Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Nov., 1887
Specification Accepted, 30th Dec., 1887
I THOMAS GROOм of Highfield House Wellington in the County of Shropshire,
Gentleman, 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 :-
My invention has for its object improvements in wheels and has special reference
to those constructed of wood felloes and spokes though the spokes might be made
from other material and the invention is intended to economise the timber used in the
felloes besides adding strength thereto and preventing the liability of breakage and
entirely supersede the end dowls or pegs which are at present used to join the felloes
together.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood and easily carried into
practice I have appended hereunto two sheets of drawings namely No. 1 a double
sheet and No. 2 a single sheet upon which are illustrated a sufficient portion of the
wheel to show the invention with the various details shown separately therefrom.
Figure 1 (sheet 1) is a front view of a broken off portion of wheel showing the
boss S some of the arms B and some of the felloes A with other details hereafter to
be explained.
Figure 2 is a front enlarged view of the upper portion of one of the arms B
showing the round pin 6' which is formed in one piece therewith.
Figure 3 is a section on the line 1. 2 showing the junction of the felloes A and
the arm B.
Figure 4 is a section on the line 3. 4 showing-the-side strengthening plates E
and E¹.
Figure 5 shows part of a board or plank from which felloes are cut and indeed
with a number of my felloes A marked upon to be cut.
Figure 6 shows a similar plank or board to the previous figure but with some of
the old kind of felloes marked thereon ready to be cut.
Figure 7 is a side enlarged view of one of the felloes A ready for application in
building a wheel.
Figure 8 is an underside plan of the same felloe as shown by the previous figure.
The old class of felloe is represented by M at Figure 6 as it required to be

page_text: sufficiently long to at least embrace two spokes and to extend at each end half way
to another where it was united by a peg or pin and thus the length of this felloo
caused a large piece of timber W to he often wasted besides leaving the parts m¹ very
weak indeed because the grain of the timber run across and thus any shaky timber
was liable to fall into pieces even before the wheel was made. My new felloe is
represented by A and is shown marked ready for sawing out of a board at Figure 5
and it will be noticed that there is practically no waste such as W in Figure 6 neither
does the grain of the timber run across the felloe but each piece is practically or
nearly a straight piece.
In the construction of my wheels I take the felloe segment A Figures 7 and 8 and
notch out the piece a* at the under side and a* at the upper side in such a manner as
to leave a hollow a' and as in each corner for strength and I then bore the holes a
and a thus leaving the halved upper piece a' with its bored hole a and the lower
halved piece a with its bored hole a and these I make in exact duplicate by accurate
machinery so that each piece is an exact duplicate of every other piece or felloe. In
regard to the spokes B I form or turn a pin & Figures 2 and 3 which is sufficiently long
to pass through a² of A and nearly through a¹ of A as shown in section at Figure 3.
These pins 6 being on every spoke and the segments or felloes being only just the
length to extend between each spoke there are the same number of felloes as spokes
and the felloes are very simply and very firmly united to each other by the said
pins 6 and thus each felloe acts as a girder resting upon the abutments B and there
are no joints between the spokes at all.
I do not confine myself to wood spokes because metal ones may be used either
solid or hollow or the pins 6' may be of metal and driven through the parts a¹ and a³
from the outside into a prepared hole in the spoke or first driven into the spoke to a
guage. In some cases to further strengthen the felloes I may place on each side a
ring E and E¹ as seen in section at Figure 4 or I may make each ring in several
pieces or plates but in either case the rivets e pass through the plates and the felloe
to secure the whole together. When so completed the outer ring or hoop is shrunk
thereon.
Wheels thus made according to my invention economize material and are stronger
and much more durable.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the samé is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
The improvements in wheels having felloes halved together at their ends and
resting at each end upon a spoke and made either with or without the side plates or
rings E and E¹ substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth and illustrated
upon the accompanying drawings in eight figures.
Dated this 26th day of November 1887
GEORGE BARKER,
77, Colmore Row, Birmingham,
Agent for Applicant.