeth, and made to gear into each other. These large side wheels or
narrow drums e with the projecting rib or rail d, or teeth on the inner side,
will form a continuous line of rails for the running wheels of the carriage to
run upon. The running wheels are provided with toothed gearing /, /,
(Fig. 5,) whereby they are driven through the intervention of the connecting
rod 9, which receives motion from the engine.
The action of the carriage and its appendages is as follows: Upon im-
parting motion to the engine, so as to actuate the running wheels by means
of the connecting rod 7 and gearing f, or upon causing the running wheels to
move forward by the application of other power, the running wheels will have
a tendency to run up the projecting ribd on the inside of the large side wheels
or drums e, e, within which they are placed, and by so doing will cause the large
wheels or drums e to rotate, and thus lay down in advance of the running
wheels a continuous line of rails for the running wheels to travel upon.
In order to maintain the large side wheels e in a vertical position, the
grooved guide wheels c, c, are fixed on the sides of the carriage, or some
convenient part of the framing, as before mentioned, and are also made torun
on the inner projecting rib d of the side wheels e, and while allowing these
side wheels to rotate freely, will prevent them from moving laterally out of their
proper position. A steering wheel or wheels and apparatus for actuating the
same is adapted to the fore part of the carriage, and is provided with suitable
gearing for moving the same in either direction, as is well understood.
Fig. S is a side elevation and partial section of a cart with this part of our
Invention adapted thereto. In this instance, as the cart is intended to be
drawn by a horse, the toothed gearing is dispensed with, and as there is no
occasion to make any provision to secure the bite of the running wheel bon
the rib of the large wheels e; the rib d and the groove in the running and
guide wheels may be male square, or of any other form.

page_text: Fig. 9 is a side elevation, shewing the manner of adapting the Invention to
a locomotive engine which is intended to run upon a railroad. It will be seen
that the gearing of the running wheels is connected together by means of a
rod h. The object of this application of the Invention is to facilitate the
ascent of locomotive engines up steep inclines or gradients, and therefore it
will be necessary to construct the grooves of the running wheels and the
internal rib d of the large outer wheels in the manner shewn in the enlarged
sectional view, Fig. 7.
Another improvement in carriages consists in coating or covering the
springs of carriages with gutta percha, india-rubber, or some other analogous
elasticor flexible waterproof material, for the purposes of preventing water or
damp from the atmosphere getting into or between the plates of the springs,
and causing them to oxydate. A spring coated, covered, or protected in this
manner, but with part of the covering removed, is shewn at Fig. 10, Sheet I.
By thus preventing the oxydation that now goes on rapidly, the springs will
not be so liable to wear away, and will consequently last a much longer time
than if the springs were not protected from the atmosphere.
The last part of our Invention relates to the means of retarding the
progress of carriages, and consists in adapting to some convenient part of the
axletree or framing of the carriage, near the nave of the wheel, a drop lever
or bar, with a kind of shoe or solid bent up end or crank piece, which will be
allowed to act on the periphery of the wheel. This lever is shewn in eleva-
tion at Fig 11, Sheet 1, and is suspended from an eye bolt i near the axle, as
shewn at, in Figs. 12 and 13, Sheet 1, which represent the leverj adapted
to the wheel of a cart, waggon, or carriage. When the lever is not in use, it
is held up, or suspended from a hook fixed to any convenient part of the
carriage by means of a chain, but when required to retard the carriage, it is
only necessary to drop the lever j down on to the fore part of the wheel, as
shewn by dots in Fig. 12, and by the lever being mounted excentrically to the
wheel, it will jam or grip on the periphery thereof, and the more the wheel is
drawn forward, the tighter the lever will be held against it, and the wheel
will thereby be prevented from turning, and consequently the carriage will
be retarded in its progress.
When it is required to remove the lever j, it
will only be necessary to back the carriage a few inches, so as to relieve the
wheel from the grip of the lever, and when the hold of the latter is thus
loosened, it may be lifted up by the chain and supported out of the way
of the wheel, which will be allowed to rotate freely on its axle. It will
be obvious that another lever mounted in a similar way may, if desired, be
adapted so as to act on the back part of the wheel, and prevent it from

page_text: running backwards when the carriage is ascending or stopping on a hill or
inclined plane.
As the break lever is simply suspended over the wheel, it will be evident.
that the driver can with ease let it down into action, and can also lift it up
again without leaving his seat, for which purpose the apparatus should be
provided with a suitable chain or cord, as shewn at k.
Having now described our Invention of improvements in wheels and wheel
carriages to be propelled by steam, horse, or other power, and in apparatus
for retarding the same, and having explained the manner of carrying our
several improvements into effect, we claim as the Invention secured to us by
Letters Patent as aforesaid :-
First, the mode herein set forth of constructing solid wooden wheels.
Second, the mode herein set forth of constructing cast-iron naves of wheels.
Third, the adaptation to carriages, whether propelled by steam, horse, or
other power, of grooved running wheels, or their equivalents, in combination
with large side wheels or drums, provided on the inside with an elevated rib
or rail, as shewn in the Figures in Sheet II., and on which rib the running
wheels are made to run.
Fourth, we claim covering carriage springs with india-rubber, gutta percha,
or some analogous substance, as herein set forth, for the purpose of protecting
the springs from the effects of the atmosphere, so as to prevent or retard
oxydation.
Lastly, we claim the means and apparatus herein shewn and described, of
retarding the progress of wheeled carriages.
In witness whereof, we, the said James Braby and James Braby, junior,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twelfth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
30 Witness,
J. W. MOFFatt
66, Chancery Lane.
JAMES BRABY, JUN. (L.S.)