An IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS FOR TRACTION ENGINES AND OTHER VEHICLES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Gustav Albrecht Carl Bremme, formerly of Unna,
Westphalia, in the Empire of Germany, but now of Ipswich, in
the County of Suffolk, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "An
IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS FOR TRACTION ENGINES AND OTHER
VEHICLES."
Sealed the 9th April 1872, and dated the 18th October 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Gustav Albrecht Carl
Bremme at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 13th October 1871.
I, GUSTAV ALBRECHT CARL BREMME, formerly of Unna, Westphalia,
3 in the Empire of Germany, but now of Ipswich, in the County of
Suffolk, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS FOR TRACTION ENGINES AND
OTHER VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved construction of wheels for
traction engines and other vehicles whereby a better grip on the road
or surface can be obtained than is usual.

page_text: The wheels are formed with a flexible rim or tyre composed of spring
steel or other analogous material, or a combination of analogous materials,
of a single ring, or built up of several rings or strips, as desired; this rim
has radial arms projecting inwards which pass through an inner ring,
or through sockets attached to the discs or arms which are secured to
the axle box flanges.
The flexible rim may have a rigid tire on the outside or a series of
blocks or treading surfaces secured on or to it, these being arranged
in any suitablo manner.
The pressure of the load upon the wheels causes the lower portion of
the rim to flatten itself to form a large treading or bearing surface, and
this throws the strain upon the upper portion of the wheel, from which
portion the weight is supported through the axle and axle box.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Gustav Albrecht Carl Bremme in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 13th April 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Gustav
ALBRECHT CARL BREMME, formerly of Unna, Westphalia, in the Empire
of Germany, but now of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Gustav Albrecht Carl Bremme, Her
special licence that I, the said Gustav Albrecht Carl Bremme, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Gustav Albrecht Carl Bremme, 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 law- {
fully 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 "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS FOR TRACTION

page_text: ENGINES, AND OTHER VEHICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Gustav Albrecht Carl Bremme, 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 Gustav Albrecht Carl Bremme, 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 thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to an improved construction of wheels for
traction engines and other vehicles whereby a better grip on the road
3 or surface can be obtained than is usual.
"
The wheels are formed with a flexible rim or tyre composed of spring
steel or other analogous material, such as hard rolled brass of a single
ring, or built up of several rings or strips, as desired; this rim has radial
arms or their equivalents projecting inwards which pass through an
inner ring, or through sockets attached to the side discs or arms which
are secured to the axle box-flanges.
The flexible rim may have a rigid tyre on the outside, or a series of
blocks or treading, surfaces secured on or to it, these being arranged in
any suitable manner.
The pressure of the load upon the wheels causes the lower portion of
the rim to flatten itself to form a large treading or bearing surface, and
this throws the strain upon the upper portion of the wheel, from which
portion the weight is supported through the axle and axle box.
The accompanying Drawings represent my Invention applied to
wheels of different construction so as to show its adaptability for heavy
and light loads, such as is required for use upon traction, agricultural,
and other road engines, and also for waggons, omnibuses, carts, and other
vehicles..
j
Figures 1 and 2, are. respectively a front view and section of an
unloaded wheel with a single rim tyre or, band composed of a ring.

page_text: of spring steel a of curved or rounded form for the purpose of having a
convex tread; when the wheel is attached to the vehicle and supporting
a load, the weight of the load and vehicle causes the ring to yield and
so become flattened to obtain a firm grip on the road or surface over
which it may be moving, the degree of flatness being governed by the 5
variations of the load. To this ring are attached double arms b formed
with a lip or flange c at their inner ends, these lips or flanges c are
arranged to take under angle iron rings & secured to the sido plates e
to connect it to flanged plates or webs ƒ of the axle box g. This con-
struction of wheel is specially applicable for a driving wheel of traction 1
engines. The axle g turns freely in the boss h, under which circum-
stances the wheel is at rest, but when the clutch i is thrown into gear
with the clutch box j the wheel will be made to revolve, as will be easily
understood on reference to the Drawing. In the view I have shown
the axle gas having feathers or ribs on it so that the clutch i can be 1
slid along it by the claw j' when acted upon by a hand wheel or lever
through the shaft or rod k.
Figures 3 and 4 represent a wheel whose rim is composed of several
bands or circular strips of spring steel, one being placed over the other
to give the necessary strength and rigidity to enable the wheel to with- 2
stand the concussions and jolts when travelling over rough or stony
ground. The inner periphery carries a series of radial bars, arms, or
spokes which pass through inner rings or flanges m, forming part of
or attached to the axle box or the boss of the wheel as the case may be.
The shape of the radial arms is seen in the sectional view, Figure 5, and 2
the amount of depression or flatness given to the rim by Figure 4;
Figure 3 showing the wheel in its normal condition, as it would be
when removed from a vehicle. The built-up rim of steel rings may
have a soft and pliable substance placed between them, such as leather
or wood, but this is not essential. The rim may also have shoes or 3
detachable blocks of wood or metal arranged at intervals on the
outside, as shown at Figure 6, to form a series of ribs or treading bodies
to bear upon the ground, the shoes or blocks being held in position by
screw bolts p in any convenient manner.
Figures 7 and 8 show a wheel with a built-up rim of steel rings. held :

page_text: or picces put thereon, the shoes being separately attached to the arms
by countersunk stud bolts or the heads may project to bito the ground
and prevent the wheels slipping.
Figure 9 represents a many steel ring rim wheel with a rigid tires,
say of iron on the outside, and upon which the steel rings or the shọcs
thereon are free to bear, so that the elasticity or flexibility is obtained
not upon the ground itself, but upon the loose or outer non-flexible or
rigid tire. The outer rigid tire is gutter shaped to retain itself on the
wheel as will be seen on reference to Fig. 9*.
Figures 10 and 11 are views of an elastic wheel, and of such a con-
struction as to withstand the strain and pressure of the heaviest weights
which a vehicle is known to bear. Its construction as a driving wheel
will be well understood by the following somewhat detailed description.
A is the axle of say a traction engine, which by means of B a toothed
wheel receives rotary motion from the engine as is well understood, and to
which is fitted a disc consisting of D, an axle box or boss, E, E, arms,
and O. a smooth ring which may be conveniently cast in one picce, the
disc being secured thereto by means of F a cap screwed on the end of the
axle A. There is another disc consisting of D¹, an eye or boss, E', E³, arms,
and C¹ a toothed ring which turns freely on the axle box D. Both
discs are held in contact by circular flanges G & G of the two discs
and by friction pieces H, H, and the screw bolts K, K, screwing into the
friction picces H, H. L is the tyre formed of two separate rings
aside each other, each of which rings is formed of an inner and outer
ring of flat spring steel. To this tyre are attached M, M, a suitablo
number of pairs of radial arms or hangers, which by means of N, N,
smooth contact blocks lay hold of the smooth ring C and by means
of toothed contact blocks N', N', lay hold of the toothed ring C³. Over.
each pair of arms are loosely fitted O, O, a pair of slide pieces hooking
over the rings O and C³, and are connected together by P, P, a pair of
rods on each side of a pair of arms. The slide frames consisting of O, O,
and P, P, follow casily the lateral motion to and fro of tho pairs of
arms, while at the same time they prevent the arms from opening
outwards so as to loose their hold of rings C and C¹. Q, Q, are shoes or
tread blocks attached to the tyre by bolts and clamps, and are
held apart
from each other by blocks of wood R, R, or any other suitable material,
·

page_text: as before mentioned. T is a clutch fitting against the overhanging part of
the boss or cyo D'; it slides loosely on keys along the axle A and may
be brought into or out of gear by the driver when standing on the engine
by suitable gear and a lever arm U taking hold of the rim of clutch T.
When the clutch 'T'is in gear the two discs will rotate with the axle,
and the teeth of ring C₁ will carry the arms and therefore the tyre
along, but when clutch T is out of gear the friction between the smooth
ring C and smooth contact blocks N', N, is not sufficient to overcome
the resistance of the tyre, and in consequence the tyre will stand still
while the axle rotates. The friction between the circular flanges G
and G¹ being adjustable by the friction picces H, H, and the bolts K, K,
prevents an excess of pressure upon the clutch T, so that the same
may be worked easily while the engine is in motion. To steer the
engine round a sharp corner it is only necessary to release the clutch T
of the inner one of the two wheels generally used for a traction engine
and the tyre will come to a stand still or nearly so while the outer
wheel describes the larger circle. It will be easily understood that the
arms as soon as they arrive below the centre line or thercabout will
cease to be strained, and their contact blocks will depart from the
contact surface of the rings C and C' and thereby permit the arms
to maintain their radial position to the somewhat altered curve of that
part of the tyre below the centre line, and as soon as the arms arrive
again above the centre line they will be radial to the curve of the part
of the tyre which is above the centre and at the same time come again in
contact with the surface of the ring. The tyre has therefore full liberty
to accommodate itself to and flatten on the road, whereby a good grip is
obtained. It will further be seen that the two pieces of the tyre from
a to band from c to d support the whole weight or load of and on the
wheel, and as their resistance increases inversely as their length, a
sudden jerk or concussion which tends to force the axle nearer to the
ground is very effectually absorbed by the tyre, which therefore per-
forms the part of a spring with great safety. Instead of only one
ring having teeth both rings C and C' may have teeth if other means
for compensation are adonted.

page_text: compared with the advantages to be gained by its use over those
obtained by the rigid wooden nave spoke and felloes wheel with its
iron tyre now in general use in this country.
Figure 20 is a portion of a wheel in which the spring steel tyre is not
at the outer periphery but somewhat towards the nave, so that the 5
blocks or treading picces project inwards to some distance for steadying.
them in their movement. The shoes or treading pieces in this view
are shaped to receive wooden pieces, the inner faces or edges bear
directly upon the steel spring ring or tyre, the shoes being guided by
bolts which pass through holes in the outer arms or discs forming the 10
sides of the wheel, and also through holes in the blocks which are mado
larger so to give play.
The steel spring ring or tyre may in some cases be held to rigid rings
formed with flanges to maintain the tyre within them; this will be scen
by reference to Figure 21, where the steel ring or tyre is built of several 15
rings or pieces with other material between them, the whole being held
by bolts which pass through the shoes and the rings.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in'
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,—
Firstly. The construction of wheels for traction engines and other 20
vehicles in which the tyre or outer rim is composed of one or more
spring steel rings or strips or analogous material acting in the manner
for the purposes set forth.
Secondly. I claim the employment for wheel tyres of steel rings, or
strips of steel, or analogous material built up into rings, and rivetted 25
or otherwise secured together as described and shown, whether such
steel strips or rings have strips or rings of leather, wood, or other
material between them or not.
Thirdly. I claim the employment of a rigid tyre or of shoes or treading
pieces on the outside of and in combination with spring rings or strips 30
when such are used as clastic or flexible rings or rims to wheels, sub-
stantially as described and shown.

page_text: And fourthly. I can the combination or the appitances for facilitating
the proper action of spring rings or rims when such are used in the
manner and for the purposes explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Gustav Albrecht Carl Bremme, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of April One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
GUSTAV A. C. BREMME. (L.S.)