IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1841

page_text: PHIPPS' SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HENRY PHIPPS, of Deptford, in the County of Kent, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at.
Westminster, the Second day of July, in the fifth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said George
Henry Phipps, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said George Henry Phipps, my exors, adñors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said George Henry Phipps, my exors, adiñors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others; from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER CARRIAGES;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said George Henry Phipps, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after

page_text: the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Henry Phipps,. do hereby declare the nature of my Invention to
consist of an Improvement in the Construction of Railway and other Wheels,
the object of which is to do away with the necessity of "shrinking on" hot
the tires of such wheels, whereby the strength of the iron is often so much
diminished by the force of contraction as to cause it to fly or give way when
subjected to very slight strains or concussions, and even sometimes whilst
under the operation of turning in the lathe. And in further compliance with
the said proviso, I, the said George Henry Phipps, do hereby describe the
manner in which my said Invention is performed, by the following description
thereof, reference being had to the Drawing annexed, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon (that is to say):
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
In the construction of a railway wheel I procure a piece of tire of wrought iron
of the form or section shewn at A, A, A, A, and B, B, B, B, Figures 2, 3, and 4,
and given in a side view at A, A, A, A, and B, B, B, B, Figure 1, of sufficient
length to form, when welded into a ring, the circumference or periphery of the
wheel intended to be made.. The mode of making tires for railway and other
wheels by rolling the iron with grooved rollers, or drawing it out under a
forge hammer, is so well understood by the workmen accustomed to make
them as to require no description by me. I then heat sufficiently, and bend'
the tire-bar A, A, A, A, &c., into a circular form upon proper blocks, or by
other means, and weld the ends (previously scarfed for that purpose) so as to
form a continuous ring as nearly circular as can be done by the blacksmith.
The arms or spokes C, C, C, C, Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, are to be made of
wrought iron, the enlarged outer ends or palms e, e, e, being either welded on
or else drawn out under the hammer, either of which modes will answer.
There are two tiers or sets of arms or spokes C, C, C, C, shewn in the
Drawings at Figures 2 and 3, one set of which only can be seen at one view
in Figure 1. I have shewn sixteen arms or spokes in the above views,
which it is considered would answer the purpose perfectly well for the size of
wheel drawn out;. but I do not propose always to adopt that number, as this
point must be determined by the size of the wheel intended to be made,
and the strain to which it is to be subjected. The outer ends e, c, e, of the
arms or spokes C, C, C, C, are to be formed sufficiently larger to allow of their
being perforated with the requisite number of rivet, or bolt. holes a, a, a, a,

page_text: without weakening the iron too much. The ends of the arms or spokes
C, C, C, C, which enter the boss or nave of the wheel D, D, are to be jagged
or perforated each with a hole, as commonly done for the purpose of allowing
the melted metal to form the boss or nave to flow round or through them,
and so secure them firmly into the said boss or nave. The boss or nave D, E,
Figures 1 and 2, is to be made of cast iron, and is in this instance shewn to
consist of two pieces, D and E; but I particularly state that it is not proposed
always to make it in separate pieces, as will be herein after more particularly
described. When it is made in two portions, as shewn at D and E, Figures 1
and 2, one half the number of the arms (in this instance eight) are to be cast
into the portion of the boss or nave marked D, Figure 2, and the remaining
eight arms into the portion marked E, Figure 2. The arms or spokes
C, C, C, C, are, in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, shewn cast into the boss D, &c.
in such manner that at the outer circumference of the said boss or nave,
they, or each set of them, are in one common plane at right angles to the
axis of the wheel. I do not, however, confine myself to so placing them, but
propose sometimes to place each consecutive spoke or arm (taken in order
one after the other) in parallel planes at a small distance from each other, or
in planes forming an angle with each other, as might be found most con-
venient. The true position of the arms or spokes (C, C, C, C,) is to be
preserved whilst casting the boss D, E, by clamping or bolting each set together
with wrought or cast iron rings, washers, or plates, so that each set of arms
or spokes may constitute one firm assemblage. The portion of the boss
or nave marked D, Figure 2, is to be cast upon one half the number of the
arms or spokes, and the other portion E, Figure 2, is to be cast upon the
remaining half of the arms or spokes. I now take the portion of the boss
or nave marked D, with its set of arms or spokes firmly cast in it, and also
the portion marked E of the boss or nave, with its set of arms or spokes, and
place them one upon each side of the projecting rib or flange B, B, B, B, of
the tyre A, A, A, A, in such manner that the enlarged outer ends or palms
e, e, e, é, upon the one set of arms or spokes may be opposite to and correspond
with the palms e, e, e, e, upon the other set, and then bolt or clamp the two
sets firmly together with the rib or flange B, B, B, B, between them. The rivet
or bolt holes (a, a, a, a,) are then to be set out and drilled through each set of
arms or spokes, and the rib or flange B, B, B, B, of the tyre A, A, A, A, in
such a manner that the holes may be perfectly true and fair throughout, so
that the rivets or bolts (a, a, a, a,) may perfectly fit and fill the holes without
the least shake. The bolt holes (b, b, b,b,) for connecting the portion of the boss
or nave D with the portion E are also to be set out and drilled, and the counter-

page_text: nuts.
sunk headed bolts (b, 6, 6, 6,) turned and fitted in and screwed firmly up with their
All the rivet or bolt holes (a, a, a, a,) being drilled, the rivets or bolts
are to be inserted. When rivets are used, especial care is to be taken to
continue hammering in the process of clenching until the iron is nearly cold,
so that they may not shrink away from the holes in cooling. When bolts
and nuts are used, the bolts are to be turned in the lathe, and when screwed
All that now remains
up hard, the ends to be rivetted cold over the nuts.
to complete the wheel is to bore out the boss or nave at (c, c,) for the
reception of the axle, to cut the key way, and turn the tyre in the lathe;
all of which operations are, perfectly well known to workmen, and require
no particular description.
:t
What I have now stated completes the description of a wheel made upon
the plan represented by Figures 1 and 2, where the boss or nave is shewn
divided into two portions D and E. I propose, however, to construct the wheels
sometimes as shown in section at Figure 3, where the boss D is represented
cast all in one piece, in which case the arms or spokes C, C, C, C, are to be
laid in their proper position in the mould with the rib or flange B, B, B, B,
of the tyre A, A, A, A, between them prior to casting the boss D upon
them. I also propose sometimes to form the wheel with one set of arms
only, and the boss or nave in one piece, as shewn at Figure 4, the same
mode of casting the arms into the boss being adapted in these two latter
cases as in that previously described. I further state, that to make my
Invention applicable to the wheels of other carriages besides those used
upon railways, all that is necessary is to form the tire of the wheel without
any outer flange, and to construct a suitable nave for the insertion of the
spokes and axle. I have no doubt that with the above description and
Drawings any intelligent workman could construct the wheels proposed without
difficulty.
ادة
I wish it to be clearly understood that I do not claim as my Invention
the particular section or form of tyre I have adopted, the mode of casting
the arms or spokes into the boss or nave, nor making the boss or nave in
two or more portions bolted together. I also wish to state, that although in
the different Figures of the above Drawings I have represented certain
numbers of the component parts, such as spokes or arms, divisions of the
boss or nave, number of the bolts or rivets, or any particular dimensions of
the various parts, I do not confine myself to those numbers of parts or their
dimensions, but have merely given one specimen of each sort, which it is
believed would perfectly answer the purpose. What I do claim as my Inven
tion, however, is the combination or assemblage of parts herein described and

page_text: represented; videlicet, a wheel with a cast iron boss or nave, with wrought
ron arms or spokes cast in it, the arms or spokes being attached to the
wrought iron tyre by rivetting or bolting.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Henry Phipps, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.