From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Article from 'THE AUTOCAR' magazine detailing the history and development of wheels.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 4\4\ 04-page04 | |
| Date | 8th April 1911 | |
| THE AUTOCAR, April 8th, 1911. Wheels, Ancient and Modern. Their History and Development. Scope of the Paper. THE object of this paper is to present an account of some of the most ancient and most modern wheels, to describe their form, the materials used in their construction, and, as far as possible, the methods employed in their manufacture. To prevent the account becoming too sketchy, it will be limited almost exclusively to vehicle wheels, and no attempt will be made to follow the application of wheels to the many arts which employ them. The important advances which were made by the ancients when they began to employ wheels and rotating members in their mechanical contrivances, and the manifold latter-day developments and arts in which they are indispensable, form a chapter so vast that I have not attempted even the briefest summary. Wheels for facilitating transit are, therefore, my theme, and no apology need be proffered for an account of what was one of the primitive inventions of mankind, and is of paramount importance in this day. There is a humanitarian as well as a scientific interest in this study of wheels. Throughout the ages the use of wheels has played a crucial and ever-active part in the development of the means of inter-communication, now become so rapid and frequent as to form the ineradicable and predominating feature of our time. We know not how closely rapid inter-communication and civilisation are bound up together. Bearing this in mind, one need feel no compunction in drawing inferences as to the degree of civilisation of the ancient peoples from their wheels. The ancient Egyptians employed wheel vehicles for many purposes, and particularly for war, but the Israelites they held in bondage had no chariots at that time. This stood them in good stead when crossing the Red Sea; the Israelites crossed safely on foot, but, according to Holy Writ, the wheels of the Egyptian chariots became (taking the marginal reading) bound so that they drave heavily. This, which happened about 1490 B.C., is the earliest record I have found of wheel trouble, but for which the Israelites might never have reached the Promised Land. Origin and Evolution of the Wheel. The actual origin and invention of the wheel are lost in the mists of antiquity. The use of it appears to have originated in the East and spread Westwards. Doubtless the nomadic tribes would be among the first to discover the advantages of wheels. This may account for their widespread use at a very early date. The oldest Indian literature mentions wheels, showing their use as parts of vehicles as far back as 1700 B.C. Those who seem most competent to judge agree that the wheel took its origin from the cylindrical tree-trunks which were placed as rollers under a load. Probably the first vehicle was the sledge, the rollers being used when heavy summers had to be drawn. Rollers being in demand and heavy ones being difficult to handle, it is likely that long ones were cut up to make small ones. The desirability of fixing these would seem to become felt. Precisely how this was done we do not know, but conjecture suggests that the middle may have been grooved out to permit of a staple or pegs on the sledge engaging with the groove and preventing it running ahead or sideways. This groove may have come to extend the whole width of the sledge. A natural sequence would be to build this form up out of three parts—two disc-wheels and one axle, the axle being prevented by pegs from rolling away underneath the cart. Solid wheels were used by the less civilised nations of Asia Minor, and on the farm carts of classic times. Virgil refers to solid wheels built up of three planks held together by an iron hoop, and this form is said to be still in use in Southern Italy and to make a loud creaking noise as it turns. Some of the old Chinese pictures show solid wheels with holes cut out, possibly for lightness, but more probably to admit a pole for skidding the wheel on a decline. This is an ancient method of braking, from which has arisen the phrase, “to put one’s spoke into another man’s wheel.” As late as thirty years ago bullock-carts were in use in London with only two such pegs to keep the axle in position. The body of the cart could be lifted right off the wheels, and even now solid wheels with axle are hewn in one piece out of tree-trunks and used for carts in the northern provinces of India. Solid wheels with iron axles Splitting must have been a serious cause of trouble in ancient disc wheels. Some that are still extant, dating from 1500 B.C., show bad splits and leathers thongs binding the parts together. Segments of tree trunks would necessarily have a limited diameter, and though the large ones would prove better runners on rough roads, they would be more likely to split. This may have led to planks being nailed together, some crosswise, and the survival of the fittest would account for their persistence. From this to radial planks cut parallel to the grain is not a long step, and from radial planks to spokes is a natural sequence. The Wheel and Religion. In India the wheel entered largely into the native rites of worship. Some of the religious writings contain an account of a mystic wheel, with a nave and tyre and a thousand spokes. The connection between the wheel and religion has been investigated by W. Simpson. The wheel was symbolic of the apparent rotation of the sun and stars, the worship of which led to the use of praying-wheels, circumambulation, processions, and other circular rites. At this time to speak of a man as being ‘like a wheel’ was as complimentary as it now is uncomplimentary to call anyone a ross. It is interesting to note, in passing, that this degeneration probably arises out of the connection between vice and the use of the wheel as an instrument of torture. It appears that India was not the only place where the wheel was held in veneration. M.{Mr Moon / Mr Moore} Gaidoz has discovered * Paper read before the Royal Society of Arts on April 5th, 1911, by Mr. Henry L. Heathcote, B.Sc. | ||