CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON WHEELS, BOXES, AND AXLETREES OF CARRIAGES FOR CARRYING PERSONS AND GOODS ON COMMON ROADз AND RAILWAYS
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MASON, of Brecknock Terrace, Camden Town, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the sixth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Mason, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said William Mason, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Mason, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON WHEELS, BOXES, AND
AXLETREES OF CARRIAGES FOR CARRYING PERSONS AND GOODS ON COMMON ROADз
AND RAILWAYS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said William Mason, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in

page_text: part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Mason, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and as-
certained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say:-
Figure 1 represents a portion of a wheel constructed according to my
Invention Figure 2, an edge view of Figure 1; and Figure 3, a transverse
section of the wheel. In each of these Figures the same letters of reference
indicate similar parts. The improvements, so far as the wheel is concerned,
consist in the manner of constructing and combining the parts of the felloes,
which are to be of wrought iron. a, a, are a series of parts which constitute
the felloe of the wheel, which overlap each other at the joints, as will be
clearly traced by an examination of the section at 6, in Figure 1, and the
shape of the various parts a, a, will be seen in the section Figure 3; these
parts a, consisting of rolled iron, with angles or projecting edges c, c, at each
side thereof, as is clearly shown. d, d, are the spokes of the wheel which
enter into openings formed in the parts a, a, and into the nave, there being
enlarged collars or bearings formed on such spokes, one at each end, which
come respectively one against the felloe and the other against the nave, which
may be most clearly traced in Figure 3. e is the tire or outer rim of the
wheel, which, in the instance shown in the Drawing, is intended for edge
railways; but in case they are to run on turnpike or common roads then the
flanch or rim at the edge is to be omitted and the two sides made similar to
the outer one shown in the Figure 3. f is the outer portion of the nave,
which is of cast iron; its shape and construction is clearly shown in the
Drawing. 9, Figure 3, is the portion of the nave which is of wood.
h, h, are a series of wrought-iron hoops for strengthening the nave. I
should here remark, that variously constructed naves may be used in
combination with a wheel constructed according to my Invention; that shown
in the Drawing is one which it is desirable to use, in order to employ
other of my improvements hereafter described with reference to boxes and
axletrees of wheels. I will not at present proceed further in the description of
the nave in the present instance, but state the manner of putting the parts of
the wheel herein-before described together. The parts a, a, of the felloe being
curved accurately are brought one at a time to the spokes, which are first put
into the nave, and the whole wheel being built up, and the space i of the

page_text: felloe being filled with wood, the outer rim or tire is to be put on by the first
heating it in order to expand its dimensions, and when put on to the felloe a, a,
the cooling and shrinking of the tire will bind all parts securely together, and
constitute a very strong yet light wheel. I would here remark, that the
novelty of this construction of wheels consists in the peculiar construction of
the parts a, a, and of their being made of wrought iron, constituting the felloo
of the wheel, that is to say, having the two outer edges turned as at c, c,
which not only produce lightness of construction, but at the same time great
strength, and the shrinking of the tire will be resisted, first, by the projecting
edges c, c, whilst greater shrinkage will be allowed by the wood which fills up
the space between the projecting edges c, c, and hence the tire will be most
securely held and prevented from coming off, whilst the wood will offer an
elastic resistance, which however is not new in itself, a similar contrivance
having been before resorted to by placing wood in grooves formed around the
felloes of cast-iron wheels, but not in wrought-iron ones.
I will now proceed to describe the second part of my Invention, which
relates to improvements on the boxes and axletrees of carriage wheels. My
first improvement in such boxes consists in constructing the same of wrought
iron in place of cast iron, as hereafter described, in order to obtain
sufficient strength of axletree box with less bulk, whereby, when the same
is inserted in the nave, it will not occupy so much room as those made in
cast iron, which is of considerable consequence in making wheels, for, if
the same sized nave be used, it will be evident that, less of the interior
being cut away for the box, greater strength will be obtained than that froin
a similar nave with a cast-iron box; and likewise, in case a greater strength
be not required, then the nave may be reduced in size when the wrought-
iron box is used, by which greater elegance and lightness of appearance will
be obtained to the wheel.
Figure 4 represents an axletree box, constructed of wrought iron according
to my Invention. The best means of forging such wrought-iron box with
which I am acquainted is to take a plate of iron, of the length from j to k in
Figure 4, the three edges thereof being bevelled in opposite directions, where
they are overlapped in welding, and having cut out the longitudinal grooves
or recesses 1, 1, for the oil, I turn such plate over a mandril, and proceed to
weld the same in like manner to welding tubes. I then take a second plate of
iron, but thicker than the first piece, and turn it up and weld it into a short
tube, which is next to be welded to the first-formed tube. This second tube
forms the part from m to n, as shown at Figure 4. The tube thus formed is
then to be bored, and the rccess or groove o to be formed therein, and the

page_text: requisite screw is to be cut at p, at the outer end of the box, as is shown in
Figure 4.
Having thus described one method of making wrought-iron boxes, I would
remark that I do not confine myself to that system of forging and welding,
but do claim the constructing of axletree boxes of wrought iron when the
same have a series of longitudinal recesses or grooves formed therein.
wis
I will now describe my second improvements in boxes and axletrees, which
are applicable to that description of axletree which is keyed or made fast in
the nave of the wheel. This third part of my Invention is shown in Figures
1, 2, and 3. q, the axletree, which may be either hollow or solid, running
from side to side of the carriage. The one shown in the Drawing is hollow.
r is a conical collar, affixed and prevented from turning on the axletree by
keying it, but it is capable of sliding, in order to be forced up when the surfaces
become warm. These collars turn with the axletree q, and they prevent
the play of the wheel endways. The axletree q is made fast to the nave of
the wheel by keys, and by the screw nut s. The plate t, which has a screw v
projecting from its surface, which screws into the hollow axletree q, and the
plate t is secured to the nave by the screw bolts and nuts u, as is clearly
shewn in the Drawing. And it is the application of these collars r, and the
means of securely affixing of the axletree q to the nave by the screw nut s, the
plate t, and screw v, and the screw bolts and nuts u, as above described,
though I do not claim any of those parts when used for other purposes.
the axletree box which is used with the improved axletree g, and this
box consists of a hollow tube proceeding from side to side of the carriage,
the part thereof being that which in reality constitutes one of the boxes
wherein the bearing of the axletree takes place, the parts being capable of
screwing to the other part u, as shown, and to the screw nut y, by which the
conical collars are forced up to shut in the oil and regulate the play of the
wheels endways, there being suitable washers of leather at each of the joints.
The axletree box or part x has recesses cast therein when the box is formed,
of cast iron, in like manner to ordinary cast-iron patent axletree boxes; and
when they are made of wrought iron the grooves may be formed therein as
before described with reference to wrought-iron axletree boxes. The axletre
box w, x, is to be affixed to the carriage, or the springs thereof, at the point A
by means of an iron strap which encircles the axletree box, and the same is
held securely from turning in such strap by keys acting on flat surfaces, as is
well understood; or the part A may be formed with projecting ears, by which
the same may be securely held by the carriage or to the springs thereof with
suitable screw bolts and nuts; but when the springs extend beyond the wheel

page_text: then the wheels must be affixed upon the boxes, which will revolve whilst the
axle stand still, and the axle must extend on each side beyond the boxes, and
to which extensions of the axle the springs of the carriage must be affixed.
Having thus explained the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I would remark, that I lay no claim to any of
the parts herein described, excepting so much thereof as has been particularly
pointed out as constituting my improvements.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Mason, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.