IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Dutton Templer Sparrow, of Piccadilly, in the
County of Middlesex, Bicycle Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN VELOCIPEDES."
Scaled the 28th February 1879, and dated the 5th September 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Dutton Templer
Sparrow at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th September
1878.
THOMAS DUTTON TEMPLER SPARROW, of Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex,
Bicycle Maker. 'IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES."
"
My Invention, relating to improvements in velocipedes, has for its object
obviating the slipping which attends the use of india-rubber tyres on the wheels of
velocipedes when traversing greasy roads, and in other cases; and also obtaining
the requisite adhesion or grip when india-rubber tyres are not employed.
In carrying out my Invention in order to effect these objects I cover the exterior
of the india-rubber tyre (when such is employed) with leather, wood, or a fabric
composed of hemp, wool, or other suitable vegetable or animal fibres, or with a ring
or band composed of leather or other suitable fabric or substance, stuffed with
horsehair or other like material; or when an india-rubber tyre is not used I form a
tyre of wood, or a tyre of leather, or other suitable fabric or substance, as before
mentioned, and either stuffed or not, as desired.
My improved tyre or covering for the tyre may be either composed of one of the'
materials before mentioned used alone, of two or more of such materials employed
in combination as required; and the surface of the material may be either corrugated'
or plain.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Thomas Dutton Templer Sparrow in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th March 1879.
THOMAS DUTTON TEMPLER SPARROW, of Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex,
Bicycle Maker. "IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES."
My said Invention, relating to improvements in velocipedes, has for its object
obviating the slipping which attends the use of india-rubber tyres on the wheels of
velocipedes when traversing greasy roads, and in other cases; and also obtaining
increased adhesion or grip whether india-rubber tyres are or are not employed.
In carrying out my said Invention in order to effect these objects I cover the
exterior of the india-rubber tyre (when such is employed) with leather, or wood, or
a fabric composed of hemp, wool, or other suitable vegetable or animal fibres, or
with a tubular ring or band stuffed with horsehair or other like material, the said
ring or band being formed of leather or of a fabric composed of hemp, wool, or other
suitable vegetable or animal fibres; or when an india-rubber tyre is not used I form
a tyre of wood or equivalent material, such, for example, as cork or rope, either
twisted or plaited, or of a fabric composed of hemp, wool, or other suitable vegetable
or animal fibres, either stuffed or not, as desired.
When a stuffed tyro is used the covering may be composed of leather, the same
being stuffed with horschair or other like material, as before mentioned.
My improved tyre or covering for the tyre may be either composed of one of the
inaterials before mentioned used alone, or of two or more of such materials
èmployed in combination as required, and the surface of the material may be either
corrugated or plain.
The accompanying Drawing illustrates several modes of carrying out my said
Invention.
Figuro represents a section of a portion of the wheel of a velocipede with an
india-rubber tyre applied thereto, covered with leather, in accordance with my said
Invention; and Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same.
Figure 3 represents a sectional elevation of a portion of a wheel of a velocipede
with a tyre of wood or cork applied thereto in accordance with my said Invention;
and Figure 4 is a transverse section of the same.
Figures 5 and 6 are similar views of a portion of a wheel illustrating the applica-
tion thereto of a tyre of rope or cord.
Figure 7 represents a section of a portion of a wheel having applied thereto n
ring or band of leather or fabric stuffed with horschair or other like material; and
Figure 8 is a transverse section of the same, corresponding to Figure 7.
a represents the body of the wheel or rim of iron or steel in all the Figures.
According to the arrangement illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 the body a is
surrounded by a ring or tyre b of india-rubber, which is covered with a ring c of
leather or of a suitable fabric, as before mentioned, the same constituting the tyre
proper.
In the modification shewn in Figures 3 and 4 the tyre c' which directly surrounds
the body a is composed of wood or cork; in the modification, Figures 5 and 6, the
tyre c' is composed of rope or cord, plaited or twisted; and in the modification
represented in Figures 7 and 8 the body a is surrounded with a tubular ring c' of
leather or of a suitable fabric, as before mentioned, stuffed with horsehair d or
other light material.
When the stuffing is not required the fabric of hemp, wool, or other suitable
animal or vegetable fibres may be used alone, but when a stuffed tyre is desired
either leather or a fabric composed of hemp, wool, or other suitable animal or
vegetable fibres may be employed.
In the construction of tyres according to the arrangement illustrated in Figures
1 and 2 the india-rubber having been applied to the body of the wheel in the

page_text: ordinary manner I by preference cut it flat on its exterior to suit the width of the
leather or other material to be employed as a covering. When leather is used as
the covering I steep it in water until saturated, and then subject it to hammering
until nearly all tension is removed, and when dry I wash the inner surface of the
same, as also the other surface of the india-rubber, with coal-tar naptha, after
which I coat several times at intervals both the surfaces which are to be brought
into contact with a solution of india-rubber, and apply the leather to the india-
rubber under the strongest tension which the material is capable of resisting.
In applying cork or wood to the body of a wheel in lieu of india-rubber I adopt
the meaus ordinarily employed when an india-rubber tyre is used.
When rope or cord is employed I reduce the ends sufficiently to enable a splice
to be effected of the same size as the rest of the rope, and I secure the rope or cord
to the body of the wheel in the same manner as india-rubber is now attached; I
likewise secure the tubular ring or band when such is employed to the body of the
wheel by the means usually adopted for the attachment of india-rubber.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, I
would observe in conclusion that 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 application to the wheels of velocipedes of tyres composed of
the materials before mentioned, and constructed substantially in the manner herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Thomas Dutton Templer Sparrow, have to
this my Specification set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of March, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
T. D. T. SPARROW. (L.S.)