AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS ON WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES
Year: 1826

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THEODORE
JONES, of Coleman Street, in the City of London, Accountant, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Eleventh day of October, in the seventh year of Ilis
reign, did, for Himself, IIis heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Theodore Jones, His especial licence that I, the said Theodore Jones,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, or such others as I, the said Theodore
Jones, 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, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in
all His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS ON WHEELS FOR CARRIAGES;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Theodore Jones,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said 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
Theodore Jones, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to consist
in an improved construction of carriage wheels, of such nature that the weight
which they have to carry is suspended from that part of the wheel which
happens to be uppermost, instead of being supported as is usual by the spokes
which happen to be under the axletree; and in further compliance with the
said proviso, I, the said Theodore Jones, do hereby describe the manner in
which my said Invention is to be performed by the following description
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings annexed, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
In the Drawing No. 1, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of one of my
improved wheels with a single row of suspending rods, for such I call those
parts which answer to the spokes of an ordinary wheel. A, A, is a strong
circle or hoop, of wrought-iron or other suitable material, which as it answers
to the felloes and tire of a common wheel I denominate the rim; and it should
here be observed that this rim may be either a plain hoop, or may be made
with a rib on the inside, as here shewn, to give it additional strength; there are
fourteen conical holes made through the rim at equal distances, represented by
dotted lines, one of which is marked a. G is the box; F, F, the nave,
having the cap or shield taken off, the better to shew its construction. The
nave contains fourteen feathers or divisions, one of which is marked f; these
feathers divide it into fourteen cells or compartments; the box and nave so
formed are made in one piece of cast-iron or other suitable metal. B, repre-
sents a suspending rod, made of wrought-iron or other suitable metal, with a
conical head, which exactly fits the hole made for it in the rim; the other end
is formed into a screw; this I pass through the hole in the rim at a, and then
through a corresponding hole formed for it in the nave, till the screw end of
the rod enters the cell appropriated for it, and then I screw on the nut D, and
that suspending rod is in its place. I then arrange the other thirteen sus-
pending rods in the same way.
Figure 2 represents an outside view of the plate which I call a shield,
before mentioned, which is made of cast-iron or other suitable metal, and
which is to be fastened by screws to the front of the nave, to keep the nuts
from turning after they are screwed to their places.
Figure 3 is a vertical section of the same shield; and Figure 4, a view of the
inside of the shield; the parts h, h, come in contact and take a bearing against
one of the flat sides of each nut, whereby it effectually secures the whole of
them from unscrewing. It must be observed that the holes in the nave are

page_text: large enough to admit the suspending rods to pass freely through them, and
the nuts into which the suspending rods are screwed have space or room
allowed for them to slip back in their cells, and the suspending rods have no
shoulders against the outside of the nave, nor do their screws pass so far
through the nuts in their cells as to touch the box to prevent them from
slipping back, it being peculiar to my improved wheels that the rods (which
happen to be under the axletree) are at liberty so to retire in their cells that
they are never subject to pressure; and the effect of this arrangement is, that
the whole weight put upon the axletree in the box G is suspended, by means
of the upper rods from that part of the wheel which happens to be uppermost.
Figure 5 represents a section of Figure 1, taken through the dotted line A, A.
In this Figure, A, A, is the rim; B represents a small feather formed upon the
conical head of the rod, which fits into a corresponding slit in the side of the
conical hole made in the rim to prevent the rod turning round when the nut D
is screwed on the other end of the rod; F is the nave; G, the box.
In the Drawing 2 is a perspective view of one of my improved wheels, with
a double row of suspending rods, adapted for carriages where great strength is
required.
Drawing 3, Figure 8: G, G, is the box, which is cast in one piece with the
two naves or sets of cells F, F, and f, f, encircling it. Figure 6 is a side
elevation of the wheel with the shield taken off the front nave. A, A, is the
rim, having conical holes made wherever a rod is to be placed; D, D, represent
cight nuts, which are screwed upon the ends of the suspending rods marked B;
the other alternate eight suspending rods, marked C, are secured by the nuts
in the back nave. f.f, represent eight feathers which divide the front nave
into eight cells; the back nave is divided in a similar way. It will be seen in
the perspective view, Fig. 8, that the holes formed for the suspending rods in
the front nave are not made opposite the holes in the other nave, but are placed
alternately, thus K is between L and M. Fig. 7 is a section of Figure 6,
taken through the dotted line A, A. In this Figure will be seen at B the
conical head of the rod, with the small feather, which fits into a corresponding
slit in the rim to prevent the rod turning round, as before described. It must
also be observed that the top of the cell f,f, is at right angles with the rod B,
to afford a fair bearing to screw the nut D against; this remark applies to
each of the other cells. The position of the rods B, C, B, C, as they stand
connected alternately with the front or back nave, will be better seen in
Drawing 2.
Figure 9, Drawing 8, represents a view of the outside of the shield to be

page_text: fastened to the front nave, as before described; Figure 10 is a view of the
inside of the same shield. A similar shield is also required to enclose the back
set of nuts and to prevent their unscrewing, and is fastened to the nave in a
similar way. The mode which I most approve for making the box and
naves for my improved wheels, as last described, is by a union of cast and
wrought-iron, as follows; that is to say:-.
Drawing 4, Figure 11: a, a, represent an end view of the box, upon which
is cast the broad flange b, and also the eight radial feathers c, c, which are
placed at equal distances round the box, and divide the space into cells to con-
tain the nuts, as in Drawing 3, Figure 6. Figure 12 represents a similar view
of the box a, a, and feathers c, c, and flange b. d, d, d, d, represent a wrought-
iron ring, the internal part of which is formed upon a mandrill into a polygon
of eight large sides, as shewn at d, d, d, d, and e, e, e, e, and eight smaller sides
formed alternately between the larger ones; these smaller sides are made to
fit the ends of the radial feathers, and as the radial feathers are made to bevil
inwards, as will be seen in the side view, Figure 13, at c, c, it will be necessary
to divide the polygonal ring into two parts, as shewn at Figures 14 and 15.
When these two halves d, d, e, e, are placed upon the flange b so as to encircle
the feathers, as shewn at Figure 12, the wrought-iron ring g, g, Figure 16,
(being previously made to fit the polygonal ring, the external part of which is
cylindrical,) is made red hot, and being slipped over the two halves of
the polygonal ring, it contracts in cooling, and consequently binds altogether
very firmly, forming the cells of precisely the same shape as those in the cast-
iron naves, Figure 6, 7, and 8.
Drawing 3 The dotted line g, g, Figure 12, represents the position of the
external ring when the whole is together; the holes for the suspending rods
are then drilled through both rings, as shewn in dotted lines, Figure 12.
Figure 13 shews a side view of the box a, a. d and 9 represent the two
wrought-iron rings (in section) when fixed together, and hereby their com-
bination with the feathers will be better understood. Figure 17 represents an
internal view of one-half of the polygonal ring, corresponding to that shewn in
its place (in section) in Figure 13. f shews a section of the shield, which is
similar to those already described; m represents the external appearance of
the back nave complete.
Now, whereas the wheels in general use for carriages are made or con-
structed with spokes, in such manner that the spoke or spokes that happen to
be under the axletrec contribute to the support of the weight or load; but
whereas I hereby claim as my Invention, and declare that my improvement or

page_text: improvements on wheels for carriages consists in substituting suspending rods
made of iron or other suitable metal in lieu of spokes, by which suspending rods
I hang or suspend the weight or load from that part of the wheel which
happens to be uppermost, and prevent any support being given to the said
weight or load by the rods which happen to be immediately under the axletree.
In witness whereof, I, the said Theodore Jones, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven.
Inrolled the same Tenth day of April, in the year above written.