The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-05-11
NEW BICYCLE TIRE.
Ingenious Device In the Mind Of q
Local Mechanic.
Designed to Overcome the inconvenience
Of Punctured Tires.

Every since pneumatic tires were In
vented for bicycles they have caused
great deal of worriment OF mind because
of their liability TO become punctured
and the attending discomfort and incon-
venience. The accident may happend
while the rider.is miles away from home
and may be of such nature that II can
not be patched no. or new tube insert
ed off hand, so he must walk or find fresh
means of transportation for himself and
wheel. Such an experience Is not con-
ducive to comfort certainly. II may be,
however, that his repair kit Is at hand and
after no inconsiderable amount OF labor,
sweating and swearing, he Is able to
remedy matters TO great extent; but 1t
Is none too convenient 10 always be so
equipped. In consequence. inventors
have been racking their brains to ind
something to take the place OF penumatic
tires which should not decrease the resil-
iency and at the same time not add to
the weight of the ordinary machine.
Nothing that Is called practicable has
come to the front until today, when Mr.
wellington Harderbergh, who resides at
the corner Of Chalkestone and Academy
avenues dropped INTO The NEWS office
with q sketch of an invention of his
which he claims eradicates all OF the OBJ
JeCtlOuaDle features Oh tuo pkcocDt btyic
safety and adds to the riders' comfort In
no small degree. 1t Is certainly ingen-
uous, even II 1t should. fsil to work as
well in practice as In Theory.
In the first place, 1t does away with
the boa-constrfctor style of tire, for
which curved solid rubber tire, quar-
ter of un inch thick is substituted. The
felly of the wheel is to be fat. instead of
concave, and between II and the rubber
will be q piece of thin steel rounded up in
the center, the whole circumference OF the
wheel. The hollow thus made is an air
chamber, or duet, and air is admitted 10
1t from the spokes. The spokes are the
really novel feature OF this bicycle. They
are nothing more nor less than air
pumps. Each spoke Is tube, perhaps
one-half inch in diameter. made of thin
steel and inside the tube Is piston rod
and plunger, much the same as may be
found in the small hand pumps used TO
initiate pneumatics.
The top Of the piston rod Is attached by
a simple device to the hub of the wheel
and the riders weight does the rest.
There is q valve at the bottom OF the CYL
inder formed ny the spoke and the air en-
ters the tire through 1t, while there Is
another valve in the bottom of the plum
ger, as In every air pump. Between the
bottom OF the plunger and the rim OF the
wheel Is an air chamber or CUSHION upon
which the plunger presses aId this action
closes the valve in the rim of the wheel
and that In the bottom of the plunger at
the same time. When the plunger Is re-
leased the valves are opened to admit more
air.
The result is that the tire Is filled with
air continually by the automatic action
of these pumps. 1t is intended that in
stead OF 25 or 30 spokes, as are in the
safeties of today there will be but nine or
ten in Mr.. Hsrdenberg's device, thus
making the weight but little. IL any
more than that OF the racing
wheels. in fact, he claims that with a
thin rubber tire his bicycle will not
weigh over 81 pounds ii it does that.
The spokes ali fit straight on the hubs
and each is hello In place by a single pin.
III the tire should give out there will be no
thin edge felly to break. But this Is not
likely to occur, and as the rider is at all
times buoyed up, on air the Iesiliency,
or springiness, is equalized and increased
at the same time. There are ho inner
tubes to be carried, no hand pumping to
be done, no feeling of the tire TO see IL il
needs blowing up and in fact, nothing to
mar the pleasure of sailing on air over car
tracks, broken glass, cobble stones or
anything else that causes discomfort and
inconvenience. Mr.. Hardenberg would
apply the same invention to rubber tired
carriages using air pump spokes an inch
in diameter.