Improvements in Cycle, Carriage, and other Wheels.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Jan., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 18th Oct., 1894-Accepted, 24th Nov., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cycle, Carriage, and other Wheels.
I, ARTHUR ISAAC MAXFIELD, of 326 Liverpool Road, Islington, in the
County of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention has for its object to obtain great resiliency between the tyre and
the hub or the tyre and the axle of cycle and other wheels, so as to minimise the
vibration upon the axle of the wheel and thus insure greater comfort to the rider
and less wear and tear and strain of the bearings and other parts.
For this purpose I construct the wheels as follows.
According to one arrangement I divide the wheel into two concentric parts, the
inner part being formed of short spokes connecting the boss of the wheel with a
circular metal ring, which is connected by a series of springs to a second metal
ring, from which short spokes extend to the tyre of the wheel.
The said two metal rings are made of some width, and the springs connecting
them are arranged to extend alternately from the two edges of the inner ring to
the opposite edges of the outer ring, so that the springs thus cross each other in
diagonal positions and although they afford the required amount of resiliency, they
offer a sufficient resistance to the relative lateral displacement of the two parts of
the wheel.
According to another arrangement, I dispense with the above mentioned outer
ring and short spokes connecting the same with the tyre and I make the central
part of sufficiently large diameter that the ring thereof can be connected directly
by means of the before described diagonally arranged springs to the tyre, which
may be of any suitable known construction such as a metal rim with caoutchouc
band.
According to another arrangement the said diagonally arranged springs have
their one end connected directly to the boss, while the other end is connected to a
surrounding ring, from which the spokes extend to the tyre, so as to suspend the
boss and axle in an elastic manner within the other part of the wheel.
Dated this 18th day of January 1894.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cycle, Carriage, and other Wheels.
1, ARTHUR [SAAC MAXFIELD, of 326 Liverpool Road, Islington, in the
County of London, Mechanical Engineer, 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 has for its object to combine with the wheels for velocipedes and
other vehicles springs so arranged that while they afford great resiliency between
the tyre and the nave or axle so as to minimise the vibration transmitted to the
several parts of the vehicle and to the rider, they at the same time effectually
prevent any material lateral relative displacement between the two parts of the
wheel that are connected by the springs, such as is liable to occur with the spring
connecting devices that have heretofore been proposed.

page_text: The invention consists mainly in connecting two concentric separate metal rings
or hoops that form part of the wheel, or the nave of the wheel and a concentric
ring or hoop, by means of diagonally arranged springs extending alternately from
each side of the one ring to the opposite side of the other ring, so that while the
springs admit of a considerable elastic action between the two rings in the direction
of the plane of the wheel, their oblique position enables them to resist any undue
relative lateral displacement between the rings.
The wheel may be constructed in three different ways in combination with this
arrangement of springs, which I will describe with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
Fig. 1 shews a front view of a velocipede wheel, Fig. 2 is a cross section, and
Figs. 3 and 4 shew enlarged details.
In this construction the wheel A is constructed in any manner now employed for
velocipede wheels, with the exception that the metal rim 13 is made somewhat wider
than the ordinary metal rims of such wheels. C is a rigid metal tyre, by preference
made of a flat broad tubular shape, as shewn at the section Fig. 3, which is con-
nected to the rim B by means of springs D. These springs, which are here shown
as helical steel springs, but which may be of any other form and material allowing
of extension in a longitudinal direction, have their one end attached to the one side
of the rim B and their other end to the opposite side of the tyre C, so as to lie in
a diagonal position relatively to the plane of the wheel, the alternate springs being
inclined in opposite directions. Thus on the axle of the wheel being loaded, the
wheel A will be somewhat depressed so as to become slightly eccentric within the
tyre C, the springs D which are for the time being uppermost being extended to
a corresponding extent while the lower ones will be correspondingly contracted.
The main advantage of this arrangement of the springs lies in the fact that they
effectually resist any material relative lateral displacement between the rim B and
the tyre C inasmuch as any tendency of the rim B to move to the right hand
relatively to the tyre C will be resisted by the springs that extend from the right
hand edge of the rim B to the left hand edge of the tyre, and vice versa, and it will
be seen that this advantage is increased in proportion as the inclination of the
springs is greater.
In order to reduce as much as possible the eccentricity of the central part of the
wheel when the axle is loaded, the springs are all put on with a certain initial
tension which will have to be determined according to their strength and the lond
they have to bear.
The securing of the springs to the rim B and tyre C may be effected in various
ways; a simple construction, easily fitted to the parts is to pass a hook-shaped
piece of metal E with its narrow tail end through slits formed in the rim and tyre,
as shewn and then to bend over the projecting tail end. The loop of the spring is
then passed into the hook, which is formed with its end bent inwards, so as to
prevent the loop of the spring from riding out of the hook again.
The connection of the helical springs to the hooks, instead of being effected by
bending the end of the spring into loop form in the ordinary way, may advan-
tageously be effected by providing a separate loop K shewn at Figs. 10 and 11
having shanks with serrated edges which fit into the ends of the springs, as shewn,
the convolutions of the latter being made to engage with the notches of the
stem, which they grip tightly when a tension is put upon them in fixing in position
on the wheel.
The hole K¹ of the loop is made with a convex surface for bearing on the
hook E, so as to readily adjust itself to any oblique position of the spring.
Figs. 5 and 6 shew a front view and section of another construction, in which
the wheel is divided into two concentric parts, the inner part A being connected
to the outer part A' by springs D connected at one end to the rim B of the part A
and at the other end to the inner rim B' of the part A', this rim being connected
to the tyre C by short spokes F.
The springs D are arranged in alternate diagonal positions as before described.

page_text: The wheel may either be made entirely of metal as shewn, or the central part A
may be of wood when the construction is to be applied to carriage wheels.
Figs. 7 and 8 shew a section and perspective view and Fig. 9 an enlarged section
of a third construction, in which the springs D serve to connect the nave G of the
wheel with a double ring H H from which the spokes extend to the tyre in the
usual manner. In this case there are provided, in addition to the diagonal springs D
passing across from the one flange of the nave to the opposite ring H, other
springs D' extending radially from the flange of the nave to the ring on the same
side, as owing to the much more sloping position of the springs D in this case, as
compared with that in the preceding cases, the resultant of the downward pull
passing in the direction of the spring would require very strong springs to resist it
unaided.
The considerable inclination of the springs D on the other hand will enable these
still more effectually to resist the relative lateral displacement of the nave and the
wheel.
The two rings H H are suitably connected by transverse bars I, thus forming
with the rings a skeleton hoop. If desired, the rings Hand bars I may be replaced
by a light broad hoop, having flanges at the end for the connection of the spokes
and the springs. In the arrangement shewn the springs are attached to the rings H
and flanges of the nave, by means of screwed eyes or hooks, but they may be
attached by any other suitable fastenings.
The tyres C may be provided with any suitable form of covering J; such as of
caoutchouc leather &c. for affording the necessary adhesion to the road in the case
of velocipedes; in the case of carriage wheels they may either also be provided with
such covering, or with an ordinary iron or steel rim.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Constructing wheels for vehicles of two separate concentric rigid parts that
are connected together by springs arranged so as to extend in opposite inclined
positions relatively to the plane of the wheel each set of springs being made to
extend from the one side of the one part to the opposite side of the other part, so
that while the springs allow of a certain amount of elastic action between the two
parts, they effectually resist any material relative lateral displacement between
them, substantially as described.
2. In wheels, constructed as referred to in the first claim, the employment of a
rigid tyre (C) to form the one separate part, connected by the diagonally
arranged springs (D) to the wheel (A) substantially as described with reference to
Figs. 1 to 4.
3. In wheels constructed as referred to in the first claim, dividing the ring into
two separate concentric parts (A and A¹) the ring (B) of the one part (A) being
connected to the ring (B) of the other part (A') by the diagonally arranged
springs D, substantially as described with reference to (Figs. 5, 6).
4. In wheels constructed as referred to in the first claim, constructing the
wheel (A) separate from the nave or boss (G) and connecting the latter with
concentric rings (H H) or a broad hoop forming the centre part of the wheel, by
means of diagonally arranged springs, (D), with or without additional radially
arranged springs (D¹), substantially as described with reference to Figs. 7 and 8.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.