IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT-IRON WHEELS FOR LOCOMOTIVES, TENDERS, WAGGONS, &c.
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Fréderic Vasserot, of 45, Essex Street,
Strand, London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT-IRON WHEELS FOR LOCOMOTIVES, TENDERS,
WAGGONS, &c. A communication from Messrs. 'François Dory and
Joseph Badin, of Lyons, in the Empire of France..
Sealed the 8th June 1858, and dated the 5th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Frederic Vasserót
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th March 1858.
I, CHARLES FREDERIC VASSEROT, of 45, Essex Street, Strand, London,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT-IRON WHEELS FOR LOCOMOTIVES,
TENDERS, WAGGONS & C"," (a communication from Messrs. François Dory and
Joseph Badin, of Lyons, in the Empire of France,) to be as follows, and con-
sists in making wrought-iron wheels of one piece by the combination and the
simultaneous welding of all the pieces which compose the said wheels.
The principles of this Invention are as follows:-
1stly. The mode of preparing the spokes which constitute the wheel.
2ndly. The combination of the said spokes by means of rivets, so as to place
them together in the furnace, and to put them when properly heated between
the swages or matrices, which weld them by blows or pressure.

page_text: 3rdly. The special pincers employed for working the wheels in the furnace,
or under the swages or matrices.
The iron is prepared by hammer or flatting mill as a band of a constant
width, with the proper swellings in the center and at the two ends. It is
then bent on a matrice, so as to form two halves of spoke and a part of jaunt.
A wheel is formed by the combination of those pieces which are fixed together
by means of rivets, and the rough naves (to which a conical shape has been
given, so as to facilitate the entrance in the matrice) are fixed on each side by
means of pins. The wheel is then taken by the pincers in the furnace, and
when it is suitably heated, it is brought between two matrices, where the
welding of all the parts is effected either by hammering on the upper matrice,
or by pressure. The tightening of the pincers is made by means of a screw,
and the pincers are worked by means of a crane, or otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Fréderic Vasserot in the Great Seal Patent Office 1
on the 4th September 1858..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
FREDERIC VASSEROT, of 45, Essex Street, Strand, London, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 2
Patent bearing date the Fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles. Fréderic Vasserot, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Fréderic Vasserot, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles Fréderic Vasserot, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT-IRON WHEELS FOR Loco-
MOTIVES, TENDERS, WAGGONS, &c.," (a communication from Messrs. François
Dory and Joseph Badin, of Lyons, in the Empire of France,) upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Fréderic Vasserot, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain tlie

page_text: nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Fréderic Vasserot, 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 consists in making wrought-iron wheels of one piece by the
combination and simultaneous welding of all the pieces which compose the
said wheels. The means by which I effect this, are,—
1st. The particular form in which the parts forming the wheel are prepared,
the whole wheel being built out of portions which are counterparts of each
other.
2nd. The means by which these said symetrical parts are combined and put
together to form the complete wheel.
3rd. The method and means of completely and firmly uniting them, so as
to form a compact whole.
In order more clearly to shew the nature of the Invention, the accompanying
Drawings are appended, and reference must be made to the various parts in
each Figure, as indicated by letters and referred to in the description.
Figure 1 is an elevation, shewing the form of one of the pieces of iron
which form the wheel; all the others being counterparts. These pieces are
prepared by the hammer, or by the flatting mill,.as bands, of uniform thick-
ness with the swellings in the centre and at the extremities, as shewn at a, a,
b, b. It is now bent on a matrice or anvil, so as to take the form shewn in
Figure 2, having the rivet holes punched at c, c; this now forms two semi-
spokes and a portion of the rim and the nave of the wheel; a number of
these are then bound together, so as to form a complete wheel, as shewn in
Figure 3; the adjacent sides of two compartments being rivetted together,
form a complete spoke. Around the centre of the combination thus formed,
a rim or ring is firmly bolted and rivetted on each side, so as more perfectly
to forin the nave. The whole of the operation of combining the compart-
ments together will be best effected by placing the parts on a matrice or
cradle, the parts being held together by pins. The whole wheel, rivetted
together on each spoke, is now taken by pincers or tongs, as hereafter described,
placed in a furnace and raised to a welding heat, and being then brought
between two matrices all the parts are completely welded together, either by

page_text: hammering on the upper matrice or by pressure. Figure 4 shews the resulting
form after the welding process is complete.
Figure 5, 6, 7, and 8 shew the application of the same to a wheel having
an eye in it for the neck of the crank, Figure 5 shewing the outline of the
spoke intended to form a part of the eye before it is bent into the form in
Figure 6; Figure 7, the combination of parts rivetted and ready for welding;
Figure 8, the same, complete.
Figure 9 and 10 are an elevation and section, shewing the ring put round
the extremities of the spokes, so as to form the nave of the wheel; Figure 11
is a plan, shewing the form of pincers or tongs made use of for handling the
wheels when under the process of heating and welding. It will be seen that
by causing the arms a, a, to advance or recede from the shaft by means of the
screw, the jaws of the pincers will open or close.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and how the same is
carried into effect, what. I claim as new and wish secured by the before in
part recited Letters Patent, is the construction and formation of a wheel by
the combination of the parts, and by the method set forth in the Specification,
and more fully illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Frederick Vasserot; have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
CHS FRED VASSEROT. (L.S.)