Improvements in the Manufacture of Hollow Metallic Rims for the Wheels of Velocipedes and Wheel Carriages.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Jan., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 19th Oct., 1893-Accepted, 25th Nov., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Hollow Metallic Rims for the
Wheels of Velocipedes and Wheel Carriages.
We THE STAR TUBE COMPANY LIMITED of Heneage Street Birmingham in
the County of Warwick Tube Manufacturers and JOHN HERBERT ASTON, of
No. 28 Heneage Street Birmingham aforesaid Tube Works Manager do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object to manufacture hollow metallic rims for the
wheels of velocipedes and wheel carriages without the usual lapped or butt brazed
joint by which the longitudinal edges of the strip of which the rim is usually made
are connected together; and the said invention consists in manufacturing the said
hollow metallic rims by the process or combination of processes hereinafter
described.
In carrying the said invention into effect we take cylindrical tubing, preferably
solid drawn, of steel wrought iron or other hard and ductile metal or alloy
and we subject the said tubing, partly supported upon a mandril to a series
of drawing operations through steel dies of the required sectional figures, or we
pass the cylindrical tubing through a pair of rolls having grooves of the required
sectional figures, so as gradually to fashion from the partially supported tubing
operated upon, a hollow, unbrazed or jointless rim of the desired sectional form.
That is to say, in making, say, a hollow rim having a convex nearly semi-elliptical
inner side to which the metallic spokes are fixed and a concave or nearly semi-
circular outer side or trough in which the india rubber tyre is fixed, the said inner
and outer halves having nearly a crescent figure in cross section, we first use
mandrils having approximately the sectional figure of the rim to be made and
afterwards a mandril having the exact sectional figure of the hollow rim to be
made. By the operation of the drawing dies or the grooves of the rolls the
unsupported half of the cylindrical tubing on the mandril is pressed inwards or
towards the other half supported by the mandril so as to form the trough or outer
concave side of the rim which supported half of the tubing is changed from a semi-
circular to a semi-elliptical figure to form the inner or convex side of the rim.
Instead of employing sets of drawing through dies or rolls having grooves of
different shapes, for operating upon the cylindrical tubing, the said tubing may be
operated upon by dies and rolls in combination. The lengths of solid or jointless
tubing thus made having the sectional figure of the intended rim are bent into
hoops or circular bands and their ends brazed or otherwise secured together to
convert them into hollow rims in the ordinary way.
We do not limit ourselves to any particular sectional figure of the tubing from
which the hollow rims are made, the essence of the said invention consisting in the
manufacture of hollow jointless rims from cylindrical tubing by subjecting the said
tubing partially supported upon mandrils to a series of drawing or rolling operations
substantially as hereinbefore described.
Although we prefer to use solid drawn or unwelded or unbrazed cylindrical
tubing yet our invention may be carried into effect by the use of welded or brazed
cylindrical tubing.
Dated this 24th day of January 1893.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Hollow Metallic Rims for the
Wheels of Velocipedes and Wheel Carriages.
We THE STAR TUBE COMPANY LIMITED, of Heneage Street Birmingham in
the County of Warwick, Tube Manufacturers and JOHN HERBERT ASTON of
No. 28 Heneage Street Birmingham aforesaid, Tube Works Manager 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 :-
This invention has for its object to manufacture hollow metallic rims for the
wheels of velocipedes and wheel carriages without the usual lapped or butt brazed
joint by which the longitudinal edges of the strip of which the rim is usually made
are connected together; and the said invention consists in manufacturing the said
hollow metallic rims by the process or combination of processes hereinafter
described.
In carrying the said invention into effect we take cylindrical tubing, preferably
solid drawn, of steel, wrought iron or other hard and ductile metal or alloy and we
subject the said tubing partly supported upon a mandril, to a series of drawing
operations through steel dies of the required sectional figures; or we pass the
cylindrical tubing through a pair of rolls having grooves of the required sectional
figures so as gradually to fashion from the partially supported tubing operated
upon, a hollow unbrazed or jointless rim of the desired sectional form. That is to
say in making, say, a hollow rim having a convex nearly semi-elliptical inner side
to which the metallic spokes are fixed and a concave nearly semi-circular outer side
or trough in which the india rubber tyre is fixed, the said inner and outer halves
having nearly a crescent figure in cross section, we first use mandrils having
approximately the sectional figure of the rim to be made and afterwards a mandril
having the exact sectional figure of the hollow rim to be made. By the operation
of the drawing dies or the grooves of the rolls the unsupported half of the
cylindrical tubing on the mandril is pressed inwards or towards the other half
supported by the mandril so as to form the trough or outer concave side of the rim
which supported half of the tubing is changed from a semi-circular to a semi-
elliptical figure to form the inner or convex side of the rim.
Instead of employing sets of drawing dies or rolls having grooves of different
shapes, for operating upon the cylindrical tubing, the said tubing may be operated
upon by dies and rolls in combination.
We do not limit ourselves to any particular sectional figure of the tubing from
which the hollow rims are made.
Although we prefer to use solid drawn or unwelded or unbrazed cylindrical
tubing yet the said invention may be carried into effect by the use of welded or
brazed cylindrical tubing.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings
the manufacture according to this invention of a crescent shaped hollow jointless
rim from cylindrical tubing.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation and vertical section, the drawing die of the
full size, which we use for the first drawing operation and Figure 2 represents the
same applied to a draw bench, the said draw bench and die being drawn to a
smaller scale than Figure 1. The said die is marked a and the draw hole in it is
marked b, the shape of the finishing or emerging side of the said draw hole being
best seen in the front elevation of Figure 1. A cylindrical unsupported length of
tubing of steel wrought iron or other hard and ductile metal or alloy marked c in
Figure 2 on being drawn by the draw bench through the die a, b fixed on the tail
bed d of the draw bench, has the sectional figure of the finishing or emerging side
of the draw hole given to it as shown in the partly made rim represented in

page_text: Figure 3.. The partly made hollow rim Figure 3 supported upon a mandril is next
operated upon by the drawing die represented of the full size in Figure 4, and
drawn to a reduced scale in conjunction with the draw bench and fixed mandrel in
Figure 5; Figure 6 represents the die and die holder detached from the draw
bench drawn to a larger scale than the corresponding parts in the draw bench.
The drawing die made in halves for the second operation is marked e and the
draw hole is marked e'. The fixed mandril, the bulb of which is supported in the
draw hole of the die, is marked and has the same sectional figure externally as,
but its diameter is somewhat less than the draw hole; that is, the bulb of the
mandril has the same shape as the draw hole less the thickness of metal of the rim.
The fixed mandril is secured to the tail bed d of the draw bench in the ordinary
way. The partly made rim being operated upon is marked g. By drawing the
partly made.rim g Figure 3 through the drawing die e, supported upon the bulb of
the fixed mandrel f, the partly made rim has the figure in cross section given to it
represented in Figure 7. The partly made rim Figure 7 is next subjected to a
third or finishing operation in the draw bench by the use of a die, made in halves,
of the kind represented of the full size in Figure 8 and by the use of the fixed
mandril represented in cross section and elevation in Figure 9. The hole in the
finishing drawing die Figure 8 is marked * and the finishing or emerging side
of the said hole has a shape exactly corresponding with the sectional figure it
is required to give to the finished hollow rim and the bulb of the fixed
mandrel Figure 9 has a corresponding sectional figure. By the third drawing
operation effected by the use of the die Figure 8 and fixed mandrel Figure 9, the
partly made rim Figure 7 has the sectional form given to it of the finished rim
represented in Figure 10.
In place of using for the third and finishing operation a drawing die of the shape
represented in Figure 8, the said die may be replaced in the draw bench by a pair
of rolls, the groove formed by the opposed edges of the said finishing rolls having
the same sectional figure as the hole in the drawing die Figure 8. The pair of
finishing rolls is used in conjunction with a fixed mandrel of the kind represented
in Figure 9.
Figure 11 represents the pair of finishing rolls in combination with the draw
bench and Figure 12 represents the said rolls and their frame detached drawn to a
larger scale. In the said Figures 11 and 12 the pair of finishing rolls is marked k
and the groove between the rolls having the sectional figure of the finished rim is
marked 7.
Instead of forming the hollow rim from lengths of cylindrical tubing by three
drawing operations effected by the use of the drawing dies a, b; e, e and h, l' and
the fixed mandrels described and represented, more than three drawing operations
and two mandrels may be employed; and the said tubing may be operated upon by
dies and rolls in combination.
The lengths of solid or jointless tubing thus made having the sectional figure of
the intended rim are bent into hoops or circular bands and their ends brazed or
otherwise secured together to convert them into hollow rims in the ordinary way.
Although we have described the manufacture of a hollow jointless or unbrazed
rim having nearly a crescent figure in cross section yet hollow rims having other
figures in cross section may be manufactured by the process described, the draw
holes and mandrils or the grooves in the rolls having figures suitable to give the
cylindrical or other tubing operated upon the figures in cross section of the rims to
be made.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and the manner in which the same is to be performed we declare that we
claim as the said invention ;-
Manufacturing hollow metallic rims of the wheels of velocipedes and wheel
carriages by the process or combination of processes hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings; that is to say, making hollow jointless

page_text: rims from lengths of tubing, preferably of a cylindrical figure, by subjecting the
said tubing and partly made rim to a series of drawing or rolling operatious, or a
combination of these operations, so as to give the tubing the sectional figure of
the rims to be made, the partly made rims being supported during the later stages
of their manufacture upon mandrils substantially as described and illustrated.
Dated the Eighteenth day of October 1893.
THE STAR TUBE COMPANY, LIMITED,
JOHN POWELL, Jnr., Director.
JOHN HERBERT ASTON.