Improvements in Pneumatic Tires for the Wheels of Vehicles.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Apr., 1895-Accepted, 18th May, 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Pneumatic Tires for the Wheels of Vehicles.
I, GEORGE VAN WAGENEN, of No. 233 West Street in the City of New
York, in the County and State of New York, United States of America, 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 :-
The invention relates to improvements in pneumatic tires for the wheels of
vehicles, and its object is to provide a tire which will not under ordinary conditions
become punctured. The liability of pneumatic tires for bicycles becoming
punctured when passing over a pointed or sharp edged object, the inconveniences
resulting therefrom, and the many unsuccessful attempts to remedy such results
are matters of common knowledge in the art to which the invention pertains, and
it is therefore unnecessary to state them here. It is the purpose of the present
invention to so construct the tire that it will absolutely resist any tendency on the
part of any object over which the wheels may pass to puncture the same, and this
object I have successfully accomplished without increasing the weight or decreasing
the "life" of the wheel.
In carrying my invention into effect I am enabled to dispense with many of the
complicated features of the existing pneumatic tires, and to produce a tire of great
durability and simplicity.
In accordance with my invention the tire has embedded within it a series of
independent metallic plates whose side and end edges overlap each other and which
plates while forming an impassable barrier to the entrance of a tack, nail or other
cutting object, yield independently of each other, whether under the inflation of
the tube or the compression of the same while in use. The said metallic plates are
within the tread of the tire and are arranged longitudinally and transversely and
are preferably located between layers of canvas, which also will be embedded
within the rubber of the tire.
A second part of my invention pertains to means for preventing the inner
circumferential surfaces of the tire from pulling away from the concave surface of
the rim of the wheel, and in carrying this part of my invention into effect, I construct
that portion of the tire which is in contact with the rim, of plano-convex form and
provide adjacent to the flat surface thereof, a series of independent metallic plates, at
their ends slightly separated from each other and extending around the tire; the
object of the plano-convex portion of the tire being to cause all of the yielding motion
of the tire to take place at points below the opposite edges of the rim of the wheel,
while the said plates located in said portion of the tire operate to stiffen the
structure adjacent to the rim and prevent the drawing outward of the rubber from
said rim. In accordance with the second part of my invention when the tire is
under pressure and flattened on its tread, the sides of the tire will distend outward
and readily yield, but the inner circumferential surfaces of the tire will be made to
retain their close contact with the concave surface of the rim, thus the yielding
motion of the tire is confined to points below the opposite side edges of the rim of
the wheel.
Referring to the accompanying drawings,
Figure is a vertical transverse section through the rim and tire of a wheel
constructed in accordance with the invention ;
Figure 2 is a detached longitudinal section through the lower or tread portion

page_text: of the pneumatic tire and illustrating the position of the interior lining plates:
considered along one of the longitudinal lines thereof;
Figure 3 is a detached view of one of the lining plates showing its form before
its side and end edges are flanged or bent outward from the main body of the
plate;
Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the said lining plates as it appears after
its side and end edges are flanged or bent outward.
In the accompanying drawings A designates the usual rin of the wheel; B the
pneumatic tire; C the tread of the said tire; D the plano-convex portion of said
tire in contact with the concave periphery of the rim A; E, F, respectively the
layers of canvas which are embedded within the tire; G the line of metallic plates
enclosed within the plano-convex portion D of the tire; and H the series of lining
plates which overlap each other at their side and end edges and extend transversely
and longitudinally along the tread C.
The invention is not limited to any special form, size or construction of the
plates H, but it is important that said plates overlap each other at their edges and
that they be small enough to yield independently of each other around the tread
of the tire. The plates H are not only independent of each other but in the
practical manufacture of the tire they will be separated from each other and the
rubber into which they are embedded will fill in the spaces between the adjacent
end and side edges of the said plates, whereby each plate will be separately encased
by the rubber and capable of an independent movement. The ends and sides of
the plates H will
which flanges, as preferably be provided with flanges lettered J, K, respectively,
in the drawings, overlap cach other in transverse and
longitudinal series along the tread of the tire, but are not hooked together to form
a rigid chain of plates. On the contrary the said plates at their flanges J, K, are
separated from each other by a portion of the rubber of which the tire is composed.
The flanges J, K, prevent a tack or other sharp object from entering the tire
between the plates H.
In the formation of the plates H a blank having its corners removed, as
indicated in Figure 3, is first constructed, and thereafter the side and end edges
of said blank are turned outward to form the flanges J, K. The plates H when
arranged in the transverse and longitudinal series of lines, as indicated in the
drawings, will independently yield with the rubber either during the expansion or
contraction of the tire or its compression while in use, and said plates constitute a
non-puncturable interior lining for the tire which will increase its durability and
preserve in the tire its "life" without detracting from the niceties and efficiency
of, the pneumatic cushion.
Within the tire B are the layers of canvas E, F, which substantially form con-
centric rings and between which are arranged the longitudinal and transverse
series of plates H, as illustrated in Figures and 2, the said layers of canvas
increasing the strength and durability of the tire. The plates H will preferably
be formed of thin metal and when located directly within the tread of the
pneumatic tube will enable the manufacturer to entirely dispense with many of
the coverings or shoes which in existing tires are utilized to strengthen the same
and prevent the escape of the air therefrom.
The plano-convex portion D of the tire is illustrated in Figure 1, and, as
above described, the said portion D is in contact with the concave periphery of
the rim A and contains in line with its length the metallic plates G which have no
yielding action on transverse lines, but which stiffen said plano-convex portion D
and prevent the surface of the same from being pulled away from the surface of
the rim while the wheel is in use and under pressure. In the absence of the
plano convex portion D the tire when under pressure with its sides distended
would have a natural tendency to pull the inner circumferential surfaces of the
tire away from the rim A, and to overcome this tendency of the strain created by
the compression of the tire, and to compel the latter to closely hug the rim A is
the purpose of the plano-convex portion D and plates G.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim, is
1. The pneumatic tire containing within its tread the series of transverse and
longitudinal lines of independent plates, whose side and end edges overlap each
other; substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
2. The pneumatic tire containing within its tread the series of transverse and
longitudinal lines of independent plates, whose side and end edges have over-
lapping flanges; substantially as set forth.
3. The pneumatic tire having within its tread the layers of canvas and between
said layers the transverse and longitudinal series of independent plates whose side
and end edges overlap each other; substantially as set forth.
4. The pneumatic tire adapted to fit the rim of the wheel and having moulded
within its tread the series of transverse and longitudinal independent plates
overlapping each other at their side and end edges but separated from each other
by the rubber of the tire; substantially as set forth.
5. A pneumatic tire having at its inner circumferential edges a solid plano-
convex section fitting the concave rim of the wheel and containing in line with its
length the series of longitudinal plates; substantially as set forth.
6. A pneumatic tire for wheels having along its interior circumferential edges a
solid plano-convex section entering the coucave rim of the wheel; substantially as
set forth.
D
ML 1905
GEORGE VAN WAGENEN.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.