An Improved Manufacture of Pneumatic Tyres.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Mar., 1894
Complete Specification Left. 5th Oct., 1894-Accepted, 10th Nov., 1894
PROVISIONAL
SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Manufacture of Pneumatic Tyres.
I, CHARLES KINGSTON WELCH, of The Hollies, Eaton Road, Coventry, in the
County of Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
This invention relates to the manufacture of pneumatic tyres and has for its
object to provide an improved process and apparatus for constructing the canvas
jacket or the like which forms an important part of such tyres.
In the Specification filed with my application No. 13,3913 I describe jackets
for pneumatic tyres which jackets are mainly composed of cross or transverse
threads. The present invention relates to jackets of a similar character but which
are constructed according to methods differing from those described in my said
prior Specification.
Jackets made according to this invention may be employed with any description
of pneumatic tyre.
According to one part of my invention I provide an endless band of fabric which
consists almost entirely of cross or transverse threads and having a suitable number
of circumferential threads adapted to maintain said cross threads in position during
the manipulation of the band.
Such a band may be cut from a woven tube in the manner described in the
Specification of prior British Letters Patent No. 22,669 granted to me, in
which case the warps form the cross threads and the weft the circumferential
threads. Or the band may consist of a woven strip of fabric of suitable width
joined at its ends in any suitable manner in which case the weft forms the cross
threads and the warps the circumferential threads.
"
""
In one method of manipulation I arrange the band on a "former" of suitable
section. Collapsible "formers" such as described in the Specification of British
Letters Patent No. 10,61792 may be used and I prefer that said "former
should be rather wider than those illustrated in said Specification, and be provided
with a groove in the centre of the external periphery. The band being placed on
the "former an endless wire ring is adjusted in the middle thereof in the
peripheral groove of the "former." The "former" is collapsed or a portion
thereof is removed to allow the wire ring to be placed in position thereon. The
edges of the band are now displaced relatively to each other so that the cross
threads make any suitable angle with the circumferential threads. prefer that
the said cross threads should be at an angle of 45° with the circumferential threads.
The band is now covered with india rubber solution which may be allowed to dry
and then one half of the band is turned about the middle wire so as to cover the
other half of the band the wire being enclosed at the fold. I prefer when folding
over the band to place on the "former" under one half of the band a ring of
india rubber, cord or the like encircling the "former." The said ring which may
be first pushed close to the central wire is then rolled or drawn with the fabric over
the second half of the band so as to bring the threads of each half closely into
contact, the ring being left at the finish of the operation outside both layers. The
band is now approximately half its original width and consists of two layers of
cross threads the threads in one layer making an angle with the threads of the
other layer.
In some cases the band is used with a single wire or core in one edge thereof the
other edge being rolled up or otherwise thickened or not as desired so that the band
may be used to secure a tyre to a wheel rim. Either or both edges of the band

page_text: may be cut off if desired after the two layers of cross threads are solutioned
together and in the latter case the band inay consist of two layers of cross
threads solutioned together without any circumferential threads.
When the band is to be used in the well-known "Dunlop detachable" tyre a wire
ring is required in each edge. In this case the second ring may be rolled or folded
in the edge of either or both layers at any suitable stage in the manufacture for
instance after the layers are solutioned together and before the band is taken off
the former. Or it, may be done after the band is removed from the "former" in
which case the "former" need not be collapsible but one portion is preferably made
removable from the other portion thereof.
In another method of carrying out my invention I use two endless bands of a
similar character to the one above described and I solution one on the top of the
other on a suitable "former" the cross threads being arranged to cross at any
suitable angle in the two layers. A very suitable manner of arranging the
cross threads is to displace both edges of a layer in the same direction with
reference to the central portion of the layer, the direction of displacement being
different in the two layers. It then happens that any threads of one layer will
cross the threads of the other layer in two points instead of one only. Many
other ways of arranging the cross threads may be practised. When I make the
endless band from a strip joined at its ends and in which the weft forms the cross
threads of the band I very often weave loops at or near each edge in which loops
the wire or wires when such is or are used, may be placed. Said wires may be
four in number one being placed in each edge of each band. Or I may use only
two wires each wire making two convolutions the first convolution being placed in
one edge of one of the bands and the second convolution in the adjacent edge of
the other band the ends of the wire being afterwards connected or secured to the
rim by any suitable means. Or I may use two wires each making one turn only
and threaded in the loops or edges of the bands alternately.
I may incorporate a sheet or sheets of rubber with the two layers of the band
such rubber sheets being placed between the layers or outside either or both of the
same. The whole may then be vulcanized together if desired.
Said rubber sheets
may be inserted at any desired stage of the manufacture.
For example when one half of the band has been solutioned 1 place thereon a
layer of dry and preferably raw india rubber, I then fold over the other portion of
the band and arrange the threads of the said portion of the band in any desired
fashion on the top of the layer of rubber. The upper layer is now wetted with a
suitable india rubber solvent, naphtha for example, which wholly or partially
dissolves the layer of rubber thereby uniting the two portions of the band together.
A band of fabric consisting of two layers such as above described may be made
into a tube by joining the edges of the band by solution and I may so arrange that
the joint is the same thickness as the other portions of the band if desired. Such
tubular jackets may be used with or without an inner tube or may be used as a
single tube tyre.
I prefer that the threads of each layer and the layers themselves should be as
close together as possible and this is generally effected when arranging the threads
on the "former or the like previous to solutioning the band.
"
The wires hereinabove mentioned are intended to include any description of
inextensible core such as cord, rope, gut or the like. My improved jackets may
equally well be used with tyres which are not secured to the rim by wires or the
like and when this is the case it is not always necessary to employ collapsible
"formers" in the manufacture.
Dated this 1st day of March 1894.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Manufacture of Pneumatic Tyres.
I, CHARLES KINGSTON WELCH, of The Hollies, Eaton Road, Coventry, in the
County of Warwick, 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 the manufacture of pneumatic tyres and has for its
object to provide an improved process and apparatus for constructing the canvas
jacket or inexpansible lining which forms an important part of such tyres.
In the Specification filed with my application No. 13,391 of 1893 I describe
jackets or linings for pneumatic tyres which jackets or linings are mainly composed
of cross or transverse threads. The present invention relates to jackets of a similar
character but which are constructed according to methods different from those
described in my said prior Specification.
Jackets or linings made according to this invention may be employed with
various descriptions of pneumatic tyres.
According to my invention I provide an endless band of textile fabric or of fabric
composed of threads and I manipulate and fold the said band in the manner
hereinafter set forth so as to form a jacket or lining having two layers of transverse
threads the threads of one layer being at an angle-with the threads of the other
laver. The said band consists almost entirely of transverse threads but has a
suitable number of longitudinal threads adapted to maintain said transverse threads
in position during the manipulation of the band and manufacture of the tyre.
Such a band may be cut from a woven tube in the manner described in the
Specification of prior British Letters Patent No. 22,669, of 1892 granted to me, in
which case the warp forms the cross threads and the weft the longitudinal threads.
Or the band may consist of a strip of woven fabric of suitable width joined at its
ends in any suitable manner in which case the weft forms the cross threads and the
warp the longitudinal threads.
In order that my invention may be more easily. understood I will now proceed to
describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 shews a portion of a woven tube which is devoid of weft threads'at
some parts thereof.
Figures 2 to 4 shew different stages in the manufacture of tyre jackets or linings
according to one of my improved methods.
Figures 5 and 6 are views illustrating a different method of turning over one part
of the band hereinafter fully explained.
Figures 7 and 8 are sectional views, and
Figures 9 and 10 are plan views shewing four different modifications of my
improved tyre jacket or lining.
.
Figure 11 is a cross section of a tubular tyre jacket or lining constructed
according to my invention.
The bands I prefer to use are endless and cut from such a tube as that shewn in
Figure 1, in which a, a, a, are the warp threads and a', a¹, a' are the weft threads;
said weft threads are woven in groups separated by spaces devoid of weft
threads. A band may be obtained from such a tube by cutting the same at the
lines 1-1, 2-2 and this band will consist of transverse threads maintained in
position by a few weft threads at the edges and middle of the same..
"
In one method of manipulation I arrange the band on a "former" of suitable
section. Collapsible "formers" such as described in the Specification of British
Letters Patent No. 10,617 of 1892 may be used. I prefer that the "former
should be rather wider than those illustrated in said Specification, and be provided
The
with a groove in the centre of the external periphery as shewn in Figure 2.
baud A is placed on the "former" B and an endless wire ring C is adjusted in the

page_text: "
middle thereof in peripheral groove B₁ of the "former." The “former is
collapsed in the manner pointed out in my prior Specification No. 10,617 of 1892,
or a portion thereof is removed to allow the wire ring to be placed in position
thereon. The edges of the band are then displaced relatively to each other so that
the cross threads a, a make any suitable angle with the circumferential threads a¹, a¹.
This stage is shewn in Figure 3. I prefer that the said cross threads should be at
an angle of about 45° with the circumferential threads.
under
The band is now covered with india-rubber solution which may be allowed to dry
and then one half of the band is turned about the middle wire С so as to cover the
other half of the band the said wire being enclosed at the fold as shown in Figure 4.
The band is now approximately half its original width and consists of two layers of
cross threads the threads in one layer making an angle with the threads of the
other layer. When folding the band I sometimes place on the "former
one half of the band a ring E of india-rubber, cord or the like, encircling the
"former as shewn in Figure 5. The said ring E which may be first pushed close
to the central wire is then rolled or drawn with the fabric over the second half of
the band as shown in dotted lines in Figure 5 and in the direction of the arrow so
as to bring the threads of each half closely into contact, the ring being left at the
finish of the operation outside both layers as shewn in Figure 6.
"
In some cases the band is used with a single wire or core in one edge thereof the
the other edge being rolled up or otherwise thickened or not as desired so that
the band may be used to secure a tyre to a wheel rim. A cross section of such a
band is shewn in Figure 7 where C is the wire at one edge and the other edge of
the band a is rolled up.
Either or both edges of the band may be cut off if desired after the two layers
of cross thread are solutioned together and in the latter case the band may consist
of two layers of cross threads solutioned together without any circumferential
threads.
When the band is to be used in the well known "Dunlop detachable" tyre a
wire ring is required in each edge. In this case the second ring may be rolled or
folded in the edge of either or both layers at any suitable stage in the manufacture
for instance after the layers are solutioned together and before the band is taken
off the "former." Or this may be done after the band is removed from the
"former" in which case the "former" need not be collapsible but one portion is
preferably made removable from the other portion thereof. A. cross section of a
band having one wire C at one edge in the fold of the band, and another wire C'
rolled up in the other edge is shewn in Figure 8.
In another method of carrying out my invention I use two endless bands of a
similar character to the one above described and I solution one on the top of the
other on a suitable "former" the transverse threads being arranged to cross at any
suitable angle in the two layers. A plan view of a portion of a band constructed
according to this method is shewn in Figure 9. A very suitable manner of
arranging the cross threads in a band of this description is shewn in Figure 10
wherein both edges of a layer are displaced in the same direction with reference to
the central portion of the layer, the direction of displacement being different in the
two layers. It then happens that any thread such as a³ of one layer will cross
the threads a, a of the other layer in two points instead of one only. Many other
ways of arranging the cross threads may be practised.
When I desire to incorporate inextensible cores such as endless wires or the like
with the edges of the band I may place the same in the position shewn in the
dotted lines in Figure 9. The edges of the band are then folded over the cores
and secured in place by solution and stitches if necessary.
It will be observed that
in this case the longitudinal threads do not surround the cores but are nearer to
the centre of the band so as to be at the edge of the rim when the tyre is in place
on the wheel.
When I make the endless band from a strip joined at its ends and in which the
weft forms the transverse threads of the band I very often weave loops at or near

page_text: each edge as shewn at c in Figure 9 in which loops the wire or wires when such is.
or are used, may be placed. Said wires may be four in number one being placed
in each edge of each band. Or I may use only two wires each wire making two.
convolutions the first convolution being placed in one edge of one of the bands and
the second convolution in the adjacent edge of the other band the ends of the wire
being afterwards connected or secured to the rim by any suitable means.
Or I
may use two wires each making one turn only and threaded in the loops or edges
of the bands alternately.
I may incorporate a sheet or sheets of rubber with the two layers of the band
such rubber sheets being placed between the layers or outside either or both of the
The whole may then be vulcanized together if desired. Said rubber sheets
same.
may be inserted at any desired stage of the manufacture.
For example when one half of the band has been solutioned I place thereon a
layer of dry and preferably raw india-rubber, I then fold over the other portion of
the band as hereinabove described with reference to Figure 4 and arrange the
threads of the said portion of the band in any desired fashion on the top of the layer
of rubber. The upper layer is now wetted with any suitable india-rubber solvent,
naphtha or india-rubber solution for example, which wholly or partially dissolves
the layer of rubber thereby uniting the two portions of the band together.
I sometimes stitch the two layers of the band together in addition to solutioning
the same.
A band consisting of two layers such as above described may be made into a tube
by joining the edges of the band by solution and I may so arrange that the joint
has the same thickness as the other portions of the band if desired. Figure 11 is a
transverse section of such a tube which consists of two layers E and F, a lapped
joint being made at G. It will be observed that the joint at G has the same thickness
as any other part of the tube. These tubular jackets may be used with or without
an inner tube or may be used as single tube tyres.
1 prefer that the threads of each layer and the layers themselves should be as
close together as possible and this is generally effected when arranging the threads
on the "former" or the like previous to solutioning the band.
The wires hereinabove mentioned are intended to include various description of
inextensible core such as cord, rope, gut or the like. My improved jackets or
linings may equally well be used with tyres which are not secured to the rim by
wires or the like. For example I may use such a jacket for securing a tyre to a
wheel rim in the manner shewn in J. B. Dunlop's Specification No. 4116 of 1889
instead of employing ordinary canvas as therein set forth. In these cases it is not
always necessary to employ a collapsible "former" in the manufacture.
Tyres constructed as herein described are more rigid laterally that is to say
they are not liable to roll on the rim the tangential pull of the tyre on the rim
being in the direction of the threads, at the same time they are very resilient and
considerably increase the speed of the machine.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In the manufacture of pneumatic tyres, the use of woven tubes which are
devoid of weft-threads at some parts thereof, substantially as, and for the purpose,
specified.
2. The method of making an inexpansible lining or jacket for a pneumatic tyre
by displacing in opposite directions the edges of an endless band which consists
mainly of transverse threads, then folding the band about its median line thereby
producing two layers of transverse threads the threads in one layer being at an
angle with the threads in the other layer, substantially as described.
3. The modification of my invention wherein I make the jacket of two separate
bands by superposing one upon the other instead of folding a single band, sub-
stantially as described.

page_text: 4. The methods of making an inexpansible liuing or jacket substantially as
described with reference to Figures 2 to 4, of the accompanying drawings.
5. The modification of my invention wherein I incorporate sheets of rubber with
the layers of fabric, substantially as described.
6. The method of folding the band when on the "former" substantially as
described with reference to Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.
7. The method of making a tubular jacket or lining for a pneumatic tyre
substantially as described with reference to Figure 11 of the accompanying
drawings.
8. A collapsible "former" provided with a median peripheral groove and
having a cross section substantially similar to that shewn in the accompanying
drawing for the purpose specified.
9. An improved pneumatic tyre provided with a jacket constructed according to
any of the methods hereinabove described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.