An Improved Manufacture of Pneumatic Tyres.
Year: 1896

page_text: his Print is in accordance with the Original Specification as it stands after
Amendment (under Section 11 of the Patents, &c. Act, 1883) as required by
the decision of the Chief Examiner of the 1st day of December 1897.
Date of Application, 26th Sept., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 23rd June, 1897-Accepted, 24th July, 1897
[Commun
om abroad by VEREINGTE GUMMI-WAAREN-FABRIKEN HARBURG-
WEIN vormals MENIER J. N. REITHOFFER, in Harburg-on-the-Elbe, in the
Kingdom of Prussia, and Empire of Germany.]
An Improved Manufacture of Pneumatic Tyres.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in pneumatic tyres for cycles and similar
vehicles and comprises an improved method of making such tyres and as an article
of commerce the improved product of such method.
According to the present invention the moulds and drums, of the kind heretofore
generally employed in the manufacture of pneumatic tyres, are dispensed with, and
plain sheet metal drums are employed in lieu thereof, the material or materials, of
which the pneumatic tyre is to be made, being so laid around the plain peripheral
surface of the said drum that that portion of the tyre which, in the finished state,
forms the outer or tread surface, will not, as heretofore, be turned inward, that is to
say, so as to be in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the drum, but outward.
Preferably a number of tyres, either with or without layers of textile fabric, are thus
formed side by side around the periphery of the drum of the kind above indicated,
and the entire drum, or a number of such drums, having tyres thereon in the
unvulcanized state, are placed in a vulcanizing chamber and there subjected to
vulcanization under the action of heated air, whereas heretofore such vulcanization
has been generally effected by means of steam in closed receptacles.
When it is desired to make tyres having the usual lateral holding flanges thereon.
the latter are formed by surrounding the material on the drum with suitable
ridges of cords, or gummed strips of fabric and the like near the edges which ridges
are subsequently covered with alternating layers of textile fabric and India-rubber,
the whole being finally surrounded with the layer or strip of India-rubber which is
to form the tread proper of the finished tyre, this layer or strip having previously
been formed and provided with a designed or ornamental surface if desired-by
pressure in the well known manner. By this means also the tread of the tyre may
be provided with the well known "non-slipping" ridges; or the latter may be
formed by winding around the tyre, after it has been built up on the surface of the
drum, suitable textile fabric or cords which will produce corresponding depressions
and projections on the surface of the soft India-rubber. Such fabric or cords will;
after the process of vulcanization has been effected, be removed.
A modification of the improved method above described consists in first preparing

page_text: the strip of fabric, which is to constitute the inner layer of the finished tyre, in the
shape of an endless band of a size corresponding with the inner circumference of
the finished tyre, then placing the said endless band on a drum of corresponding
diameter provided, in conformity with the lateral holding flanges or ridges to be
formed on the tyre, with equidistant peripheral grooves, then surrounding the said
endless band above the said grooves of the drum surface with strips of fabric or
the like for forming the holding flanges or ridges, then taking the said band off,
placing it on a plain drum such as herein before referred to and further treating it
in the manner herein before described.
Dated this 26th day of Candan 1900
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
An Improved Manufacture of Pneumatic Tyres.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 improvements in pneumatic tyres for cycles and similar
vehicles and comprises an improved method of making such tyres, and, as an article
of commerce the improved product of such method.
"In the manufacture of pneumatic tyres as heretofore generally carried out it has
been customary to make the tyres in suitable moulds corresponding with the
outer shape of the finished tyre. Usually a closed mould has been employed, the
India-rubber, together with the layers of textile fabric to be vulcanized therewith,
being 'first placed around a suitable core or mandrel, then inserted with the latter
into the said mould, to be vulcanized therein, and the finished tyre, still containing
the said mandrel or core, being finally removed from the said mould after
vulcanization.
According to another method heretofore employed in some cases, an open mould
has been used, the said open mould consisting of a drum having its outer peri-
pheral surface formed to correspond with the shape of the outer or tread surface
of the tyre to be made. Upon such drum the India-rubber intended to, constitute
the outer or tread portion of the tyre has been placed so as to have imparted to it
from the correspondingly shaped mould surface of the drum, the usual lateral
holding flanges, longitudinal' ridges, or the like. Subsequently the usual layers
of textile fabric, intended to form the inner portion of the finished tyre, have been
placed on top of the India-rubber on the said drum, and the tyre has then in some
cases been finished by first partly uniting the layers of textile fabric with the
India-rubber by slightly heating (but not yet vulcanizing) the same, then taking
the tyre so prepared off the drum, reversing the tyre so as to turn its inner side
outward and its outward side inward, subsequently placing it on a suitable mandrel
and working it into the proper shape thereon,, and finally vulcanizing it; or, in such
other cases where it has not been intended to impart to the tyre a circular or
approximately circular shape in cross-section but to leave the same in the flat state,
the tyre, instead of being removed from the drum, has been left thereon: and
vulcanized therewith and has then, after complete vulcanization, been removed
from the drum and reversed in the manner above indicated.
In the above described methods of manufacture, a separate mould or drum is

page_text: required for each form and each width of tyre to be made, and since it is absolutely
essential that the said moulds or drumis be made of the very best casting metal
entirely free from pores, this naturally renders the employment of these methods
rather. expensive. Another disadvantage consists in that it very frequently occurs
that air gets between the inner surface of the mould and the outer or tread Surface
of the India-rubber, thereby impairing the appearance of the tread surface in the
finished tyre and rendering the latter unsaleable. In order to expel such air from
within the moulds as much as possible, it has been found necessary 'heretofore' to
provide specially for pressing the tyres tightly against.said moulds. To this end the
tyres, while on the moulds, have usually been surrounded with bands of textile
fabric wound. tightly around the same and strongly stretched, and they have then
been vulcanized under steam pressure in a closed boiler or similar receptacle.:
According to the novel method forming the subject matter of the present
invention the above mentioned disadvantages are avoided, and the use of moulds 'or
drums; of the kinds heretofore generally employed, is dispensed with, the desired
shape being imparted to the outer or tread surface of the tyre; and the lateral hold-
ing flanges, ridges, or the like being formed thereon, in quite a different manner
than heretofore. At the same time, this improved method, to be. hereinafter more
fully described, renders the employment of outward pressure for the forming of
the tread surface and for the removal of air quite unnecessary, the air being free
to escape by itself. The use of steam under pressure may, therefore, be dispensed
with, and, instead of effecting the vulcanization in a closed boiler or similar recep-
tacle, it may be effected simply in a heating chamber. Moreover, the employment
of the usual wrapping bands is dispensed with in making tyres with smooth as well
as with figured tread, surface, and this results in a considerable saving of material.
According to the present invention plain sheet metal drums are employed in lieu
of the moulds and drums heretofore generally employed in the manufacture of
pneumatic tyres, the material, or materials, of which the tyre is to be made, being so
laid around the plain peripheral surface of the said drum that that portion of the
tyre which, in the finished state, forms the outer or tread surface, will not as hereto-
fore, be turned inward, that is to say, so as to be in contact with the outer peri-
pheral surface of the drum, but outward. Preferably a number of tyres, either
with or without layers of textile fabric, are thus formed side by side around
the periphery of a drum of the kind above indicated, and the entire drum, or
a number of such drums, having tyres thereon in the unvulcanized state, are placed
in a vulcanizing chamber and there subjected to vulcanization under the action
of heated air, instead of, as heretofore, by means of steam in closed receptacles.
When it is desired to make tyres having the usual lateral holding flanges thereon.
the latter are formed by surrounding the material on the drum with suitable ridges
of cords, or gummed strips of fabric and the like, near the edges, which ridges are
subsequently covered with alternating layers of textile fabric and India-rubber, the
whole being finally surrounded with the layer or strip of India-rubber which is to
form the tread proper of the finished tyre, this layer or strip having previously been
formed and provided with a designed or ornamental surface if desired-by
pressure, in the well-known manner. By this means also the tread of the tyre may
be provided with the well-known "non-slipping" ridges; or the latter may be
formed by winding around the tyre, after it has been built up on the surface of the
drum, suitable textile fabric or cords which will produce corresponding depressions
and projections on the surface of the soft India-rubber. Such fabric or cords will,
after the process of vulcanization has been effected, be removed.
The vulcanization of the tyres effected by means of heated air as above described
is much cheaper than the vulcanization of the tyres in the closed moulds or on the
drums which, in the methods as heretofore applied, had to be introduced into boilers
or similar receptacles in order to therein effect the vulcanization under steam pressure,
because the said boilers or other receptacles can only be made of comparatively small
size, which will hold only a limited portion of a day's production of tyres, and as
these boilers or other receptacles have to be opened, cooled down and reheated a

page_text: number of times each day, the consumption of steam and fuel, and, hence the
expense, is much greater than in the case of the heating chambers employed in the
improved method herein before described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The method of making pneumatic tyres by building up the tyres on the
outer periphery of a smooth druni with the tread surface turned outward thereon,
then vulcanizing the said tyres, while on the said drum, by means of heated air and
subsequently removing the finished tyres from the drum, substantially as and for
the purpose described.
2. The method of making pneumatic tyres by building up the tyres on the
outer periphery of a smooth drum in alternating layers of fabric and India-rubber
with interposed filling strips for forming ridges or flanges thereon, then surrounding
the tyres, while on the drum, with tightly drawn strips or cords as described, then
vulcanizing the tyres, while still on the drum, by means of heated air, subsequently
removing the said strips or cords and drawing the finished tyres off the said drum,
substantially as and for the purpose described.
3. As an article of commerce, pneumatic tyres produced according to the herein.
before described and claimed method of manufacture.
Dated this 23rd day of June 1897.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.