IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TYRES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,.
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TYRES."-
A communication from Messrs. Jackson Brothers, Petin, Gaudet, and
Company, of Rive de Gier, France.
the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,.
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TYRES."-
A communication from Messrs. Jackson Brothers, Petin, Gaudet, and
Company, of Rive de Gier, France.
Sealed the 17th June 1856, and dated the 17th April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th April 1856.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
TYRES," a communication from Messrs. Jackson Brothers, Petin, Gaudet, and
Company, of Rivé de Gier, France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improved processes and machinery for
manufacturing wheel tyres with or without welding, whereby a more perfect
and homogeneous state of the metal in the tyre is attained, and consequently
the tyre rendered stronger and less liable to sudden fracture than can be
arrived at by the ordinary system of manufacturing wheel tyres where they are
subjected to much hammering.
The improvements consist, first, of a peculiar system or mode of rolling the
iron, and of stamping it into suitably-shaped matrices.
Second, of a peculiar system or mode of forming wheel tyres, without any

page_text: welding whatever, from rough blanks, which are rolled directly, without
hammering of any kind.
Third, of an improved construction and arrangement of rolls, worked either
vertically or horizontally, for rolling out the blanks into wheel tyres.
The rough blank of the tyre is formed out of a bar of a flat rectangular
section, or of a section approaching the form of the tyre, that is, with a shoulder
on one edge to form the flange of the tyre. The width of this bar should
correspond to the breadth of the tyre to be produced. The bar is raised to a
welding heat, and is coiled flatwise in a volute form round the conical end of a
roll, and is then removed therefrom by removing an end disc, which is secured
thereon by a key, and serves as a guide during the coiling of the bar. Another
ring is then formed out of a bar having a wedge-shaped section, the bar being
just long enough to form the ring, and allow of a slight overlapping of its ends,
which may or may not be bevilled off to form an even junction. This ring is
then placed in the central aperture of the blank, with its thickest side or end
on the side of the blank from which the flange of the tyre is to be formed.
The whole is now brought to a welding heat, and placed in a matrix having
the exact form of the finished blank, and is subjected to a stamping or
hammering process, the face of the hammer having a conical projection formed
thereon, which at every blow enters further and further into the central
aperture of the blank, and expands it laterally on all sides equally and simul-
taneously, until the blank bas assumed the exact form of the matrix, such
matrix having an annular hollow round its upper edge to form the flange of
the blank. If desirable, the hammer may be made of the form of the matrix,
and the matrix constructed similar to the hammer, or with a conical projection
upon it.
By another mode, the coiled blank, without the internal ring, and formed
out of a bar of a shape somewhat approaching the form of the tyre, is brought
to a welding heat and placed on the end of a roll, and rolled between that
roll and a second one which forms the flange, the operation, as will thus be
obvious, being effected without any hammering whatever, since the blank is
placed at once on the roll after being coiled without hammering. Nevertheless
if a more perfect job is wanted, the blank may be placed in a matrix, and
expanded therein laterally by a conical projection on the hammer, which enters
at each stroke into a metal ring formed of several segments placed, inside
the blank, and expanded by the entrance therein of the conical portion of the
hammer at each stroke. A flat surface or flange on the hammer flattens the
edge of the tyre when it has been sufficiently expanded. In order to finish
the blanks and roll them out to the desired size of the tyre, they are submitted

page_text: to a rolling action between a pair of rolls on horizontal shafts, one of which is
made moveable in its bearings, so as to rise and fall, whilst the other is fixed.
A third roll, working horizontally on a vertical shaft, presses against the edge of
the tyre as it is being rolled. This third roll may, however, be worked on a
horizontal shaft, whilst the other two work on vertical shafts if desired.
A second modification of rolls consists simply of two rolls, one turning
vertically and forming the inner surface of the tyre, and the other turning
horizontally, and having its horizontal surface shaped so as to form the outer
or bearing surface and flange, whilst the edges of the tyre are formed, the one
by a prolongation of the axis of the horizontal roll, and the other by a ring
or projecting collar or flange in the back of the vertical roll. The tyres may be
steeled on their outer surfaces by forming the latter portion of the bar used
in coiling the blank of steel; tyres of cast steel may also be readily formed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TYRES," a communication from Messieurs
Jackson Brothers, Petin, Gaudet, and Company, of Rive de Gier, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal

page_text: Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to certain improved processses and machinery for
manufacturing wheel tyres with or without welding, whereby a more perfect
and homogenous state of the metal in the tyre is attained, and consequently
the tyre rendered stronger and less liable to sudden fracture than can be
arrived at by the ordinary system of manufacturing wheel tyres where they are
subjected to much hammering.
The improvements consist, first, of a peculiar system or mode of rolling the
iron, and of stamping it into suitably-shaped matrices.
Second, of a peculiar system or mode of forming wheel tyres, without any
welding whatever, from rough blanks, which are rolled directly, without
hammering of any kind.
Third, of an improved construction and arrangement of rolls, worked either
vertically or horizontally, for rolling out the blanks into wheel tyres.
The rough blank for the tyre is formed out of a bar of a flat rectangular
section, or of a section approaching the form of the tyre, that is, with a
shoulder on one edge to form the flange of the tyre. The width of this bar
should correspond to the breadth of the blank to be produced. The bar is
raised to a welding heat, and is coiled flatwise in a volute form round the
conical end of a roll, and is then withdrawn therefrom by removing an end
disc, which is secured thereon by a key, and serves as a guide during the
coiling of the bar. Another ring is then formed out of a bar, having a
wedge-shaped section, the bar being just long enough to form the ring and
allow of a slight overlapping at its ends, which may or may not be bevelled off
to form an even junction. This ring is then placed in the central aperture of
the blank, with its thickest side or end on the side of the blank from which
the flange of the tyre is to be formed. The whole is now brought to a welding
heat, and placed in a matrix having the exact form of the finished blank, and is
subjected to a stamping or hammering process, the face of the hammer having a
conical projection formed thereon, which at every blow enters further and further
into the central aperture of the blank, and expands it laterally on all sides
equally and simultaneously, until the blank has assumed the exact form of the
inatrix, such matrix having an annular hollow round its upper edge to furn

page_text: the flange of the blank. If desirable, the hammer may be made of the form
of the matrix, and the matrix constructed similar to the hammer in the
previous arrangement, that is, with a couical projection upon it.
By another mode, the coiled blank, without the internal ring, and formed
out of a bar of a shape somewhat approaching the form of the tyre, is brought
to a welding heat and placed on the end of a roll, and rolled between that roll
and a second one which forms the flange, the operation, as will thus be
obvious, being effected without any hammering whatever, since the blank is
placed at once on the roll after being coiled without hammering. Neverthe-
less, if found desirable, the blank may be placed in a matrix and expanded
therein laterally by a conical projection on the hammer, which enters at cach
stroke into a metal ring, formed of several segments placed inside the blank,
and expanded by the entrance therein of the conical portion of the hammer
at each stroke. A flat surface or flange on the hammer flattens the edge of
the blank, when it has been sufficiently expanded. In order to finish the
blanks and roll them out to the desired size of the tyre, they are submitted to
a rolling action between a pair of rolls on horizontal shafts, one of which is
made moveable in its bearings, so as to rise and fall, whilst the other is fixed.
A third roll, working horizontally on a vertical shaft, presses against the edge
of the tyre as it is being rolled. This third roll may, however, be worked on
a horizontal shaft, whilst the other two work on vertical shafts if desired.
A second modificator of rolls consists simply of two rolls, one turning
vertically and forming the inner surface of the tyre, and the other turning
horizontally, and having its horizontal surface shaped so as to form the outer
or bearing surface and flange, whilst the two edges of the tyre are formed, the
one by a prolongation of the axis of the horizontal roll, and the other by a
ring or projecting collar or flange in the back of the vertical roll. The tyres
may be steeled on their outer surfaces by forming the latter portion of the bar
used in coiling the blank of steel. Tyres of cast steel may also be readily
formed by rolling and treating them as above described.
And in order that the said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
corresponding Figures.
In carrying out this Invention I roll flatwise round a roll a bar of iron of a
rectangular form, as represented at m, or m', Figure 1, of a breadth corre-
sponding to the height or breadth of the blank. This bar is rolled or coiled in
the form of a spiral, on the conical extremity n of a roll, as shewn in Figure 2,
and can be removed from the end of the roll when coiled by withdrawing the

page_text: key h, and taking away the end piece or flange i, which serves to guide the bar
when it is being coiled. This first operation being completed, I roll on a
cylinder arranged for the purpose another iron bar of the form shown at o,
Figures 3 and 4, namely, of a wedge-shape section; this bar of iron is to be of
such a length that it can only be rolled one revolution, so as to form a ring
(Figure 4). The extremities of this bar may or may not be tapered or bevelled
in order to obtain an overlapping flush joint. These two operations having
been completed, the ring o is placed inside the blank m, as shown at Figure 5.
It will be seen by this Figure that the blank m is rolled conically, and the
supplementary ring o, o, is introduced in order that the flange may be formed
out of the greater thickness of the metal, the thick edge of the ring o coinciding
with the flange side of the blank. This blank is then placed in a furnace and
Fraised to a welding heat, and is afterwards placed in a matrix R, under a
hammer L, Figure 5, such matrix having the exact form of the finished blank.
The hammer L is fitted or formed with a conical projecting nipple or boss p',
which on entering the central opening in the blank, at each stroke forces out
the metal laterally all round from the interior of the blank. It will be seen
that after a few blows have been struck by the hammer, the blank m will have
taken the exact form of the die or matrix R, which thus gives a ring perfectly
welded and in a fit state for being rolled into a tyre. In order to obtain a tyre
without welding, the internal ring o may be dispensed with. The two last
spirals or turns of the blank may be made of steel, so as to obtain a steel
surface for the tyre. The dies or matrices and hammers may be altered in
form, by giving the form of the hammer L to the die or matrix R, and that of
the matrix to the hammer.
This mode of welding and hammering possesses an important advantage,
since it allows the blanks to be made in flat spirals. It also enables the
hammering to be performed under very favorable conditions, since the
material is compressed laterally in consequence of the conical form of the
projection on the hammer.
Figure 6 shews another mode of forming a blank without welding. For
this purpose I roll out a bar of iron of the form a, of a width equal to that of
the desired blank. This bar, on leaving the rolling mill, is rolled or coiled
in a spiral or volute form (see Figure 6) on the end of a conical roller. When
this coiled ring a has been formed, a second ring of a similar construction,
shewn at p (Figure 7), is placed in the interior of it; the whole is then placed
in a furnace and raised to a welding heat, when it is carried to the rolling mill
to receive the required dimensions. It will be seen that by giving the form a,
shewn on the Drawing, to the bar of iron from which the ring is obtained, a

page_text: blank is produced having the rough form or outline of a tyre, that is to say,
with the flange already formed upon it, so that on placing this blank between
the rolls P, P', (Figure 7,) which have the exact form of the tyre, the pressure
will be exerted on the entire surface a, b, c, d, that is, internally and externally,
and the rolling will thus be very effectively performed.
This process for obtaining a spiral ring without welding differs from the
process previously mentioned in this, that the ring is not hammered, that it
has the rough form of the tyre with its flange, and that it is passed directly
to the rolls after being coiled. However, if deemed desirable, the blank
thus produced may be placed in a die matrix (Figures 8 and 9), and be
there subjected to the process of hammering. This hammering differs
slightly from that previously described, although the same result is obtained.
The blank, having been raised to a welding temperature, is placed in a
matrix f, and inside the central aperture of the blank a small ring is
introduced, formed in several pieces g, g', g', g. This ring has a conical
interior, so that when it is struck by the hammer P¹, (the form of which
is such that the part 9 of the hammer enters the conical portion of the
ring,) the pressure, which is exerted in a lateral or radiating direction,
causes the spirals of the blank to be perfectly welded by the time the
conical portion of the hammer has penetrated through the ring. 9, 9; the
flat portion of the hammer then reaches the upper surface of the blank
and renders it even. The object of the ring, which is made in various pieces,
is to obtain an internal radiating pressure or hammering, at the same time
preserving a cylindrical exterior ready for rolling, so that both cylinders may
exercise their pressure on the entire surface of the blank. By whichever of
the modes herein-before described the blanks have been obtained, I employ
for the purpose of finishing them and giving them the required dimensions a
peculiar arrangement of rolling mill, which forms a part of this Invention.
In order that this arrangement of rolling mill may be properly understood,
I have thought it sufficient to show at Figures 10 and 11 the forms and
positions of the rolls, without showing the mechanism for actuating them, as
such mechanism may be varied according to circumstances without changing
the principle of the Invention. Figure 10 represents an elevation of one
arrangement of the rolls. The upper horizontal roll A is capable of being raised
or lowered at will by means of any suitable arrangement of mechanism, whilst
the lower roll B remains fixed in its bearings, which should be situated between
the collars G, G. The end C of the lower roll rests in a support placed out-
side the framing. A vertical roll F presses against the ends a and b of the two
horizontal rolls A and B. This roll F is maintained in its vertical position by

page_text: suitable supports arranged for that purpose. It is pressed against by pressure
screws, and receives its motion from the bevel pinions R, R'. It will thus be
seen that by raising the upper roll A the blank T can be introduced between
the three rolls A, B, F, conjointly, and that by giving a powerful downward
pressure to the roll A by means of any suitable mechanism, when the three rolls
are in motion, the tyre or blank T can be rolled, and any required dimensions
given to it, expansion being only possible in the direction of its circumference.
With regard to the flange s, it may be produced at either of the parts r, s, as
may be thought desirable; the end 6 of the roll B receiving the necessary
form. The apparatus may also be reversed if desired by placing the rolls
A, B, vertically, and the roll F horizontally. The tyres can thus be rolled to
any required dimensions. Figure 11 represents another arrangement of rolling
mill. The roll A will be recognized, but that at B is in this case placed
vertically. These rolls turn in a framing on suitable supports, and to introduce
the tyre T the roll A may either be raised or the roll B removed. When the
tyre blank is introduced and the rolls are in motion, by giving a powerful
downward pressure to the roll A by any convenient machinery, the tyre is com-
pressed, and expansion can only take place as before, in the direction of its
circumference, in consequence of which it can be rolled to any required
dimensions. The roll A may be vertical and B horizontal, or vice versa. By
means of these arrangements and the processes herein-before described, tyres
of cast steel may be rolled with facility.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to; as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the
several systems or modes of manufacturing wheel tyres, and the arrangements
of machinery or apparatus eniployed therein, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eighth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)