IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WHEELS OF VEHICLES TO RUN ON COMMON ROADS, & IN AXLE BOXES
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alexander McNeile and James
Slater at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 2nd May 1871.
We, ALEXANDER MCNEILE and JAMES SLATER, both of 26, John
Street, Pentonville, in the Parish of Clerkenwell, County Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE WHEELS OF VEHICLES TO RUN ON COMMON ROADS, & IN AXLE BOXES,"
to be as follows:-
First. We introduce certain improvements into the construction of the
spokes & rims of metal wheels, & into the mode of securing the spokes.
to the nave.
Secondly. We introduce certain improvements into the construction
of metal naves.
The first part of this Invention has for its object to construct a metal
wheel which shall combine lightness and facility of repair with strength
& durability. The spokes are made of T, channel, H, or angle iron or
steel, and are constructed in the following manner :-A bar of this iron
or steel cut to a length determined by the size of the wheel & the

page_text: -
number of spokes is bent so that the middle part of it shall lie along
the rim, while the two ends converge in straight or curved lines towards
the centre of the wheel; these radial parts of the bar are placed con-
tiguous to the corresponding parts of other similar bars on each side,
& thus the section of each spoke is the double section of the single 5
bar. Rivets or bolts may be used to keep the whole firmly together,
& when the tyre is put on rivets or bolts may be used to connect it
with the bars, and so prevent it from shifting on the spokes. These
spokes are then secured to the nave in the following manner :―Their
ends are brought together so as to abut upon the axle box, any extra 1
width of web or flange being cut off to allow of their doing so; the
adjacent bars then fit against each other, & cach is retained in its
position-radially. The front & back flanges of the nave, which may
be of wrought or cast metal, are provided with suitable recesses to fit
against the spokes, or, if preferred, these flanges may be made with plane-1
surfaces, and the recesses in the spokes filled up with-filling-pieces,
which may be of wood or any other suitable material, or the flanges
may abut on the spokes direct without any filling pieces, and these
flanges are secured firmly either by bolts passing thro' each flange or
by a nut and screw thread upon the axle box, filling pieces may also be
inserted round the rim to prevent stones or dirt being thrown up by
the motion of the wheel; or any one of the said sections of iron or steel
may be used singly, one piece forming the spoke and part of the rim,
another piece being welded on to form part of the rim on the other side
of the spoke, so that the figure of the whole spoke is like that of the
letter Y, only with curved arms; the ends of the arms of consecutive
spokes abut one against another and are retained in their positions by
fish plates.
The second part of the Invention is designed to adapt the various
ordinary axle boxes for the reception of metal naves or flanges without
the use of a wooden stock. The box, whether parallel or taper, is made
with lugg or stons, corresponding onenings heing made in the inner

page_text: on the box it may be keyed or pinned on, or the back of the flange may
be provided with a projecting flap or collar fitting over the oil chamber
or stop on the box, and this projecting flap or collar may be keyed or
pinned or bolted down; the front flange is then secured by bolts or
rivets passing thro' or between the spokes.