US434990A - Method of and means for manufacturing metal wheels - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

B. P. LYNCH.

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR MANUFACTURING METAL WHEELS. No. 434,990. Patented Aug. 26, 1890.

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EDXVARD P. LYNCH, OF DAVENPORT, IOVA.

' METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR MANUFACTURING METAL WHEELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 434,990, dated August 26, 1890.

' Application filed November 29, 1889. Serial No. 331,856. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD P. LYNCH, of Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, have invented certain Improvements in the Method of and Means for Manufacturing Metal Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

At the present day wheels are constructed with cast-metal hubs having radial mortises or sockets in which the ends of metal spokes are seated and held by frictional contact with the walls of the mortises. This contact is secured by forcing the spoke under great pressure into a slightly-smaller mortise, or by inserting the spoke loosely into the mortise and then enlarging or upsetting its end therein by pressure or blows applied endwise of the spoke. The force required to insure a sufficiently-tight fit is very great. As the spokes and mortises unavoidably vary in size, it frequently happens that the pressure or blow of the spoke-setting machine is, on the onehand, insufficient to properly upset and fasten the spoke, or is, 011 the other hand, so excessive thatthe spoke fractures the hub if of ordinary castsiron, or stretches it, if of malleable iron. There is therefore a great uncertainty as to the stability of the finished wheels and a heavy loss of stock and labor in the course of manufacture. So serious are these evils that it is impracticable, under the ordinary procedure, to securely fasten spokes if of other than a round form.

Now the aim of my invention is to overcome the evils named and insure the certain and secure attachment of every spoke without the slightest danger of injury to the hub, and particularly to eifect the attachment of large spokes of elliptic form in cross-section, spokes of this form being particularly advantageous in the wheels of hay-rakes and similar machines, for the reason that they give the wheel sufficient strength when set in a common plane or without being staggered, so that the wheel will not pick up or wind in the hay, as do those with staggered spokes.

To this end my invention consists in the method of securing the spokes, consisting in firmly clamping or supporting the hub from the outside, then securing the spoke by pressure or blows endwise thereon, and finally releasing the hub after the completion of the operation.

It also consists in means for clamping the hub and inserting the spokes, as hereinafter explained.

The essence of the present invention resides in the clamping or re-enforcing devices for-temporarily supporting or strengthening the hub that it may resist the internal pressure of the spoke which tends to fracture or disrupt the hub. These clamping devices may be operated by hand or by automatic connections with the spoke-setting machine, and they-may be adapted to act around the entire hub at one time or to support the hub adjacent to a single socket or mortise at a time.

The means employed for inserting or upsetting the spokes are not in themselves of the essence of my invention. The machine may be of the character represented in either of the numerous patents to WV. P. Bettendorf.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is a side elevation of a hub having my clamping devices applied thereto, one side being shown in section on the line 00 it of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a face View of one of the clampingringsj Fig. 3 is a plan view of another form of clamp adapted to embrace a single spokesocket. Fig. 4 is a plan view of a machine such as may be used in the carrying out of my invention. Fig. 5 is a section of the same on the line z .2.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, A represents an ordinary hubsuch as is now in common use consisting of a tubular body or hub proper provided with a series of radially-projecting sockets or necks a, each having a mortise or opening therein to receive the spoke B.

O and 0' represent two annular clamps or collars adapted to pass over the opposite ends of the hub and provided in their opposing faces with radial grooves 0, adapted to receive the necks or sockets of the hub.

D is a tubular spindle passed centrally through the hub and the two clamps, provided at one end with a shoulder d to bear against the clamp C, and threaded at the opposite end to receive a nut d, which acts through an intervening washer d against the clamp C. By tightening the nut the two clamps are forced toward each other and caused to confine the spoke sockets or necks tightly between them. In this manner the necks are externally supported or re-enforced, so thatit is impossible for them to be stretched or fractured by the forcible introduction or enlargement of the spokes.

In Fig. 3 I have represented a clamp intended to support or re-enforce a single spokereceiving socket. It consists of the notched clamp O and the complementary clamp G, the latter being extended to surround the clamp C at one end, and the two being locked tightly upon the neck by a screw 0 While the constructions above described answer an excellent purpose, it is to be understood that -my invention includes any clamp or system of clamps adapted to sup port or confine the necks or sockets at the time the spokes are being secured therein.

Referring now to the machine represented in Figs. 4 and 5 for securing the spokes, it is to be noted that it is not separately claimed as of my invention, being the same as that represented in Letters Patent of the United States No. 384,604., patented June 19, 1888, to WV. P. Bettendorf.

In this machine, F represents a main frame sustaining one end of a driving-shaft G, provided with a driving-pulley gand with a pinion g, which imparts motion through a large gear-wheel H to an underlying shaft I. This shaft carries an eccentric J, which in turn carries one end of a pitman K, connected at its opposite end to an upright movable post L, intended to receive and sustain the hub of a wheel during the spokesetting operation.

The hub having the clamp applied, as in Fig. 1, is seated onto the post, the central tube D of the clamp being slipped over the upper end of the post.

M and M represent two jaws lying adjacent to the post L, connected to the main frame, as shown in Fig. 5, by horizontal pivots m. They are connected by a link m and jawM' is further connected at its lower end by a pitman m to a collar on a horizontal sliding rod N. This rod is mounted in guides in the main frame and urged in one direction by a spring 0 and in the opposite direction by a cam P, mounted on the shaft I and bearing against a roller in the end of the rod. As the rod is moved endwise, the angular relation of the pitman to the jaws is varied, so that they are opened and closed.

In operating the machine the hub having the clamp is seated on the post L and a spoke inserted between the open jaws into one of the necks or socketsof the hub. The jaws are then closed so as to grasp the spoke adjacent to the hub and prevent end mot-ion,

after which the post L swings forward, carrying the hub bodily toward the jaws, the efli'ect of which is to apply end compression to the spokes and upset or enlarge the same within the socket. The amount of the compression thus applied is of course regulated by the length of movement of the post L.

It will be observed that the clamping-jaws and the movable post are in fact simply means for upsetting the spoke, and consequentlytheyaresimplythemechanicalequivalent of any other upsetting mechanism which may be used for alike purpose in connection with a spoke, and the hub sustained by the external clamps.

As the upsetting of the spoke may be effected either by a gradual application of pressure or by a succession of blows, the expression end pressure as herein employed is intended to include either of the operations named.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The method of securing metal spokes in metal hubs, consisting in clamping or confining the hub externally to prevent its expansion or fracture, and seating the spoke tightly in the mortise by end pressure or blows, and finally releasing the hub.

2. A clamp for temporary use on metal wheel-hubs, consisting of complementary annular members recessed in their opposing faces to receive the sockets of the hubs in whole or part, and a screw or equivalent means for approximating said members to tightly confine the socket between them.

3. The annular notched clamping members, in combination with the connecting-tube and the nut applied to the latter.

4:. In a mechanism for securing metal spokes in mortised metal hubs, the combination of clamping devices to confine and externally support the hub against the expansive influence of a spoke, and means, substantially as described and shown, for applying end press- -ure to the spokes to secure the same in a mortise.

5. In a mechanism forsecuring metal spokes in mortised metal hubs, the combination of clamps confining and externally supporting the hub adjacent to the sockets, a post or standard to sustain the hub and clamps, jaws to grasp the spoke adjacent to the hub, and means for approximating the jaws and hubsupport.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand, this 28th day of October, 1889, in the presence of two attesting witnesses.

EDWARD P. LYNCH.

Witnesses:

FRED A. LEwIs, RAY '1. LEWIs.

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