Improvements in or connected with Pneumatic Tyres for Cycles and other Vehicles.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 27th June, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 12th Jan., 1894-Accepted, 19th Feb., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Pneumatic Tyres for Cycles and
other Vehicles.
I, JOHN WILLIAM HALL of 57 Villa Road Handsworth Birmingham in the
County of Warwick Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
My improvement relates to pneumatic tyres of the "detachable" type and
principally consists in the construction and use of a simple and easily detachable
separate restraining cover of canvas or other suitable material to be fitted over the
air chamber in place of or in addition to the methods now generally used to prevent
the air chamber from bursting and which methods may be practically said to be
comprised in the two following arrangements: Firstly that in which the restraining
cover of canvas is fixed to the inside of the outer rubber cover prior to the
vulcanizing of the latter--and Secondly-that in which the canvas restraining cover
is fixed to the outer cover of rubber (after the latter has been vulcanized) by
means of cold rubber solution.
The first of these processes has the effect of seriously impairing the strength of
the canvas owing to the great heat required in the vulcanizing process whilst in the
latter form the canvas is liable to peel away from the rubber beside which the tyre
is rendered very stiff and non-resilient.
I have specially designed my improved tyre so as to do away with these dis-
advantages and at the same time to admit of great ease of repair should it be
damaged, and I will now proceed to describe one of the methods in which I prefer
to construct it, though the description is only to be taken as illustrative of the
principle of my invention and not as exhaustive thereof.
I construct my improved tyre and rim preferably as follows:-
The rim is formed of steel or any other suitable metal, and has a central raised
flat portion round each side of which is a depression or channel, the outer edges of
which stand up a little higher than the central flat portion.
I form the air tube of pure rubber and the valve passes through a hole in the
centre of the rim, the air tube resting on the central raised part of the latter-
but between which and the air tube is a strip of canvas with loose edges to prevent
the air tube being chafed by the rim. To prevent the air tube from expanding
beyond a predetermined size I fit over it a detachable restraining cover of canvas
or other suitable material cut preferably on the cross or bias, and each edge of this
cover is brought down near to one of the edges or sides of the upper part of the
central raised part of the rim and there secured to or round an endless wire ring of
such a size or diameter as to just pass freely over or on to the said central raised
part. The edges of the canvas are preferably wrapped round or over the wires
and fastened back to the canvas cover by rubber solution or other means so as to
form a pipe in which the wire lays.
The outer casing or cover is formed of pure rubber only and is adapted to fit
over the canvas restraining cover, the edges of such rubber cover coming down into
the gutters or channels at the sides of the rim and being retained there by means
of wire or other bands which pass around in the said channels and press on beads
or enlarged portions formed on the outer edges of the said cover.
These bands
together with the part of the sides of the cover which reach up to the edges of the
rim being preferably strengthened by means of canvas worked in during the process
of manufacture. The ends of the bands holding the outer cover in position on the

page_text: rim may be joined by any suitable means, such as a lever joint, sliding catches,
ratchet joint or a right and left handed screw and nut, or a hook-joint.
Around each side of the inside of the outer cover and practically level with the
upper part of the central raised part of the rim when the outer cover is in position
on the same I form a small bead or projection of such size as to effectually prevent
the before mentioned wire rings on the lower edges of the canvas restraining cover
from being blown off the edge of the central raised part of the rim and getting
down between the sides of the same and the outer cover when the tyre is inflated.
Suitable pockets may be formed in the rim and the outer cover to receive the
fastenings of the wires or bands which hold the cover in place and these pockets
will serve to prevent creeping of the cover. To prevent any creeping of the
restraining cover, I prefer to form suitable projecting pieces on the wires in the
edges of the same which may engage with holes recesses studs or their equivalents
in the rim or the holes or studs may be formed in or on the lower parts of the
sides of the outer cover and preferably in that part which is below the outer edge
of the rim.
To place my improved tyre as above described in position on the rim I preferably
proceed as follows:-
:―
I first place the outer rubber cover over the rim and having secured one
of the beaded edges in one of the gutters in the rim I turn the cover inside
out right off the rim. One of the wired edges of the canvas restraining cover
is then worked over the edge of the rim into the unoccupied gutter and being
pulled down into the same on one side, the rest of the wired edge is easily got over
the edge of the rim into the gutter and from there it is pushed right over the
central raised part until it is pressed hard against the small bead on the inside of
that edge of the outer cover which is already fixed in the rim. The air tube is
now placed in position on the rim with the valve in the hole in the same and the
other wired edge of the canvas restraining cover is got over the edge of the rim in
the same way as the first one and is placed in position on the raised central part.
The outer rubber cover is then brought over the canvas cover and its beaded edge
secured in the gutter in the rim in the same manner as the first one after which the
tyre is ready for inflation.
I sometimes make my rims of an ordinary trough shaped section instead of with
a central raised part as above described and in this case the ends of the wires in
the edges of the canvas cover are joined by means of a right and left handed
screw or by hooks or other means in order that the ends of the wires may be
disengaged so as to enable them to be got over the edges of the rim. In this case
the wired edges of the canvas restraining cover rest on the bottom of the rim.
Sometimes instead of having separate wires or bands to hold the outer rubber
cover in place, I form the upper edges of the rim with inwardly turned beads
square on their undersides, and under these beads the beads on the outer edges of
the outer rubber cover fit, being kept in place by the air pressure holding the
wired edges of the canvas cover tightly against them. This method of fixing the
outer cover is specially adapted to be used with the trough shaped rim above
described.
Another method I sometimes adopt is to use a rim similar to the one first
described with a central raised part but instead of forming the holding down beads
on the outer cover on the outside I form them on the inside of the cover and of
such a height or depth as to be level on their upper sides with the top of the
central raised part of the rim, so that when the tyre is inflated the wired edges of
the canvas cover will be pressed or forced over on to the beads on the cover and
will therefore hold them firmly in the gutters of the rim.
In other cases I prefer to form the outer rubber cover with piped edges to pass
wires or cords through the pipes thus formed, and draw the ends together by
suitable means after the cover has been placed on the rim. This form of cover can
be used with either the trough shaped form of rim or with the one with a central
raised part.

page_text: I sometimes line the outer cover with fine canvas or linen for the purpose of
strengthening it, but in the majority of cases I prefer not to do so as it somewhat
destroys the resiliency of the tyre.
to which it
I would have it understood that I do not limit my invention to anyone form as
herein described, since in some one or other of its various forms it
may be adapted
to most of the tyres now in use including such tyres as the "Welch
can be adapted by preferably making the rim with two steps on each side, the
lower one being for the wires in the canvas restraining cover and the upper one for
those in the edges of the outer rubber cover.
Dated this 26th day of June 1893.
JOHN WILLIAM HALL.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Pneumatic Tyres for Cycles and
other Vehicles.
I, JOHN WILLIAM HALL of 57 Villa Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
n what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement: -
This invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying
drawings which are cross sections of tyres constructed according to this invention.
Figure 1 represents my invention as applied to a tyre in which a cover with the
beads formed on the outside as in the well-known Trigwell tyre is employed.
Figure 2 represents before inflation the tyre with the beads turned inwardly.
Figure 3 shows the same tyre as Figure 2 after inflation.
Figure 4 represents a similar tyre to that shown in Figures 2 and 3 as applied
to the wooden wheel of an ordinary road vehicle.
Figure 5 represents a tyre applied to a rim in which the edges of the gutters are
turned inwardly.
Figure 6 is a view showing the left hand part in its deflated condition and the
right hand part in its inflated condition of a portion of a tyre applied to another
form of rim with inwardly-turned edges, and
Figure 7 represents a portion of a tyre the cover of which is provided at its
edges with non-stretchable hoops applied to a modified form of the guttered rim.
Like letters represent like parts throughout the drawings.
Describing first, Figure 1, the rim A may be of the usual Trigwell pattern
with a central raised portion or platform A' and side channels or gutters A³, the
outer edges A³ of which are shown of larger diameter than the diameter of the
platform A, the cover B is made of rubber and provided on each edge with a
bead B' adapted to fit a channel or gutter A2 and retained therein by a band or
hoop C of any suitable construction and capable of having its ends connected or
disconnected and tightened up by a lever or other suitable arrangement as may be
required, the bands C serving to hold the beads B' in the channels A'. The cover
is also provided with internal projections or ribs B at the junction of the cover
and the beads the object of which is to prevent the hoops D', one of which is
provided in each edge of the canvas restraining cover D from slipping into the
channels A beside the beads B¹. This is not likely to happen, but in case the
beads B were not good fits in the channels A' it might happen if the ribs B' were
not used. The outer cover B is made of rubber only not lined with canvas as is
usual with outer covers the reason for this being that the strain due to the inflation
of the tyre is taken entirely by the canvas restraining cover D aud it is therefore
unnecessary to strengthen the rubber cover B although I may strengthen the
beads and adjacent parts of the cover by means of canvas worked in during the

page_text: A
process of manufacture, and I sometimes prefer to line the whole of the rubber
cover with fine canvas or linen. E is the rubber air tube provided with a valve
which may pass through a hole in the rim for inflation in the usual manner.
strip of canvas with loose edges is preferably inserted between the air tube and the
platform A to prevent chafing of the air tube, this strip is not shown in the
drawings.
The canvas or other suitable material of which the restraining cover D is made
is preferably cut on the cross or bias its edges being connected to or round the
wire hoops D¹ preferably the canvas is wrapped round the wires and fastened
back upon itself by rubber solution or other means so as to form a pipe to contain
the wire.
Suitable pockets may be formed in the rim and the outer cover to receive the
fastenings of the wires or bands which hold the cover in place and these pockets
will serve to prevent creeping of the cover. To prevent any creeping of the
restraining cover, I prefer to form suitable projecting pieces on the wires in the
edges of the same which may engage with holes, recesses, studs or their
equivalents in the rim or the holes or studs may be formed in or on the lower parts
of the sides of the outer cover and preferably in that part which is below the
outer edge of the rim.
To place my improved tyre as above described in position on the rim I
preferably proceed as follows:-
I first place the outer rubber cover Bover the rim and having secured one of the
beaded edges B' in one of the gutters A³ I turn the cover inside out right off the
rim. One of the wired edges D' of the canvas restraining cover D is then worked
over the edge of the rim into the unoccupied gutter and being pulled down into
the same on one side the rest of the wired edge is easily got over the edge of the rim
into the gutter and from there it is pushed right over the central platform A' until
it is pressed hard against the small bead B2 on the inside of that edge of the outer
cover which is already fixed in the rim. The air tube E is now placed in
position on the rim with the valve in the hole in the same and the other wired
edge of the canvas restraining cover is got over the edge of the rim in the
same way as the first one and is placed in position on the raised_platform.
The outer rubber cover B is then brought over the canvas cover D and its
beaded edge secured in the gutter in the rim in the same manner as the first
one after which the tyre is ready for inflation.
I sometimes make my rims of an ordinary trough shaped section instead of
with a central platform as above described and in this case the ends of the
wires D' in the edges of the canvas cover D are joined by means of a right and left
handed screw or by hooks or other means in order that the ends of the wires
may be disengaged so as to enable them to be got over the edges of the rim. In
this case the wired edges of the canvas restraining cover rest on the bottom of
the rim.
Figure 5 shows an arrangement in which the edges A³ of gutters A2 are turned
inwardly so as to present a holding surface under which the outwardly turned
beads of the cover B are held and prevented from escaping by drawing
inwardly by the air pressure forcing the hoops D' against them; in this view the
rim has the raised platform A' as in Figure 1. In Figure 6 the edges A³ of the rim
are turned inwardly and the beads B¹ of the covor B are turned outwardly and
engage with them as in Figure 5, but the platform A' is dispensed with, a trough
or crescent-shaped rim being adopted. The right-hand side of this figure shows
the tyre in its working position when inflated, the hoop D¹ maintaining the bead B
in its proper position under the edge of the rim A³. The left hand side of the
figure shows the tyre deflated and the hoop D₁ slipped away from the bead B
which can then be easily withdrawn from under the internal projecting edge A³ of
the rim.
In Figure 7 the same parts viz., the air tube E, the canvas restraining cover D
with its non-stretchable bands D₁ and the cover B are all employed, but the

page_text: cover B is provided with wire or other non-stretchable hoops in pipes at the edges
of the cover, the hoops being joined or tightened up in any convenient manner
after the cover is placed upon the rim. The rim also is shown with slight gutters
to accommodate the edges of the cover.
In Figure 2 the beads B' are turned inwardly instead of outwardly as in
Figure 1 and the hoops D¹ of the canvas restraining cover D are arranged when
the tyre is inflated to be drawn sideways on top of the beads B₁ as clearly shown
in Figure 3, this movement being effected entirely by the inflation of the air tube E
which in expanding also expands the canvas cover D as far as it will go thus
drawing the hoops D'into the position shown in Figure 3. In this case the ribs B²
are not required and the hoops C which in the arrangement shown in Figure 1 are
employed for holding the cover B' to the rim A are also dispensed with the
hoops D' serving the double purpose of withstanding the air pressure in the tube E
and also securing the cover B to the rim of the wheel. The hoops D' cannot
move outwards further than shown in Figure 3 being restrained by the cover B
against which they bear and with the shape of rim shown in that figure the cover B
is itself supported by the preferably beaded edges A³ of the rim. If the edges A.³
of the rim did not project so high as shown in Figure 3 the wires D' would be
supported by the cover only which as already stated may be strengthened by canvas
or the like.
In Figure the tyre is substantially the same as that set forth in Figures 2
and 3, but it is shown applied to the wooden wheel of an ordinary road vehicle
and in this case the air tube E rests upon the ordinary iron or steel tyre F
secured in the usual manner upon the wooden felloe G. Separate channel plates H
are in this case used to form the channels in which the beads B' are contained.
These channel plates H form complete annular channels around the rim the plates
themselves being formned as complete rings or they may be in sections; they are
bolted screwed or otherwise suitably fastened as at H' to the felloe G and it will
be observed that the outer edge H does not reach so far from the centre of the
wheel as the surface F of the iron tyre F or in other words that the diameter of
the circle II is not so large as the diameter of the circle F. The object of this
is that should the tyre puncture it can be immediately entirely removed from the
wheel which can then run as an ordinary road wheel upon the iron rim F without
damaging the channel plates H so that the vehicle may complete its journey
without unnecessary delay; the tyre can then be repaired and at once replaced
upon the wheel.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Retaining a tyre or cover upon or in its rim by causing a non-stretchable hoop
or band to move on to or against a bead or equivalent of the cover the movement
being effected by the inflation of the tyre.
2. In a pneumatic tyre moving the non-stretchable band or bands which
prevent the separation of the tyre or cover from the rim by the inflation of
the tyre.
3. In a pneumatic tyre the combination with an expansible outer cover such
as B having external and internal beads such as B¹ B' of a non-expansible inter-
mediate cover such as D with non-stretchable edges or bands D' and a rim such
as A' A substantially as described and illustrated in Figure 1 of the accompanying
drawings.
4. In a pneumatic tyre the combination with a tyre or cover having an
inwardly projecting bead or equivalent such as B₁ of a non-stretchable hoop or
band such as D' adapted to be moved on to B' by the inflation of the tyre substan-
tially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
5. In a pneumatic tyre the combination with an expansible outer cover of a
non-expansible intermediate cover such as D for the double purpose of taking from

page_text: the expansible cover the strain due to the inflation of the air tube and also securing
the outer cover to the rim substantially as described.
6. In a pneumatic tyre where the outer cover or tyre is secured to the rim by
internal non-stretchable bands moved on to the edges of the cover or tyre by the
air pressure the employment of a band or bands so constructed that one edge of
the band or one of the bands can be moved independently of the other substan-
tially as described.
7. In a pneumatic tyre the combination and arrangement of parts constituting
the complete tyre and fastening devices substantially as described and illustrated in
Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.
8. In a pneumatic tyre the combination with an ordinary wooden wheel felloe
and tyre G and F of channel plates such as H expansible cover B having internal
beads or projections B1 an intermediate non-expansible cover such as D with
non-stretchable edges or bands D' and an air tube E the whole constructed
and operating substantially as described and illustrated in Figure 4 of the accom-
panying drawings.
9. In a pneumatic tyre the combination and arrangement of parts constituting
the complete tyre and fastening devices substantially as described and illustrated in
Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 1st day of January 1801