IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS FOR PERAMBULATORS AND BATH CHAIRS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE ALSO TO WHEELS FOR OTHER VEHICLES."
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Mansell at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 20th August 1881.
JOHN MANSELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS FOR PERAMBULATORS AND
BATH CHAIRS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE ALSO TO WHEELS
FOR OTHER VEHICLES."
This Invention refers to the construction of wheels for perambulators and bath
chairs, and in part to the construction of wheels for other purposes, and relates
(1) to a method of fixing spokes of metallic wheels used for perambulators and
bath chairs by a peculiar means of constructing the hub, and (2) to the construction
and method of securing the elastic tires of wheels for perambulators and bath
chairs, and for other vehicles, when such elastic tires are to be used within the
grooves of metal rims.
The outer ends of the spokes are preferably reduced in diameter so as to leave a
shoulder, and are riveted into the rim with the shoulders (when employed) butting
against the inner circumference thereof, and the riveted parts (whether shoulders
are formed or not) filling countersunk holes along the bottom of the groove in the
rim, or along the outer circumference of the rim if the same is not grooved or
U shaped. A metal casing, forming the exterior of the hub from the centre of the
inner ends of the arms inclining outwards on one side of the wheel to the centre of
the corresponding part of the arms inclining outwards on the other side of the
wheel, has semi-circular niches sunk into its annular edge at each end into which
the arms are placed, and beyond which they project some distance towards the
centre of the hub. Hollow chills open at their inner ends and closed at their outer
ends and having corresponding niches to those before described sunk into the
annular edges formed at their open ends, the said chills being shaped inside to
complete the exterior of the hub, are then placed one on each end of the casing
with their niches around the half circumferences of the arms so as to meet the
corresponding niches in the casing, and are then held firmly together while molten
metal is poured into the hollow formed by the casing and chills, and consequently
around the ends of the arms within the hollow. When the metal has cooled the
inner ends of the arins are thus securely held in place. The chills are then

page_text: removed, and the hole for the axle is drilled through the hub. The inner ends
of the arms may be roughened or indented, if desired, to give a better hold in the
metal.
The elastic tire in the groove of a wheel for a perambulator, bath chair, or other
vehicle, as aforesaid, is made of an oval section with the major axis in the plane of
the wheel or of the ordinary round section, and is secured from slipping out of the
grooved or U shaped metal rim by forming the edges of the rim thinner than is
usually done, and carrying them, preferably, somewhat beyond the middle of the
elastic tire, and then bending them into the material of the elastic tire by means of
rolls constructed to clip the edges of the rim between them and turn the said edges
in as desired, or by any suitable means.