IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY AND OTHER WHEELS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Longsdon, of Queen Victoria Street, in
the City of London, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY AND OTHER WHEELS."-A communi-
cation from abroad by Alfred Krupp, of Essen, Prussia, Cast Steel
Manufacturer.
Scaled the 11th January 1876, and dated the 8th September 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Longsdon at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th September 1875.
"
I, ALFRED LONGSDON, of Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY AND OTHER WHEELS,' a
communication to me from abroad by Alfred Krupp, of Essen, Prussia,
Cast Steel Manufacturer, to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to construct wheels from bars of
wrought iron, and to form them into discs in such a manner that they

page_text: shall have the greatest strength circumferentially combined with
economy of material. In order to carry this into effect I forge or roll
a long flat bar of iron, the length of which is about equal to form one
wheel. The two ends are forged of greater widths than the body of the
bar, the width at one end being about equal to the depth of the intended
-boss or nave, with allowance left for finishing. The width of the other
end is equal to the width of the rim, and the width of the body of the
bar is equal to the thickness of the body of the wheel. In order to
form the wheel the bar is heated to a welding heat in a properly con-
structed furnace, and the end of the bar destined to form the nave is
fixed on to a mandril or round bar, and this mandril is caused to rotate
and to wind the heated bar spirally round until the whole bar is wound
up, when it will be found to have assumed the shape of a disc wheol,
the two wider ends of the bar forming the boss and rim of the wheel
respectively. The partially formed wheel is then placed in a welding
furnace, and licated to the proper degree, and then welded together in a
frame under the hammer, or in a powerful hydraulic press, until the
wheel is formed into the proper shape, when it can be finished in a lathe
in the usual way.
In order to insure a better weld, and to prevent the possibility of any
portion of the spiral slipping laterally, the bar can be rolled with a
feather or tongue and groove, so that as the bar is wound round on the
mandril the feather on one side takes into the groove on the other, and
the whole is rendered perfectly compact. .
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 2
filed by the said Alfred Longsdon in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 31st January 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PREȘENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
LONGSDON, of Queen Victoria Strect, in the City of London, Engineer, (a
communication from abroad by Alfred Krupp, of Essen, Prussia, Cast B
Şteel-Manufacturer,)-send-greeting:-
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-

page_text: ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Longsdon, Her special.
licence, that I, the said Alfred Longsdon, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Longsdon,
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 Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
“IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY AND OTHER Wheels,” upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Longsdon, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Longsdon, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
:―
The object of this Invention is to construct wheels from bars of
wrought iron, and to form them into discs in such a manner that they
shall have the greatest strength circumferentially combined with
economy of material. In order to carry this into effect I forge or roll
a long flat bar of iron, the length of which is about equal to form one
wheel. The two ends are forged of greater widths than the body of the
bar, the width at one end being about equal to the depth of the intended
boss or nave, with allowance left for finishing. The width of the other
end is equal to the width of the rim, and the width of the body of the
bar is equal to the thickness of the body of the wheel. In order to
form the wheel the bar is heated to a welding heat in a properly con-
structed furnace, and the end of the bar. destined to form the nave is
fixed on to a mandril or round bar, and this mandril is caused to rotate,
and to wind the heated bar spirally round until the whole bar is wound
up, when it will be found to have assumed the shape of a disc wheel, the
two wider ends of the bar forming the boss and rim of the wheel respec-.
tively. The partially formed wheel is then placed in a welding furnace,

page_text: and heated to the proper degree, and then welded together in a frame
under the hammer or in a powerful hydraulic press until the whole is
formed into the proper shape, when it can be finished in a lathe in the
usual way.
In order to ensure a better weld, and to prevent the possibility of any
portion of the spiral slipping laterally, the bar can be rolled with a
--feather-or-tongue and groove, so that as the bar is wound round on the
mandril the feather on one side takes into the groove on the other, and
the whole is rendered perfectly compact.
In order that the Invention may be more clearly understood reference
is given to the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 is a section of a wheel in the completed state; Figuro 2, a,
section shewing its structural formation, and before the coil has been.
welded and pressed or hammered into shape; Figure 3 is a plan of the
bar in the flat state, and Figure 4 is a view of the bar as it appears when
being wound spirally round into the form of a wheel. The bar is rolled,.
hammered, or shaped into the form represented in Figure 3 having the
ends A and B formed wider than the body C. The end A is somewhat
wider than B, and is destined when wound up to form the nave of the
wheel, the narrow part C the body, and the end B the rim. To form
the wheel the bar is heated in a suitable furnace to a welding heat, or
nearly so, and the end A. is then attached to a mandril or shaft, which is
caused to revolve, and thus to wind the bar spirally round it, as shewn
in Figure 4. It will then be found that the coil will resemble somewhat
the appearance shown in Figure 2, where A represents the nave; B, the
rim; and C, the body of the wheel.
To prevent the scale that forms upon iron bars when heated from being
wound up in the coil, the bar; as it comes from the furnace, may be
made to pass between wire brushes. When the bar is coiled up into
the form of a wheel it is then heated to a welding heat, and either
welded by blows from a hammer or by means of pressure, the wheel
being fitted into a frame. The form shown in Figure 1, or any other
suitable shape, may also be given to it at the same time. When cold
the wheel may be turned, bored, and finished in the usual way.
To-prevent-any-lateral slip of the coil, and to form also a better weld,
the section of the bar may be rolled with a tongue and groove, or of
the sections shown in Figures 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or any other

page_text: analagous shape, the effect being that in rolling the bar round the
mandril the tongue on one side will take into the groove on the other
side of the bar, and thus the whole will be formed into one compact
mass. Figure 13 shows the bar formed of the ordinary flat section.
And having now described the nature of the Invention, as communi-
cated to me, and the manner in which the same may be carried into
effect, I declare that I claim,-
Firstly. Constructing railway and other wheels from a bar of iron,
steel, or suitable material coiled round a mandril and welded together,
substantially in manner hercin-before set forth.
Secondly. Giving to the bar of metal a tongue and groove or other
analagous shape, in order to prevent lateral slip, and to better unite the
coil together, substantially as herein-before described and shown on the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Longsdon, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of January, in the.
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy
ALFRED LONGSDON.
(T.S.)
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