IMPROVE-* MENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES" MENTS IN WHeels for Railway Carriages and other Vehicles
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of Dunfermline, in the County
of Fife, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-*
MENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES"
MENTS IN WHeels for Railway Carriages and other Vehicles ”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th October 1875.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of Dunfermline, in the County of Fife, North
Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES,"
to be as follows:
The object of my said Invention is to construct the boss of wood-
bodied wheels of such a shape as to give a more secure seat on such boss
for the wood segments to rest upon, and thereby to impart greater
strength to the wheels to resist tortional and other strains to which they
are or may be subjected.
Also to prepare the wood segments forming the body of the wheels
by impregnating them with creosote, tar, or other similar substance, to
resist the injurious effects of climate and insects.

page_text: cupro-ammonia; I then place it in a mould of the required form and
subject it to considerable pressure to give it the requisite solidity; I then
dry it to expel the spirit at a temperature not exceeding 200 degrees of
Fahrenheit's scale, and to form a hard compact mass suitable for the
body of a wheel.
The compound of cupro-ammonia I prepare by dissolving metallic
copper in liquid ammonia of about 880 specific gravity, or about 33 per
cent., and dilute the compound with water to any required extent, as
may be found in practice suitable for the kind of fibre to be acted on.
Or I may make the body of the wheels of felt or pulp made hard and
solid by any cohesive material, and protected externally by one or more
sheets of paper prepared by immersion in a bath of cupro-ammonia; or
the body of the wheels may be made by successive layers of paper or
cardboard cut to shape and piled to form the necessary thickness, and
be wholly or in part prepared by immersion in the said bath. In every
case I protect the exterior surface by such prepared paper or felt to
resist the injurious effects of water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of Dunfermline, in the County of Fife, North Britain, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Clark, Her special licence
that I, the said William Clark, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Clark, 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

page_text: 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 WHEELS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Clark, 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 Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clark, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
The object of my said Invention is to construct the boss of wood-
bodied wheels of such a shape as to give a more secure seat on such boss
for the wood segments to rest upon, and thereby to impart greater
strength to the wheels to resist tortional and other strains to which they
are or may be subjected.
Also to prepare the wood segments forming the body of the wheels by
impregnating them with creosote, tar, paraffin, tungstate of soda, or
other similar substance, to resist the injurious effects of climate and
insects.
Also to form the body of the wheels with stiffened or hardened felt or
paper.
In carrying out my said Invention in practice I make the part of the
boss in which the wood segments rest of any shape other than circular,
but by preference polygonal, and having the number of sides or faces
thereof to correspond with the number of wood segments used in con-
structing the wheel; or I cast projections on the interior side of the
flange of the boss of the wheel of any number or shape, and notch out
cavities in the wood segments to suit and receive the said projections;
or I make the periphery of the said flange polygonal, and fit the wood
segments on or partly on the sides thereof.
Instead of using bolts for binding the said flanges to the wood seg-
ments I use studs, the central part of which in contact with the wood

page_text: is square, rectangular, oblong, round, or conical in section, to give a
greater surface for the wood to press upon. The said studs are either
screwed at each end and fixed with nuts and fitted thereto, or the said
studs may have the head and neck of the same kind of section as the
body thereof, and be let through the flange of the boss, which I core
out to suit them.
In using my improved studs to strengthen the bodies of wood wheels
that are fitted with ordinary circular bosses I replace the bolts used for
binding the parts of the boss together by a set of studs, having their
central parts which rest against the wood segments larger in section than
the ends thereof. They may either be tapered or parallel, but if parallel
the entering end is slightly tapered to insure a tight fit when the stud is
secured in its place. This arrangement applies both to new wheels fitted
with my improved boss, and to old wheels fitted with the ordinary
circular boss, and which have my improved studs added to them to
strengthen them.
I make the wood segments forming the body of the wheel as thick as
possible to more effectually sustain the load the wheel has to support.
These wood segments may be made thicker at their central ends where
they rest upon the boss.
In determining the thickness of the wood segments next to the rim
or tyre of the wheel I prefer to make them a little less than the width
of the tyre, so that the retaining rings on each side, which are notched
into the tyre in the usual way, shall with the wood segments not exceed
the width of the tyre.
The wood used for the said segments may be of any strong and durable
description, but some kinds of wood being liable to injury from changes
of climate, wet, and insects, I prepare such wood after being shaped, by
impregnating it with creosote, tar, paraffin, tungstate of soda, chloride
of lime, or other similar substances, to resist such destructive effects;
or instead of the wood segments above described I propose to form the
body of my improved wheels of felt, paper, or paper pulp, and treat the
same with a compound of cupro-ammonia. The felt or pulp I prepare
as in paper-making from any vegetable or woody fibre, and impregnate
it with a dilute solution of cupro-ammonia; I then place it in a mould
of the required form, and subject it to considerable pressure to give it
the requisite solidity; I then dry it to expel the gases or spirit at a

page_text: temperature not exceeding 200 degrees of Fahrenheit's scale, and to
form a hard compact mass suitable for the body of a wheel.
The compound of cupro-ammonia I prepare by dissolving metallic
copper in liquid ammonia of about 880 specific gravity, or about 33 per
cent., and dilute the compound with water to any required extent, as
may be found in practice most suitable for the kind of fibre to be acted
on; or I may make the body of the wheels of felt or pulp made hard
and solid by any cohesive material, and protected externally by one or
more sheets of paper prepared by immersion in a bath of cupro-ammonia ;
or the body of the wheels may be made by successive layers of paper or
cardboard, cut to shape and piled to form the necessary thickness, and
be wholly or in part prepared by immersion in the said bath. In every
case I protect the said exterior surface by such prepared paper or felt to
resist the injurious effects of water.
Instead of paper cotton or linen cloth saturated with cupro-ammonia
may be used with advantage for protecting the exterior surface.
I now proceed to describe my said Invention more particularly with
the aid of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings which form part of this
Specification, reference being made to the said Drawings by the numerals
and lettors marked thereon. Figures 1 to 6 are drawn one-sixth the
full size; Figures 7 to 13 are drawn one-half the full size; and Figures
14 and 14ª are full size.

page_text: boss. Instead of the angles meeting in an apex they may be consecutive.
The covers for Figures 2 and 3 are fitted with angular faces like the
boss itself.
Figure 4 is similar in purpose to Figure 1, but having flat projections
on the boss instead of angular. The wood segments are cut to fit
tightly into the cavities formed by the said projections.
Figure 5 has flat projections on the interior face of the flange of the
boss; the cover has also similar projections to those on the boss, and arc
arranged to be opposite the cavities in the boss, so that the segments
being all made to one template are turned right and left hand in building
the wheel.
Figure 6 has similar projections on the boss and cover, but they are
circular instead of segmental. It is preferred to build the wheel round
a temporary boss until after the tyre is forced on, then the hole in the
centre and the holes in the segments to receive the said projections are
prepared and the boss is then forced tightly into its place.
Figure 7 is an elevation of one form of my improved studs for binding
the flanges of the boss and cover together. I make the central part of
such stud in contact with the wood segments larger in section to give
the wood a greater bearing thereon, and also form this central part
conical or tapered to ensure a tighter fit when such stud is screwed
home in its place; Figure 7* is a transverse section of the said stud.
Figures 8 and 8ª are similar in purpose to Figures 7 and 7ª, but tho
stud is square instead of conical.
Figures 9 and 9 are similar in purpose to Figures 7 and 7ª, but the
stud instead of being conical is parallel and is tapered only at its entering
end.
Figures 10 and 10* are similar in purpose to Figures 7 and 7*, but the
stud is oval and parallel to give a greater bearing to the wood segments
without materially reducing them.
Figures 11 and 11ª are also similar in purpose to Figures 7 and 7",
but the stud is cylindrical and parallel, and is therefore easily turned
when required.
Both Figures 10 and 11 may have the entering end of the stud
tapered as shewn in Figure 9, when desired.

page_text: Figure 12 shews in section my method for preserving the tyres from
lateral displacement. On the interior of the tyre I form the ring a
which may be of any section or on either side of the tyre. A sunk
recess or circular rabbet is formed in the wood segments to fit the said
ring into. Notches are cut or formed in the said ring to pass the bolts,
which notches also prevent the tyre from slipping round on the wheel
when the retaining rings get slack or loose.
Figure 13 is similar in purpose to Figure 12, but the ring is placed
in the centre of the tyre and having the wood segments in two layers.
The segments are pressed in from opposite sides and the centre of the
wheel prepared, and the boss forced into its seat as described under
Figure 6. I make the wood segments as thick as possible to sustain the
load the wheel has to carry more effectually, but they must not be so
thick as to cause the retaining rings which are notched into the tyre to
project beyond the tyre; Figures 12 and 13 shew the thickness I
consider most suitable for this purpose.
Figure 14 shews a catch or keeper which I let in at the junction of
the retaining ring and the tyre to prevent the latter from slipping round
on the wheel if the retaining rings get slack. It is shewn in position in
Figure 12, but is not intended to be used when tyres have the internal
ring a, but for tyres which have no such protection. The nut for the
bolt is countersunk to keep all the nuts uniform in height.
Having thus particularly described the nature and object of my said
Invention, and how in practice I consider it can be best applied, I
hereby further state that I do not restrict myself to the precise details
described and delineated, as from the nature of my said Invention these
may be considerably modified or varied without departing from the
scope of my said Invention, but I claim as new and desire to secure by
the hercin-before mentioned in part recited Letters Patent,-
Firstly. Forming the boss or flange of wood bodied wheels with pro-
jections thereon or cavities therein, so as to give the wood segments of
such wheels a more secure and firm scat, and thus enable them more
effectually to resist tortional or other strains to which they are or may
be subjected, substantially as described.
Secondly. Securing the flange of the boss and its cover together by
studs having their central parts, in contact with the wood, larger in
section in order to give a greater bearing surface for the wood to press
upon, substantially as described.

page_text: Thirdly. Making the said studs conical or tapered at the entering end
so as to secure a tight fit when screwed into their places.
Fourthly. Making the said studs with heads corresponding in section
with the body of the stud, instead of having nuts at both ends of such
5 studs, substantially as described.
Fifthly. The using of the said studs to strengthen old wheels that
have been fitted with the ordinary circular boss.
Sixthly. Making the wood segments as thick as possible (provided
the outer ring shall in no case project beyond the edge of the tyre) to
O enable the wheel to support its load more effectually, substantially as
described.
Seventhly. Impregnating the wood segments with any of the
preservatives herein-before described.
Eighthly. The internal projecting ring on the tyre to secure such tyre
5 against displacement, substantially as described.
Ninthly. The catch or keeper to secure tyres of the ordinary kind
against slipping round when the retaining rings get slacked, substantially
as described and shewn in Figure 14.
Tenthly. Forming the bodies of wheels for railway carriages of felt,
paper, or paper pulp, prepared with a compound of cupro-ammonia,
substantially as described.
Eleventhly. Forming the bodies of wheels for railway carriages of
felt or pulp, made hard by any suitable cohesive material and protected
externally by a facing of paper or cloth prepared or impregnated with
5 cupro-ammonia, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.