Improvements in the Tyres of Carriage and Velocipede Wheels.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Mar., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 4th Dec., 1890-Accepted, 10th Jan., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Tyres of Carriage and Velocipede Wheels.
FRANK STANLEY WILLOUGHBY Wine Merchant 15 Cross Street Manchester and
THOMAS HORSFIELD Chartered Accountant 60 King Street Manchester do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention is an improvement in wheel tyres, whereby all or most of the
advantages obtained by the use of rubber tyres are secured without the one great
disadvantage namely excessive wear and tear on the rubber and consequent short life
of the same.
It consists in the 'application to any rubber tyred wheel, preferably specially
rubber tyred with a tyre of suitable section, of a flexible steel extra tyre firmly secured
to or partly imbedded in the rubber tyre on the outside, if the extra steel tyre he
imbedded in the rubber sufficient of it is left protruding beyond the rubber to prevent
the rubber coming at all in contact with the road or rolling way on which the wheel
revolves, thus the wear and tear on the rubber by reason of contact with the road or
other surface is entirely prevented, at the same time the vibration, caused by the
inequalities in the rolling surface is absorbed by the rubber when transmitted to it by
the flexible extra tyre before named, this extra tyre assumes a slightly flattened form
where it comes in contact with the road or rolling way, and in the case where the
wheel is used as a driver this flattening, and consequent increase in the area in contact,
gives increased grip or bile on the road or rolling way.
This extra tyre is of special construction and is made from steel or other hard
substance in the form of a coil similar in appearance to a huge spiral spring, this coil
may be made of any section of steel but preferably of flat steel coiled on edge which
gives great lateral flexibility with great compressible rigidity. The coil is bent round
in the form of a hoop and the two ends are firmly united, and it is made of a size
suitable to the wheel to which it is to be applied, and in the case where it is to depend
for its fastening to the rubber by being partly imbedded therein, it is made slightly
smaller than the rim it is to go on, the rubber in this case is made of suitable section
with a groove in its outside face into which the spiral coil is sprung, when it is found
the tension consequent upon the slightly stretched condition of the coil is sufficient to
keep it in its place in the rubber groove.
Dated this 14th day of March 1890.
FRANK STANLEY WILLOUGHBY.
THOS. HORSFIELD.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Tyres of Carriage and Velocipede Wheels.
We FRANK STANLEY WILLOUGHBY, Wine Merchant of 15 Cross Street Man-
chester, and THOMAS HORSFIELD Chartered Accountant of 60 King Street Manchester
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:
Our invention consists of improvements in wheel tyres whereby advantages obtained
by the use of india rubber or other similar tyres are secured without the excessive
wear and tear on the rubber or other comparatively soft or yielding material and
consequent short life of the same, by reason of its contact with the road or
rolling way.
The nature of our said invention and the manner in which the same is to be

page_text: performed or carried into practical effect will be readily understood on reference to
the sheet of illustrative drawings hereunto annexed, and the following explanation
thereof.
It consists in the application to or combination with any wheel tyred with india
rubber or other yielding material or compound (preferably with a rubber tyre of a
special suitable section hereinafter described) of a Hexible metal extra tyre laid over,
firmly secured to, or partly embedded in, the rubber tyre, on the outside periphery.
If this flexible metal extra tyre be embedded in the rubber sufficient of it must be
left protruding beyond the rubber to prevent the latter from generally coming into
contact with the road or other surface.
Fig. 1 on the drawing is a section illustrating one method of applying our invention
to carriage wheels adapted for running upon ordinary roads, a is the usual wooden
rim, part of one of the ordinary spokes and c is a metal tyre of a trough shaped
section, d is an india rubber or other similar tyre formed with an external semicircular
groove and e is our flexible extra tyre.
This extra tyre is of a special construction and is made from steel or other suitable
metal in the form of a close coil similar in appearance to a huge spiral spring which
we hoop as hereinafter described.
This coil may be made of metal of any section but preferably of metal of flat or
oblong section, coiled on edge which makes a coil of great lateral flexibility coupled
with great compressible rigidity.
In the drawings referred to in this Specification we have shown the flexible metal
coils to be of round section, we do not however confine ourselves to this section of
coil, which we may make of any section such as square oblong, oval, triangular or
semicircular; for instance, for the application to a vehicle wheel of very wide tread,
we sometimes form the coil on an oblong mandrel (with the sharp corners preferably
rounded off and preferably made in sections to facilitate withdrawal from the coil)
thus forming an oblong coil which we put round the wheel or we may make the coil
of round section and then either by rolling or hammering flatten it into an oval or
oblong shape.
A coil of this section may be put on traction engine wheels in lieu of two or more
smaller round coils as hereinafter described.
We sometimes form our flexible extra tyre of two layers of metal that is to say
really two flexible coils one wound tightly on the other for the purpose of obtaining
greater elongating rigidity and it is better to form the inner one of flat metal coiled
on its side which forms an almost unstretchable coil while the outer one is formed of
flat or oblong metal coiled on edge; this forms a coil of great compressible rigidity,
and the two together form one flexible extra tyre which will not materially stretch
and which will not flatten but which is flexible and is peculiarly suitable for wheels of
very large circumference.
Although we do not confine ourselves to any particular method of uniting the ends
of the coils to form the same into hoops, the following are five ways in which it may
be effectually accomplished.
(1) We true the ends so that when placed together butt ended they butt end
accurately and flat face to face; we then form a small piece of tube or solid rod, say
one or one and a half inches long, to fit accurately into the bore or internal diameter
of the coil, one half of this short length of metal is pushed into one end of the coil
and the other half slips into the other end of the coil the two faced ends of the coil
being pushed into contact with each other over the short length of metal the whole is
then firmly brazed or soldered.
(2) We form a right hand scrow thread in the bore of one ond of the coil
and a left hand screw thread in the other, we then use a similar short length
of metal to the one employed in the previously described method, but in this
instance the metal has a right hand screw thread on one end and a left hand
screw thread on the other similar in size and pitch to the thread in the bore of
the coil exactly in the middle of this piece of metal we form two deep but
narrow flats. parallel to each other to engage a deep but flat key or wrench (or we

page_text: drill a hole through it to engage a narrow rod) for the purpose of screwing it up, then
by uniting the two faced ends of the coil to the two screwed ends of the short piece of
metal we are able by turning round the piece of metal with the narrow key or rod
to gradually draw the two ends of the coil almost together; the small space which
has to be left to allow of the removal of the key or rod is then filled up by brazing
which prevents any turning back of the small right and left hand threaded piece of
metal.
(3) About where the right and left hand screw threads meet on the short length
of metal we leave a collar the exact diameter of the coil the ends of which are to be
united, such collar being of sufficient width to allow of a hole being drilled right
through the centre, large enough for the insertion of a steel rod by which the piece
of metal can be turned round to draw the ends of the coil tight upon the collar.
Uniting the ends of the coil in the two last named ways will enable them to be
drawn together after the coil is loosely placed round the wheel and so avoid the
stretching necessary to spring it on over the rubber or metal flanges on the wheel
herein referred to.
(4) For light work it is found sufficient to truly face the ends and then unite by
butt ending and brazing.
::
(5) Or we form an ordinary screw thread in the bore of both ends of the coil; we
screw thread a short length of metal about half an inch to one inch long over its entire
length, such screw thread being similar in size and pitch to the screw thread in the
bore of the coil; we scrow the whole of this short length of metal into one end of
the coil except so much of it as contains from one to say six threads, which short
length we leave jutting out from the coil; in tapping" this end of the coil we have
done it only so far down that the short length of metal is locked tightly into it when
from one to six threads are left protruding, and the short length of metal cannot
therefore entirely disappear within the internal bore of the coil. This done we firmly
secure the end of the coil into which the short length of metal has been screwed, in a
vice or other convenient holder to prevent it turning, we then take hold of the other
end of the coil and by gripping it tightly or by clamping a convenient rod upon it
to serve as a lever we give it at least as many turns but preferably one or two more,
as we have left threads on the short length of metal protruding from the other end
of the coil, this twisting is done in spite of the resistance of the coil which has a
powerful tendency to return to its normal position. Then by bringing the threaded
bore of the coil up to the short protruding length of metal and allowing the coil
to return to its normal or untwisted position it screws itself upon the short protruding
length of metal and the two ends of the coil are brought tightly together, and it is
formed into a hoop with a scarcely perceptible join. We prefer this method of
joining before any of the before named.
We have found it advisable in some cases to have additional security against the
flexible metal coil coming out of the groove which contains it. other than that derived
from the slightly stretched condition of the coil as before described.
Particularly is this the case where the metal coil is of slender construction and
easily stretched. We give such coils additional security in the following manner.
We take a steel wire the length of the coil and put a right hand screw thread
on one end of it about an inch long, and a left hand screw thread about an inch
long on the other end, this wire we put right through the bore of the coil.
We then take the short length of metal referred to in our description (3) of a
method of joining the ends of the coils, and drill a hole through it from one end
to the other, we tap this hole forming a right hand screw thread in one end, and a
left hand screw thread in the other such screw threads being of the same size and
pitch as the screw threads on the ends of the wire. The coil with the wire inside it
is then bent round in the form of a hoop over the rim it is intended to be placed in.
The two ends of the wire being directed into the two ends of the short piece of metal
and the two ends of the coil being directed over the two ends of the short piece of
metal, as previously described, the action of turning the short length of metal

page_text: gradually draws together the two ends of the internal wire as well as the two ends
of the flexible coil.
With the double object in view it may be advisable to make the short length of
metal longer than as in the above described method (3) in order to give a greater
length of screw thread to the internal wire.
We have found that a steel wire from one eighth to three sixteenths of an inch in
diameter placed through the coil, while possessing enormous tensional strength will
not materially interfere with the coils flexibility. At the same time it precludes
the possibility of any material stretching of the coil, consequently a coil so secured
in its groove could only come out owing to the breaking or stripping of the thread
or unfastening of the steel wire.
in order to protect the coil when made from iron or steel, from rust more
particularly internally and between the rings of the coil we sometimes deposit copper
or other non-rusting metal upon it, or we dip it in hot tar or paint it; and to
prevent the bore of the coil from filling up with dirt we sometimes line it with a
piece of india rubber tubing.
The coil is made of a size to suit the wheel to which it is to be applied, and in the
case where it is to depend for its fastening to the rubber upon being partly embedded
therein it is made slightly smaller in circumference when hooped, than the rim, and
spring into the groove in the rubber as shown at Fig. 1, and its tension, due to
its slightly stretched condition will generally be found quite sufficient to keep it
in place.
Cement may be used when thought necessary, or the process known as vulcanizing
may be adapted.
By the use of this combined tyre the vibration caused by the irregularities in the
rolling surface is absorbed by the rubber when transmitted to it by the flexible extra
tyre and the latter protects tlie rubber from a large amount of wear and tear and
considerably prolongs its life.
It also to a great extent, if not entirely gets rid of that objectionable property
usual with rubber tyred wheels known as "riding up a hill" which causes a consider-
able retarding influence to the forward motion of the wheel.
In cases where extra elasticity is required we sometimes make the india rubber or
other yielding material d of a different form from that of the metal rim c leaving a
space between the two to allow of the lateral expansion of the india rubber under
pressure, as shown at Fig. 2.
Fig. 3 is a section suitable for cart or truck wheels made entirely of metal wherein
the metal coil e is not embedded in the india rubber d but is laid on and kept in place
laterally by the upper part of the flanges c¹ of the rim which are made deeper for that
purpose, and Fig. 4 is a similar section showing the application of our invention to a
flanged wheel for tramway cars. Fig. 5 is a section showing the application of the
invention to a traction engine wheel, where a large tread is required, three steel
flexible coils being laid side by side in a wide trough shaped rim but as before stated
a single flat or oblong section coil may be used for this purpose.
Fig. 6 is a section showing the application of our invention to an ordinary bicycle
or tricycle wheel and Fig. 7 is a section illustrating its application to a pneumatic
bicycle or tricycle tyre, in the position it would assume at the point of contact with
the ground whilst supporting the weight of the rider.
We have stated in this Specification that, although we may use metal of any
section from which to form our coils, we prefer metal of flat or oblong section, and we
coil it on edge. There are cases in the practical application of our invention where
the ccil is required to stand an enormous pressure and it must do this without any
danger of being flattened, say for instance where our tyre is applied to a heavy
omnibus.
In this case we form our coil from metal of very pronounced oblong or flat
section and we coil it by the aid of a special tool upon an exceedingly small mandrel
and so form an almost solid coil.

page_text: It has been found however that when so coiled from ordinary oblong or flat metal
there appears a gap between the rings of the coil, owing to the compression and
burring up of the metal on the inner edge and slight elongating and consequent
thinning of the metal on the outer edge.
To obviate this in the nearly solil coil just described, we, while preserving the
rectangular oblong or flat section of the metal generally have it drawn or rolled very
slightly taper, and when coiling place the smaller end of the taper next to the
mandrel; in this way we are enabled to form a coil, though nearly solid without the
gaps between the coils previously referred to.
A coil formed as just described is in reality the same as a flexible shaft used for
the purpose of transmitting power in varying directions.
The special tool referred to above is that used by the manufacturers of these coiled
shafts.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
The combination with a wheel tyred with india rubber or other material or
composition possessing similar vibration-destroying qualities, of an additional flexible
coiled metal tyre or tyres either laid on, firmly secured to, or partially embedded in
the outer periphery of the india rubber rubber or other similar substance substantially
in the manner and for the purposes herein before set forth and described and illustrated
by the drawings annexed.
TX
11000
GEO. DAVIES & SON,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for the Applicants.