AN IMPROVEMENT IN CARRIAGE WHEELS, WHICH IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER ROLLING BODIES
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WILLIAM THOMSON, of Adam Street, Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of December, in the ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Robert William Thomsen, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial.
licence, full ower, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Robert
Wa Thomsen, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Robert William Thomsen, my exors, adñiors, 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, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN CARRIAGE WHEELS, WHICH IS
ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER ROLLING BODIES;" in which said Letters Patent is.
contained a proviso that I, the said Robert William Thomsen, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
.ne 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert William Thomsen, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully
described in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed (that is to say):-
The nature of my said Invention consists in the application of elastic bear-
ings round the tires of the wheels of carriages, for the purpose of lessening
the power required to draw the carriages, rendering their motion easier, and
diminishing the noise they make when in motion. I prefer employing for
the purpose a hollow belt composed of some air and water tight material,
such as caoutchouc or gutta percha, and inflating it with air, whereby the
wheels will in every part of their revolution present a cushion of air to the
ground or rail or track on which they run.
Figure 1 is a side view of a wheel of this description, shewn partly in
section. The tire and felly T, T, are made much broader than usual, and
project considerably at both sides beyond the supporting spokes, as shewn
at T, T, in the cross section of the wheel given in Figure II. The elastic belt
is made as follows:-A number of folds of canvas, saturated and covered on
both sides with india rubber or gutta percha in a state of solution, are laid one
upon the other, and each fold connected to the one immediately below it by
a solution of india rubber or gutta percha, or other suitable cement. The
belts thus formed is then sulphurised by immersion in melted sulphur or
exposure to the fumes of burning sulphur, which renders it more pliable and
prevents it getting stiff on exposure to cold; or the belt may be made of a
single thickness of india rubber or gutta percha, in a sheet state and sulphu-
rized as aforesaid, and then enclosed in a canvas cover. A strong outer
casing D, D (Figures 1 and II.), in which to hold the elastic belt, is then
built up (so to speak) around the tire by rivetting together a series of circular
segments of leather and bolting them to the tyre, in the manner shewn in
Figure 2. The segments at two of their edges a, a, Figure 2, are made to
overlap each other, as shewn, and then secured in their place by passing
bolts G, G (Figure II.) through the tyre and felly, and making them fast by
nuts g, g (Figure II.) The elastic belt (C), Figure II., is then layed upon the
portion of the segments D, D, Figure II.; thus made fast to the tire and secured

page_text: in its place by bringing the two remaining and as yet unjoined edges b, b,
Figure II., of the segments together over the casing, and connecting them.
together by rivets F, F (Figure II.) A pipe P, Figure 1, through which to
inflate the elastic belt with air, is passed at one place through the tire of the
wheel, and fitted with an air-tight screw cap. I prefer distending the elastic
belt with air, as being more suitable than anything else for the purpose, but:
they may be distended with various solid substances of an elastic quality, as
for instance, metallic springs, sulphurised pieces of caoutchouc or gutta percha,
or horse hair, or sponge. If the elastic belt were first stuffed with horse hair
pr sponge, or other elastic materials, and then inflated by blowing in air to a
high degree of tension, the belt would be less liable to be cut by concussion
between the tire of the wheel and the roadway. Instead also of the elastic
belt being made in either of the modes aforesaid, it might be formed of a
uumber of separate tubes, of smaller dimensions, clustered together and
enclosed within a leather cover (D). A wheel with a belt constructed in this.
manner is shewn in Figures III. and IV., the former being a side view partly.
in section, and the latter a cross section. The tubes are nine in number, and
each of length sufficient to go round the wheel. They are represented as tied
at the ends, but, for greater convenience of inflation,, may be closed by screw:
caps at one end; the whole are enclosed in a leather cover D. If the three;
tubes which are shewn in the cross section, Figure IV., as coming next the tire,.
were filled with air more highly compressed than that contained in the tubes:
which come in contact with the ground, this would serve to graduate the.
resiliency of the belt, in a manner highly favorable to the efficiency of its.
action. Any undue displacement of the air at the bearing points of the wheel.
may be prevented by tyeing the tubes across at distances of two or three feet:
apart, so that cach tube shall be divided into a number of separate air-tight
compartments. Or, instead of any of the preceding modes of construction, the
belt may be formed of separate and distinct sections, as shewn in Figures V..
aud VI., each section having its own air pipe (P), in which case the range of
expansion and contraction being limited by the extent of the compartments,.
the belt must necessarily offer at each point of contact with the ground a:
greater degree of resistance to compression; and in some cases where, from the
nature of the roadway, frequent concussions are likely to take place, a flat.
strap or band of sulphurized caoutchouc or gutta percha, or other suitable:
elastic substance, of the width of the tire, and about half an inch in thickness,
might be interposed between the tire of the wheel and the elastic belt, so as;
to render it less liable to rupture in the event of its being jambed between the

page_text: roadway and the tire. Where the leather cover of the elastic belt is likely to
be exposed to much tear and wear, I propose to use a belt of the description
shewn on the cross section, Fig. VI. Here one of the pieces D is secured to
the tire of the wheel by bolts or screws, and it is bent round and sewed or
rivetted to the other piece D. The edges of D' overlap the edges of D2,
and the outer casing E is secured to those edges by strong leather thongs.
This arrangement will permit of the ready removal of the outer casing (E)
when worn, and the substitution of a new casing, without disturbing the elastic
belt or its attachment to the wheel. And in all cases the outer casing (D or E)
may be protected from wear by covering the outer surface with flat-headed
metal rivets secured on the inside with small washers. For cominon pas-
senger carriages the elastic belt will require to be about four or five inches in
diameter, and to be inflated to such an extent as to keep the tire of the wheel
two and a half or three inches from the ground, a distance which, it is pre-
sumed, will be found sufficient to admit of the wheel passing over any stones
or other matters projecting beyond the general level of any ordinary turnpike
road without the solid tire coming in contact with them. In carriages to
which these clastic belts are applied the springs now in use may be dispensed
with. In waggons for the carriage of goods the belt ought to be made of
stronger materials and of larger diameter than in the case of passenger car-
riages, and the outer leather cover should be protected by flat-headed metal
rivets secured by small washers, as aforesaid. Wheels with elastic belts, such
as I have described, may be used with great advantage ou timber railways,
especially if the modification represented in Figures VII. and VIII. are
adopted. The wheels in this case might be of the common form, except they
should have a greater width of tire given them, and be without flanges. The
carriages are proposed to be kept on the rails by guide wheels (K, K,)
working on a shaft L, secured by stays to the carriages, and acting on a raised
rail (M) laid between the lines of rails on which the bearing wheels ruu.
The
rails (R, R,) are to be made of longitudinal beams of timber, say, of twelve
inches broad and six inches deep across; ties of timber (T, T,) are to
connect the two longitudinal rails together, and to these cross ties the longi-
tudinal rail on which the guide wheels act is to be fixed. I prefer employing
guide wheels to attaching flanges to the bearing wheels, but the latter also
may be used. To increase the bite of the driving wheels of the locomotive
I insert in the outer cover of the elastic belt a large number of rivets with
sharp conical heads.
The Drawing, Figure VIII., shews a side view of a pair of railway wheels

page_text: on this plan, for running on timber rails, and Figure VII. a cross section and
end elevation of the same. The elastic belts are also peculiarly applicable to.
carriages propelled by steun on common roads. The comparatively small
amount of power required to propel carriages, the wheels of which are fitted
with these belts, the steadiness of their motion, the absence of all jolting and
Consequent security of the machinery from injury, the small damage the
carriages will do to roads, the absence of nearly all noise, the high speed
that may safely be attained, and the great gentleness of the motion, will, I
think, enable steam carriages to be run on common roads with great advantage
both for carrying passengers and goods.
Among many minor applications which suggest themselves I
may inention
the great applicability of these elastic bearings for bath chairs, rocking chairs,
and other like articles, used commonly either in pleasure grounds or within
doors. In the common rocking chair a rolling motion is obtained by resting
the legs of the chair on two circular segments. In applying my elastic
bearings to this chair I propose to make the circular segments on which the
chair rolls about three inches wide on their bearing surfaces, and to secure to
these segments an elastic tube of about two inches diameter, so as to interpose
the tube between the segments and the floor, so that the chair would roll on
and be supported by the elastic tube. I propose further to apply the elastic
bearings to rollers for the removal of heavy bodies. Such rollers would be
used in the same way that wood or iron rollers are now commonly used, that
is, by being placed below the body which is to be moved. The advantage
which rollers with elastic bearings would have over hard and metallic rollers
are, that a large number of them may be made to bear equally at the same
time, even although the ways on which the body is being moved are not
quite even.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I claim is,―
First, the application of elastic bearings round the tire of carriage wheels,
as before described; and,
Secondly, the application of similar elastic bearings to the surfaces of other
rolling bodies, as before exemplified.
In witness whereof, J, the said Robert William Thomson, have here-
unto set my haud and seal, this Tenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
R. W. (L.S.) THOMSON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Tenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord 1846, the aforesaid Robert William Thomson, came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifica-
tion aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-six,

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WILLIAM THOMSON, of Adam Street, Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of December, in the niuth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Robert William Thomsen, my exors, admiors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Robert
William Thomsen, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Robert William Thomsen, my exors, adñiors, 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, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN CARRIAGE WHEELS, WHICH IS
ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER ROLLING BODIES:" in which said Letters Patent.is.
contained a proviso that I, the said Robert William Thomsen, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
he 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert William Thomsen, do hereby declare that the nature of my said.
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully
described in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed (that is to say):-
The nature of my said Invention consists in the application of elastic bear-
ings round the tires of the wheels of carriages, for the purpose of lessening
the power required to draw the carriages, rendering their motion easier, and
diminishing the noise they make when in motion. I prefer employing for
the purpose a hollow belt composed of some air and water tight material,
such as caoutchouc or gutta percha, and inflating it with air, whereby the
wheels will in every part of their revolution present a cushion of air to the
ground or rail or track on which they run.
Figure 1 is a side view of a wheel of this description, shown partly in
section. The tire and felly T, T, are made much broader than usual, and
project considerably at both sides beyond the supporting spokes, as shewn
at T, T, in the cross section of the wheel given in Figure IL. The clastic belt
is made as follows:-A number of folds of canvas, saturated and covered on
both sides with india rubber or gutta percha in a state of solution, are laid onc
upon the other, and each fold connected to the one immediately below it by
a solution of india rubber or gutta perchia, or other suitable cement. The
belts thus formed is then sulphurised by immersion in melted sulphur or
exposure to the fumes of burning sulphur, which renders it more pliable and
prevents it getting still on exposure to cold; or the belt may be made of a
single thickness of india rubber or gutta percha, in a sheet state and sulphu
rized as aforesaid, and then enclosed in a canvas cover. A strong oute
casing D, D (Figures 1 and II.), in which to hold the elastic belt, is ther
built up (so to speak) around the tire by rivetting together a series of circula
segments of leather and bolting them to the tyre, in the manner shewn in
Figure 2. The segments at two of their edges a, a, Figure 2, are made to
overlap each other, as shewn, and then secured in their place by passing
bolts G, G (Figure II.) through the tyre and felly, and making them fast b
nuts g, g (Figure II.) The elastic belt (C), Figure II., is then layed upon th
portion of the segments D, D, Figure II.; thus made fast to the tire and secure

page_text: in its place by bringing the two remaining and as yet unjoined edges b, b,
Figure II., of the segments together over the casing, and connecting them
together by rivets F, F (Figure II.) A pipe P, Figure 1, through which to
inflate the clastic belt with air, is passed at one place through the tire of the
wheel, and fitted with an air-tight screw cap. I prefer distending the elastic
belt with air, as being more suitable than anything else for the purpose, but
they may be distended with various solid substances of an elastic quality, as
for instance, metallic springs, sulphurised pieces of caoutchouc or gutta percha,
or horse hair, or sponge. If the elastic belt were first stuffed with horse hair
pr sponge, or other elastic materials, and then inflated by blowing in air to a
high degree of tension, the belt would be less liable to be cut by concussion
between the tire of the wheel and the roadway. Instead also of the clastic
belt being made in either of the modes aforesaid, it might be formed of a
number of separate tubes, of smaller dimensions, clustered together and
enclosed within a leather cover (D). A wheel with a belt constructed in this.
manner is shewn in Figures III and IV., the former being a side view partly,
in section, and the latter a cross section. The tubes are nine in mumber, and
each of length sufficient to go round the wheel. They are represented as tied
at the ends, but, for greater convenience of inflation, may be closed by screw
caps at one end. the whole are enclosed in a leather cover D). If the three:
tubes which are shewn in the cross section, Figure IV., as coming next the tire,
were filled with air more highly compressed than that contained in the tubes-
which come in contact with the ground, this would serve to graduate the.
resiliency of the belt, in a manner highly favorable to the efficiency of its
action. Any undue displacement of the air at the bearing points of the wheel.
may be prevented by tyeing the tubes across at distances of two or three feet:
apart, so that each tube shall be divided into a number of separate air-tight.
compartments. Or, instead of any of the preceding modes of construction, the
belt, may be formed of separate and distinct sections, as shown in Figures V..
and VI., each section having its own air pipe (P), in which case the range of
expansion and contraction being limited by the extent of the compartments,.
the belt must necessarily offer at cach point of contact with the ground a.
greater degree of resistance to compression; and in some cases where, from the.
nature of the roadway, frequent concussions are likely to take place, a flat.
strap or band of sulphurized caoutchouc or gutta percha, or other suitable:
elastic substance, of the width of the tire, and about half an inch in thickness,
might be interposed between the tire of the wheel and the elastic belt, so as:
to render it less liable to rupture in the event of its being jambed between the

page_text: roadway and the tire.
Where the leather cover of the elastic belt is likely to
be exposed to much tear and wear, I propose to use a belt of the description
shewn on the cross section, Fig. VI. Here one of the pieces 11 is secured to
the tire of the wheel by bolts or screws, and it is bent round and sewed or
rivetted to the other piece D2. The edges of D' overlap the edges of D2,
and the outer casing E is secured to those edges by strong leather thongs.
This arrangement will permit of the ready removal of the outer casing (E)
when worn, and the substitution of a new casing, without disturbing the elastic
belt or its attachment to the wheel. And in all cases the outer casing (D or E)
may be protected from wear by covering the outer surface with flat-headed
metal rivets secured on the inside with small washers. For cominon pas-
senger carriages the elastic belt will require to be about four or five inches in
diameter, and to be inflated to such an extent as to keep the tire of the wheel
two and a half or three inches from the ground, a distance which, it is pre-
sumed, will be found sufficient to admit of the wheel passing over any stones
or other matters projecting beyond the general level of any ordinary turnpike
road without the solid tire coming in contact with them. In carriages to
which these clastic belts are applied the springs now in use may be dispensed
with. In waggons for the carriage of goods the belt ought to be made of
stronger materials and of larger diameter than in the case of passenger car-
riages, and the outer leather cover should be protected by flat-headed metal
rivets secured by small washers, as aforesaid. Wheels with elastic belts, such
as I have described, may be used with great advantage on timber railways,
especially if the modification represented in Figures VII. and VIII. are
adopted. The wheels in this case might be of the common form, except they
should have a greater width of tire given them, and be without flanges. The
carriages are proposed to be kept on the rails by guide wheels (K, K,)
working on a shaft I, secured by stays to the carriages, and acting on a raised
rail (M) laid between the lines of rails on which the bearing wheels run. The
rails (R, R,) are to be made of longitudinal beams of timber, say, of twelve
inches broad and six inches deep across; ties of timber (T, T,) are to
connect the two longitudinal rails together, and to these cross ties the longi-
tudinal rail on. which the guide wheels act is to be fixed. I prefer employing,
guide wheels to attaching flanges to the bearing wheels, but the latter also
may be used. To increase the bite of the driving wheels of the locomotive
I insert in the outer cover of the clastic belt a large number of rivets with
sharp conical heads.
The Drawing, Figure VIII., shews a side view of a pair of railway wheels

page_text: on this plan, for running on timber rails, and Figure VII. a cross section and
end elevation of the same. The elastic belts are also peculiarly applicable to.
carriages propelled by steam on common roads. The comparatively small
amount of power required to propel carriages, the wheels of which are fitted
with these belts, the steadiness of their motion, the absence of all jolting and
Consequent security of the machinery from injury, the small damage the
carriages will do to roads, the absence of nearly all noise, the high speed
that may safely be attained, and the great gentleness of the motion, will, I
think, enable steam carriages to be run on common roads with great advantage
both for carrying passengers and goods.
Among many minor applications which suggest themselves I may inention
the great applicability of these clastic bearings for bath chairs, rocking chairs,
and other like articles, used commonly either in pleasure grounds or within
doors. In the common rocking chair a rolling motion is obtained by resting
the legs of the chair on two circular segments. In applying my elastic
bearings to this chair I propose to make the circular segments on which the
chair rolls about three inches wide on their bearing surfaces, and to secure to
these segments an elastic tube of about two inches diameter, so as to interpose
the tube between the segments and the floor, so that the chair would roll on
and be supported by the elastic tube. I propose further to apply the elastic.
bearings to rollers for the removal of heavy bodies. Such rollers would be
used in the same way that wood or iron rollers are now commonly used, that
is, by being placed below the body which is to be moved. The advantage
which rollers with elastic bearings would have over hard and metallic rollers
are, that a large number of them may be made to bear equally at the same
time, even although the ways on which the body is being moved are not
quite even.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be perforined, I declare that what I claim is,-
First, the application of elastic bearings round the tire of carriage wheels,
as before described; and,
Secondly, the application of similar elastic bearings to the surfaces of other
rolling bodies, as before exemplified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert William Thomson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
R. W. (L.S.) THOMSON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Tenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord 1846, the aforesaid Robert William Thomson, came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifica-
tion aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand