IMPROVEMENTS IN SECURING TIRES ON THE WHEELS OF LOCOMOTIVES OR OTHER RAILWAY VEHICLES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SECURING TIRES ON THE WHEELS OF LOCOMOTIVES OR OTHER
RAILWAY VEHICLES."-A communication from abroad by Edward
Mellon, of Scranton, in the County of Luzerne, State of Penn-
sylvania, United States of America.
Sealed the 12th January 1875, and dated the 18th November 1874.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 18th November 1874, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 18th November 1874, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent send greeting

page_text: and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same,
and have made solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to
me from abroad by Edward Mellon, of Scranton, in the County of
Luzerne and State of Pennsylvania, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, do
hereby declare that the following Complete Specification, under my
hand and seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say) :-
This Invention has for its object the securing of tires on the wheels of
locomotives or other railway vehicles without the aid of bolts, and in
such a manner that the tire in case of becoming loose cannot casually
slip off from the wheel.
The Invention consists in having the wheel or the tire which is to be
fitted on the same provided with a single flange, arranged in such a
manner that said flange in connection with the usual flange on the tire
will keep the latter on the wheel.
Figures 1 and 2 are central sectional clevations of a locomotive wheel
having a tire applied to it according to this Invention.
Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the lower portion of the
wheel and tire shown in Figure 1, illustrating the form of construction
preferred by the Inventor.
Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the lower portion of the
wheel and tire shown in Figure 2, illustrating the form of construction
preferred by the Inventor.
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.
In Figures 1 and 3 the wheel is provided with the flange above
mentioned, which flange is marked a; in Figures 2 and 4 the tire of
the wheel is provided with the flange above mentioned, which flange is
marked a¹.

page_text: A represents a locomotive wheel which may be constructed in the
usual or in any proper manner, and B is the tire fitted thereon; C is the
rail. The periphery of the wheel A is provided at the inner edge with a
flange a, as shown in Figures 1 and 3. This flange rests, as shown,
against a corresponding recess or lip made in the tire. The tire B is
shrunk on the periphery of the wheel A as usual, and it will be seen
that the flange a prevents the tire, should it become loose on the
wheel A, from slipping off at the inner side of the wheel, and tho
ordinary flange 6 of the tire will of course prevent the latter fron
slipping of at the outer sido of the wheel. By this arrangement no
bolts or set screws are required to aid in fastening the tire on the wheel,
as it is impossible for the tire to leave the wheel either at the right or
left side thereof while the wheel remains upon the rail. The same
result may be attained by having the inner surface of the tire at its outer
edge provided with a flange a', as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 4.
An important feature in this Invention is that I retain the tiro on the
wheel without the employment of bolts, rivets, keys, or other like
attachments. I heat the tire until it has expanded sufficiently to bo
slipped over the periphery of the wheel, it then cools and contracts and
holds or binds the wheel firmly. After the wheel, as completed, has
been in use a certain length of time the tire will stretch and thus
become loose on the wheel, then the pressure of the resistance against
tho rail will bear or force the tire inward against the flange a of the
wheel, Figure 1, or flange a¹ of the tire, Figure 2. It is not however
intended to run the engine unnecessarily with a loose tire, but should
this tire become loose while on the road there is sufficient safety in
running the engine until it will be convenient to repair or replace it by
a new one. The tire can be readily slipped off, there being no rivets or
othor fastenings to undo, and the convenience and utility of the im-
provement is apparent.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would observe that I do not limit or confine myself
to the precise form of any of the parts hercin shown, as these may be
varied without departing from the Invention; but what I claim as new
and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, the providing of the wheel or
the tire which is to be fitted on the same with a single flange arranged
in such a manner that said flange in connection with the usual flange on

page_text: the tire will keep the latter on the wheel, substantially as herein set
forth.
"
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, havo
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of
November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred 5
and seventy-four.
Witness,
HY. SWALES,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
A. M. CLARK. (L.s).