IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS FOR WAGONS AND OTHER VEHICLES."
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Turner, of Reddish, near Stockport, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
WHEELS FOR WAGONS AND OTHER VEHICLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Turner at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th March 1878.
ALFRED TURNER, of Reddish, near Stockport, in the County of Lancaster.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS FOR WAGONS AND OTHER
VEHICLES."
The object of this Invention is to lessen the amount of tractive force required to
draw wagons or other vehicles upon common roads or elsewhere, and to dispense
with the use of railways, tramways, and such like appliances for that purpose by so
constructing and so applying the wheels to the wagons or other vehicles that the
weight or load shall assist the traction or propulsion of the said vehicle, the axle
which carries the said weight being always kept more or less in advance of the
axis or perpendicular centre line of the wheel itself which supports the said axle.
To effect this object I make the nave or hub of the wheel of cast iron, and larger
in diameter than usual (say, for example, about twelve inches), having radial
openings or sockets all round for the reception of the wooden or other spokes for
attaching the same to the rim or felloe. The internal circumference of the nave
does not fit on to the axle as usual, but as bored out much larger (say about seven
inches and three-quarters in diameter), and inside this I place a smaller wheel (say
about seven inches diameter), the centre of which is bored out to fit and revolve on
the axle. The small wheel is kept in its place inside the nave or hub by internal
or external flanges, so that the wheel cannot move sideways (or endwise of the
axle). It will thus be evident the small wheel on the axle will rest on the lowest
point of the inner circumference of the nave or hub of the wheel, and the two will
roll together, the smaller wheel turning on the central axis.

page_text: When in a state of rest the axis of the wheel will be perpendicular above the
centre of the axle, but about three-eighths of an inch higher (that is, half the
difference of the two), the weight of the axle and load resting on the lowest point
of the inner circumference of the nave or hub; but as soon as tractive or propelling
power is applied to the said axle it rolls forward inside the nave and brings the
weight of the load or centre of gravity to bear inside the nave at a point in advance
of the centre of suspension (or perpendicular centre line of the wheel), and hence
the load assists the revolution of the wheel and thus decreases the tractive or
propulsive power required to move it, and this continues so long as the power is
applied. If, on the contrary, the power is exerted to back the vehicle, the axle and
its small wheel are brought to bear on the other side of the centre of suspension,
and the weight thus assists the power in the reverse direction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alfred Turner in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th September
1878.
ALFRED TURNER, of Reddish, near Stockport, in the County of Lancaster.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELS FOR WAGONS AND OTHER
VEHICLES."
The object of this Invention is to lessen the amount of tractive or propulsive
force required to draw or propel wagons or other vehicles upon common roads or
elsewhere, and to dispense with the use of railways, tramways, and such like
appliances for that purpose by so constructing and so applying the wheels to the
wagons or other vehicles that the weight or load shall assist the traction or
propulsion of the said vehicle, the axle which carries the said weight being always
kept inore or less in advance of the axis or perpendicular centre line of the wheel
itself which supports the said axle.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention, I will now proceed to
describe in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or
carried into practical effect, and in order that the same may be clearly understood I
have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked
the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in the
following explanation thereof :-
In the annexed Drawing,―
Fig. 1 is a side view of a wagon wheel constructed according to my Invention.
Fig. 2 is a section of the hub drawn to a larger scale.
To effect the object which I have in view I make the nave or hub a, a, of the
wheel of cast iron, and larger in diameter than usual (say, for example, about twelve
inches), having radial openings or sockets b, b, all round for the reception of the
wooden or other spokes c, c, for attaching the same to the rim or felloed, d. The
internal circumference of the nave or hub a, a, does not fit on to the axle as usual,

page_text: but is bored out much larger, as at e, e, (say about seven and three-quarter inches
in diameter), and inside this I place a smaller wheel f, f. (say about seven inches
diameter), and made in two parts, the centre of which is bored out to fit and revolve
on the axle g, g. The small wheel ff, is kept in its place inside the nave or
hub a, a, by external flanges h, h, so that the wheel cannot move sideways (or
endwise of the axle). It will thus be evident that the flanges h, h, of the small
wheelf on the axle g, g, will rest on the lowest point of the inner circumference
of the nave or hub a, a, of the wheel, and the two will roll together, the smaller
wheelf, turning on the central axle g, g.
When in a state of rest the axis or centre of the wheel will be perpendicular
above the centre of the axle g, g, but about three-cighths of an inch higher (that is,
half the difference of the two diameters), the weight of the axle and load resting on
the lowest point of the inner circumference of the nave or hub a, a, as at *, Fig. 3;
but as soon as tractive or propelling power is applied (in the direction of the arrow)
to the said axle g, g, it rolls forward inside the nave and brings the weight of the
load or centre of gravity to bear inside the nave at about the point in advance of
the centre of suspension * (or perpendicular centre line of the wheel), and hence
the lond assists the revolution of the wheel and thus decreases the tractive or
propulsive power required to move it, and this continues so long as the power is
applied. If, on the contrary, the power is exerted to back the vehicle, the axle g, I,
and its small wheel f, f, are brought to bear on the other side of the centre of
suspension, as at z, and the weight thus assists the power in the reverse direction.
If preferred, the small wheel f, f, may be made with one flange h only in the
centre running in a central annular groove inside the hub a, a, in which case the
hub (and not the sinall wheel ff) will have to be made in two pieces. Or in
some cases I propose to use one flange only, working in a recess in the inner side of
the hub, as shown at Figs. 3 and 4; and, if required, I employ a suitable form of
break acting against the hub of the wheel.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention, together with
the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into
practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention, making
the internal diameter of the hub of the wheel much larger than the axle, and
inserting between the two a small wheel or roller (of less diameter than the bore of
the hub), the said small wheel or roller fitting the axle and rolling on the circum-
ference of the hub, so that when tractive or propulsive power is applied to the axle
(or centre of gravity) it rolls forward in front of the centre line of the wheel (or
point of suspension), and thus the weight of the load assists the traction or
propulsion of the vehicle.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Turner, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twenty-third day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
ALFRED TURNER. (L.S.)