IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAILWAY ENGINES AND CARRIAGES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAILWAY
ENGINES AND CARRIAGES."-A communication from abroad by James
Atkins Woodbury, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of
America.
Sealed the 13th May 1870, and dated the 21st March 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st March 1870.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR RAILWAY
ENGINES AND CARRIAGES," a communication, to be as follows :—
The object of the said Invention is to diminish the noise and injurious
effects of the vibration caused by the wheels passing over the rails,
whereby the wear and destruction of the rails and rolling stock are
greatly lessened, and it consists chiefly in a peculiar method of con-

page_text: structing the wheel of two or more parts with elastic packing interposed,
the parts being so formed and connected by bolts that the wheel is
strong and durable, while a constant pressure of the parts upon the
packing is preserved and the tire relieved of any injurious strain.
When the tire is formed of steel and designed for the driving wheels of
locomotives, to obtain the desired results a double bevel is formed upon
the inner surfaces of the flanged tire, the bevels by preference meet near
the centre of the tire and form an angle of about one hundred and
twenty degrees, the peripheral surface of the body of the wheel has a
bevel corresponding with the bevel on the flange side of the tire. A
binding ring with a bevel corresponding to the outside bevel of the
tire is employed. A portion of this binding ring is fitted into a recess
formed for the purpose on the outside of the body of the wheel, and
when in place the bevel thercon forms, in connection with the bevel
on the body of the wheel, a V-shaped groove or recess, in which the
bevelled surfaces of the tire rests. Between these bevelled surfaces an
elastic packing is placed, this packing consists of india-rubber with one
or more layers or thicknesses of cloth running through the interior to
prevent the disintegration or squeezing out of the rubber which might
otherwise be the result of the pressure and the concussion of the wheels
upon the rail. In constructing these wheels the packing in strips or in
the form of a ring is placed upon the bearing surface of the body of the
wheel and the flanged side of the tire is then placed upon the packing.
The packing being now placed upon the binding ring the said ring is
brought into the recess on the wheel until the packing comes in contact
with the outside bevel surface of the tire. By means of screw bolts this
ring, which is in effect a wedge, is drawn up to the body of the wheel,
and the desired pressure of the bevel surface of the ring and wheel against
the bevelled surfaces of the tire is secured without straining the tire.
When the tire is thus secured there is no danger of its moving in any
direction upon the wheel, and all wear of the packing is avoided; this
destruction of the packing has heretofore prevented the use of clastic
wheels upon railways; the parts of the wheel are securely united by the
bolts, from fifteen to twenty of which are used in an ordinary locomotive
driving wheel. In order to prevent the fracture of the binding ring an a
elastic washer is interposed between the same and the metal washer under
the nut. When the tire is formed of chilled cast iron and designed for
carriages the desired result is obtained by a modified construction of the
wheel. A flange is formed upon the inner surface of the tire, which

page_text: the wheel or face of the tire.
flange has a face at an angle of about forty-five degrees to the tread of
A corresponding face is formed on the
periphery of the body or hub portion of the wheel; between the two
faces or bevelled surfaces the aforesaid elastic packing is inserted and the
tire and up portions of the wheel are united by means of screw bolts
inserted at right angles to the said faces or bevelled surfaces. The bolt
hole in the tire flange is formed considerably larger than the bolt, so as
to permit a slight lateral movement of the face of the tire flange upon
the packing; when the parts are bolted together the bolt passes through
the packing, and in order to intercept the vibrations and deaden the
sound of the wheels an elastic washer is placed behind the metal washer
upon each bolt, which washer also prevents the fracture. This mode of
securing the tire to the body of the wheel does not subject the tire to
the injurious strain which is unavoidable in other modes of construction;
the expansive force of the packing which it held by the bolts is such, that
should the tire be fractured, there is no probability of a displacement
of the parts or of any accident resulting from the fracture. Ribs are
formed upon the back or flange side of the body of the wheel to resist
the lateral strain of the flange when the same comes in contact with the
rail, and ribs are also placed upon each side of the tire portion to
strengthen the head and flange of the tire.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st September 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," Southampton
Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,

page_text: 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 Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN WEFELS FOR RAILWAY ENGINES AND CARRIAGES," a communica-
tion to me from abroad by James Atkins Woodbury, of Boston,
Massachusetts, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
their hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the 1
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 Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.
one of
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby 1
declare the nature of the 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 accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
The object of my Invention is the production at a moderate cost of 2
an elastic wheel for railway purposes, which is at once simple, strong,
and durable, and which diminishes the noise and injurious effects of the
vibration caused by the wheels passing over the rails, thereby greatly
lessening the wear and destruction of the rails and rolling stock.
The said Invention consists chiefly in a peculiar method of constructing 2
the wheel of two or more parts with clastic 'packing interposed between
them, these parts being so formed and connected by bolts that the wheel
is strong and durable, while a constant pressure of the parts upon the
packing is preserved, and the tire relieved of any injurious strain. The
advantages of such a wheel have long been recognized by engineers, and 3
I am aware that various attempts have been made by inventors to
produce reliable elastic wheels both for locomotives and railway carriages.
All such wheels, however, have been condemned for defects which I have
obviated in the Invention herein-after described.
A wheel constructed according to my Invention consists as herein- 3
before stated of two or more parts, the form of construction being some-
what varied to adapt it to the character of the wheel and the nature of
the material used in its manufacture. The chief objection to the use

page_text: of the cloth may be somewhat changed without materially affecting the
beneficial results, the chief object being to preserve the edges of the
packing intact, when thicker packing is required it will be desirable to
insert more pieces of cloth.
An elastic wheel for railway purposes has been made with a single i
bevel on the inner face of the tire, and a corresponding bevel, on the
periphery of the hub portion of the wheel. This bevel has necessarily
been at an angle of a few degrees with the centre line of the axle, and
it has been found impossible to set the tire without covering the outer
surface of the packing with sheet metal; and in order to retain the tire
securely in place when formed with a bevel of so slight an angle an
injurious strain is exerted upon the tire. An elastic wheel also with a
double-bevelled tire and a similar angle has been made, the body of the
wheel consisting in this case of two dises having corresponding bevels
upon their periphery, and forming a groove in which the tire is scated.
When so constructed the tire cannot be removed when the wheel is
once fixed upon the axle, without first removing the wheel there-
from, and there are other objections to the elastic wheels heretofore
.constructed.
The angle of the bevelled surfaces on the tire C, binding ring E, and
wheel body A is an important feature of my Invention in this form of
construction, the desired objects being to place the tire in position with-
out displacing the packing B, and to secure the tire immovably in its
seat without exerting any injurious strain upon the said tire. I have
found that a bevel or inclination at an angle of from thirty to forty-five
degrees to the tread of the wheel is the most desirable. By the em-
ployment of the binding ring E with a bevel of from thirty to forty-
five degrees the pressure is exerted upon the corresponding bevel of the
tire C in such a manner as to hold the said tyre immovably without
exerting any injurious strain upon the same. The binding ring E is fitted
in a recess G formed in the body of the wheel, and is secured in place
by means of bolts H. By simply removing these bolts the tire C may
be readily removed from the body A of the wheel. The recess for the
binding ring being formed on the outer side of the body A, the strength
of the wheel is not thereby materially diminished, the great strain of a
wheel in running being exerted upon the flange side of the wheel, which
in my improved wheel is supported by the solid body A. A binding

page_text: ring upon the other side of the wheel would be very objectionable, and
the aforesaid arrangement is considered essential in my Invention. An
elastic cushion or packing a is to be placed behind a metal washer 6 on
the bolt H for the purpose of preventing the fracture of the binding
ring. It is desirable to make the binding ring E as light as possible,
and, therefore, the elastic washer 6 for the purpose described is an
important feature in my improved wheels. The parts of this wheel are
united by first placing the elastic packing B, formed in a strip or ring of
the required size, over the bevelled portion of the body of the wheel and
then placing the flange side of the tire upon this packing. The packing
is then fitted around the binding ring E, and the said ring placed in the
recess G. This ring E is drawn home by means of the screw bolt H,
until the pressure exerted upon the flanges of the tire is sufficient to
prevent any movement of the tire upon the body of the wheel. The
binding ring E is so formed that its inner face will not be forced into
close contact with the body A of the wheel by any pressure necessarily
exerted to keep the tire immoveable in its scat. The number of bolts
required will vary, but from fifteen to twenty will be found sufficient for
a locomotive driving wheel. When the tire is formed of chilled cast
iron, as in Figure 3, which material is well adapted for ordinary railway
carriage wheels, the tire is provided with a bevelled flange or projection I
and the body of the wheel with a similarly inclined portion J. The
flange I is provided with an inner face corresponding with the face on
the periphery of the wheel body A. These faces are formed at an anglo
of about forty-five to sixty degrees to the tread or face of the tire.
Between these two inclined surfaces the packing or cushion B, composed
of the materials before mentioned is placed to render the wheel clastic,
and the two parts I, J, are secured together by means of screw bolts H
inserted in holes at a right angle to the inclined faces. This angle of the
aforesaid inclined faces to the tread of the wheel, and the direction of
the screw bolts have been found of importance in the construction of
wheels of this class, and while they may be somewhat varied without
any injurious result, I have discovered that by adhering to the angle
above indicated I make the strongest and best wheels. The hole in the
tire portion C is made larger than the bolt in order that the said tire
portion may not bind upon the bolt as the packing yields when the parts
are screwed together, as would otherwise be the case. An clastic
cushion a is placed under the metal washer b to prevent the fracture or
straining of the tire, and this contrivance completely prevents the

page_text: communication of vibrations of the tire portion of the wheel to the hub
portion and to the axle which (as the bolts pass through the packing
and make a metallic connection between the tire and hub portion of
the wheel) would otherwise occur. The functions of the clastic
cushions a are peculiar in both of my improved wheels, though such
cushions have heretofore been used in connection with screw bolts with
other objects in view. My Invention in this respect is limited to the
purpose herein stated for which they are used. This mode of uniting
the tire portion of chilled cast-iron wheels to the hub portion relieves the
tire of all unnecessary and injurious strain, the expansive force of the
clastic packing being counteracted by the bolts, and should the tire bo
fractured or broken from any cause the whole strength of one or more
bolts is exerted to prevent the broken part falling off, thereby greatly
ensuring the safety of a train. The enlargement of the bolt hole may
be in the hub portion A and the clastic cushions a may be placed under
the head of the bolts, but such an arrangement would not be a departure
from my Invention though the result would be less satisfactory. The
body A, Figure 3, has ribs formed in each space between the bolts on the
back of the wheels for the purpose of resisting the lateral strain caused
by the flange of the tire coming in contact with the rail. There are
also as many ribs K as there are bolts upon each side of the tire
portion C of the wheel, to give additional strength to the tread and
flange of the tire. Ribs K² are also formed upon the body portion of the
wheel with a steel tyre (Figure 1) when the body is made with a web and
wheels formed with spokes or arms may have ribs formed thercon near
the periphery.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I claim,-
First. A wheel which has a steel tire or rim with a double surface
bevelled or inclined at or nearly at the angle shewn and a body or :
central portion and binding ring arranged as described and bevelled or
inclined to correspond with the bevelled surfaces of the tire, the said body
tire and ring being secured together with clastic packing interposed
between their bevelled surfaces and between the face of the binding ring
and the nuts, heads, or washers of the bolts, substantially as hercin set a
forth for the purpose specified,
Second. A wheel having a chilled cast-iron tire, constructed with its
inner face bevelled or inclined at or nearly at the angle shewn, and

page_text: secured upon a similarly bevelled or inclined face on the body of the
wheel, with elastic packing interposed between the bevelled surfaces and
under the nuts, heads, or washers of bolts fitted in enlarged holes,
substantially as herein set forth for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.
Witness,
E. C. JACKSON.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)