Year: 1898

page_text: I, GEORGE ALBERT BURWELL, of the City of Toledo, County of Lucas and Stat-
of Ohio, one of the United States of America, Manufacturer, 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:-
My invention relates to means for attaching metallic spokes to plain metallic
cylindrical hubs of wheels, particularly of such wheels as are used in bicycles and
kindred vehicles, where the spokes are under tensile strains, rather than thrust
strains as are the spokes in ordinary carriage wheels.
It consists of a plain cylindrical barrel hub, provided with a series of apertures,
through which the heads of the straight spokes may be inserted, the heads of the
spokes being adapted to pass into said apertures, fitting snugly therein and pro-
vided on their sides opposite the spokes, with lugs or projections, which, when the
spokes are adjusted to their proper working positions, bear against the inner
sides of the barrel of the hub, preventing the withdrawal of the heads from the
aperture and also preventing the spokes from turning on their own axes.
Its objects are to provide means by which straight spokes may be used and
quickly and easily connected to the hub from the outside without disturbance of
any of the interior portions of the hub or its connections and without leaving
openings therethrough for the passage of dirt or foreign substances to the interior
of the hub, to facilitate the assembling of the parts or the removal of a broken
spoke and its ready replacement with a new one and to produce a cheaply con-
structed hub and a firm and reliable connection for straight spokes thereto.
The accompanying drawings show my invention in the forms now considered
most desirable by me but these might be varied in some of the details and relative
arrangements of the parts within the limit of the skill of a good mechanic, with-
out departing from the spirit of the claims at the end of this specification.
Figure 1 is a transverse section through the barrel of the hub on the line 1, 1,
of Figure 2 showing several spokes attached thereto and in working position and
one in the position assumed when it is being inserted.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through a portion of a hub on the line 2, 2, of
Figure 1 showing one spoke in place.

page_text: on on an enlarged scare of the inner end of one of the
spokes and its enlarged head.
Figure 4 is a plan or top view,
Figure 5 is a bottom view, and
Figure 6 is an end view of the same.
Figure 7 shows a modification of my invention adapting it for the attachment
of direct instead of tangent spokes.
A, is the plain cylindrical barrel of a wheel hub, to which may be fitted at each
end, ball races B, and their necessary accompaniments. The hub is perforated at
or near its ends with one or more series of holes C, in any preferred form of align-
ment. These are preferably round holes, as shown, drilled straight through the
sides of the hub A, but other forms might be used if found desirable. Each spoke
is formed with a head D, of the same contour as the holes C, and adapted to pass
into and fit snugly therein. These heads are spherical, when round holes are used
and are provided with lugs or projections E, formed on their sides opposite the
spokes. These lugs are rounded on their bottom sides e, the curvature being the
same as that of the head and merging into the same. The upper side of the lug is
formed with a flat top or table f, preferably slightly curved as shown to adapt it to
fit against the inner surface of the barrel. of the hub when the spoke is in working
position, locking the head absolutely against withdrawal or accidental displace-
ment as long as the spoke remains in its working position. When the spoke
is in this position, the side of the spherical head at about the point g, bears
against the side of the aperture in which the head. rests and resists whatever
tensile strain there may be on the spoke.
The flat surface f, on the projection E, hearing against the inner surface of
the barrel, holds the spoke from turning on its axis when the nipple at its rim
end is being screwed to adjust the tension of the spoke..
In Figure 1, the spokes K, are shown in working position, while the spoke L,
is shown by full lines in the position assumed when it is being inserted, and by
dotted lines in its working position. Figures 1 to 6 inclusive, illustrate the form
of tangent spokes and the method of applying the same to the hub, but in Figure 7,
I show, as a modification of my invention the application of the same principle
of locking the head of a direct or radial spoke to the barrel of the hub.
A tangent spoke is inserted radially through the openings of the barrel and
then turned over to its tangent position, while as shown by dotted lines in Figure 7,
a direct spoke should be in a tangent position when its head is being inserted
in an opening of the barrel of the hub and then when it is brought up to its
direct, radial or working position, its lug E, locks against the inner side of the
barrel in the same manner as before explained in the tangent spoke and prevents
withdrawal of the head by any strain put upon the spoke.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. A combination of the cylindrical hub with apertures through its sides, the
spokes with heads adapted to pass through and fit in said apertures, and pro-
vided on their sides opposite the spokes with projecting lugs or ledges adapted to
engage the inside of the hub cylinder when the spoke is in working position.
2. A combination of the plain cylindrical hub with round apertures through
its sides, the spokes with spherical heads adapted to pass through said apertures,
closing them completely and provided on their sides opposite the spokes with
projecting lugs or ledges adapted to engage the inside of the hub cylinder when
the spoke is in working position.
3. A combination of the plain cylindrical hub with apertures through its
sides, the spokes with heads adapted to pass through and completely close said
apertures and provided on their sides opposite the spokes with projecting lugs
or ledges, each of said lugs adapted to bear against the inside of the hub of the

page_text: cylinder when its spoke is in working position but so located relatively to the
axial line of the spoke that the spoke must be in position other than its working
position when its head is being inserted in an aperture, after which insertion
it is swung to its working position bringing the locking ledge into contact with
the inside of the cylinder.
Dated this 5th day of December 1808
J. G. LORRAIN, M.I.E.E., M.I. Mech. E.,
Norfolk House, Norfolk Street, London, W.C.,
"Chartered Patent Agent.