IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR PERAMBULATORS, VELOCIPEDES,
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Shaw, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Perambulator Manufacturer, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR PERAMBULATORS, VELOCIPEDES,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Shaw at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th February 1875.
I, EDWARD SHAW, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Perambulator Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS FOR PERAMBULATORS,
VELOCIPEDES, AND ALL DESCRIPTIONS OF CARRIAGES OR VEHICLES," to be as
follows:-
11
I make the felloe of each wheel of T or ☐ shaped iron, and drill or bore
at suitable distances apart perforations, into which I fasten by rivetting
or other well known means, one end of a number of metal rods or spokes

page_text: and fix one end of half the number to a central disc and hub, and the
other half to another central disc and hub, the two discs and hubs being
used instead of the ordinary nave or hub made in one piece.
The two discs and hubs are separated from each other according to the
size of the wheel, and in the space between the two I place a screw and
nut, each having a hole for the axle to pass through, so that by turning
the nut or screw in the proper direction, the two discs and hubs can be
widened from each other and thereby give the rods or spokes any required
amount of rigidity or tension, there being lock nuts or keys when
necessary to keep the parts firmly in their places. Or instead of having
a screw and nut between the two discs, I supply one disc with a boss,
which passes through the other disc, having a flange screwed on the
outside, on which screw there is a nut, which when turned in the proper
direction forces the two discs apart from each other, and thereby gives
the required rigidity or tension to the rods or spokes, and when desired
I use a tubular block and wedge instead of the screw and nut.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Shaw in the Great Seal Patent Office on.
the 13th August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
SHAW, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Peram-
bulator Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Edward Shaw, Her special
license that I, the said Edward Shaw, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Shaw, 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

page_text: WHEELS FOR PERAMBULATORS, VELOCIPEDES, AND ALL DESCRIPTIONS OF CARRIAGES OR
VEHICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward
Shaw, 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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Shaw, 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, reference being had to the Figures on the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked
thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to wheels of vehicles having metal spokes or
arms, and consists in the formation and employment of improved shapes
of metal felloes and improved modes or arrangements for keeping the
spokes or arms at their proper tightness or tension.
I make the felloe of each wheel of T or ☐ shaped iron or steel as
shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, and drill or bore in them at suitable distances
apart perforations, into which, in one arrangement, I fasten by rivetting
or other well known means, one end of a number of metal spokes or
arms marked a, in the front view, Fig. 3, and transverse section, Fig. 4,
representing one arrangement of my improved wheels; the other ends of
half the number of spokes are rivetted or fastened to a disc and boss b,
and the other half to another disc and boss c, the two discs and bosses
being used instead of the ordinary nave boss made in one piece.
In another arrangement shewn in the front views, Figs. 5 and 6, and
end view, Fig. 7, I form the spokes a of each wheel by bending one-
half of them over snugs d cast to one disc and boss e, and the other half
over snugs cast to the opposite disc and boss, and either rivet the ends
of the spokes to the felloes or pass them through holes, and bend over
the ends as shewn at i, Fig. 5. The two discs and bosses are separated
from each other according to the size of the wheel, and in one arrange-
ment I place between the two the screw k and the nut 1, Fig. 4, each
having a hole for the axle, so that by turning the nut in the proper
direction the two discs and bosses can be widened from each other, and

page_text: thereby give the spokes any required amount of rigidity or tension,
there being a lock nut or key, when necessary, to keep the parts firmly
in their places.
In another arrangement, shewn in Fig. 8, adapted for having covers
at the ends of the axles, I cast against the inner side of one disc ra
boss or collar 8, the other end of which is passed through the other
disc u, on which there is a projection v, having a screw on the outside
encased in a box nut w, and the end of the boss or collars is in close
contact with the inside of the nut, so that when the nut is turned in
the proper direction it separates the discs from each other, and gives the
required tension to the spokes.
When desired I employ instead of the discs and short bosses b, c,
Fig. 4, ordinary long bosses similar to those at present used in wooden
naves.
In one arrangement shewn in Fig. 9 I place over the ordinary boss
marked x, a tubular screw y, having a head z, and place on the screw. a
nut a¹ in contact with the inner side of the head of the boss, and at the
outsides of the heads of the boss and screw I place on the axle 6¹ the
discs or plates c', to which the spokes are connected, and it is evident
that when the nut a¹ is turned in the proper direction the discs can be
widened from cach other and give any required amount of tension or
tightness to the spokes.
In Fig. 10 I shew an arrangement similar to that shewn in Fig. 8, the
main difference being that the disc on the boss or collar is not required,
thereby enabling a boss of the same form as that used in the wooden
nave to be employed. One disc marked d¹, to which the spokes are
connected, is at the outer end of the head e¹ of the boss f¹, and the
other disc g¹, to which the spokes are connected, has a screwed projecting
collar h¹, having on it a box nut 4, the end of the boss being in close
contact with the inside of the nut, and in this case when the nut is
turned in the proper direction, it separates the discs from each other and
gives the required tension or tightness to the spokes.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
I desire it to be understood that in wheels for perambulators, velocipedes,
and all descriptions of carriages or vehicles, I claim, the employment
of T and shaped iron or steel for making the felloes of the wheels and
the improved modes of giving the proper tension or tightness to the

page_text: as herein described and illustrated on the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Shaw, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
EDWARD SHAW. (L.S.)