Improvements in Wheels for Vehicles.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 20th July, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 9th Aug., 1892-Accepted, 1st Oct., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wheels for Vehicles.
1, MARCUS WILLIAM LOWINSKY, of 7, Queen's Mansions, in the City of
Westminster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to wheels for carts, carriages and other vehicles, and is
designed to improve the construction and reduce the cost of manufacture of wooden
wheels of that kind or class wherein the spokes are made with tenons which are
inserted in mortises formed in the nave or hub of the wheel.
In wheels of this kind or class as hitherto manufactured, the nave or hub has to
be very much weakened owing to the large number of mortises that require to be
formed therein, to receive the spokes. In some instances, this defect is, in some
measure, overcome by placing the mortises alternately on the right and left hand
sides of the middle of the nave or hub.
Now by my invention I am enabled to greatly diminish the number of mortises
require in the nave or hub, without reducing the number of spokes in the wheel;
and I thus increase the strength of the said nave or hub in proportion to its size,
and diminish the cost of manufacture of the wheel.
.
In making a wheel according to my said invention I proceed as follows, viz. I
make the wheel with pairs or sets of spokes, each of which pairs or sets is provided
with a single tenon, the said tenon and the spokes of each pair or set being formed
in one piece of wood, that is to say, 1 form from a single piece of wood two or more
spokes united at their inner end and combined with a single tenon; and I fit the
tenon of each pair or set of spokes into a mortise in the nave or hub of the wheel;
moreover I secure the outer ends of the spokes in the felloe of the wheel in the
usual or any other convenient manner.
I find it advantageous to make each pair or set of spokes with projections at the
inner end thereof, so that, when the wheel is built up, the projections on adjacent
pairs or sets of hubs will abut against each other and thus add to the strength of
the wheel.
By constructing a wheel with the spokes made in pairs or sets each provided with
a single tenon, as above mentioned, I am enabled to make the said wheel with a
lighter nave or hub than is usually employed, as, by reason of the small number of
mortises required in the nave or hub of my improved wheel, the said nave or hub
can be made shorter and of smaller diameter than the naves or hubs of the wheels
hitherto constructed, without diminishing its strength as compared with the latter.
Dated this 20th day of July 1892.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wheels for Vehicles.
I, MARCUS WILLIAM LOWINSKY, of 7, Queen's Mansions, in the City of
Westminster, Engineer, 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 wheels for carts, carriages and other vehicles, and is
designed to improve the construction and increase the strength, and, at the same

page_text: time, reduce the cost of manufacture of wooden wheels of that kind or class
wherein the spokes are made with tenons which are inserted in mortises formed in
the nave or hub of the wheel.
In wheels of this kind or class as hitherto manufactured, the nave or hub has to
be very much weakened owing to the large number of mortises that require to be
formed therein to receive the spokes. In some instances, this defect is, to some
extent, overcome by placing the mortises alternately on the right and left hand
sides of the middle of the nave or hub.
Now by my invention I am enabled to greatly diminish the number of mortises
required in the nave or hub, without reducing the number of spokes in the wheel;
moreover, by reason of the peculiar construction of my improved wheel, I can
advantageously make the spokes with round tenons, and form round holes instead
of the usual square or oblong mortises in the nave or hub. I thus increase the
strength of the nave or hub in proportion to its size, and, at the same time, diminish
the cost of manufacture of the wheel.
According to my said invention. I make a wheel with pairs or sets of spokes, each
of which pairs or sets is provided with a single tenon, the tenon of each pair
or set of spokes being fitted tightly into a single hole or mortise in the nave or hub
of the wheel, and the outer ends of the spokes being fitted into the felloe of the
wheel in the usual or any other convenient manner.
In the accompanying drawing I have shown how my said invention may be con-
veniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wheel constructed in accordance with my said
invention.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of a pair of spokes combined with a single tenon, the
said spokes and tenon being made in a single piece.
Figure 3 is a sectional elevation, drawn to an enlarged scale, of the nave or hub
of my improved wheel, showing how the pairs of spokes are secured in the said nave
or hub.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of a pair of spokes combined with a single tenon, the
said spokes and tenon being formed in two picces as hereinafter described.
Figures 5 and 6 are different views of one of the said pieces.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawing.
Referring to Figures 1, 2, and 3, a, a' indicate a pair of spokes united at their
inner end and formed, out of a single piece of wood, together with a tenon c which
is secured in a hole or mortise d in the nave or hub e. The outer ends of the
spokes a, a¹ are secured in the felloef of the wheel in any well-known or suitable
manner. The wheel shown in Figure 1 is constructed with eight pairs of spokes,
each of which is combined with a single tenon. It is evident, however, that I can
make my improved wheels with any other desired number of pairs or sets of spokes
each combined with a single tenon.
With some kinds of wood, it is desirable that the spokes should be so made
therefrom that the grain of the wood shall extend from end to end of the said
spokes, instead of diagonally across the same as would be the case if the combined
spokes and tenon were cut out of a single piece of wood as shown in Figures 1, 2
and 3.
In some instances, therefore, I take a piece of wood of the required length and
of a breadth equal to, or slightly greater than twice the thickness of a single
spoke, and cut or split this piece of wood throughout nearly the whole length
thereof, leaving an undivided or uniting piece at the inner end of the spokes; I
then bend the wood at or near the undivided end, by any well-known method, so as
to draw the two spokes apart at their outer end and set them at the required angle
to each other. I thus ensure that the grain of the wood shall extend longitudinally
along, instead of diagonally across each spoke. I then shape or finish the shaping
of the spokes and tenon as required.
According to another modification of my said invention, I attain the same end
by making each pair of spokes and the corresponding tenon of two pieces of wood,"

page_text: as shown in Figure.4, the plane of division extending through the centre of the
tenon. In this case, each spoke is formed in one piece with one-half of the tenon
as shown in Figures 5 and 6. In this manner I can, if desired, utilize, in the
manufacture of my improved wheels, spokes which have been partly manufactured
in the usual manner, that is to say, I can take two roughly-shaped spokes of the
ordinary kind, and finish the shaping of the same in the manner indicated in
Figures 5 and 6, so as to produce a pair of spokes combined with a single tenon as
above set forth.
I find it advantageous, in some cases, to make each pair or set of spokes with
projections 6, 62, Figures 1 and 2, at the inner end thereof, so that, when the wheel
is built up, the projection of each pair or set of spokes will abut against the
projection of the adjacent pair or set of spokes, thus augmenting the strength
and rigidity of the wheel.
By constructing a wheel with the spokes made in pairs or sets each provided with
a single tenon, as above described, I am enabled, if desired, to make the said wheel
with a lighter nave or hub than is usually employed, as, by reason of the small
number of holes or mortises required in the nave or hub of my improved wheel, the
said nave or hub can be made shorter and of smaller diameter than the naves or
hubs of the wheels hitherto constructed, without diminishing its strength as compared
with the latter.
My said invention affords the further advantage that the tenons, instead of being
made square or oblong in transverse section as heretofore, can be made of cylindrical
or conical form without rendering them liable to turn in the nave or hub of the
wheel, such turning of the spokes being prevented by the outer ends of the spokes
of each pair or set being held in the felloe of the wheel.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. A wooden wheel wherein the spokes are made in pairs or sets each of
which is provided with a single tenon, substantially as hereinbefore described, and
for the purposes specified.
Second. The modification of my invention wherein the combined spokes and
tenon are formed by first partially dividing a piece of wood longitudinally, and then
bending the wood at or near the undivided end to set the spokes at the desired
angle to each other, and shaping the spokes and tenon as required, substantially as
described.
Third. The modification of my invention wherein the combined spokes and tenon
are made in two pieces, each comprising a single spoke and one half of the tenon,
substantially as described with reference to Figures 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings.
Dated the Ninth day of August 1892.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.