A NEW MACHINE FOR FIXING AND SETTING WHEELS TRULY UPON THEIR AXLES AND SHAFTS, AND AN IMPROVED METHOD FOR MAKING SUCH WHEELS, AXLES, AND Shafts,, MORE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO CORVE, COLLIERY, TRAHWAY, AND OTHER SIMILAR WHEELS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT. to Robert Hadfield, of Sheffield, in the County
of York, Steel Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW MACHINE
FOR FIXING AND SETTING WHEELS TRULY UPON THEIR AXLES AND SHAFTS,
AND AN IMPROVED METHOD FOR MAKING SUCH WHEELS, AXLES, AND Shafts,,
MORE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO CORVE, COLLIERY, TRAHWAY, AND OTHER
SIMILAR WHEELS."
Sealed the 1st July 1873, and dated the 16th May 1873.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Robert Hadfield at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 16th May 1873, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852..

page_text: WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "A NEW MACHINE
FOR FIXING AND SETTING WHEELS TRULY UPON THEIR AXLES AND SHAFTS, AND
AN IMPROVED METHOD FOR MAKING SUCH WHEELS, AXLES, AND SHAFTS, MORE
PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO CORVE, COLLIERY, TRAMWAY, AND OTHER SIMILAR
WHEELS," and have petitioned Her most Excellent Majesty Queen
Victoria to grant unto me, executors, administrators, and assigns,
Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
Declaration that I am the first and true Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Hadfield, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention to be as follows:-
Heretofore it has been usual in the manufacture of corve, colliery,
tramway, and other similar wheels, to bore and plane such wheels, and
to slot keyways therein, likewise to turn and slot the axles or shafts,
and to slot the keyways therein, or to form a hole through the axle or
shaft and place therein a linch pin or cotter. Or more frequently to
wedge the wheel on to the axle or shaft by means of keys.
The object of my Invention is to construct a machine for fixing and
setting wheels truly upon their axles and shafts, by the use of which,
in combination with my improved method of making such wheels,
axles, and shafts, as hereafter described, I entirely dispense with the
various operations of turning, boring, keying, cottering, and wedging,
thereby saving great labor and expense. For this purpose I construct
a machine as follows:- It is formed somewhat in the shape of an
ordinary steel ingot mould and is made in two halves or plates, which
when put together form a hollow mould inside for the reception of the
axle or shaft as herein-after described. These two halves or plates
open and shut and are fastened together in a similar manner to an
ordinary steel ingot mould. The table surface or face of the machine
is made with a perfectly flat and level surface to enable me to set the
wheel truly on its axle or shaft, as herein-after described.
To form the wheel and axle I proceed as follows:- I first make the
wheel and cast therein a taper hole which runs gradually into either
a square, hexagonal, or octagonal shape .I then take a piece of crucible,
or Bessemer steel, or wrought iron, of suitable length and thickness, and
which has been previously rolled or forged round to form the axle or
shaft, and I heat, forge, and taper the end thereof so as to correspond

page_text: in shape with and fit into the hole formed in the wheel, as above
described. I make the taper end of such axle or shaft of a sufficient
length to project beyond the outside surface of the wheel when the
wheel is placed on it, so that it may afterwards be formed into and and
become the rivet head. Or the said axle or shaft may be perforated,
and fastened, or cottered, in the ordinary way, if so preferred, instead
of rivetted.
To set the wheel truly upon its axle or shaft I proceed as follows :-
1
I open the machine and placo the axle or shaft in the hollow formed
in the centre of the machine to receive it, I then close and fasten the
machine so as to keep the axle or shaft firmly in its place, taking care
that the tapered end thereof projects sufficiently beyond the level
surface of the "table surface or face" of the machine, so that the wheel
may not only be placed upon it but that a sufficient projection may
remain beyond the outside of the wheel, to be subsequently formed into
the rivet head, as before mentioned, I then drop the wheel on to the
tapered end of such axle or shaft, and it is then ready for rivetting.
Before rivetting however I set the wheel true all round to the aforesaid
level table surface or face of the machine, and it is held firmly in this
position during the process of rivetting in consequence of the said
axle or shaft being enclosed in the hollow portion or mould of the
machine, as before described, the machine being closed and fastened,
bolted, or cramped together by means of cotters which hold it firmly, and
the same may be fastened thereto either with inside or outside bearings,
as may be convenient, and I then rivet the projecting portion of the
axle or shaft previously mentioned on to the top of such wheel. By
this means the wheel becomes firmly rivetted to its axle or shaft, and
in consequence of the form of the tapered end of such axle or shaft
corresponding with the shape of and fitting into the hole cast in the
wheel, and of their both being so rivetted together (either hot or cold)
as before described, it is almost impossible that they can get loose, and
for all practical purposes they are set sufficiently true and accurate.
By the use of my machine, as above described, not only are the
various operations of turning, boring, keying, cottering, and wedging,
5 entirely dispensed with but an ordinary workman can accomplish his
work much more quickly and with considerably less cost and labor
than hitherto.

page_text: before set forth, in combination with such improved wheels, axlos, or
shafts, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Hadfield, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.