IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGE WHEELS, IN THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF, AND IN MOLDS THEREFOR
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edgar Simonds and William Henry
Dyer, of Hartford, Connecticut, United States of America, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGE WHEELS, IN THE
MANUFACTURE THEREOF, AND IN MOLDS THEREFOR."-A communication
from John Kennard Sax, residing at Pittston, Pennsylvania, United
States, aforesaid.
Sealed the 16th January 1874, and dated the 24th September 1873.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Edgar Simonds
and William Henry Dyer at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition and Declaration, on the 24th Sep-
tember 1873, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Edgar Simonds
and William Henry Dyer at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition and Declaration, on the 24th Sep-
tember 1873, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
EDGAR SIMONDS and WILLIAM HENRY DYER, of Hartford, Connecticut,
United States of America, send greeting.

page_text: THEREFOR," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto us, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it is a communi-
cation from John Kennard Sax, a person resident at Pittston, Penn-
sylvania, United States aforesaid.
NOW KNOW YẺ, that we, the said William Edgar Simonds and William
Henry Dyer, do hereby declare that the following Complete Specification,
under the hand and seal of one of us, fully describes and ascertains the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings making a part of this Specification, in which,-
Figure 1 is a top view of a flask and mold made use of; Figure 2 is a
´side elevation of the same; Figure 3 is a view of the same in vertical
section on the line x, x; Figure 4 is a view of the same in vertical
section on the line x1, x¹.
Figure 5 is a top view of the lower section of the flask; Figure 6 is a
view in vertical section of a part of the lower section shown in Figure 5
on the line x², x², looking in the direction indicated by the arrow.
Figure 7 is a top view of the part known herein-after as the "lifting
frame."
Figure 8 is a top view of the "central cap" of the flask.
Figure 9 is a view of the "central cap" in vertical section on the
line x³, x³.
The flask and mold shown in these Drawings are for the purpose of
producing or making a railway carriage wheel having a body or center
of one kind or quality of metal, as tough cast iron, and a tread rim or
tire of another kind or quality of metal, as hard cast iron or steel, the
two metals being cast into the same mold at or about the same time.
The letter a indicates the bottom board upon which the mold and
flask sit; b, the lower annular section of the flask, and 6', the upper
annular section fitting to the section 6 by dowel pins 64. The section 6
has or may have radial arms or spokes 65 preferably three in number
which rnn to a central ring 6º, their upper outline conforming to the
contour of the under side of the wheel. The letter c indicates the
molding sand in the section b. Each of the spokes 65 has an upwardly

page_text: projecting pillar 67, its top just even with the upper face of the wheel
that is to be cast in the mold, such pillars running through corres-
ponding holes in the plate of the wheel, and each surrounded with
molding sand appertaining to the sand in the section b. Starting from
under the bottom of each of the spokes 65, a bolt d headed at the bottom
runs up through each of the pillars 6', and thence to just a little above
the level of the top of the flask to serve as guides and connections for
the "central cap," as will be herein-after described. The section 6' has
numerous rings 68 extending inward and conforming to the contour of
the tread of the wheel, but not touching it. The letter c indicates the
sand pertaining to the section b¹.
The "central cap" is composed of the central ring e, the radial
arms e¹, the cross flukes e³, and the shorter radial arms e³. The lower
outline of the whole central cap conforms to the contour of the upper
face of the wheel, but does not touch it. This central cap rests upon the
pillars 67 by means of the pillar points e* corresponding to the pillars b',
and is guided to its place by the rods d running up through the en-
largements e' to the top of the cap where the nuts d' hold the cap and
the section 6 together. There is an annular opening s all around the
mold between the sand pertaining to the section 61, and the sand c
pertaining to the "central cap." The letter m. indicates the core for
forming the hole in the hub of the wheel for the end of the axle. The
letter n indicates the matrix of the mold or rather that part of the
matrix for the reception of the metal of which the body of the wheel is
to be cast, which metal may be poured through the sprues n¹, n¹, located
at any desired points within the band o. The letter i indicates the space
in the matrix of the mold to be filled with the metal that forms the tread
of the wheel, and which may be poured through the sprues ¹³, ¹, com-
municating at the bottom with a runner channel scooped out in the
surface of the sand pertaining to the section b, and running entirely
around the mold, from which runner channel numerous small sprues 23
enter the matrix of the mold outside the band o. The band o may be of
iron or steel or equivalent material, and may extend from the bottom of
the matrix to the top, or to any other suitable height. This band is
introduced into the matrix of the mold through the annular openings,
and is suspended by means of rods o¹ at regular intervals, which are
temporarily fastened into the lifting frame, which is composed of the
ringo, the handles o³, the guides o, fitting on the exterior of the

page_text: section 6¹, and has on the inside morticed lugs o³, with set screws
running into the mortices, by means of which set screws the rods o¹ are
for the time being fastened to the lifting frame. The annular opening s
is formed in the sand by a collar on the upper face of the wheel
pattern.
After the sand has been rammed up in the flask and the pattern
withdrawn, the central cap is fastened to the section 6 by the nuts d',
the band o is inserted into the mold, and the mold is ready for the
casting. We prefer that soft and tough cast iron be used for the body
of the wheel, and hard cast iron or steel for the tread, though steel or
iron may be used for either or both. The metal for the body and the
metal for the tread are both poured at or about the same time, and in
case the band o does not extend to the top of the matrix, the pouring of
the metal for the tread may cease when it rises to the top of the band.
The rise of the metals upon both sides of the band may be seen through
the openings. The metal may be poured till the opening s is filled,
thereby forming a head. Before the two metals solidify, the band o may
bo withdrawn from the mold by raising up the lifting frame, leaving the
two metals in direct contact, so that they will intimately amalgamate
and weld together.
If desired the band o when made of steel or iron may be left in the
mold, and then in this case the band if thin enough will melt and
amalgamate with the two metals, or if thicker will simply weld to the
two metals, and the arms o' are afterward cut off.
If a head is left in the openings that is afterward cut off.
The wheel represented as being cast in the Drawings is what is known
as a plate wheel, and needs to have holes through the plate for the pillar
supports 67. In casting a spoke wheel these pillar supports run between
the spokes.
We are aware of the Letters Patent to Nathan Washburn, of October
14th, A.D. 1869, No. 2997, in which is described a car wheel having a
wrought-iron or wrought-steel tire welded to a cast-iron body by the use
of a welding composition, but this process, mold, and product differ
widely from anything shown in said Washburn's Patent, first in the
construction of the mold, second in the character of the process, and
third in the character of the product. We make use of no welding

page_text: composition while he does. He effects a union between one wrought
and one cast metal, a union that is not apt to be intimate and permanent
on account of the structural differences of wrought and cast metals.
We effect a union between two cast metals whose interior structures are
alike, thus producing more perfect cohesion and union.
We can produce a wheel having a cast-steel tire and a body of cast
iron, or of a different quality of steel welded together in the mold by a
modification of this present Invention as follows:-First, cast the tire of
steel into its finished shape, then place this tire into a mold of common
construction, and heat mold and tire together till the tire is at or near a
welding heat, or the tire may be thus heated before it is put into the
mold, and finally cast in the center of cast iron or steel, the center
welding to the tire in the process.
We claim this modification as a part of our Invention because of the
more intimate and perfect union effected between the two cast metals
than between a wrought and a cast metal, and because when a steel tire
is cast instead of wrought into shape, it can be cast as hard as is desired,
while nothing like the same degree of hardness can be attained in a
wrought-steel tire to be welded to a cast metal center in this way, and
excessive hardness is what is desired in the tread of a car wheel.
We wish to be expressly understood that what we do not herein-after
expressly claim as a part of this Invention, we expressly disclaim and
admit to be old except that we intend to cover and hold what may be
equivalents for the things herein-after claimed.
We claim as this Invention,-
1. The process of casting the body of a railway carriage wheel of one
kind or quality of metal, as soft cast iron, and the tread or tire of
another kind or quality of metal, as hard cast iron or cast steel in the
same mold and at the same time by means of an annular band inter-
posed within the mould between the two metals, which band is withdrawn
after the metals are poured, so as to leave the two metals in immediate
contact while fused, so that they will fuse or weld together, substantially
as described.
2. In a wheel flask the combination of the lower section 6 with the
central cap supported by or from the lower section, substantially as and
for the purposes set forth.

page_text: 3. The combination of the lower section. 6, the central cap supported
by or from the central section, and the section 6¹, all constructed and
.operating substantially as described.
4. The combination of the section b, the central cap, and the rods d,
all constructed and designed for operation and use substantially as
described.
5. The combination of the section b, the section 6¹, the central cap,
and the lifting frame provided with means for attachment to the rods o¹
extending from the band o, all substantially as set forth,
6. As a new article of manufacture, a railway carriage wheel having a
body of one kind or quality of metal, and a tread or tire of another kind
or quality of metal, both cast in the same mold at the same time, and
fused together by immediate contact, substantially as described.
7. As a new article of manufacture a railway carriage wheel having a
tire of cast in distinction from wrought steel, and a body of cast iron or
of cast steel of a different quality from the tire, which tire is first cast
into shape, then heated to or near a welding heat and placed in a mold,
or placed in the mold and thus heated with the mold, and finally the
center of the wheel cast of iron or steel within the heated tire, so that the
tire and the body combine, weld, or unite, all substantially as and for 2
the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof I, the said William Edgar Simonds, on
behalf of myself and the said William Henry Dyer, have here-
unto set my hand and seal this Third day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy- 2
three.