Improvements in and Tools for the Manufacture of the Chain Hubs of the Wheels of Bicycles, Tricycles, and other Velocipedes.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Apr., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 31st Dec., 1889-Accepted, 1st Feb., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and Tools for the Manufacture of the Chain Hubs
of the Wheels of Bicycles, Tricycles, and other Velocipedes.
We THOMAS SMITH of Aston Manor Works Wharf Street Aston near Birmingham
in the County of Warwick Stamper and RICHARD GREEN of Kirton Place Grantham
Road Smethwick in the County of Stafford Machinist do hereby declare the nature of
this Invention to be as follows:-
→ Our-invention has' reference to such hubs of the wheels of bicycles tricycles and
other velocipedes, as are provided with chain wheels over which the driving chains
work such hubs being commonly called chain hubs and our said invention consists
principally in making each of the said hubs from one piece of wrought iron or steel
by the stamping or shaping process or combination of processes herein after
described.
Our invention further consists of the tools hereinafter described to be used in the
said process or processes.
By our invention the roughly formed chain wheel of the hub the inner flange near
the said chain wheel to receive the inner ends of a portion of the spokes of the wheel
together with the solid barrel of the hub and the outer flange to receive the inner
ends of the other portion of the spokes of the wheel are all made solid or from one
piece of iron or steel.
We will describe our method of manufacture in conjunction with the tools which
constitute part of our invention.
We take a short cylindrical or other shaped block of wrought iron or steel and by
a stamping operation effected in the tools or dies herein next described we form on
one end of the heated block the roughly formed hollow chain wheel of the hub and
the inner spoke flange together with a solid central projection in the hollow chain
wheel. One of the dies of the pair of dies which we use for effecting this shaping or
stamping operation has in its upper face a figure the counterpart of the exterior of the
chain wheel and its spoke flange and has below the part referred to a taper recess
in which the solid barrel of the hub is formed. The acting face of the other die has
a projecting hollow punch of a figure proper for shaping the interior of the hollow
chain wheel and the central projection thereof.
The partly made hub is next operated upon in a horizontal position by a pair of
dies having in their opposed faces recesses of a semi-circular figure in cross section.
By the action of this pair of dies the short solid heated barrel of the hub is elongated
or drawn out to the required extent leaving on the end most distant from the chain
wheel a cylindrical head of the original diameter from which head the outer spoke
flange of the hub is formed. To form the said outer spoke flange we use a split
bottom die or a die made in halves between which halves the partly made hub is
held in an inverted position that is the interior of the split die has at bottom a figure
proper for receiving the combined chain wheel and inner flange and the upper face
of the die has a figure the counterpart of the outer flange to be made from the head
on the solid barrel. Between the recesses at the top and bottom of the die is a
cylindrical recess for receiving the partly made barrel of the hub. We use with this
split die a flat or pressing top die.
The partly made hub being placed and held in the split die with its heated head
projecting from the face of the die the top die is made to descend upon and flatten
the said head and force it into the recess in the upper face of the die and thereby form
the outer flange of the hub.

page_text: The roughly formed chain hub thus made is finished in the ordinary way the
finishing process constituting no part of our invention.
When a separate outer spoke flange is used the head on the barrel instead of being
fashioned into the outer flange may be hollowed out to form a chamber for receiving
the ball bearings as is well understood.
11
י
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and Tools for the Manufacture of the Chain Hubs
of the Wheels of Bicycles, Tricyles, and other Velocipedes.
We, THOMAS SMITH, of Aston Manor Works, Wharf Street, Aston, near Birming-
ham, in the County of Warwick, Stamper, and RICHARD GREEN, of Kirton Place,
Grantham Road, Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Machinist, do hereby
declare the nature of our invention and the manner in which the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
Our invention has reference to such hubs of the wheels of bicycles, tricycles
and other velocipedes as are provided with chain wheels over which the driving
chains work, such hubs being commonly called chain hubs; and our said invention
consists principally in making each of the said hubs from one piece of wrought iron or
steel by the stamping or shaping process or combination of processes hereinafter
described.
Our invention further consists of the tools hereinafter described to be used in the
said process or processes.
By our invention the roughly formed chain wheel of the hub, the inner flange near
the said chain wheel to receive the inner ends of a portion of the spokes of the wheel,
together with the solid barrel of the hub and the outer flange to receive the inner
ends of the other portion of the spokes of the wheel are all made solid or from one
piece of iron or steel.
We will describe our method of manufacture in conjunction with the tools which
constitute part of our invention. We take a short cylindrical or othor shaped block of
wrought iron or steel and by a stamping operation effected in the tools or dies herein
next described, we form on one end of the heated block, the roughly formed hollow
chain wheel of the hub and the inner spoke flange together with a solid central
projection in the hollow chain wheel. One of the dies of the pair of dies which we
use for effecting this shaping or stamping operation has in its upper face a figure the
counterpart of the exterior of the chain wheel and its spoke flange; and has below
the part referred to a taper recess in which the solid barrel of the hub is formed. The
acting face of the other die has a projecting hollow punch of a figure proper for
shaping the interior of the hollow chain wheel and the central projection thereof.
The partly made hub is next operated upon in a horizontal position by a pair of dies
having in their opposed faces recesses of a nearly semi-circular figure in cross section.
By the action of this pair of dies the short solid heated barrel of the hub is elongated
or drawn out to the required extent leaving on the end most distant from the chain
wheel a cylindrical head of the original diameter from which head the outer spoke
flange of the hub is formed. To form the said outer spoke flange we use a split
bottom die or a die made in halves, between which halves the partly made hub is held
in an inverted position; that is the interior of the split die has at bottom a figure proper
for receiving the combined chain wheel and inner flange and the upper face of the die
has a figure the counterpart of the outer flange to be made from the head on the solid
barrel. Between the recesses at the top and bottom of the die is a cylindrical recess
for receiving the partly made barrel of the hub. We use with this split die a flat

page_text: or pressing top die.
The partly made hub being placed and held in the spit are with
its heated head projecting from the face of the die, the top die is made to descend
upon and flatten the said head and force it into the recess in the upper face of the die
and thereby form the outer flange of the hub.
The roughly formed chain hub thus made is finished in the ordinary way, the
finishing process constituting no part of our invention.
When a separate outer spoke flange is used the head on the barrel instead of being
fashioned into the outer flange may be hollowed out to form a chamber for receiving
the ball bearings as is well understood.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawing the
manner in which our invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation; Figure 2 in plan and Figure 3 in section the
partly made chain hub of the wheel formed from the short cylindrical heated block of
wrought iron or steel operated upon by the pair of dies or tools represented in Figure 4,
the partly made hub Figures 1, 2 and 3 consisting of the roughly formed hollow chain
wheel the inner spoke flange band the short solid barrel c, the said hollow chain-
wheel a having a central solid projection d.
a,
It will be seen by reference to the Drawing that the said pair of dies Figure 4 have
shapes the counterparts of the said partly formed chain hub Figures 1, 2 and 3, that
is, the lower die e has in its upper face a figure the counter part of the exterior of the
chain wheel a and its spoke flange b and below the recess in its upper face is a taper
recess in which the short solid barrel c is formed and the upper die f has on its acting
face a projecting hollow punch for shaping the interior of the hollow chain wheel a
and the central projection d and also projections for shaping the upper faces of the
teeth of the chain wheel, but the upper faces of the teeth of the chain wheel may be
situated on a level with the top of the lower die. In this case the upper faces of the
teeth will be straight and if required the straight faces may afterwards be made taper
by dressing or filing.
After the partly made hub Figures 1, 2 and 3 has been fashioned, its short solid
barrel c is next elongated or drawn out to the required extent leaving a cylindrical
head at its end of the original diameter. A hub shaped in the last described manner
is shown in the split lower die represented in Figure 6. The elongating or reducing
in part of the solid barrel c is effected in the pair of dies represented in Figure 5, the
said dies having in their opposed faces nearly semi-circular depressions i, i. The
heated barrel c being placed horizontally in the lower die p at the place to be shaped,
the upper die q is brought down upon it so as to draw out or elongate the part
operated upon, the barrel being moved endwise from time to time so as to give it the
required length, leaving a collar or cylindrical head at the end most distant from the
chain wheel a. The partly made hub after the last described treatment is placed in
the split lower die . Figure 6 in the position represented; that is, with the head
part of the reduced barrel c projecting from the face of the said split die. The
interior of the split die r. r has a recess t at bottom for receiving the combined chain
wheel a and inner flange 6 and the upper face of the die has a recess s in it of a figure
the counterpart of the outer flange to be made and between the two recesses s, t is a
cylindrical recess for receiving the reduced barrel c of the hub. The partly made
hub being placed and held in the bottom split die r. r with the head projecting from
the face of the said die, the flat faced upper die u is brought down upon the said
projecting head c². By the descent of the upper die u the said heated head is forced
into the recess in the upper face of the lower split die r, r and the outer flange of
the hub formed from the head eas represented in Figure 7 where the outer flange is
marked and the solid cylindrical barrel between the two flanges b. x is marked c.
The partly formed chain hub Figure 7 is finished in the ordinary way.
Instead of forming the outer spoke flange z from the solid bead on the barrel c
Figure 6, a separate outer spoke flange may be brazed or otherwise fixed to the said
solid head c³ as represented in Figure 8 where the said separate outer spoke flange is
marked yi and the solid head c³ may be hollowed out to form a chamber for receiving
the ball bearings of the wheel.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed we declare that we claim
as our invention of "Improvements in and tools for the manufacture of the chain hubs
of the wheels of bicycles, tricycles and other velocipedes :
1
First. Making the roughly formed chain wheel of the hub, the inner spoke flange
near the said chain wheel, together with the solid barrel of the hub and the outer
spoke flange from one piece of wrought iron or steel by the stamping or shaping
process or combination of processes substantially as herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawing; also the modification of the chain hub
described and illustrated in which a separate outer spoke flange is brazed or otherwise
fixed to a head made on the end of the barrel of the hub.
Secondly. The tools herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawing to be used in the stamping or shaping process or processes claimed in the
prior claim.
Dated this 30th day of December 1980.
THOMAS SMITH.
RICHARD GREEN.