CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS TO BE USED UPON CERTAIN RAIL AND OTHER ROADS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO MILL GEARING, AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
HEATH, of Manchester, in the County of Lançaster, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the tenth year of Her reign, and
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert
Heath, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said Robert Heath, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others
as I, the said Robert Heath, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England and Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS TO BE USED UPON
CERTAIN RAIL AND OTHER ROADS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO
MILL GEARING, AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained & proviso that I, the said Robert Heath, should cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Heath, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
<xplanation thereof (that is to say) :-
My Improvements in Wheels to be used upon Rail and other Roads, which
Improvements are also Applicable to Mill Gearing and other similar Purposes,
consist in the peculiar formation of the wheels in connection with the particular
relative proportions of the different parts of the same, whereby the contraction
consequent upon the cooling of the metal in casting is caused (instead of
weakening the wheel) to bind the whole together into one solid mass.
In the first place, I form the wheels entirely of cast iron, and although any
kind of metal may be used, I prefer to make them of what is called "cold
blast" metal, as being stronger and tougher than any other, and the proportions
I use, and which I claim as my Invention, are as follows, videlicit:-I make
the outer rim and the boss of the wheel three times the strength of the arms,
or thereabouts. Hitherto cast iron wheels have been liable to break, chiefly
from want of a sufficiency of metal in the rim, because when the rim is not
sufficiently strong it cools first during the process of casting and the con-
traction of the rim ceases while the contraction of the arms and boss
are still going on; thus the wheels are liable to break in the rims or in
the arms near to the rim, but by making the rim three times the strength
of the arms, or thereabouts, the construction of the rim is greater and lasts
longer than that of the arms; thus the rim, arms, and boss boss of the wheel
are bound firmly together by the contraction of the rim; such perfect con-
traction of the whole causes the rim to assume a correct circular form, so as
to require no subsequent turning prior to use. I make the arms either flat,
round, or any other shape, but of the 'same sectional thickness at the rim as
at the boss, and without any flanges or ribs, so that the arms shall not contract
more or sooner at one place than another. I also prefer to make the wheels
with an uneven number of arms, so as to assist the contraction of the rim,
that is, having each arm opposite to the space between the two opposing arms.
In making the driving wheels for locomotive engines I cast a ring of metal
about half way between the outer rim and the centre of the same, to prevent
the thrust of the crank from breaking the arms, and this ring I make a little
stronger than the arms, still preserving the above-named proportions of the
outer rim, arms, and boss. Of course it will be evident that the above pro-
portions are applicable to the casting of the wheels and pullies for mill gearing,
and also to railway turntables, and other similar purposes where strength is

page_text: required. In the Drawing accompanying these presents I have shewn, by way
of illustration, at Figures 1, 2, and 3, a railway engine driving wheel, in
sectional front and edge views, and at Figures 4, 5, and 6 an engine or
carriage running wheel, drawn according to the principles of my Invention.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in the manner
of carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that
I do not claim as my Invention simply forming the wheels entirely of cast
metal, nor do I claim the dimensions or proportions of any one particular part.
But I claim the combination of the whole; that is to say, a wheel formed
entirely of cast metal of the above relative proportions, videlicit, having the rim
and the boss each three times the strength of the arms or thereabouts (what-
ever may be the diameter of the said wheel), and having the arms of the same
of an equal sectional figure or thickness throughout, whatever may be the
number or form of the said arms.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Heath, have hereunto set my hand
ROBERT (L.s.) HEATH.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-first day of
20 January, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Robert Heath came be-
fore our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Twenty-fifth day of January in the year above written.