Improvements in Wheels.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Sept., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 19th Jan., 1894-Accepted, 24th Feb., 1894°
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION,
Improvements in Wheels.
We, JAMES HAMMOND SUMNER of London Road, Kingston-on-Thames, in
the County of Surrey, Wheelwright, and ALFRED ANGELO WAINWRIGHT, of
9 Bush Lane, Cannon Street, in the City of London, E.C. Mining Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:→
Our invention relates to improvements in the construction of wheels, and applies
more particularly to such as are used for carts, waggons, carriages and the like
road vehicles.
Our invention has for its objects to cheapen the cost of the manufacture of such
wheels, by reducing the labour necessary for their production, and to lessen the
expenses of the maintenance of said wheels, by reason of the facilities for repairing
the same afforded by the particular construction of the wheel.
We carry our invention into effect by constructing a nave of the form usually
employed for such wheels, and of any of the kinds of wood generally used for that
purpose, but we prefer that the said have shall be slightly less in width than those
in general use, and the centre of the length of same, or that part usually employed
for seating the heels of the spokes, we surround by a broad metallic ring, cast or
otherwise, and in said ring, centrally of its width, or thereabouts, and circumferen-
tially, we form a series of rectangular or other shaped openings or holes, according
to the sectional shape of the heels of the spokes to be used, this varying to some
extent according to the type of wheel being built, and surrounding each of said
openings or holes we provide a deep metallic rim or socket, preferably cast or
otherwise formed integrally with the said ring, and radiating therefrom. Each of
said rims or sockets are tapered internally, and the heels of the spokes are tapered to
tit tightly thereinto, but without having shoulders formed thereon as hitherto,
which permits that each spoke may be driven into its respective rim or socket until
its heel fits tightly therein and reaches or nearly reaches the nave. The opposite
or outer ends of the spokes are formed in the usual way, and when all the spokes
are in position upon the ring, the felloes may be fitted thereupon, the tyre shrunk
upon the felloes, and the nave bored and boxed upon the axle in the general way.
The said metallic ring may or may not be shrunk upon the nave, and may be
retained thereon by screws or their equivalents, or to effect the said retention of
the ring upon the nave, we may arrange that certain, or all or any number of the
heels of the spokes may enter into cavities formed in the wooden nave, these
coinciding with, and forming a continuation of, the spoke holes in the metallic
ring.
The upper edges of said rims or sockets being almost of knife like thinness, and
by reason of the force used in driving the heels of the spokes into the said sockets
by which the grain of the timber would be compressed, the outer surfaces of the
sockets, and the spokes, would be flush, or nearly so, and would, or could be easily
made to, present a smooth and even junction between the spokes and sockets.
We are aware that a metallic ring has hitherto be fixed upon a nave, and with
holes formed therein for the reception of the heels of the spokes, but the said
holes were parallel and the heels of the spokes provided with shoulders to rest upon
the face of the ring, thus preventing any possibility of wedging up the heels of the
spokes as these, through shrinkage, became loose in the said holes, the only remedy
ing to remove the felloes and the defective spokes, but according to our invention,
the before mentioned sockets on the ring being tapered internally, and the heels of
the spokes being without shoulders, the usual cutting and shutting of the tyre for

page_text: tightening up the wheel after shrinkage would have the effect of driving the heels.
of the spokes farther into the sockets, and in some cases into the nave, and so
tighten every joint in the whole of the wheel, and we are not aware that this
method of constructing a wheel has hitherto been adopted.
Dated this 21st day of September 1893.
GEO. THOS. HYDE,
4, Moorfields, Fore Street, London, E.C., Agent for the Applicants.
Improvements in Wheels.
We, JAMES HAMMOND SUMNER of London Road, Kingston on Thames, in
the County of Surrey, Wheelwright, and ALFRED ANGELO WAINWRIGHT, of
Bush Lane, Cannon Street, in the City of London, E.C., Mining Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature. of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Our invention relates to improvements in the construction of such wheels as are
used for carts, waggons, carriages and the like road vehicles, and consists mainly of
the employment of a metallic ring or collar, shrunk or otherwise fixed upon and
surrounding the nave of the wheel, and occupying a position thereon usually
employed for cutting the recesses for the heels of the spokes, in the type of wheel
in general use, but according to our invention we form the equivalent of such
recesses in the body and substance of the said metallic ring or collar, such recesses
being of tapered form in cross section in order that a like taper may be formed
upon the heels of the spokes, and these being devoid of the shoulder hitherto
formed thereon, permits that the farther the said spokes are driven into the said
recesses or metallic sockets, the tighter and firmer they become seated therein,
which does not obtain in such spokes when provided with shoulders upon their said
heels, as with these the shrinking on of the metallic tyre simply caused the said
heels to press more firmly upon their seatings without in any way causing the
said heels to fit more tightly in the recesses in the nave formed for their reception,
but according to our invention the shriuking on of the tyre when the wheel is first
made, or the cutting and shutting of this after the wheel has been some time in use,
would, by reason of the taper form of the spoke heels and the sockets for their
reception, cause the former to fit tightly in every direction within the latter, and
further, in warın weather, the rise of temperature that would cause the spokes to
shrink, would also cause the metallic sockets to expand, and loose or rattling spokes
would be thereby prevented, and we have found in practice that wheels constructed
according to our invention are more rigid, possess greater stability, are of longer
duration in hard wear, and more quickly and easily repaired than such wheels as
hitherto made and used, thereby cheapening the cost of the wheel generally, hence
the object of our invention.
In order that our improved wheel and the manner in which we construct the same
may be fully and clearly understood, reference may be made to the accompanying
sheet of drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of so much of one half of a wheel constructed according
to our invention, as will serve to illustrate our improvements.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the nave portion of same, which illustrates the
internal formation of the spoke sockets, the shape of the spoke heels in this direction,
and the manner in which they are seated within the said sockets.
.
Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged plan views of so much of the metallic collar, as will
serve to show more fully the internal and external formation of the spoke sockets
therein, as we prefer to make them.

page_text: Figs. 5 and 6, are vertical sections illustrating the formation of the said
sockets and spoke heels, taken at right angles to that of Fig. 2 as hereinafter
explained.
We carry our invention into effect by constructing of any of the kinds of wood.
in general use for that purpose, a nave A, and according to the type of wheel being
built, preferably of lesser diameter circumferentially that such naves generally in
order that the finished wheel may not appear heavy or disproportionate when
surmounted by the collar as hereinafter explained. Upon the said nave, at or
about the centre of its length, or that part in which the recesses for the spoke heels
are usually made, we shrink or otherwise fix a metallic ring or collar B, upon the
outer surface of which we form during its manufacture, a suitable number of hollow
radial projections C, these being the sockets in which are to be seated the heels of
the spokes D. The heels of the spokes are preferably tapered equally at each side
as shewn at Fig. 2, but not necessarily tapered upon both their front and back
surfaces, although we may so taper them if desired as shewn at Fig. 6, but we
prefer to taper the back face a only, while the front face is in line with the front
of the spoke, as shewn at Fig. 5, but whichever method of tapering the said heels
we may employ, the interior of the sockets C, would be tapered to coincide
therewith, so that the spoke heels may sit firmly and evenly therein. The mouths
of the said sockets may be rectangular as at Fig. 3, or partaking of the form of an
ellipse as at Fig. 4, or any other shape desired according to the cross sectional
formation of the heel of the spokes therefor, but whatever may be the shape of the
mouths of C, their opposite ends opening into the inner surface of B, would be
preferably, rectangular, as shewn at Figs. 3 and 4, and the extreme ends of the
heels of D formed to coincide therewith. The heels of the spokes when driven
firmly into C may terminate short of the lower orifice of the sockets as at D¹
Fig. 2, in order that when the wheel has been some time in use and the tyre needs
cutting and shutting, the spokes may be forced farther into C to effect the perfect
tightening of these, and we may form shallow recesses in the nave
reception as shewn at D" Fig. 2. Or we may arrange that these may occupy the
latter position at the first building of the wheel, or that some may while some may
not, this being desirable to assist in the retention of B upon A, when this is
fastened thereon by screws or their equivalents instead of being shrunk thereon as
hereinbefore stated.
for their
In Figs. 5 and 6 the spokes D are shewn perfectly perpendicular with the wheel
box E, this being the position they may occupy in light or carriage wheels, or when
the wheel is not built in the manner known as "dished," and in order that the collar B
may be adaptable for use with wheels so dished, is one of the objects we have in
view in forming one of the end inner faces of the sockets C, perpendicular instead
of tapered, as at Fig. 5, and it will be understood that if the spoke D at Fig. 5 be
taken out and reversed, so that its tapered face a was next the perpendicular face
of the socket C, that the spoke would take the position shewn by the dotted outline
thereof in the same figure, and although the declination of the spoke as therein
shewn is towards the back of the nave, it is obvious, that if the collar B be fixed
upon the nave A in reverse order, that the declination of the spokes would be
towards the front of the nave, in the manner of dished wheels generally.
The outer edges of the mouths of the sockets C, would be tapered inwardly or
thinned down, in order that, as the grain of the spokes D become compressed when
forced into C, the outer surfaces of C and D would be flush or nearly so as at
Figs. 1 and 2, thereby giving a smooth and even finish to the junction of these.
The outer ends of the spokes may be connected to the felloes, and the tyre be
shrunk upon these, and the nave boxed for receiving the axle in the usual way.
We are aware that a metallic collar or ring has hitherto been fixed upon a nave,
and provided with holes or sockets for the reception of the heels of the spokes, but
the internal formation of these were with their surfaces parallel, as also were the
heels of the spokes, the latter also being provided with shoulders which rested upon
the face of the ring or the sockets, thus preventing the possibility of tightening the

page_text: heels of the spokes in their sockets, when the tyre was cut and shut, but according
to our invention such tightening of the heels would occur by reason of their being
tapered as herein before explained, and we are not aware that the method of
constructing a wheel according to our invention has hitherto been adopted.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inveu-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
⚫claim is
In an improved wheel for road vehicles, the combination of a mave A, having
shrunk thereon, or screwed or otherwise fixed thereto, a metallic collar B, provided
externally with any desired number of sockets C, tapered internally for the reception
of spokes D, the heels of which may be tapered without shoulders as at Figs. 2
and 5. or as at Figs. 2 and 6, the whole connected and surmounted by felloes and a
metallic tyre in the usual way, substantially as herein described and shewn by the
appended drawings.
Dated this 18th day of January 1894.
GEO. THOS. HYDE,
4, Moorfields, Fore Street, London, E.C., Agent for the Applicants.