Improvements in Metallic Wheels.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 26th May, 1891-Accepted, 27th June, 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by ORLANDO CLIFFORD HALL and EINAR
RASMUSSEN, both of Lynn, Massachusetts, United States of America.]
Improvements in Metallic Wheels.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co. 45 South-
ampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 the construction of metal wheels, and its object is to
produce a wheel which shall be cheap, rigid, strong and durable.
It has heretofore been proposed to make wheels of metal and in the usual form
of construction the spokes have been upset or screwed into place on a cast iron hub.
This construction is not only a difficult one in manufacture but the imposition of
heavy strains on the metal is apt to impair its strength. In the construction in
which the spokes are screwed into place, the ends of the screw threads are liable to
strip or the ends work loose when subjected to rough usage.
My invention consists essentially of a metallic wheel having a wheel hub-box
provided with a flange or projection having suitable spoke grooves or sockets in
combination with a sleeve, collar or disc fitting upon said wheel hub-box and
welded to the flange or to an opposite sleeve, collar or disc and to the spokes in
place between them.
The said invention consists further in certain features of construction and
particularly in the construction of metallic wheels which have two rows or sets of
spokes as hereinafter more particularly described.
In the preferred construction of wheel embodying my invention the collars or
sleeves which grasp the spokes between them and are welded together are exterior
to a supplemental collar which holds the spokes in the spoke-grooves or sockets
formed in or on the flange projecting from the hub-box. It would, however, be
within my invention to dispense with such interior collar and to depend upon the
sleeves or collars which are welded to one another and grasp the spokes between
them for holding the spokes in place in the grooves or sockets. The collars, bands
or shells which are welded to one another and to the spokes in position between
them are provided with suitable grooves in which the spokes are received.
In the accompanying drawings:-
:―
Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, illustrate various parts of a hub made in accordance with
my invention.
Figure 5 is a part cross section of a finished hub.
Figure 6 shows in perspective a finished hub made from the parts illustrated in
Figures 1 to 4 inclusive.
Figures 7, 8 and 9, show various parts adapted for use in making a wheel having
two rows of spokes.
Figure 10 shows the hub-box having a flange for use in connection with the parts
shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9.
Figure 11, is a perspective view of the hub portion of a finished wheel made
from the parts Figures 7 to 10.
Figures 12 and 13, illustrate a modification.
Referring to Figure 1, D, indicates a wheel hub-box preferably of cast iron or
some other suitable cheap material having a flange or collar B, cast or forged in
one piece with said box or permanently fastened thereto. The flange B, is provided
with suitable spoke grooves or sockets to receive the spokes.
C, indicates a collar which is adapted to fit upon the hub-box D, and to come

page_text: snugly up against flange B, with the spokes in position between the flange and
collar and resting in the grooves or sockets formed in the meeting faces of said
collar and flange.
Figure 2, shows in perspective the face of the collar which has the spoke grooves
which act in connection with the grooves on the flange B.
E, E, indicate two collars, bands or shells which also fit upon the box D, and
are provided with horizontal flanges F, adapted to abut against one another over
the Hange B, and with the spokes 'G, resting in grooves or notches formed in the
flanges F. These flanges may be formed on one or both of the collars and embrace
the flange B, with the spokes in place thereon. The spokes themselves may be
formed in any manner known in the art. The collars E, may be drop forgings of
soft iron, steel or other suitable metal.
The spokes having been placed in position in the sockets or grooves in the
flange B, and the collar C, applied, the collars E, are applied over the box D, and
their edges abutted against one another and against the spokes so as to grasp the
latter on opposite sides. The parts are then welded together by the electric
welding process by passing a heavy electric current through the parts from one
collar E, to the other so as to heat the abutting parts to plasticity and then applying
end pressure to force the parts together and weld them to one another. By this
procedure the collars, spokes and flange are forced into very close relation with
each other and fastened firmly together, the spokes becoming welded to the metal
collars E, and the collars themselves being also welded together around the
flange B.
It is obvious that the use of the collar C, might be dispensed with when suitable
means are employed for holding the spokes in place against lateral displacement
from the spoke grooves of flange or collar B. I prefer, however to employ the
additional collar C, as indicated.
In the remaining figures of the drawing 1 have illustrated my invention as applied
to a wheel wherein two rows of spokes are employed and the additional collar C,
is omitted.
Figure 10 shows the box D, as provided with a flange or collar B, having spoke
grooves at its opposite edges adapted to receive the two rows of spokes as indicated
in Figure 11. E, E, are the collars which are similar to those before described
and which slip upon the hub-box D. E is a collar having the spoke grooves
indicated and adapted to slip over the flange or collar B. The width of the
collar E, is a little greater than that of the flange B.
The collar E2 having been applied upon the flange B, the spokes are put into
position in the notches in the flange B, and in the collar E², after which the exterior
collars E, are slipped upon the hub and brought into position against the spokes
and into abutment with the collar E³. After this the electric welding operation
before described is resorted to, and the collars or sections of hub E, E, finally
welded together and to the spokes grasped between them, the whole being held
from turning in this case upon the box P, by the engagement of the spokes with
the spoke grooves in the flange B.
In constructing a wheel such as illustrated in Figure 5, the volume of the electric
current employed will to some extent determine the extent to which the parts shall
be welded together. The principal welding may be produced between the parts E, E,
though it may be of course extended so as to include the interior collars C. The
principal office, however of the parts B, C, is to hold the whole structure against
moving upon the hub-box D, while the exterior collars E, give strength and rigidity
to the whole structure..
In, the modification of my invention illustrated in Figures 12 and 13; the flange B,
consists of a series of radial projections having slots or openings between then
which form the spoke grooves for the sockets. This construction it will be seen is
substantially the same as that already illustrated the only difference being that the
grooves or sockets for the spokes extend clearly through the flange from one edge
to the other. When this construction is employed the interior collar or holding

page_text: ring such as C, Figure 2, may be dispensed with and the sleeves, collars or discs E,
may be so arranged that their flat interior faces shall abut against the flange.
As already stated my invention may be carried out by using but one collar,
sleeve or disc. Thus, for instance by using the collar C, Figure 1, alone and having
it abut against the spokes held in the side grooves in the flange B, of the same
figure, the said collar and flange may be welded together and to the spokes in place
so as to form a solid collar. I prefer generally, however, to use the two additional
sleeves, collars or discs welded to one another as already explained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
a
First. In a metallic wheel, the combination with the wheel hub-box having
flange provided with suitable spoke grooves or sockets, of a sleeve, collar or disc
fitting upon said hub-box and welded to the flange or to an opposite sleeve, collar or
disc, and to the spokes, as and for the purpose, described.
Second. In a metallic wheel, the combination with a wheel hub-box having a
flange provided with spoke grooves or sockets, of a collar fitting on said box and
holding the spokes in the grooves, and two exterior discs or collars having horizontal
flanges welded together and to the spokes grasped between them.
Third. In a metallic wheel, a hub having a Hange provided with spoke grooves
or notches at its opposite ends, a collar fitting over said flange, and two collars
fitting upon the hub-box at opposite sides of said flange and welded to the first
named collar and to the spokes, as and for the purpose, described.
Dated this 26th day of May 1891.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.