A NEW MACHINE FOR FIXING AND SETTING WHEELS TRULY UPON THEIR AXLES AND SHAFTS, AND AN IMPROVED METHOD FOR MAKING SUCH WHEELS, AXLES, AND SHAFTS, MORE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO CORVE, COLLIERY, TRAMWAY, AND OTHER SIMILAR WHEELS
Year: 1872

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Robert Hadfield at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
November 1872.
I, ROBERT HADFIELD, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Steel
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"A NEW MACHINE FOR FIXING AND SETTING WHEELS TRULY UPON THEIR AXLES
AND SHAFTS, AND AN IMPROVED METHOD FOR MAKING SUCH WHEELS, AXLES, AND
SHAFTS, MORE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO CORVE, COLLIERY, TRAMWAY, AND OTHER
SIMILAR WHEELS," to be as follows :—
Heretofore it has been usual in the manufacture of corve, colliery,
tramway, and other similar wheels to bore and plane such wheels and to
slot keyways therein; likewise to turn and slot the axles or shafts, and
to slot the keyways therein; or to form a hole through the axle
or shaft and place therein a linch pin or cotter; or more frequently to
wedge the wheel on to the axle or shaft by means of keys.
The object of my Invention is to construct a machine for fixing and
setting wheels truly upon their axles and shafts, by the use of which in
combination with my improved method of making such wheels, axles,

page_text: and shafts as hereafter described, I entirely dispense with the various
operations of turning, boring, keying, cottering, and wedging, thereby
saving great labour and expense. For this purpose I construct a
machine as follows:-It is formed somewhat in the shape of a steel
ingot mould, and is made in two halves which when put together form
a hollow mould inside for the reception of the axle or shaft as herein-
after described. These two halves open and shut and are fastened
together in a similar manner to an ordinary steel ingot mould. The
table surface or face of the machine is made with a perfectly flat and
level surface to enable me to set the wheel truly on its axle or shaft as
herein-after described.
To form the wheel and axle I proceed as follows:-I first make the
wheel and cast therein a taper hole, which runs gradually into either a
square, hexagonal, or octagonal shape. I then take a piece of crucible
or Bessemer steel, or wrought iron of suitable length and thickness, and
which has been previously rolled or forged round to form the axle or
shaft, and I heat, forge, and taper the end thereof so as to correspond in
shape with and fit into the hole formed in the wheel as above described.
I make the taper end of such axle or shaft of a sufficient length to
project beyond the outside surface of the wheel when the wheel is placed
on it, so that it may afterwards be formed into and become the rivet
head. Or the said axle or shaft may be perforated and fastened and
cottered in the ordinary way if so preferred instead of rivetted.
To set the wheel truly upon its axle or shaft I proceed as follows :—
I open the machine and place the axle or shaft in the hollow formed in
the centre of the machine to receive it. I then close and fasten the
machine, so as to keep the axle or shaft firmly in its place, taking care
that the tapered end thereof projects sufficiently beyond the level
surface of the table surface or "face" of the machine, so that the wheel
may not only be placed upon it but that a sufficient projection may
remain beyond the outside of the wheel to be subsequently formed into
the rivet head as before mentioned. I then drop the wheel on to the
tapered end of such axle or shaft and it is then ready for rivetting;
before rivetting however I set the wheel true all round to the aforesaid
level table surface or face of the machine, and it is held firmly in this
position during the process of rivetting in consequence of the said axle
or shaft being enclosed in the hollow portion or mould of the machine

page_text: as before described, the machine being closed and fastened, bolted or
cramped together by means of cotters which hold it firmly, and I then
rivet the projecting portion of the axle or shaft previously mentioned on
to the top of such wheel. By this means the wheel becomes firmly
rivetted to its axle or shaft, and in consequence of the form of the
tapered end of such axle or shaft corresponding with the shape of and'
fitting into the hole cast in the wheel, and of their both being so rivetted
together as before described, it is impossible that they can get loose, and
for all practical purposes they are set sufficiently true and accurate.
By the use of my machine as above described, not only are the
various operations of turning, boring, keying, cottering, and wedging
entirely dispensed with, but an ordinary workman can accomplish his
work much more quickly and with considerably less cost and labour
than hitherto.