Improvements in Valves for Pneumatic Tyred Wheels of Cycles and other Vehicles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Jan., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 16th Aug., 1898-Accepted, 5th Nov., 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Valves for Pneumatic Tyred Wheels of Cycles and
other Vehicles.
I, HEDLEY OLIVER, of St. Benet's Chambers, Fenchurch Street, in the City of
London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to valves for pneumatic tyred wheels of cycles and other
vehicles and has for its object the construction and arrangement of an automatic
valve for the admission and retention of the air under pressure within the tyre
and automatic cut off at given pressure from the source of supply, and at the
same time to act as a safety valve to prevent the risk of over charging of the tyre
with air under excessive pressure, and also of an automatic and disengageable
pumping device which is actuated by the rotation of the wheels
of the vehicle SO that the pneumatic tyres can be filled with air and
maintained at a uniform pressure automatically during the revolution of the
wheels, whereby the tyres can be kept inflated, supposing that the tyre is only
punctured to such an extent as to be within the capacity of the pump to maintain
the air pressure against the leak due to the puncture while the wheel is revolving
and the use of the detached hand pump and the necessity of stopping to re-inflate
is entirely avoided. At the same time should the device break down the fittings
are of such a character, that the ordinary inflating apparatus can be used.
To carry my invention into effect I arrange upon the frame of the vehicle an
excentric sheave the circumference of which is made adjustable about the axis of
rotation of the wheel, and upon this sheave I anti-frictionally mount a strap or the
like which is adapted to produce a reciprocation of a plunger within a pump
barrel, the plunger being carried by the excentric strap and the punip barrel
being carried by the wheel or vice versa. This sheave is adapted with means to
have its eccentricity varied from nil to maximum so as to regulate the amount of
air pumped or to put the pump out of action altogether.
The pump is fitted with the usual inlet and outlet valves, and is provided with a
delivery pipe which is fitted to the check valve carried upon the rim or felloe of
the wheel.
My special form of valve which can be used with an ordinary or any kind of
inflating pump or in conjunction with my automatic pump herein before described,
is of the piston valve type.
It consists of a cylinder having an inlet and outlet passage leading from the
body thereof, and also an orifice which communicates with the atmosphere.
Within the cylinder I arrange a valve consisting of two pistons connected together
by a stem or rod, the said pistons and the three orifices herein before mentioned
being relatively arranged to one another so that when the pistons are at one end
of the cylinder communication is established between the inlet and outlet orifices,
by the annular space between the two pistons, and when the piston is at the other
end of the cylinder between the inlet orifice and the outlet to atmosphere, while the
outlet orifice to the tyre is closed.
One end of the cylinder is closed by an adjustable cover or plug which presses

page_text: against a spring reacting upon the piston valve and tends to press the valve toward
the end of cylinder which enables free communication to exist between the inlet
and outlet orifices so that the pump is in free communication with the tyre.
The other end of the cylinder is closed by a cover or plug which is adapted to
make a joint against the end of the piston so as to take away a certain proportion
of the effective area of the piston valve. I arrange a bye passage leading from
the outlet passage to the tyre and communicating with the space between the
piston valve and the cover of the cylinder.
The operation of the valve is as follows:- when the tyre is being inflated the
said spring forces the piston valve against the cover at the opposite end of the
cylinder and allows only a fraction of the effective area of the piston to be exposed
to the pressure, the opposite end of the piston being in communication with the
atmosphere through the special outlet orifice in the body of the cylinder. As
the pressure augments in the tyre, it acts by means of the bye-passage upon the
fractional effective area of the piston valve, and on reaching such an amount as to
overcome the pressure of the spring, it moves the piston valve and immediately
exposes the full effective area and forces the piston valve back against the pressure
of the spring with a sharp movement; thereby closing the outlet orifice to the
pump and putting the inlet orifice in communication with the atmosphere.
This action short circuits the pump to the atmosphere and takes off the work
being executed thereby. Should the pressure in the tyre leak off as it drops the
spring forces the valve back and puts the pump again in communication with the
tyre.
The maximum pressure of charging can be varied by varying the strength of
the spring by the adjustment of the cover of the cylinder adjacent to the spring.
In order to provide for the relief of excessive air pressure, as might occur from
expansion of the air within the tyre by heat, I provide a second orifice communi-
cating with the atmosphere in the body of the cylinder at the end adjacent to
the device for altering the effective area.
This orifice under normal conditions is closed by the piston valve, but should
the pressure increase, the piston valve would compress the pressure spring to a
further extent and would in such movement uncover this second orifice, and
allow the air to escape by the bye-passage to the atmosphere. As the pressure
decreases the spring gradually returns the valve to normal position for inflated
condition of tyre and closes the escape orifice.
Doted this 6th dov of Ionvory 1808
FELL & JAMES,
1, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Valves for Pneumatic Tyred Wheels of Cycles and
other Vehicles.
I, HEDLEY OLIVER, of St. Benet's Chambers, Fenchurch Street, in the City of
London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement: —
This invention relates to valves and has for its object the construction and
arrangement of an automatic valve for the admission and retention of a fluid
under pressure within a receptacle, the automatic cut off at a given pressure from
the source of supply and the function of a safety valve to prevent an excess of
pressure within the reservoir.

page_text: In order that my invention may be the better understood I will now proceed
to describe the same in reference to its application to the pneumatic tyre of a
wheel of a cycle or other vehicle as a convenient example, such as is illustrated
in the accompanying drawings and in relation to the letters and figures marked
thereon. Like letters refer to like parts in the various figures.
Figure 1 is a sectional view of one form of a valve according to my invention.
Figure 2 is a modified construction of the same.
Figure 3 shows an automatic pumping device fitted to a wheel of a cycle.
Figure 4 is a side view of the same.
Figure 5 is a detail view of the excentric for operating the pump.
To carry my invention into effect in this particular instance I provide the
frame A of the cycle with an excentric sheave B, the circumference of which is
made adjustable about the axis of rotation of the wheel as shown in Figures 4
and 5, and upon this sheave B I anti-frictionally mount a strap or the like C which
is adapted to produce a relative reciprocation of a plunger with a pump barrel D),
in this case the plunger is carried by the discharge pipe, and the pump barrel is
pivotally connected to the excentric strap C. The sheave B is adapted with means
to have its eccentricity varied from nil to maximum so as to put the pump out of
action altogether when desired, consisting of a radial slot E within the sheave B
and a retaining device F to fix the position of the sheave relative to the frame.
The valve G consists of a cylinder H having an inlet and an outlet passage I
and J respectively leading from the body thereof, and also an orifice K which
communicates with the atmosphere. Within the cylinder H I arrange a valve L
consisting of two pistons 7 and connected together by a stem or rod 12, the said
pistons and and the three orifices I, J, and K herein before mentioned being
relatively arranged to one another so that when the pistons are at the left hand
end of the cylinder H communication is established between the inlet and outlet
orifices I and J by the annular space between the two pistons and and when
the valve is at the other end of the cylinder H between the inlet orifice I and the
outlet orifice K to atmosphere, while the outlet orifice J to the tyre is closed.
The right hand end of the cylinder is closed by an adjustable cover or plug M
which presses against a spring N reacting upon the piston valve L and tends
to press the valve L toward the left hand end of the cylinder which enables free
communication to exist between the inlet and outlet orifices I and J so that the
pump is in free communication with the tyre.
The left hand end of the cylinder is closed by a cover or plug O which is adapted
to make a joint by means of a washer P against the end of the piston ¹ so as to
take away a certain proportion of the effective area of the piston valve. I arrange
a bye-passage Q leading from the outlet passage to the tyre and communicating
with the space between the piston valve and the cover O of the cylinder.
The operation of the valve is as follows: when the tyre is being inflated the
said spring N forces the piston valve G against the cover O at the opposite end of
the cylinder and allows only a fraction of the effective area of the piston 11 to be
exposed to the pressure, the opposite end 7 of the piston being in communication
with the atmosphere through the orifice R. As the pressure augments in the
tyre, it acts by means of the bye-passage Q upon the fractional effective area of the
piston valve G, and on reaching such an amount as to overcome the pressure of
the spring N, it moves the piston valve G and immediately exposes the full
effective area of the piston and forces the piston valve back against the pressure
of the spring N with a sharp movement thereby closing the outlet orifice J to
the pump and putting the inlet orifice I in communication with the atmosphere.
This action short circuits the pump to the atmosphere and takes off the work
being executed thereby. Should the pressure in the tyre leak off as it drops the
spring N forces the valve G back and puts the pump again in communication
with the tyre.
The maximum pressure of charging can be varied by varying the strength of
the spring N by the screw adjustment of the cover M of the cylinder.

page_text: In order to provide for the relief of excessive air pressure, as might occur from
expansion of the air within the tyre by heat, I provide a second orifice S com-
municating with the atmosphere in the body of the cylinder at the end adjacent
to the device for altering the effective area.
This orifice S under normal conditions is closed by the piston valve G, but
should the pressure increase, the piston valve would compress the pressure spring N
to a further extent and would in such movement uncover this second orifice S
and allow the air to escape by the bye-passage Q to the atmosphere. As the
pressure decreases the spring N gradually returns the valve G to normal position
for inflated condition of tyre and closes the escape orifice S.
In Figure 2 a modified construction of valve is shown in which the piston is
made larger than the piston and the cylinder H is correspondingly formed to
receive these pistons. The piston 7 is adapted with a valve face T to form a joint
with a seating U formed in the cylinder H at the junction of the parts of different
diameters.
This arrangement is the equivalent of the plug O and washer P which makes a
joint with the piston as shown in Fig. 1 and acts in precisely the same manner,
the only difference being that the protected effective area is transferred from one
piston to the other. I provide in this valve a ball valve V which makes a joint on
the seating W and in this way acts as a back pressure valve and prevents the air
from escaping, as in this form it is not necessary that the piston should close
the orifice J leading to the tyre.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim
is:
1st. A valve consisting of a cylinder, a double piston valve within said cylinder,
a spring or other elastic resistance adapted to press against the said valve, means
for protecting a fraction of the effective area of the piston valve from the pressure
within the valve until a certain predetermined pressure has been exceeded, and
ports in the said cylinder coacting with the piston valve, so as to short circuit, the
supply when a given pressure has been reached, substantially as described.
3rd. A valve consisting of in combination, a cylinder a double piston valve
within said cylinder, a spring or other elastic resistance adapted to press against
the said valve, means for protecting a fraction of the effective area of the piston
valve from the pressure within the valve until a certain predetermined pressure
has been exceeded and ports in the said cylinder coacting with the piston valve so
as to short circuit the supply and when a given pressure has been reached relieve
any excess of pressure behind the valve, substantially as described.
4th. A valve consisting of in combination, a cylinder, a double piston valve
within said cylinder a spring or other elastic resistance adapted to press against
the said valve, means for adjusting the pressure of the said spring or other elastic
resistance, means for protecting a fraction of the effective area of the piston valve
from the pressure within the valve until a certain predetermined pressure has
been exceeded, and ports in the said cylinder coacting with the piston valve so
as to short circuit the supply when a given pressure has been reached and relieve
any excess of pressure behind the valve, substantially as described.
Dated this 16th day of August 1898.
FELL & JAMES;
1, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.