IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGE WHEELS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGE WHEELS."
-A communication from abroad by Elbridge Gerry Woodside, of
San Francisco, California, United States of America.
Sealed the 7th September 1869, and dated the 21st June 1.869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st June 1869.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGE
WHEELS," a communication, to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to provide a means for relieving the
concussion and noise incident to wheels of the ordinary construction,
and consists in interposing between the hub and axle box an elastic

page_text: packing, which is so fitted around the box and into the hub as to insuro
the parts being held firmly and compactly in place without any liability
of turning within the hub. The metallic hub or nave of the wheel
is provided in the ordinary way with mortices, and is formed with
recesses to lighten the hub. These recesses may be filled with a cement
composed of asphaltum and coal tar or other light substance to lighten.
the hub, and to afford a firm bearing for the packing to be hereafter
mentioned. A box fitted around the axle is constructed in a continuous
piece, having a shoulder at one end and a screw thread at the other
end. Around the said box is placed a rubber ring or tube completoly
surrounding it, with the exception of the thread, the inner end of the
rubber tube being provided with a flange for the shoulder to bear against;
the inside of the said tube is provided with a thin layer of rubber
cement to bind it firmly to the box. The box with its rubber tube
or packing (having also a coating of cement on its outside) is now
fitted into the hub, and a ring or nut having a rubber washer on its face
is screwed up against the outer end of the hub and axle box, the cement
on the inside and outside of the elastic packing serving to more securely
unite the box and bub together, and preventing their having any
independent motion. The hub is now ready to receive the axle, which is
secured to it by a nut in the ordinary manner, and an outer band nut is
turned over the end of the screw thread of the box tightly up against
the nut thereon. It will be found desirable to provide each end of the
hub with a flange to project over and protect the edge of the flange
of the rubber packing and the elastic washer.
In a modification of my Invention for wooden hubs an inner and
outer box may be employed, with the clastic packing interposed between
them; the outer box may however be dispensed with if desired.
The said Invention is also adapted to wooden hubs as follows:-The
hub is provided as usual with a band shrunk over each of its extremities.
The interior of this hub is bored out centrally, and is enlarged at each
end for the reception of a ring or packing of rubber or other clastic
material, which is of different diameters at different portions of its length,
and is provided with shoulders which rest against corresponding
shoulders formed on the inside of the hub, the latter being also pro-
vided with a third shoulder, which serves as an abutment for the inner
end of the packing ring to rest against. In addition to the shoulders
the interior of each end of the hub is provided with recesses diametrically

page_text: opposite for the reception of corresponding projections or ribs formed
on the exterior of each of the packing rings for the purpose of pre-
venting their turning within the hub. The interior of each of these
rings is also provided with shoulders and recesses, the form of the
interior being such as to correspond to that of one end of a hollow axlo
box, the opposite end of which is provided with a screw thread, over
which (when its packing ring is in place thereon) fits a nut, the nut
corresponding in form to the interior of the packing and drawing, and
pressing the two elastic rings into the enlargements within the hub
in such manner that they are expanded laterally and caused to snugly
fit against the interior of the latter, whereby the whole is compactly
bound together, the exterior of the axle box being provided with pro-
jections of corresponding form and size to the recesses in the interior
of the packing, which admit of passing the latter over the end of the
axle box, and the box is thereby prevented from slipping within the
packing rings. As an additional security, to prevent the box and packing
from slipping within the hub, rubber or other suitable cement may
be employed. The thickness of the clastic rings at the points where
the recesses are formed is made equal to or greater than the thickness
of the remaining portions of the said rings, in order that the samo
degree of elasticity may be insured at these points, and the width and
length of the projections on the exterior of the axle box should be
sufficient to prevent the box from slipping within the packing rings;
the form also of these projections should be somewhat rounded at their
edges to prevent the rings being cut or injured thereby. The central
portion of the interior of the hub is only of sufficient diameter to allow
of the yielding of the box within it, and does not require to be cut
away to that extent which would be necessary if the elastic packing
surrounded the central portion of the box, and consequently the strength
of the hub is not diminished, and a smaller and lighter hub may bo
employed than would be possible with the construction first herein
described. For large hubs however the central portion as well as the
ends of the box may, if desired, be surrounded with elastic packing
composed of one or more pieces, provided with projections or ribs similar
to those on the rings first above mentioned. The end of the box and
the nut may be each provided with a flange for the purpose of covering
the outer ends of the packing rings, or the ends of the rings may be
covered by flanges projecting from the interior of the bands, or an
independent washer may be employed for this purpose. The shoulders

page_text: of the packing may be dispensed with, and the packing be made of a
conical form without shoulders if desired, the form of the box and hub
being made to correspond thereto.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Oflice on the 21st December 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, South-
ampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
of
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of June, in the year
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
license that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
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 yend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGE WHEELS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
The object of this Invention is to provide a means for relieving the

page_text: concussion and noise incident to wheels of the ordinary construction,
and consists in interposing hetween the hub and axle box an elastic
packing, which is so fitted around the box and into the hub as to insure
the parts being held firmly and compactly in place without any liability
of turning within the hub.
carriage wheel with these improvements applied thereto; Figure 2 is a
similar section through the centre of a hub representing a modification
of the said improvements; Figure 3 is a transverse section on the
line x, x, Figure 1; Figure 4 is a transverse section on the line y, y,
Figure 2; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the box or bearing in which
the axle rests; Figure 6 is a perspective view of an elastic cushion or
packing ring enclosing one end of the box, and interposed between it
and the interior of the hub; Figure 7 is a perspective view showing the
interior of one end of the hub; Figure 8 is a view of the nut which
holds the box and packing rings in place; Figures 9 and 10 are details
to be referred to.
In Figures 1 and 3 A represents a metallic hub or nave of a wheel
provided in the ordinary way with mortices a, recesses 6 being formed
to lighten the hub. These recesses may be filled with a cement com-
posed of asphaltum and coal tar or other light substance to lighten
the hub, and to afford a firm bearing for the packing to be hereafter
mentioned. The box B is constructed in a continuous piece, having a
shoulder c at one end and a screw thread d at the other end. Around
the box B is placed a rubber ring or tube C completely surrounding it,
with the exception of the thread d, the inner end of the rubber tube C
being provided with a flange e for the shoulder c to bear against, the
inside of the tube being provided with a thin layer of rubber cement to
bind it firmly to the box. The box with its rubber tube or packing
(having also a coating of cement on its outside) is now fitted into the
hub, and a ring or nut f, having a rubber washer g on its face, is screwed
up against the outer end of the hub and axle box, the cement on the
inside and outside of the clastic packing serving to more securely unite

page_text: the box and hub together, and prevents them from having any inde-
pendent motion. The hub is now ready to receive the axle, which is
secured to it by a nut h in the ordinary manner, and the outer band
nut i is now turned over the end of the screw thread d tightly up against
the nut f. It will be found desirable to provide each end of the hub
with a flange k to project over and protect the edge of the flange e of the
rubber packing and the elastic washer g. By this means the axle box
is completely surrounded with rubber, and both ends of the hub are
provided with a packing of the same, which greatly relieves the wheel
vertically as well as laterally in passing over depressions in the road or
other obstacles, which have a great tendency, in the ordinary manner of
constructing wheels, to so shatter or loosen the bands, spokes, and
felloes as to render their use but of short duration.
In Figure 10 is shown in red a manner of construction for wooden
hubs, an inner and outer box being employed, with the elastic packing
interposed between them; the outer box may however be dispensed
with if desired.
In Figures 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 is represented a different method of
applying my clastic packing to the hub of a wheel, this construction
being more particularly adapted for wooden hubs. D is the hub, pro-
vided as usual with a band shrunk over each of its extremities. The
interior of this hub is bored out centrally, and is enlarged at each end
for the reception of a ring or packing E of rubber or other clastic
material, which is of different diameters at different portions of its
length, as seen in Figures 2 and 6, and is provided with shoulders m, m,
which rest against corresponding shoulders n, n, formed on the inside of
the hub, the latter being also provided with a third shoulder o, which
serves as an abutment for the inner end of the packing ring E to rest
against. In addition to the shoulders n, n, o, the interior of each end
of the hub is provided with recesses p, p, (Figures 4 and 7) diametrically
opposite, for the reception of corresponding projections or ribs q formed
on the exterior of cach of the packing rings E, for the purpose of pre-
venting them from turning within the hub. The interior of each of
these rings E is also provided with shoulders r and recesses 8, the form
of the interior being such as to correspond to that of one end 12 of a
hollow axle box G, the opposito end of which is provided with a screw
thread t, over which (when its packing ring E is in place thereon) fits
a nut II, the nut corresponding in form to the interior of the packing,

page_text: and drawing and pressing the two clastic rings E into the enlargements
within the hub in such manner that they are expanded laterally and
caused to snugly fit against the interior of the latter, whereby the whole
is compactly bound together, the exterior of the axle box being provided
with projections 13 of corresponding form and size to the recesses & in.
the interior of the packing E, which admit of passing the latter over the.
end of the axle box G, and the box is thereby prevented from slipping.
within the packing rings E. As an additional security, to prevent they
box and packing from slipping within the hub, rubber or other suitable
cement may be employed. The thickness of the elastic rings at the,
points where the recesses & are formed is made equal to or greater than
the thickness of the remaining portions of the said rings, in order that
the same degree of elasticity may be insured at these points, and the
width and length of the projections 13 on the exterior of the axle box
should be sufficient to prevent the box from slipping within the packing
rings. The form also of these projections should be somewhat rounded
at their edges to prevent the rings being cut or injured thereby. The
central portion of the interior of the hub is only of sufficient diameter
to allow of the yielding of the box G within it, and does not require to
be cut away to that extent which would be necessary if the clastic
packing surrounded the central portion of the box, and consequently the
strength of the hub is not diminished, and a smaller and lighter hub
may be employed than would be possible with the construction first.
described by me and illustrated in Figures 1 and 3. For large hubs,
however, the central portion as well as the ends of the box may, if
desired, be surrounded with elastic packing composed of one or more
pieces, provided with projections or ribs similar to those on the rings E,
as seen in Figure 9. The end 12 of the box G and the nut H may be
each provided with a flange for the purpose of covering the outer ends.
of the packing rings E, or the ends of the rings may be covered by
flanges projecting from the interior of the bands 1, or an independent
washer may be employed for this purpose.
It is evident that my improvements may be applied to the wheels of
railway carriages and other vehicles at a small cost, and my Invention
commends itself to pleasure seekers for comfort, ease, and economy in
riding.
In the foregoing the packing E is represented as being provided with
shoulders m, m, r, but these shoulders may be dispensed with, and the

page_text: packing be made of a conical form without shoulders if desired, the form
of the box and hub being made to correspond thereto without departing
from the spirit of my Invention.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shewn how the same may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim, sur-
rounding the box B with an clastic packing C, substantially as described
for the purpose set forth.
I also claim the packing C with its flange e in combination with the
elastic washer 9, substantially as and for the purpose described.
I also claim the clastic packing rings E with their projections q and
recesses 8, and with or without shoulders m, n, r, applied to the ends of
the box G, in combination with the hub D, the ends of the interior of
which are of a form corresponding to that of the rings E, substantially
as and for the purpose described.
I also claim securing the packing to the box and within the hub by
the employment of cement, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have liereunto
set my hand and scal, this Twenty-first day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
H. J. GEDGE,
Clerk to Messrs. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.