IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY WHEELS."
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bessemer, of Queen Street Place, New
Cannon Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY WHEELS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bessemer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
October 1855.
I, HENRY BESSEMER, of Queen Street Place, New Cannon Street, in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY WHEELS " to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in melting scrap iron, or other description of
decarbonized or malleable iron, in pots, after the manner of melting steel. The
iron so to be melted may be put alone into the pots, or it may be mixed with
a small quantity of charcoal or other carbonaceous matter, whereby the iron
will be greatly assisted in fusing, and will partake somewhat of the quality of
steel, being of a very "mild" or soft kind, and well adapted by its toughness
for the central parts or arms and nave of the wheel; but as a greater degree of
hardness would increase the durability of the tyre, I prefer in some cases to
use steel of ordinary quality, or steel that results from the melting of iron
which has been puddled enough, or otherwise so treated as to drive off its'
7

page_text: excess of carbon, but which is allowed to retain so much of it as will give it
the general characteristics of steel. The metal having been melted, I proceed
to cast a wheel in an iron mould, the various parts of which are so made as to
be readily removed while the casting is still in a highly heated state, or the
parts of which are so made that the shrinking of the casting will cause the
parts thereof to spring or recède before the pressure of the contracting metal.
The wheel so cast may either have a flanged tyre of the usual form, and be
thus complete in itself, or it may have a small rim only on which a tyre is to
be fixed, the central part being ribbed or plain, and with or without openings
made therein, except at the centre, where the axle is fitted to it. When, how-
ever, the tyre is made separate, I also cast it in an iron mould, in the shape of
a round ring, of much less diameter than the intended tyre, and consequently
of a proportionably greater thickness of metal, but of such a sectional form as
will produce most readily the intended flanges or webs to be formed on the
tyre. When finished, the ring of metal so formed is to be rolled in between
suitable grooved rollers, overhanging, at one end of the roller frame, in a manner
well understood. The central part of the wheel I form also by casting. in an
iron mould a flat circular disc of metal of considerable thickness; this I pass
between the rolls, until it is much reduced in thickness and extended in area,
but yet much within the size ultimately to be given to it. In this rolling pro-
cess, care must be taken to turn the disc a little every time it passes through,
in order that it may retain its circular form between the rolls. In some cases
I cast the disc of steel of considerable thickness, and reduce it somewhat under
the hammer, or between rolls, after, which I either punch out the central part,
or I put it on a lath, and cut out the central part by a dividing tool; the ring
thus detached I roll out, until it is of the size required for the tyre of the
wheel; the central part is also to be extended by rolling, in the manner before
described. For the purpose of finishing the rolling of these discs, I employ a
pair of rolls, one or both of which has the body of it made excentric, to its axes,
on one of which is fitted a powerful crank or lever, at the extremity of which
a connecting rod is jointed; the opposite end of the lever is in connection with
a revolving crank of small throw, so that the constant rotation of the crank
will produce a reciprocating motion of the excentric roll, and also a similar
movement of the other roll, by means of toothed wheels keyed on to one end of
each of them. The thick disc of metal is. to be made red hot and its edge
presented to the rolls, by which it will be taken in a certain distance and then
be returned, in consequence of their reciprocating or semi-rotary motion;; the
workman, will then present another part of its edge to the rolls, when a similar
result will follow, and so on, the disc being always turned round so as to pre-

page_text: sent a new part. If the excentric roll is so placed that it is nearest in contact
with the other at the time the disc is first taken hold of by it, it follows, that
as tlie disc goes further in between them the distance apart of the two rolls
will increase, so that the disc rolled in this way will be made to taper gradually.
from the central part to the outer edge, and thus give a great degree of stiff-
ness to the plate, with a corresponding saving in weight of metal. Steel or
iron discs so produced may have the tyre shrunk on them, but I prefer to form:
the tyre with an internal web or flange, against which the disc is to be fitted..
I then put the wheel disc and tyre under a drilling machine, in which a
number of drills are arranged around a centre, and by means of which several
holes may be simultaneously made both through the internal tyre, flange, and
disc; the wheel is then to be removed to a rivetting machine, in which it is.
made to move on its axis; so as to bring each rivet in succession beneath the
piston rod of a rivetting machine; in like manner a flanged boss may be drilled:
and rivetted on to the centre of the disc, if it be thought desirable to add to its
thickness:
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Bessemer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th April 1856.
i
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BESSEMER, of Queen Street Place, New Cannon Street, in the City of London,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters'
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Bessemer, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Bessemer, niy
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Bessemer, 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 therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
İslands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
PACTURE OF RAILWAY WHEELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Henry Bessemer, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and séals, should

page_text: 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 Henry. Bessemer, do hereby 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 thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists, firstly,. in melting scrap iron, or other description of
decarbonized or malleable iron, in pots, after the manner of melting steel. The
iron so to be melted may be put alone into the pots, or it may be mixed with
a small quantity of charcoal or other carbonaceous matter, whereby the iron
will be greatly assisted in fusing, and will partake somewhat of the quality of
steel, being of a very "mild" or soft kind, and well adapted by its toughness
for the central parts or arms and, nave of the wheel; but as a greater degree.
of hardness would, increase the durability of the tyre, I prefer in some cases
to use steel of ordinary quality, or steel that results from the melting of iron
which has been puddled enough, or otherwise so treated as to drive off its
excess of carbon, but which is allowed to retain so much of it as will give it
the general characteristics of steel. The metal having been melted, I proceed
to cast a wheel in an iron mould, the various parts of which are so made as to
be readily removed while the casting is still in a highly heated state, or the
parts of which are so made that the shrinking of the casting will cause the
parts thereof to spring or recede before the pressure of the contracting metal.
In order that the mode I prefer of forming moulds for the purpose of casting
railway wheels in molten malleable iron or in molten steel may be fully under-
stood, I have hereunto annexed a Sheet of Drawings, on which a mould for
this purpose is shewn in section at Figure 1. a is the bottom or base plate of
the mould; b is a strong hoop or ring turned truly and fitted to the plate a;
the upper part of the hoop has a raised edge for the purpose of receiving the
upper plate c of the mould. In the centre of this plate there is a conical
aperture at c, into which the fluid metal is poured at the time of casting.
The smallest end of this conical inlet or "gate" being uppermost, it will
allow the plate c to be lifted off as soon as the metal has solidified in the
mould. At d, d, there are hooks, to which chains may be attached for
facilitating the lifting off of the plate c; there are also hooks e, e, attached
to the hoop 6, for the purpose of facilitating its removal by a crane or
other suitable contrivances. When the casting is effected, the central boss
f of the wheel f will have a projection formed thereon, by reason of a part

page_text: of the fluid metal (which is poured in) occupying the conical cavity c. This
projecting piece may be cut off, and the boss of the wheel bored out; or
the boss may, if desired, be cast hollow, by means of a, projecting core fitted
to the bottom plate a; and projecting upwards to the required height. Wheels
thus cast will be found sufficiently true on their external surface to be used
without turning in a lathe, although they may be turned in cases where
extreme accuracy is desired. The exterior of the tyre may be hammer-
hardened, and the pores of the metal closed by giving the whole surface of the"
tyre repeated blows with a hammer, acting only on a small surface at a time, in
a manner well understood in what is called "hammer-hardening" porous metal..
In the Drawing shown at Figure 1. a plain disc wheel is represented; but
it will be obvious, that if the top and bottom plates of the mould are provided.
with segmental projections, with sunk spaces between them, so that arms or
radii will be formed in. lieu of: the plain disc, shewn in the Drawings, or arms
or radii may be made to project from the disc, the form of which and their.
number, may be varied as desired; so also it will be understood that railway
wheels may be cast or founded in molten malleable iron or steel, or in a metal
containing a quantity of carbon, intermediate between soft or malleable iron.
and steel, in moulds made of sand, loam, or other suitable material, although.
I prefer to cast such wheels in iron moulds, because such moulds are more.
durable, and may be formed with greater accuracy than in sand or like
materials. The wheel so cast may either have a flanged tyre of the usual-
form, and be thus complete in itself, or it may have a small rim only, on
which a tyre is to be fixed, the central part being ribbed or plain, and
with or without openings made therein, except at the centre; where the
axle is fitted to it. When, however, the tyre is made separate, I also cast
it in an iron mould in the shape of a round ring, of much less diameter
than the intended tyre, and consequently of a proportionably greater thickness
of metal, but of such a sectional form as will produce most readily the
intended flanges or webs to be formed on the tyre when finished. The ring
of metal so formed is to be rolled in between suitable grooved rollers, over-
hanging one end of the roller frame, in a manner well understood.
At Figure 2 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings, I have shewn a section
through the centre of a ring or hoop intended to be rolled into a railway wheel
tyre of the form in general use. It will be observed the hole through its centre
is small in proportion to the mass of metal which forms it; the extension of
such a hoop by rolling will increase the diameter of the hoop, and lessen the
sectional area of the metal forming it, so that when the tyre is finished rolling
it will assume the proportions represented at Figure 3, which is a section,

page_text: taken through the centre, of a finished tyre of the comnion form. When,
however, the central disc or. part of a railway wheel is intended to be secured
by rivetting to the tyre, as herein-after described, I prefer to form the ring or
hoop with a raised internal web or flange, as shewn in section at Figure 4,
and whereby the finished tyre may be rolled into the form shewn in section at
Figure 5. The central part of the wheel I form also by casting in an iron
mould a flat circular disc of metal of consideráble thickness; this I pass
between the rolls until it is much reduced in thickness and extended in area,
but yet much within the size ultimately to be given to it in this rolling process;
care must be taken to turn the disc a little every time it passes through, in
order that it may retain its circular form between the rolls. In some cases I
cast the disc of steel or iron of considerable thickness, and reduce it somewhat
under the hammer or between rolls; after which I either punch out the central
part, or I put it on a lathe and cut out the central part by a dividing tool;
the ring thus detached I roll out until it is of the size required for the tyre
of the wheel; the central part is also to be extended by rolling in the manner
before. described. For. the purpose of finishing the rolling of these discs, I'
employ a pair of rolls, one or both of which has the body of it made excentric
to its axes, on one of which is fitted a powerful cränk or lever, at the extremity
of which a connecting rod is jointed; the opposite end of the lever is in con-
nection with a revolving crank of small throw, so that the constant rotation of
the crank will produce a reciprocating motion of the excentric roll, and also a
similar movement of the other roll; by means of toothed wheels keyed on to
one end of each of them.
A rolling mill so constructed is represented in elevation at Figure 6 of the
annexed Sheet of Drawings, Figure 7 being a vertical section of the same.
9, 9, are the standards or frames of the rolls s, provided with brasses for the
necks of the rolls to move in; and also with tightening screws h, for the
purpose of regulating the distance apart of the rolls, as is usually practised
in rolling mills. The body of each roll is a plain cylinder, but the axes on
which one or both rolls are made to nove are excentric to the cylindrical
body of the roll; on one end of each roll a pinion is keyed, so that when
motion is communicated to one of thein, the pinion will transmit a like motion
to the other roll. At the opposite end to that at which the pinions are placed
an arm or crank lever k is securely fixed; it is provided with a crank pin j
which passes through one end of the connecting rod ; the other end of the
rod is connected to a crank m, which is made to revolve by steam or other
motive power. The throw of the crank m being much less than the length
of the lever k, it follows that the rotary motion of the crank m produces only

page_text: a reciprocating motion of the arm k, and a semi-rotary motion of the rolls.
When the disc of iron n is taken in between the rolls, it will be reduced more
at its edge than towards the central part, in consequence of the receding
surface of the excentric rolls; as the motion of the crank m is continued, the
rolls will move in the opposite direction, and thus return the disc of metal n
back again on to the guide plate p. The thick disc of metal is to be made
red hot and its edge presented to the rolls, by which it will be taken. in a
certain distance and then be returned, in consequence of their reciprocating or
semi-rotary motion. The workman will then present another part of its edge
to the rolls, when a similar result will follow, and so on, the disc being always
turned round so as to present a new part. If the excentric roll is so placed
that it is nearest in contact with the other at the time the disc is first taken
hold of by it, it follows, as.. the disc goes further in between them, the
distance apart of the two rolls will increase, so that the disc rolled in this way
will be made to taper gradually from the central part to the outer edge, and
thus give a great degree of stiffness to the plate, with a corresponding saving
in weight of metal. Steel or iron discs so produced may have the tyre shrunk
on them, but I prefer to form them tyre with an internal web or flange,
against which the disc is to be fitted. I then put the wheel, disc, and tyre
under a drilling machine, in which a number of drills are arranged around a
centre, and by means of which several holes may be simultaneously made
both through the internal tyre, flange, and disc. The wheel is then to be
removed to a rivetting machine, in which it is made to move on its axis, so
as to bring each rivet in succession beneath the ram or forcer of a rivetting
machine. In like manner a flanged boss may be drilled and rivetted to the
centre of the disc, if it be thought desirable to add to its thickness.
That this mode of forming railway wheels may be fully understood, I have
shewn an elevation of a wheel so, constructed at Figure 8, and a section
thereof at Figure 9; where r is the central disc of the tapering form, before
described; and t, the tyre, having an inner flange t*, through which numerous
boles are made, and which holes also pass through the disc r, so that the tyre
and disc may be securely united by rivetting. The tyre and disc so combined
may either or both of them be manufactured of cast malleable iron or of cast
steel, or of iron containing a quantity of carbon greater than ordinary iron
bar or plate, but less in quantity than is required to form steel.
Having thus described my Invention, and the manner in which the same is
to be carried into practical operation,. I desire it to be understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details herein specified, so long as the peculiar
character of my Invention be retained; but what I do claim is,

page_text: Firstly, the casting or founding of railway wheels in decarbonized or
malleable iron.
Secondly, I claim the casting or founding of railway wheels in molten steel
or decarbonized iron, obtained by decarbonizing crude, pig, or refined iron
until the metal contains no more carbon than is desired.
Thirdly, I claim the founding a wheel or part of a wheel of malleable iron
or steel without the outer tyre or flange, which may be afterwards fixed
thereon, and thus form a complete railway wheel
Fourthly, I claim the forming of the tyres of railway wheels by casting a
-ring or hoop of malleable iron or of steel of a sectional form, suitable for
producing the desired form of tyre by the further process of hammering or
rolling.
Fifthly, I claim the casting of discs in steel or in malleable or decarbonized
iron, and rolling them between plain rollers, and cutting therefrom a hoop or
ring of the metal for the purpose of forming a wheel tyre, as herein
.described.
Sixthly, I claim the rolling discs of malleable iron or steel so as to give
them a greater thickness towards the central part than at their outer edges
when such discs are used in the manufacture of railway wheels..
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bessemer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
B. GOBEY,
4, Old Square, Lincoln's Inn.
HENRY BESSEMER.
(L.S.)