IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Alexander Lyttle at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 19th March 1870.
I, WILLIAM ALEXANDER LYTTLE, of The Grove, Hammersmith, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELS," to be as follows:-
I form the tire of the wheel of "T" iron, the top of the "T" being
the periphery of the wheel. If necessary a shoeing can be put outside
this "T" iron, and a layer of india-rubber may intervene between the
two, with or without an india-rubber shoeing outside all. I perforate
the interior rib of the "T" iron with holes passing through from one
side to the other and at such distances as may be deemed necessary for
the spokes. The spokes are made of wire, bent like the letter V, and
passed through the aforesaid holes, then twisted or stranded together
for a few turns and fastened to the nave at two of its opposite ends.
This fastening of the wires at the nave is effected by bending the ends
of the wires at right angles, inserting them into holes in the ends of
the nave, which is wholly of metal, and then keying or plugging the
ends into the holes with metal wedges or screws. I do not however
confine myself to any particular manner of securing the wires. Each

page_text: pair of spokes will thus be of one wire or wire rope if necessary, and
will form an isoceles triangle the apex of which is fastened as described
to the tire, and the base angles of which are formed by the nave and
the ends of the wire fastened thereto. The nave is formed of two parts,
or may be said to be two distinct naves placed end to end, and con-
nected together by means of the tube or journal through which the
axle or shafting passes. This tube is made fast to one half of the nave
or is cast in one piece with it, while the other half is slipped on to the
tube and keyed upon it like a rigger on a shaft. They may, however, be
fastened together in any other desired manner. This keying, however,
is not done till all the spoke wires are keyed into the two halves of the
nave. These two halves are then forcibly turned in opposite directions,
the tube or journal being the axis till the wires are properly strained.
The key way in the tube and moveable half of the nave should be so
eat that the key can be driven home when the proper amount of strain
has been given to the wires. The wire for the spokes may, if desired,
be made fast to the tire by means of bolts or rivets passing through the
same holes as the wire, and so clamping it with or without the twisting
together of the two spoke wires at those points as aforesaid. The nave
may be provided when intended to run loose on an axle with any desired
description of axle box and lubricating arrangement. Bar or hoop
metal may be used instead of wire for the spokes, and wheels con-
structed on these principles are applicable either to vehicles or machinery.
Each spoke may, if preferred, be of a separate wire or other piece of
metal, provided it is securely fastened to the interior of the "T" iron
of the tire, and one half the number of spokes are fastened to one half
of the nave whilst the remainder are fastened to the other half.