AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES."
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Emile Dupont, of Fayt Iron Works, 'ia the
Kingdom of Belgium, Iron Master, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
SYSTEM OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Emile Dupont at the
Office of the Commissioners of 'Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th June 1865. .
I, EMILE DUPONT, of Fayt Iron Works, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Iron Master, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN. IMPROVED SYSTEM OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES," to be as
follows:-
The wheels, constructed according to my Invention are without spokes or,
arms, the intervening space between the nave and the rim of the wheel being
filled up with two circular iron plates or discs, placed parallel to each other,
and inserted in the mould in which the nave is cast; the portion of the
plates thus inserted in the mould for the nave has a number of holes formed
therein, so that upon the metal being run into the mould it passes also through
the holes in the circular plates, and the latter are thus, upon the cooling of
the metal, held firmly in the nave. The tyre. which is to surround the

page_text: circular plates is formed in its inner periphery with a pair of grooves of equal
depth to receive the edges of the circular plates before referred to (formed by
preference of sheet iron, and having been turned true on their outer periphery).
The tyre is then placed in a suitable furnace and heated till it is sufficiently
expanded to allow of its being slipped round the circular iron plates, the
grooves in the former corresponding with the edges of the plates. The tyre
is left in this position to cool, and as it contracts the grooves gradually close
on to and retain firmly the circular iron plates. When the tyre has cooled,
the wheel is then ready for use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Emile Dupont in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EMILE
DUPONT, of Fayt Iron Works, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Iron Master,
send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Emile Dupont, Her special licence that I, the said Emile
Dupont, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Emile Dupont, 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
"AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF WHEELS FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Emile Dupont, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to .be
performed, 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 Emile Dupont, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the.
following statement and accompanying Sheet of Drawings:-
:
The wheels constructed according to my Invention are without spokes or
arms, the intervening space between the nave and the rim of the wheel being
filled up with two circular iron plates or discs placed parallel to each other,
and inserted in the mould in which the nave is cast; the portion of the
plates thus inserted in the mould for the nave have a number of holes formed
therein, so that upon the metal being run into the mould it passes also through
the holes in the circular plates, and the latter are thus, upon the cooling of
the metal held firmly in the nave. The tyre which is to surround the
circular plates is formed in its inner periphery with a pair of grooves of equal
depth to receive the edges of the circular plates before referred to (formed
by preference of sheet iron, and having been turned true on their outer
periphery). The tyre is then placed in a suitable furnace and heated till it is
sufficiently expanded to allow of its being slipped round the circular iron
plates, the grooves in the former corresponding with the edges of the plates.
The tyre is left in this position to cool, and as it contracts the grooves
gradually close on to and retain firmly the circular iron plates; when the
tyre has cooled the wheel is then ready for use. Instead of placing the tyre
immediately over the iron plates or discs in the manner described, I prefer,
more especially for wheels of larger diameter, to first surround the outer
edges of the plates by an iron hoop, and place the tyre itself over the latter,
so as to give a greater solidity to the rim of the wheel. In those wheels in
which the tyre is placed directly over the iron plates or discs, and without
an intermediate hoop, I prefer to further consolidate the connection of the
plates with the tyre by means of screws (by preference four to each plate or
disc, or eight for the whole wheel), which I apply at the joint at an angle of
about forty-five degrees.
In the annexed Sheet of Drawings Figure 1 shews one-half of a front
elevation and a cross section of a wheel constructed in accordance with the
present Invention, the tyre being placed directly round the outer edges of the
circular plates or discs; and Figure 2 shews identical views of a similar
wheel, differing from the one shewn in Figure 1 by an intermediate hoop, as
before described.
In both Figures shewn in this Sheet of Drawings similar letters of reference
denote corresponding parts, viz. :-A, the nave of the wheel; B, the tyre;
C, Fig. 2, the intermediate hoop over or round which the tyre is placed;
D, the circular iron plates or discs inserted into the nave, and surrounded by
the rim of the wheel in the manner heretofore described. a, a, holes formed

page_text: in those parts of the iron plates or discs D, D, which enter into the grooves of
the nave, and through which the cast. metal is made to flow in forming the
nave. E;. E, tubular stays inserted between the circular plates D, D, and
maintained in their respective positions by means of bolts b, b, and connecting.
the discs with a view to further consolidation of the construction of the
wheel; I, I, holes. made in the discs D, D, ati various places, by means of
which the wheel may be kept in its proper position in the lathe while
the discs and tyres are being turned; S, S, screws securing the discs to
the tyre.
In witness whereof, I, the said Emile Dupont, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of December, One thousand Leight
hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
L. D'AUBREVILLE, C.É.
E. DUPONT. (L.S.).