Improvements in Wheels for Velocipedes and other Carriages.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wheels for Velocipedes and other Carriages.
I, JAMES HIX, of 2, East Hill, Wandsworth, in the Courty of London, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to wheels for velocipedes and other vehicles and has for its
object to provide improved means for increasing the resiliency of the same and
reducing vibration.
A wheel constructed according to my invention has a duplex rim, that is to say,
a rim having an outer ring portion which may carry a tire and an inner ring
portion to which the spokes are united.
Between the two ring portions I place two or more tubes of flexible material
designed to be inflated in order to hold the outer ring portion in position and to
permit of its springing or vibrating relatively with the inner ring portion.
"
It will be obvious that the adjacent faces of the two ring portions of the rim
have suitable seats formed in them to receive the inflatable tubes.
The outer ring portion of the rim may be made of canvas and have thickened
edges the canvas being stretched tightly over the tubes when a pneumatic tire
placed upon the said ring is inflated. Or it may be made of thin metal hollowed
out to carry a pneumatic tire. Also in some cases the outer ring may be made of
wood.
In all cases the inner ring is advantageously made of wood.
Improvements in Wheels for Velocipedes and other Carriages.
I, JAMES HIX, of 2, East Hill, Wandsworth, in the County of London, 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:-
My invention relates to wheels for velocipedes and other vehicles and has for its
object to provide improved means for increasing the resiliency of the same and
reducing vibration.
A wheel constructed according to my invention has a duplex rim, that is to say,
a rim having an outer ring portion which may carry a tyre and an inner ring
portion to which the spokes are united.

page_text: Between the two ring portions I place a tube or tubes of flexible material
designed to be inflated in order to hold the outer ring portion in position and to
permit of its springing or vibrating relatively with the inner ring portion.
It will be obvious that the adjacent faces of the two ring portions of the rim
have suitable seats formed in them to receive the inflatable tubes.
The outer ring portion of the rim may be made of canvas and have thickened
edges the canvas being stretched tightly over the tubes when a pneumatic tyre
placed upon the said ring is inflated. Or it may be made of thin metal hollowed
out to carry a pneumatic tyre. Also in some cases the outer ring may be made of
wood.
In all cases the inner ring is advantageously made of wood.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:-
--
Figure 1 is a sectional view of a wheel tyre wherein the outer ring is of canvas:
Figure 2 is a similar view wherein the outer ring is of sheet metal; and,
Figure 3 is a view shewing the arrangement wherein the outer ring is of wood:
Figure 4 is a sectional view of a modification wherein a double outer rim is
used.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.
a is the wheel rim proper, 6 is the outer rim and c, c are the air tubes. The
dot and dash lines indicated by the letter d in the several figures indicate the tyres
which are applied to the rim and which tyres may be either hollow or solid.
In the arrangement of mir invention shown in Figure 1 the outer rim b, which
as before stated is made of canvas, has wiles 1, c inserted in the edge, the <aid
edges of the outer rim with the wires therein being designed to lie in grooves or
recesses in the edges of the inner rim a; the breadth of the strip of canvas which
forms the outer rim must be such that when the tyre d is upon the rim and the
tubes c, c between the two rims are inflated the suid outer rim will be out of contact
with the inner rim so as to allow for the movement or spring of the outer rim
relatively with the inner- rim.
In the arrangement of my invention shewn in Figure 2 wherein the outer rim b
is represented as being made of sheet metal, the said outer rim is rolled so as to
form two recesses f,f to receive the air tubes c and with a central recess g in which
the tyre lies.
In the arrangement shewn in Figure 3, wherein the outer rim is represented as
being made of wood, recesses f, f are also formed for receiving the air tubes c, c
and the outer periphery of the said rim is grooved to receive the tyre.
In all the foregoing modifications I have represented two air tubes as being
arranged between the two rims; such an arrangement, however, is not necessary,
as a single tube, for instance as shewn at h in Figure 4, can be arranged between
the rims. This figure also shews an arrangement wherein the outer rim is of a
duplex form the rim b having arranged between itself and the inner rim a an
intermediate rim i. In this case the tubes c, c instead of being arranged between
the inner and outer rims are arranged between the intermediate and outer rims.
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. A wheel the rim of which is formed with two or more concentric rings
separated from one another by inflated tubes, substantially as, and for the purpose,
described.
2. A wheel having the wheel rim formed in two portions between which an air
tube or air tubes is or are placed and inflated the outer portion of the rim being
adapted to carry the usual tyre upon it, substantially as described.
3. A wheel rim formed in two parts separated from one another by an inflated
tube or tubes the outer portion of the said rim being made of a strip of canvas
having wires in the edges, substantially as described by reference to Figure 1 of
the accompanying drawing.

page_text: 4. A wheel the rim of which is formed in two portions separated by an inflated
tube or tubes the outer portion of the said rim being formed of a ring of wood or
metal arranged substantially as described by reference to Figure 2 and Figure 3
of the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 9th day of December 1897
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.