IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WHEELS OF RAILWAY ENGINES AND CARRIAGES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OB APPARATUS TO BE USED IN MAKING THE SAME
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Edward Vickers, of Sheffield, in the County
of York, Steel Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE WHEELS OF RAILWAY ENGINES AND CARRIAGES, AND IN THE MACHINERY
OB APPARATUS TO BE USED IN MAKING THE SAME."
Sealed the 6th May 1862, and dated the 24th December 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Edward Vickers
. at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th December 1861.
I, THOMAS EDWARD VICKERS, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Steel
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE WHEELS OF RAILWAY ENGINES AND CARRIAGES, AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN MAKING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in the wheels of railway engines and
carriages, and in the machinery or apparatus to be used in making the same,
relates, first, to a novel mode of constructing railway engine and carriage
wheels of cast steel; and, second, to an improved machine or apparatus for
producing the moulds in which the wheels are to be cast.
The first part of the Invention consists in casting the wheels in steel, and
of a disc form of a peculiar character; the nave and rim or tyre of the wheel,
together with the disc which connects these parts together in place of spokes

page_text: being all cast in one piece, so that there will be no danger of the rim or tyre
becoming loose or coming off. Cast-iron disc wheels have been heretofore
made, and sometimes, for the purpose of strengthening them, they have been
cast with radial corrugations extending from the nave outwards towards the
rim. Disc wheels of cast steel have been cast with corrugations concentric
with the nave and rim or tyre, or nearly so, to compensate for the unequal
contraction of the metal when cooling after being cast. Each of these
systems is, however, open to serious objections, which I propose to obviate by
constructing my disc wheels with double corrugations so combined as to cross
each other. By this means I obtain all the advantages resulting from the
use of both the systems of corrugation heretofore used, and avoid all the
objections.
My improved form of disc wheel may be cast in a mould produced in the
ordinary way of making moulds for casting steel, or lined with fireproof
material, as described in the Specification of a Patent granted to Ewald
Riepe, and which bears date January 29th, 1850, No. 12,050, or the mould
may be made by means of the apparatus which forms the subject of the
second part of my Invention. In order to mould the wheel, templates of
suitable form to produce the nave and rim or tyre are fixed on a horizontal
arm, mounted on a central spindle, which is fixed in the middle of the
flask or moulding frame. The disc or that part of the wheel between the
nave and rim or tyre is formed of moveable templates, which are connected to
the horizontal arm, but are attached to levers or rods, whereby the move-
able parts may be raised or lowered, or otherwise moved in such a manner
on the arm that when the latter is moved round on its central spindle, the
said moveable templates may make in the moulding substance the desired
elevations and depressions to produce the double corrugations required. The
raising and lowering of the moveable templates is effected by causing, the
inner ends of their actuating levers or arms to pass over cams secured to
the central shaft. It should now be understood that as the horizontal arm is
drawn round on its central spindle, the fixed templates will form those parts
of the mould which will produce the rim or tyre and nave, and the moveable
templates will form the disc part of the wheel with the double corrugations.
It will be obvious that the cams or cam pieces for acting on the levers or
arms which actuate the moveable templates may, if desired, be attached to
the outer rim of the flask or moulding frame instead of being placed on the
central spindle.
Moulds for casting my improved cast steel disc wheels may also be prepared.
by ramming or stamping in the ordinary way, using a model to obtain the

page_text: required shape; I prefer, however, the mode previously described, on account
of the greater smoothness of the surface of the casting which will be obtained
therefrom..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed:
by the said Thomas Edward Vickers in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th June 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
EDWARD VICKERS, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Steel Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas Edward Vickers, Her special license that I, the
said Thomas Edward Vickers, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Thomas Edward Vickers, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WHEELS OF RAILWAY ENGINES
AND CARRIAGES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN MAKING
THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Edward Vickers, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Edward Vickers, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in the Wheels of Railway Engines and
Carriages, and in the Machinery or Apparatus to be used in Making the
same," relates, first, to a novel. mode of constructing railway engines and

page_text: carriage wheels of cast steel; and, second, to an improved machine or appa-
ratus for producing the moulds in which the wheels are to be cast.
The first part of the Invention consists in casting the wheels in-steel, and
of a disc form of a peculiar character. The nave and rim or tyre of the
wheel, together with the disc which connects these parts together in place of
spokes, is all cast in one piece, so that there will be no danger of the rim or
tyre becoming loose or coming off. Cast-iron disc wheels have been heretofore
made, and sometimes for the purpose of strengthening them they have been
cast with radial corrugations extending from the nave outwards towards the
rim. Disc wheels of cast steel have also been cast with corrugations con-
centric with the nave and rims or tyre, or nearly so, in order to compensate
for the unequal contraction of the metal when cooling after being cast; each
of these systems is, however, open to serious objections, which I propose to
obviate by constructing my disc wheels with double corrugations so combined
as to cross each other. By this means I obtain all the advantages resulting
from the use of both the systems of corrugation heretofore used, and I thereby
avoid the objections above mentioned.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents a plan of the
outer face of one of my improved wheels; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the inner
face of the same, in which it will be seen that there are four radial corru-
gations c, d, e, and f combined with certain concentric corrugations, as will
be more clearly seen in the sectional views, Figs. 3 and 4; Fig. 3 is a section
of the wheel taken on the line a, b, of Fig. 1, that is, through the deepest
part of the radial corrugation; and Fig. 4 is a section on the line c, d, of
Fig. 1, or through the highest part of the radial corrugation. It will be
evident that, by casting a wheel in this manner with a combination of radial
corrugations to strengthen it, and concentric corrugations to compensate for
or admit of expansion in cooling, a very strong wheel can be produced in cast
steel without danger of fracture.
My improved form of disc wheel must be cast in a fireproof mould, that is
to say, in a mould lined with fireproof material, as described in a Specification
of a Patent granted to Ewald Riepe, and bearing date July Ninth, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three (No. 1637). The mould may be
made from a wooden pattern, or by means of the apparatus which forms the
subject of the second part of my Invention.
In order to mould the wheel, templates of suitable form to produce the
nave and rim or tyre are fixed on a horizontal arm mounted on a central
spindle, which is fixed in the middle of the flask or moulding frame. The
disc or that part of the wheel between the nave and rim or tyre is formed of

page_text: moveable templates which are connected to the horizontal arm, but are
attached to levers or rods, whereby the moveable parts. may be.raised and
lowered, or otherwise moved in such a manner on the arm, that when the
latter is moved round on its central spindle, the said moveable templates may
5 make in the moulding substance the desired elevations and depressions to
produce the double corrugations required. The raising and lowering of the
moveable templates is effected by causing the inner ends of their actuating
levers or arms to pass over cams secured to the central shaft; it will, there-
fore, be understood, that as the horizontal arm is drawn round on its central
spindle, the fixed templates will form those parts of the mould which will
produce the rim or tyre and nave, and the moveable templates will form the
.disc part of the wheel with the double corrugations.
,
In Sheet II of the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 5 is a front view, and
Fig. 6 a back élevation of my improved apparatus for moulding by means of
5 moveable templates; Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line a, b, of
Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is a partial plan view of the same.
'
The moulding box a has a cylindrical hole made in it for receiving the
upright spindle 6, which is prevented by means of a key from turning round
in the hole. On this spindle is fastened, by means of a key, the cylindrical
O cam pièce c, the lower side of which is shaped according to the number and
height of corrugations which it is intended to make in the mould. The
cylindrical cam shewn in the Drawing is intended to produce a mould for a
wheel with four corrugations; the upper part of the cylindrical cam c is
provided with a collar d, which is surrounded by one arm of the striker e (the
5 other arm being on the spindle); this striker during the operation may be
moved round the collar and spindle as required, and is kept in its position by
means of the nut g on the top of the spindle. The strickles h and i are fixed
by means of bolts on the striker, and form the tyre and the nave of the
wheel. The strickle s, which forms the corrugations, is fixed to the strickle h
0 on the point k by means of a bolt on which it turns, and is connected by
means of the link at the other end to the spindle m, which may slide up
and down in the guide hole n. In order to produce the up-and-down
movement which is necessary for forming the corrugations on the side of the
wheel, the arm o is fixed on the spindle m by means of a set screw bearing a
5 small roller p; this roller is pressed on the lower shaped side of the cylin-
drical cam by means of the lever and weight q. When the striker is moved
round this roller will also turn round, and during its revolution will follow the
shape of the cylindrical cam, which necessitates the up-and-down movement
of the spindle, and consequently of the strickle s, which shapes the mould.

page_text: In order to prevent the strickles from being moved sideways, a fork r is
fixed to the spindle m, and is provided with two small rollers t, t, on the ends
which are rolling through the up-and-down movement on the arm f.
Figs. 9 and 10 represent, in side elevation and cross section, a modification
of the apparatus in which the position of the cam c is reversed upon the
spindle b, and a spring t is substituted in place of the lever and weight 9 (of
Figs. 5 and 6) to ensure the action of the cam c being carried by the arm o
direct to the template s.
It will be obvious that the cams or cam pieces for acting on the levers or
arms which actuate the moveable templates may, if desired, be attached to
the outer rim of the flask or moulding frame instead of being placed on the
central spindle.
Moulds for casting my improved cast steel disc wheels may also be prepared
by ramming or stamping in the ordinary way, using a model to obtain the
required shape; I prefer, however, the mode previously described, on account
of the greater smoothness of the surface of the casting which will be obtained
therefrom.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Wheels of
Railway Engines and Carriages, and in the Machinery or Apparatus to be
used in Making the same," and having explained the manner of carrying the
Invention into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to my; by Letters
Patent, as aforesaid, the mode herein set forth of constructing cast steel
wheels for railway engines and carriages.
I also claim the use of the machinery herein set forth for making the
moulds for casting such wheels.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Edward Vickers, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
T EDWARD VICKERS
T EDWARD VICKERS (L.)