A New or Improved Method of Manufacturing Diso-wheels fór Railway or Tramway Cars.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Dec., 1892-Accepted. 25th Feb., 1893
CODID DI DUIT TUATION.
A New or Improved Method of Manufacturing Diso-wheels fór
Railway or Tramway Cars.
I, JOSEF HÖNIGSVALD, of 1 Augustinerstrasse, Vienna, in the Empire of
Austria, 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 :-
The wheels at present used for railway or tramway cars are either spoke-wheels
or disc wheels.
In the wheels of the first named class the rim is connected to the nave by means
of spokes arranged radially. In the disc-wheels the connection of the rim with
the nave is effected by a full disc. These wheels are known by the names of
double-sided, semi-double sided, single-sided or filled wheels according to the
nature of the said connection.
Hitherto these wheels have been made of cast or of ingot iron, of cast or of
ingot steel or of rolled iron wound spirally and welded and they have been named
after the material employed in their manufacture. The disc-wheels made of cast
or of ingot iron, or of cast or of ingot-steel have the great inconvenience that
there exist within the metal irregular internal tensions which cannot be detected
from the outward appearance of the wheels and which in consequence of the
shocks during the motion lead to fractures of the wheels.
On the other hand wrought iron wheels have the great advantage that the
quality of the material employed in their manufacture is definite homogeneous and
easily determined beforehand. However the manufacture of wrought iron disc
wheels is practically attended by the following technical and economical difficulties.
(1). If these wheels are made by the processes hitherto in use there is a necessity
of using rolled iron which is unsuitable for any other purpose and (2). This rolled
iron cannot be produced except in large quantities as otherwise the cost price of
the wheels would be too high owing to the extensive rolling-plant required.
Now this invention relates to a method which has for its object the avoidance of
all these inconveniences as it enables disc-wheels of wrought iron to be made in
desirable quantities without making use of rolled iron.
any
The disc-wheels made under this invention may be formed of a single piece or be
built or in other words formed of several pieces.
In the first case the material may be wrought welded or ingot iron or steel of
some kind such as cast, ingot, Bessemer, Martin or Thomas steel whereas in the
second case it is advisable to use only wrought and welded iron.
In order to carry out this process old waste-iron or iron scrap is bound in rather
large fagots and welded together into blocks in an ordinary forge fire. These
blocks are then brought under a drop steam or pneumatic hammer or under a
squeezer or into a press of any suitable kind where they are hammered or pressed
into finished disc-wheels in the manner hereinafter to be described.
According as the metals are to be made of one or of several pieces they go
through a course of operations the various stages of which are shown in the accom-
panying sheet of drawings.
When the wheels are to be formed of one piece the block of wrought-iron or of
steel after being suitably heated is worked into the cylindrical shape shown in
Figures 1, 2, 3 and then circular concentric grooves ab Figures 4, 5, and 6 are
forged or pressed in both flat faces of it by means of two annular dies which are
driven in by strong hammering or by pressing. The central part c of the form
thus obtained is the boss in which the nave-hole is afterwards cut to form the nave
of the wheel. Immediately afterwards the grooves a and b are gradually widened

page_text: out by means of annular dies moulding tongs or swages of increasing thickness
which are hammered or strongly pressed in. In this manner the shape shown in
Figures 7 and 8 is obtained. Thereafter the object is again heated and hammered
or pressed into the shape shown in Figures 9 and 10 and finally after being placed
on a dressing-mould the same treatment is repeated with the effect of giving the
piece the final form of a finished disc-wheel (Figures 11 and 12).
If the disc-wheel has to be built or made of several pieces the method may be
carried into effect in two different ways.
(a.) After being heated to a high temperature the block of wrought or welded
iron is brought to the cylindrical shape shown in Figures 13 and 14 and imme-
diately after it is provided with annular grooves a and b (Figures 15 and 16)
whereupon the ring is stretched into the shape shown in Figures 17 and 18. A
second piece of iron is hammered or pressed into a plate open in its centre, or
annular disc (Figures 19 and 20), and a third piece of flat iron obtained previously
by forging or pressing, is bént into a hoop (Figures 21 and 22). The three pieces
thus prepared are heated to welding-heat and brought into the mould-box shown
in Figures 23 and 24 where they are welded together by hammering or pressing
so as to unite them into a whole having the shape of a finished disc-wheel.
(b.) A plate is forged or pressed and the rim rounded off (Figures 25 and 26).
Then two blanks having each the shape of a half boss (Figures 27 and 28) and
also obtained by forging or pressing are dressed and. prepared as well as the flat
hoop iron shown in Figures 21 and 22. These four forgings are heated to welding-
heat and carried into the mould-box (Figures. 23 and 24) where they are welded
together into a wheel.
Since, as will be seen from the above description, all that is required for the
making by this method of forged or pressed disc-wheels is a rather large forge-fire
and the plant necessary for forging or pressing it will be easy to make these wheels
even one by one.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is.
1. The new or improved method of manufacturing disc-wheels for railway or
tramway cars whether formed of one or of several pieces substantially as set
forth.
2. The new or improved method of manufacturing disc-wheels from a single piece
substantially as set forth.
3. The new or improved method of manufacturing built disc-wheels substantially
as described in paragraph a.
4. The new or improved method of manufacturing built disc-wheels substantially
as described in paragraph b.
Dated this 27th day of December 1892.
JOSEF HÖNIGSVALD,
Per J. G. L.