IMPROVE- MENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO THE WHEELS OF VEHICLES
Year: 1862

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Lloyd at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th November
1862.
I, THOMAS LLOYD, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Coach
Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO THE WHEELS OF VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the wheels of vehicles to render
them suitable for use on both railways, or tramways, and common roads, and
also to the application of parts of such improvements to wheels now in use or
others similar thereto to render them suitable for the same purposes or uses,
the object being the production of a simple self-acting arrangement of
parts unlikely to get out of order capable of thoroughly guiding the wheels
of the omnibus or other carriage when bearing on the rails or trams, and
offering a minimum of resistance when used on common roads and when
moving or passing on to or off from the rails or trams. In constructing new
wheels for the double purpose herein-before mentioned they may be made
with two or more discs, or with spokes similar to those in ordinary use, and
with flat or other tyres to suit the form of trams or rails, but that side of the
wheels on which the guiding pieces or apparatus herein-after described are
placed I prefer to have formed into vertical planes or surfaces from the tyres
inwards a convenient distance towards the bosses according to the size of the
wheels. On the side of the wheels where it is necessary from the form or
position of the rails or trams to place them, but more usually on the inside

page_text: of the wheels, I arrange a number of guiding pieces of metal or other material,
each of which has a slot therein and is disposed to allow it to slide or move
independently by its own weight outwards and inwards on rigid and fixed
stops or studs secured to the discs or spokes of the wheels, and passing through
the slots just mentioned. These guiding pieces are of sufficient number, and
are so placed that their edges come close to or near to each other when
in position, but they do not overlap nor are they in any way coupled together.
To prevent lateral movement a fixed ring or several rings are secured on
the outside, and the guiding pieces move or slide between such rings and
the wheels proper and guide the wheels of the vehicle or carriage on the rails
or trams. Thus by their own gravity those guiding pieces on those portions
of the wheels nearest to the ground or to the rails or trams will fall or slide
downwards or outwards and project beyond the tyres of the wheels as far as
the fixed stops or studs will allow them, and guide the wheels on the rails or
trams, but those guiding pieces farthest from the ground or the rails or trams
will also by their own weight have fallen or moved downwards towards the
axles of the wheels as far as allowed by the fixed stops or studs or by a spring or
springs attached to or near to the bosses of the wheels so that they will be flush
with or within the circumference of the wheels. The spring or springs just
named serve also to deaden the sound or counteract the vibration caused by the
contact of the moveable guiding pieces with the fixed parts of these my improved
wheels. When used on common roads the weight of the carriage presses the
moveable guiding pieces herein-before described inwards to or about flush
with the tyres of the wheels, each one being successively forced in as the
wheels revolve, and as they (the guiding pieces) are light, and there is only
the weight of one to be overcome at a time the extra power required is very
small. In applying the same independent guiding pieces to wheels at present
in use, most of which are bevilled from the boss outwards to the tyre, I adopt
the same means and arrangement, but I prefer to slightly taper the said
guiding pieces from the outer to the inner ends so that they may gravitate
the more readily outwards and inwards into position.