IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY WHEELS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William H. Kitson, of 3, Victoria Terrace, Leeds
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY WHEELS."
Sealed the 14th February 1868, and dated the 5th September 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William H. Kitson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th September 1867.
I, WILLIAM H. KITSON, of 3, Victoria Terrace, Leeds, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY WHEELS,"
to be as follows:-
My improvements in railway wheels consists of certain modes of securing
the tyre of the wheel to the inner frame or centre of the wheel. One of the
chief objects I have in view is to secure the tyre in such a manner that more
of the thickness of the tyre may be taken for wear than is practicable by the
previous methods in use, and also to secure the tyre in such a manner that in
case of its breaking the whole shall be held firmly together.
I have several plans of effecting this object; in the first I form a
flange all round the inner circumference at or near the outside edge of the
tyre, which flange may be made either plain or with a groove or dovetail
inside. Having placed the wood or iron centre of wheel in position in the
tyre, I secure them by a loose ring furnished with a lip or flange fitting into
a groove or dovetail formed at the inner or flanged side of the tyre. To
secure the whole I pass a sufficient number of bolts or rivets through the fixed

page_text: flange on the tyre, the wood or iron centre, and the loose ring, or I can reverse
this arrangement by forming the fixed flange on the inner circumference
of the tyre at or near the flanged side of the tyre, and letting the flange or
dovetail of the loose ring fit into the outer edge of the tyre, and securing
it in the same manner as in the last-described arrangement.
In another plan for effecting the same object, I form a grooved or dove-
tailed projection on the inner circumference of the tyre at or near the outside
edge of the tyre, on the outside of which I place a loose ring with a suitable
dovetail or flanged projection, and having placed the iron or wood centre of
wheel in position in the tyre, I secure them by placing a loose ring having a
dovetail or flanged projection fitting into a dovetail or groove formed in the
inner or flanged side of the tyre, and bolt or rivet the whole together as before,
or I form the flanged projection with a groove or dovetail inside to receive
the iron centre of the wheel and place a ring bearing against the outside of
the projection and a flanged ring as before fitting into the inner or flanged
side of the tyre; I pass bolts or rivets through the two rings and wheel centre
to secure the whole together.
In another modification I use the two outside rings, as in the last plan,
and an additional ring grooved or dovetailed to fit the projecting flange, and
bearing against the outer ring, and placing the wood or iron wheel centre in
the space between the ring last described and the ring next the flange of the
wheel tyre, and bolt or rivet the whole together as before.
The rings fitted to the inner or flanged side of tyre may be used plain
instead of being made with a dovetail or flanged projection, as described
above, being less costly, but I prefer to use the rings with a dovetail or flanged
projection as being more secure.
In the above modes of securing the tyres, I wish it to be understood that I
do not claim as new the loose rings with dovetail or flanged projections
fitting into grooves or dovetails in the tyre, nor the forming of a flange on
the inner circumference of a tyre when taken separately; but what I claim
as new is their use when combined to secure the tyre to the wood or iron
centre of wheels, as described above; and, further, I claim the use of a
grooved or dovetailed projection formed on the inner circumference of the
tyre at or near the inner or outer edge of the tyre in combination with loose
rings to secure the tyre to the wood or iron centre of wheels, as described in
paragraph three above.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William H. Kitson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th February 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
H. KITSON, of 3, Victoria Terrace, Leeds, send greeting.
'
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William H. Kitson, Her special licence, that I, the said William H. Kitson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William H.
Kitson, 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 lawfully 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
WHEELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William H.
Kitson, 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..
7
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William H. Kitson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My improvements in railway wheels consists of certain modes of securing
the tyre of the wheel to the inner frame or centre of the wheel.. One of the
chief objects I have in view is to secure the tyre in such a manner that more
of the thickness of the tyre may be taken for wear than is practicable by the
previous methods in use, and also to secure the tyre in such a manner that in
case of its breaking the whole shall be held firmly together.
I have several plans of effecting this object; in the first I form a
flange all round the inner circumference at or near the outside edge of the
tyre, which flange may be made either plain or with a groove or dovetail
inside. Having placed the wood or iron centre of wheel in position in the
tyre I secure them by a loose ring furnished with a lip or flauge fitting into a

page_text: groove or dovetail formed at the inner or flanged side of the tyre; to secure
the whole I pass a sufficient number of bolts or rivets through the fixed flange
on the tyre, the wood or iron centre, and the loose ring, or I can reverse this
arrangement by forming the fixed flange on the inner circumference of the
tyre at or near the flanged side of the tyre, and letting the flange or dovetail
of the loose ring fit into the outer edge of the tyre, and securing it in the same
manner as in the last-described arrangement.
In another plan for effecting the same object I form a grooved or dovetailed
projection on the inner circumference of the tyre at or near the outside edge
of the tyre, on the outside of which I place a loose ring with a suitable dove-
tail or flanged projection, and having placed the iron or wood centre of wheel
in position in the tyre, I secure them by placing a loose ring having a dovetail
or flanged projection fitting into a dovetail or groove formed in the inner or
flanged side of the tyre and bolt, or rivet the whole together as before; or I
form the flanged projection with a groove or dovetail inside to receive the iron
centre of the wheel, and place a ring bearing against the outside of the pro-
jection and a flanged ring, as before, fitting into the inner or flanged side of
the tyre; I pass
bolts or rivets through the two rings and wheel centre to
secure the whole together.
In another modification I use the two outside rings, as in the last plan, and
an additional ring grooved or dovetailed to fit the projecting flange and
bearing against the outer ring, and placing the wood or iron wheel centre in
the space between the ring last described and the ring next the flange of the
wheel tyre, and bolt or rivet the whole together as before.
The rings fitted to the inner or flanged side of the tyre may be used plain
instead of being made with a dovetail or flanged projection, as described
above, being less costly, but I prefer to use the rings with a dovetail or flanged
projection as being more secure.
In the annexed Drawing I have shewn some of the modes of carrying out
my Invention.
Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of a wood disc wheel with one of my
improved methods of securing the tyres; Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross section
of Fig. 1.
A is the tyre, a-the flange round the inner circumference; B is the loose
ring which may be made continuous, as shewn, or in any number of separate
'pieces, in which case such pieces may be made to form part of the bolt head,
and may be made plain or with a lip or dovetail, as shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4,
15, 6, 7, 8, and 9; C is the centre of wood or iron; and D the bolts or rivets
which secure the whole together.

page_text: Figs. 10, 11, 12, and 13 shew a modification of my wheel in which an
additional loose ring is used in combination with the flange a, which ring may
be made plain, as in Fig. 13, dovetailed, as in Figs. 10 and 11, or with a lip,
as in Fig. 12, which ring may be made continuous, as shewn, or in any
number of separate pieces, in which case such pieces may be made to
form part of the bolt head. A is the tyre; a, the flange round the inner
circumference; B is the loose ring; C, the centre of wood or iron; E, the
additional loose ring; and D the bolts or rivets which secure the whole
together.
In the above modes of securing the tyres I wish it to be understood that I
do not claim as new the loose rings with or without dovetail or flanged pro-
jections fitting into grooves or dovetails in the tyre taken separately, nor. the
forming of a flange on the inner circumference of a tyre when taken sepa-
rately; but what I claim as new is, their use when combined to secure the
tyre to the wood or iron centre of wheels, as described above; and further, I
claim the use of a grooved or dovetailed projection formed on the inner
circumference of the tyre at or near the inner or outer edge of the tyre in
combination with loose rings to secure the tyre to the wood or iron centre
of wheels, as described above. I do not confine myself to the forms shewn
in the above description, as other applications of the principle may be
devised.
In witness whereof I, the said William H. Kitson, have hereunto set my
hand & seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of our
Lord 1868.
WILLIAM H. KITSON. (L.S.)