IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF COMBINING BARS OF IRON SO AS TO FORM LARGER MASSES OR PIECES OF IRON, APPLICABLE IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF AXLES, SHAFTS, COLUMNS, BEAMS, CANNON, AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Winter, of Bradford, in the West
Riding of the County of York, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF COMBINING BARS OF IRON SO AS TO
FORM LARGER MASSES OR PIECES OF IRON, APPLICABLE IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF AXLES, SHAFTS, COLUMNS, BEAMS, CANNON, AND OTHER
ARTICLES."
Sealed the 19th January 1853, and dated the 23rd November 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jolin Winter at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 23rd November 1852.
I, JOHN WINTER, of Bradford, in the West Riding of the County
of York, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of iny said Inven-
tion to be as follows (that is to say):
My said Invention consists of a mode or modes of combining
several bars of wrought iron into one mass or combination of picces
(either solid or hollow), by first rolling the bars into such shapes as
will cause them to fit together, and when put together to be inter-

page_text: locked or fastened within or to each other. Bars of iron when thus
combined form a mass or combination of pieces which will not
readliy be separated from each other by lateral strain.
Such a combination of bars may be welded together by heating
and rolling, but for some purposes will hold together sufficiently
well without the aid of welding or cementation. For the purpose of
thus combining iron bars I make use of several sets of shapes or
forms, which I have shewn in the sectional figures contained in the
annexed Drawings. These shapes or forms are so constructed
and arranged as to dovetail, interlock, or otherwise firmly combine
together.
In A, & B, Figures 1, and 2, I have shewn transverse sections of
two shapes of iron bars, which may be combined together according
to my Invention; each of these bars is rolled with a longitudinal
dovetail groove, and so that several pairs of such bars will fit
together and form a hollow shaft, as shewn in transverse section in
the Figures. This combination of iron bars may be used as a shaft
for machinery, for a column, or any other purpose to which it may
be applicable, cither after or without subjecting it to the process of
welding. In the transverse sectional, Figure 3, I have shewn a
similar mode of shaping or forming iron bars, for the purpose of
combining three rings of bars together by means of dovetail grooves,
so as to form a large hollow shaft or mass of iron, which may be
used in cases in which greater diameter and strength is required.
This mode of massing bars for the purpose of combining them
together by means of dovetails and dovetail grooves, may be ex-
tended or reduced to any number of bars. Thus the bars A,
Figure 3, which form the first ring of the combination shewn in
that figure, may be increased or reduced in number; the other
bars, forming the second and third rings of the combination, being
increased or reduced in number in like manner. And the bars B,
Figure 3, forming the outer ring of the same combination, are made
with a longitudinal dovetail groove in like manner, as shewn in
Figures 1, and 2; and where greater strength is required, one or
more additional or or successive ring or rings of bars of the same

page_text: shape, as shewn at C, Figure 3, are added. In putting together a
set of any of the bars I have mentioned, so as to form a combina-
tion, the bars are introduced in a longitudinal direction into the
dovetails; and when the whole are thus put together, they cannot
be separated from each other except by withdrawing some of them
from the combination in a longitudinal direction.
At A, Figure 4, I have shewn a transverse section of an iron bar,
which may be called an O G form or shape, and several of which
may be combined together so as to form a shape as shewn in that
figure. Bars of other shapes inay also be used, so that they overlap
and break each other's joints.
In each of the combinations which I have described, the shafts or
combinations may be made solid by the additions to or alterations
in the forms of the bars or inner bars used in each case, as shewn by
dotted lines in Figured 1, 2, 3, and 4, and as more particularly
shewn in Figure 5. And by varying the numbers and sizes of the
bars used in forming any combination, such combination may be
made of any strength or substance required.
If any shaft or combination of bars be desired to vary in strength
or substance in some parts of its length, I effect that object by the
manner in which I roll the inside or outside bars, or by adding bars
in certain parts of its length.
Thus, if the outside of a shaft (whether hollow or solid) be required
to be conical or varying in diameter, I roll the outside bars of which
it is to be composed varying in thickness, so as to produce the
required effect when the bars are put together, and so if it be re-
quired to make the inside of a hollow shaft conical, or varying in
diameter, as shewn in Figure 6, I roll the inside bars of which it
is to be composed varying in thickness, so as to produce the required
effect when the shaft is made.
And in those cases in which a hollow shaft may be required to
vary not only in its external diameter but also in the diameter of
its inside or bore, I produce the required effect by rolling both the
outside and inside bars of which it is to be composed varying in
thickness, so as to produce the required effect.

page_text: And where a shaft is required to be partly hollow and partly
solid, as in the case of a wrought iron gun, I roll the bars which are
to form such shaft so that where the shaft is required to be solid
they shall proceed to the centre.
In those cases in which a shaft shall be intended to be composed
of only one ring of bars combined together (such as the combination
of OG bars shewn in Figure 4), if it be required that the shaft
shall vary in diameter, or that the inside of it (if hollow) shall vary
in diameter, I produce the required effect by rolling the bars of
which the shaft is to be composed varying in thickness (diminishing
such thickness on the outside or inside, or both), so as to produce a
shaft of the intended form and substance.
The outside or inside of a shaft column or wrought iron gun may
also be made in a conical or tapering form, by adding an additional
ring or additional rings of bars combined in manner aforesaid where
the strength or substance is required to be greatest, the rings of
which the mass is composed gradually shortening and lessening in
number in a longitudinal direction towards the part where the
strength or substance is required to be least.
Railway carriage axles are now generally preferred to be made of
varying strength (viz.), thicker or stronger at the ends; being those
parts which receive the wheels, and work in the journals or bearings.
By adopting my Invention in the combination of a set of bars to
form such an axle hollow, the desired gradual increase of strength
in the axle from the middle to each end thereof may be effected
without varying the external diameter of the axle.
In Figure 7, I have shewn a longitudinal section of part of such
an axle in its finished form.
Beams may also be formed by connecting two or more shafts formed
in manner aforesaid, by means of pieces of iron of such depth and
strength as may be required; so formed that they shall dovetail,
interlock, or combine at the upper or lower extremities thereof into
such shafts.
Any set of iron bars having been made and put together in the
manner I have described, may be introduced into an air furnace and

page_text: heated to a welding heat, and (where the outside is parallel) passed
through rollers for the purpose of welding all the bars together; but
where the outside is conical or varying in diameter the welding may
be performed in the ordinary way under the hammer.
The injury which wrought iron sustains from hammering large
masses of it into the forms required is well known: and I combine
bars in the manner which I have described for the purpose, not only
of avoiding such injuries but also insuring a better welding or
cementation of the bars forming any combination, and making the
strength of the mass or combination, and the cohesion of its parts,
less dependent upon the perfection of the welding or cementation
of the parts or pieces of iron together.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said John Winter in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd May 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN WINTER, of Bradford, in the West Riding of the County of
York, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in
the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Winter, Her special
licence that I, the said John Winter, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Winter, my executors,
administrators, 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 MODE OF COMBINING BARS OF IRON' SO AS TO FORM LARGER MASSES
OR PIECES OF IRON, APPLICABLE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AXLES, SHAFTS,
COLUMNS, BEAMS, CANNON, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that I, the said John Winter, 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 saine to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Winter, 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 (that is to say):
-
My said Invention consists of a mode or modes of combining.
several bars of wrought iron into one mass or combination of pieces
(either solid or hollow), by first rolling the bars into such shapes
as will suit them to fit together, and when put together to be
interlocked or fastened within or to each other. Bars of iron,
when thus combined, form a mass or combination of pieces which
will not readily be separated from each other by lateral strain.
Such a combination of bars may be welded together by heating
and rolling, but for some purposes will hold together sufficiently
well without the aid of welding or cementation. For the purpose
of thus combining iron bars, I make use of several sets of shapes
or forms which I have shewn in the sectional figures contained in
the annexed Drawings. These shapes or forms are so constructed
and arranged as to dovetail, interlock, or otherwise firmly com-
bine together.
In A, and B, Figures 1, and 2, I have shewn transverse sections
of two shapes of iron bars which may be combined together
according to my Invention; each of these bars is rolled with a
longitudinal dovetail groove, and so that several pairs of such
bars will fit together and form a hollow shaft, as shewn in trans-
verse section in the figures. This combination of iron bars may
be used as a shaft for machinery for a column, or any other
purpose to which it may be applicable, either after or without
subjecting it to the process of welding. In the transverse sectional
Figure 3, I have shewn a similar mode of shaping or forming iron

page_text: bars for the purpose of combining three rings of bars together, by
means of dovetail grooves, so as to form a large hollow shaft or
mass of iron, which may be used in cases in which greater
diameter and strength is required.
This mode of massing bars for the purpose of combining them
together by means of dovetails and dovetailed grooves, may be
extended or reduced to any number of bars. Thus the bars A,
Figure 3, which form the first ring of the combination shewn in that
figure, may be increased or reduced in number, the other bars
forming the second and third rings of the combination being
increased or reduced in number in like manner. And the bars
B, Figure 3, forming the outer ring of the same combination,
ar made with a longitudinal dovetailed groove in like manner
as shewn in Figures 1, and 2; and where greater strength is
required one or more additional or successive ring or rings of
bars, of the same shape as shewn at C, Figure 3, are added. In
putting together a set of any of the bars I have mentioned, so as
to form a combination, the bars are introduced in a longitudinal
direction into the dovetails, and when the whole are thus put
together they cannot be separated from each other, except by with-
drawing some of them from the combination in a longitudinal
direction.
At A, Figure 4, I have shewn a transverse section of an iron
bar, which may be called an O G form or shape, and several of
which may be combined together so as to form a shape, as shewn
in that figure. Bars of other shapes may also be used so that
they overlap and break each other's joints, as shewn in Figure 7.
In each of the combinations which I have described, the shafts
or combinations may be made solid by the additions to, or alter-
ations in, the forms of the bars or inner bars used in each case,
as shewn by dotted lines in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, and as more
particularly shown in Figure 5. And by varying the numbers and
sizes of the bars used in forming any combination, such combination
may be made of any strength or substance required.
If any shaft or combination of bars be desired to vary in strength

page_text: or substance in some part of its length, I effect that object by the
manner in which I roll the inside or outside bars, or by adding
bars in certain parts of its length.
Thus if the outside of a shaft (whether hollow or solid) be
required to be conical, or varying in diameter, I roll the outside
bars of which it is to be composed, varying in thickness, so as to
produce the required effect when the bars are put together; and so
if it be required to make the inside of a hollow shaft conical or
varying in diameter, as shewn in Figure 6, I roll the inside bars
of which it is to be composed, varying in thickness, so as to
produce the required effect when the shaft is made.
And in those cases in which a hollow shaft may be required to
vary, not only in its external diameter, but also in the diameter in
its inside or bore, I produce the required effect by rolling both
the outside and inside bars of which it is to be composed, varying
in thickness, so as to produce the required effect.
And where a shaft is required to be partly hollow and partly
solid, as in the case of a wrought iron gun, I roll the bars which
are to form such shaft so that where the shaft is required to be
solid they shall proceed to the centre.
In those cases in which a shaft shall be intended to be composed
of only one ring of bars combined together (such as the com-
bination of OG bars shewn in Figure 4), if it be required that
the shaft shall vary in diameter, or that the inside of it (if hollow)
shall vary in diameter, I produce the required effect by rolling
the bars of which the shaft is to be composed, varying in thickness
(diminishing such thickness on the outside or inside, or both), so as
to produce a shaft of the intended form and substance.
The outside and inside of a shaft, column, or wrought iron gun,
may also be made in a conical or tapering form, by adding an
additional ring or additional rings of bars, combined in manner
aforesaid; where the strength or substance is required to be
greater, the rings of which the mass is composed gradually short-
ening and lessening in a longitudinal direction towards the part
where the strength or substance is required to be least.

page_text: Railway carriage axles are now generally preferred to be made
of varying strength (viz.) thicker or stronger at the ends, being
those parts which receive the wheels, and work in the journals or
bearings.
By adopting my Invention in the combination of a set of bars
to form such an axle hollow, the desired gradual increase of
strength in the axle from the middle to each end thereof may
be affected without varying the external diameter of the axle.
In Figure 8, I have shewn a longitudinal section of part of such
an axle in its finished form.
Beams may also be formed by connecting two or more shafts,
formed in manner aforesaid, by means of pieces of iron of such
depth and strength as may be required, so formed that they shall
dovetail, interlock, or combine at the upper or lower extreinities
thereof into such shafts.
Any set of iron bars having been made and put together in the
manner I have described, may be introduced into an air furnace,
and heated to a welding heat, and (where the outside is parallel),
passed through rollers for the purpose of welding all the bars
together; but where the outside is conical or varying in diameter,
the welding may be performed in the ordinary way under the
hammer.
The injury which wrought iron sustains from hammering large
masses of it into the forms required is well known: and I combine
bars in the manner which I have described for the purpose, not only
of avoiding such injuries, but also ensuring a better welding or
cementation of the bars forming any combination, and making the
strength of the mass or combination, and the cohesion of its parts
less dependent upon the perfection of the welding or cementation
of the parts or pieces of iron together.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
I declare that what I claim by virtue of the said Letters Patent,
is as follows:-
The formation and combination of rolled bars or pieces of iron,

page_text: so that they shall dovetail or interlock with each other, or overlap
and break each other's joints, and also the formation of various
thicknesses of such bars or pieces of iron between the centres and
ends of axles.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal,
this Twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.