IMPROVEMENTS IN WOOD RINGS OR WASHERS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WOOD RINGS OR WASHERS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR
MANUFACTURING THE SAME."-A communication from abroad by Joseph
Hale, of Somerville, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Sealed the 3rd March 1868, and dated the 20th January 1868.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 20th January 1868, pursuant to the
9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 20th January 1868, pursuant to the
9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, send grecting.

page_text: WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WCOD RINGS OR WASHERS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME,"
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 Joseph Hale, of Somerville, Massachusetts, United
States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 forming a part of this Specification:-
To those familiar with the use of wheeled vehicles, especially such
as are employed for pleasure and in the conveyance of persons, it is
well known that washers are placed on the journals of the axles to
prevent endwise movement of the wheel hubs thereupon to deaden or
muffle the noise consequent upon such endwise movement, if any there
be. For such purposes it has been common to employ leather washers,
and it is well known that these wear out rapidly and also soon become
permanently compressed and hardened, so that where they are used
the wheels soon get an endwise play, which makes a disagreeable rattle
in the movement of the vehicle.
Now in this Invention the washers are made of wood with the grain
substantially in the direction of lines concentric with the periphery of
each washer. In the manufacture of such washers the procedure is
as follows: First, a strip of any straight grained tough wood, such
as hickory or oak, for example, is prepared rectangular in cross section,
which is of an area equal to a radial cross sectional area of the washer
to be constructed. This strip is softened by steaming, or, boiling, and
is then wound upon an arbor with a strip of thin metal upon the outer
surface of the wooden strip, this process preserving the rectangularity
in cross section of the wooden helix so made and keeping the wood from
slivering, splitting, or breaking. The arbor 'with the wood secured
thereupon is then left to dry, which drying may be accelerated by the
application of heat. When dry and set the wooden helix is removed
from its arbor and is separated by sawing into sections, each of which

page_text: between the adjacent ends of the wood, and this may be accomplished
in the cutting apart of the wooden helix.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the mechanism employed in the
manufacture of my improved rings and washers, the section being
taken in its central vertical longitudinal plane denoted by the line z, z,
in Figure 2, which is a vertical cross section taken in the plane of the
line y, y, seen in Figure 1, and showing the parts in end elevation
beyond. Figures 3, 4, and 5 illustrate detached portions of the said
mechanism. Figure 6 shows in perspective a wooden washer with the
grain substantially concentric with the periphery of the washer formed
by softening, bending, and drying, and with the adjacent ends of the
wood in contact. Figure 7 shows in perspective a helix of wood formed
as and for the purpose described.
Experiment has proved that my improved washers take up the oil
which is supplied to the axle and glaze over and wear smooth, while
they have a very slight but valuable elasticity in yielding to endwise
strains on the hub, and are about equally efficient with leather in
deadening or muffling noise, while the friction between the parts is
reduced to a minimum. These washers besides being used with wheels
and axles as described and with other rotating bodies may be employed
for valve seats, for packing rings, or for other purposes.
The frame a resembles a lathe bed having guides or ways b, on which
can move a kind of crosshead c. This crosshead contains a tube d,
through which passes and wherein rotates the winding arbor e. This
tube or sleeve is arranged with keys, so that it is kept from rotating
in the crosshead, from which it can be removed and others can be
substituted of different sizes suited to use with different sized winding
mandrels and different sized strips to be wound. One end of this
sleeve has a peculiarly inclined formation, such as shown in the detail
views, Figures 3 and 4, the inclined face f being the surface which
operates under the rotation of the mandrel e to pack the coils of the
helices together, and to cause the crosshead c to move along the mandrel,
leaving behind a helix closely coiled upon the mandrel. In coiling

page_text: the helix a strip of metal of a width equal to the width of the material
to be coiled is wound with the wooden strip upon the arbor to prevent
splintering of the wood in the operation of winding. The steel material
used for making hoop skirts may be used for the metal strip so wound
with the wooden strip. The thickness of the tube d is equal to the
thickness of the wooden strip to be wound; plus the thickness of the
metal strip. The inclined face of the tube d is made as follows:-A
slot or groove which will just receive the end of the wooden strip with
its metal back strip is cut into the end of the tube tangentially to its
inner and outer diameters, and then the end of the tube is bevelled or
inclined uniformly, so that the inclined surface continues from where
the upper outer corner of the strip enters the groove in the tube around
the tube to the diagonal corner of the entered strip, which is its lower
inner corner.
Then over the end of the tube d a squarely turned ring
is placed with its face in line with the outer upper corner of the entering
strip. The mandrel e is fixed in any suitable chuck g arranged to be
rotated. The said chuck may be provided with a wheel h which gears
into the wheel i fixed on a screw shaft j, the purpose of which is to
draw back the crosshead to its starting place near the chuck previous
to starting to wind a new helix, there being on the crosshead nippers k,
through manipulation of which connection can be made and broken
between the screw and the crosshead. The wooden strip to be wound
is marked m, and the flat steel strip which is wound on the outside
of the helix is marked n, this metal strip having its end caught in a
hole made for the purpose in the mandrel. In practice there is secured
to the crosshead so as to move with it a steam box, in which the
wooden pieces to be wound are prepared by steaming, and are drawn
forth in winding through an opening therein, one end of each strip
being caught as it enters the groove or slot in the tube d between the
mandrel and the metal strip n. The steam box is not shown in the
Drawings, as in itself it has nothing especially novel, the steam pipe
entering it may be of flexible tubing to permit its movement with the
crosshead. As the strips pass from the steam box to the winding
mandrel they pass through a kind of directing trough, seen in plan in
Figure 5, the said trough being pivoted at o, so that by a camp its
free end can be swung against the periphery of ring 1, and can be held
there while the side q of the trough is pivoted at 2, and can be adjusted
by screw 8, so as to press the entering strip against the inclined surface f

page_text: of the tube d, the said trough and all the parts therewith connected
being of course fixed to the crosshead so as to move therewith. To
pack the sides of the strip closely in a helical coil it is necessary to
produce a friction on the crosshead to keep it from moving too easily
on the ways b as the strip m is drawn by the rotation of the mandrel e
against the inclined face f of the tube d. To produce this friction
there are applied to the crosshead jaws t, which can be expanded by
the action of incline u and screw v, so as to cause the jaws to bear more
or less firmly against the lower ways b. With a steamed strip introduced
between the mandrel and the metal strip, and with the screw j dis-
connected from the nippers k, and with the proper adjustment of the
trough having the movable side q, the rotation of the mandrel in the
proper direction will wind the strip into a helix covered by the metal
strip, the inclined face causing a longitudinal movement of the crosshead
toward the free end of the mandrel, so that when the crosshead reaches
the other end of the frame it is covered with helically wound strips of
wood, which are covered by helically wound strips of the metal. The
mandrel may then be removed from its chuck g, and the tube d can
be placed in an oven for the wood thereon to dry. A new arbor is
placed in the chuck, and its end is introduced into the tube d when
the nippers k are geared into the screw j, and by the rotation of said
screw the crosshead is drawn back near to, the chuck, and the described
operation is repeated.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,―
Washers or rings of wood with the grain or fibre of the wood
concentrically arranged and in the condition resulting from softening,
bending, and drying.
Also the process described for forming washers or rings of wood by
bending a strip into a helix and then subdividing it, substantially as
described.
Also a helix formed of wood with the grain or fibre thereof,
substantially in helical lines and in the condition resulting from
softening, bending, and drying.
Also the employment of the sliding inclined faced tube with the
rotating mandrel, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

page_text: Also in combination with the foregoing the adjustable entering trough;
substantially as described.
Also the combination of an adjustable friction device combined with
the crosshead carrying the inclined faced tube.
Also the combination with the crosshead conveying the inclined faced
tube and adjustable entering trough of the screw and adjustable screw
nippers, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
THO. N. PALMER,
Clerk to Messrs. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings,
W.C.