Improvements in the Process of Manufacturing Raw-hide Wheels.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Sept., 1890-Accepted, 25th Oct., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Process of Manufacturing Raw-hide Wheels.
I, THOMAS WILLIAM MEACHEM, of 248 W, Washington Street New York City,
in the State of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare
the nature of my invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING
RAW-HIDE WAKELS" and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to the manufacture of wheels, more especially gear wheels,
from layers of raw-hide permanently united.
And the invention consists in an improved method of placing the layers of raw-hide
more accurately and expeditiously one upon the other so that their centres coincide
and at the same time forming either the central eye for the reception of the shaft on
which the wheel is to be mounted, or the holes for the reception of the bolts or rivets
by which to fasten trunnion-plates or other pivot plates to opposite sides of the wheel,
and by which procoss the wheel can be formed directly on its shaft, all as heroinafter
more fully described and specifically set forth in the claims.
In the annexed drawing, Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5 are plan views of different forms of
disks adapted for forming wheels by my improved process, Fig. 4 is a sectional view
illustrating one of the means for compressing a tier of the aforesaid disks, and Fig. 6
is an elge view of a wheel as constructed by my improved process for attachment of
trunnion plates to said wheel.
In manufacturing the wheel I proceed as follows: I take dry raw hide and cut or
stamp ont of the same, by means of a suitable die, the number of disks required to
build up the wheel to be manufactured. Said disks being all of the same or
approximately the same diameter as that of the said wheel.
When the wheel is to be mounted on a shaft I punch in the centre of each disk an eye a
which may be either hexagonal as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing, or square as shown
in Fig. 1 of the drawing, or circular with notch or key seat e as represented in
Figure 2 of the drawing, and when the wheel is to have trunnion plutes bb secured to
opposite sides thereof as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing, I punch the holes d d d d
in the disk for the reception of the bolts or rivets by which the trunnion plates are to
be attached.
The aforesaid eyes and bolt-holes may be punched in the disks simultaneously with
the punching of said disks out of the rawhide.
In building up a wheel designed to be mounted on a shaft I place one of the disks
on a suitable horizontal base B having a central aperture or socket e coinciding with
the central eye of the aforesaid disk, I then insert in said eye or socket either a pin or
shaft f of the same size and shape in cross section, so as to fit snugly therein and stand
erect or at right angles to the plane of the disk. I then slip the remainder of the
aforesaid disks successively with their central eyes onto the pin or shaft and place them
one upon the other and upon the first disk. Either before or during the operation of
piling the disks one upon the other I apply to the adjacent sides thereof a suitable
cement, and after the disks are piled as aforesaid I place the tier with its base B and
pin or shaft between the bed A and follower C of a screw-press or other suitable
press. The follower being provided in its underside with a socket h for the reception
of the upper end of the pin or shaft fas shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing.
I then operate the press to compress the tier of disks designated by the reference
letter D, the compression being in a direction at right angles to the planes of the disks
and causing the latter to be firmly united so as to form a solid body, which constitutes
the wheel to be formed.
The pin or shaft may be either of wood or metal. When it is of wood the
protruding ends thereof are to be cut off after the compressed body or wheel has been

page_text: removed from the press, the portion of the wood which remains in the said wheel
serves to indicate the centre of said wheel and can be readily bored out when desired
to mount the wheel on a metal shaft.
When the said pin is of metal it is driven out of the wheel in which it has formed
the hole for the reception of the shaft on which the wheel is to he mounted, or said
pin may constitute said shaft.
When the wheel is to have trunnion platos secured to opposite sides thereof, I
build the wheel of a series of disks having a plurality of holes d d d d as shown in
Fig. 3 of the drawing and set in each of suid holes of the first disk a pin, and
slip the remainder of said disks successively onto said pins and treat tho tier of disks
in the same manner as hereinbefore described.
The pins being afterward either driven out or bored out leaves in the wheel the
requisite holes for the reception of the bolts or riveis by which the trunnion plates are
to be attached.
After the wheel is thus formed it is dried preferably by artificial heat in n drying
chamber or room. This drying process is greatly oxpodited and the drying of the
wheel rendered more uniform through all parts thereof by the hot air passing through
the aperture made in the wheel by the removal of the pin and thus drying the wheel
from the centre outward as well as from the exterior inward. Aside from the aforesaid
advantage I economize in raw hide and cement, inasmuch as the removed central
portions of the disks can be utilized for manufacturing small wheels therefrom, and
the surfaces to be cemented are reduced.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed declare that what I
alnim is :-
The process of manufacturing wheels consisting in cutting from a sheet of raw
hide a plurality of disks all of the same or approximately the same diameters,
perforating said disks at coinciding positions, inserting a pin or pins vertically in the
perforation or perforations of one of said disks, then slipping the remainder of the
disks successively onto the aforesaid pin or pins and piling said disks one upon the other
and upon the first disk, and applying cement to the adjacent faces theroof, and then
compressing the tier of disks in a direction at right angles to the planes of the
disks.
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1047
THOMAS WILLIAM MEACHEM.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.