Improvements in and connected with Elastic Tyres for the Wheels of Common Road Vehicles.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 16th July, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 11th May, 1895-Accepted, 15th June,
1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Elastic Tyres for the Wheels
of Common Road Vehicles.
I, JAMES TONKS, of the Firm of Hearl and Tonks, of Imperial Works, Upper
Trinity Street, in the City of Birmingham, Manufacturer of Cycles and Cycle
Fittings, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to elastic tyres for fixing over the ordinary metal
tyres of the wooden wheels of common road vehicles my object being to so
construct and arrange the parts of the said elastic tyres that they can by any
inexperienced person be quickly fixed on to and around or removed from an
ordinary wooden wheel of a vehicle provided with an ordinary metal tyre and so
as to be readily altered to suit wheels of various diameters.
An elastic tyre constructed according to this invention for the purposes above
stated consists of a number of short metal links or sections connected together or
not connected together and adapted to be fixed all round the ordinary metal tyre
of the wooden wheel each section being fitted with an indiarubber block or
stud or short portion of the indiarubber tyre so that when the metal links or
sections are applied and fixed to the wheel the indiarubber blocks or studs or short
sections of indiarubber tyre will project through the said metal links or sections
beyond the periphery of the wheel and thus form the elastic tyre of the wheel.
I may make the said metal links or sections and the indiarubber blocks or
studs or indiarubber sections and secure them together and around the wheel in
various ways. For instance each of the said metal links or sections may be
made from sheet metal or as a metal stamping of about the same width as the
metal tyre of the wheel to which the links are to be applied and of convenient
lengths and made with one or more holes through which project the indiarubber
blocks studs or sections each of which is made with an enlarged base fitting
between the metal link or section and the metal tyre so as to keep the india-
rubber blocks or studs or sections in place. The said metal links or sections may
be jointed together like a chain by means of cross pins passing through eyes
formed on the ends of the links or sections, or the said links may not be jointed
together, and each link or section may.have two or more side ears or clips formed
with it which are bent down at about right angles to the link or section so as to
embrace the sides of the inetal tyre and wooden felloes of the wheel to which the
said links are fixed by screws passing through the said ears or clips or the latter
may be made long enough to be bent round the felloes. The ends of the chain-
like tyre are or may be connected together by right and left hand screws or by
other means so as to draw the chain-like tyre tightly round the periphery of the
wheel.
Or instead of or in addition to the said links or sections being jointed together
as aforesaid the side ears or clips of the links may be formed as eyes through
which two wires are threaded one wire on one side of the wheel and one wire on
the other side thereof these wires surrounding the wheel and their ends being
provided with screw connections or other means by which the wires can be pulled
up tightly round the wheel on the two sides thereof and thus effectually secure the
links or sections thereto.

page_text: By increasing or diminishing the number of the links or sections the tyre can be
lengthened or shortened so as to suit any diameter of wheel. If one of the links or
sections should break or become damaged this can readily be removed and replaced
by a new link or section and when one or more of the indiarubber blocks studs or
indiarubber sections become worn the same can readily be removed from the links
or section and replaced by new indiarubber blocks studs or indiarubber sections.
Dated this 14th day of July 1894.
Improvements in and connected with Elastic Tyres for the Wheels
of Common Road Vehicles.
I, JAMES TONKS, of the Firm of Hearl and Tonks, of Imperial Works, Upper
Trinity Street, in the City of Birmingham, Manufacturer of Cycles and Cycle
Fittings, 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 has reference to elastic tyres for fixing over the ordinary metal
tyres of the wooden wheels of common road vehicles my object being to so
construct and arrange the parts of the said elastic tyres that they can by any
inexperienced person be quickly fixed on to and around or removed from an
ordinary wooden wheel of a vehicle provided with an ordinary metal tyre and so
as to be readily altered to suit wheels of various diameters.
An elastic tyre constructed according to this invention for the purposes above
stated consists of a number of short metal links or sections constructed as herein-
after described so as to be connected together and fixed all round the ordinary
metal tyre of the wooden wheel each section being fitted with an indiarubber
block or stud or short portion of the indiarubber tyre so that when the metal links
or sections are applied and fixed to the wheel the indiarubber blocks or studs or
short sections of indiurubber tyre will project through the said metal links or
sections beyond the periphery of the wheel and thus form the elastic tyre of the
wheel.
I make the said metal links or sections and the indiarubber blocks or studs or
indiarubber sections and secure them together and around the wheel in the manner
which I will now describe by referring to the accompanying drawing on which
Fig. 1 represents in side elevation a portion of a vehicle wheel with my improved
tyre applied thereto;
Fig. 2 is a plan of a portion of the said tyre;
Fig. 3 is a cross section through line X X of Fig. 1 but drawn on an enlarged
scale;
Fig. 4 is a side elevation and Fig. 5 is a plan of one of the metal links or
sections of the tyre shewn by Figs. 1, 2 and 3 with the indiarubber block fixed
thereto;
Fig. 6 shews the said indiarubber block separately;
Fig. 7 shews one of the said metallic links or sections separately and
Fig. 8 illustrates the means which may be employed for placing my improved
sectional tyre in position around the wheel.
The same letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all the
figures.
I make each of the said metal links or sections preferably from sheet metal or
as a metal stamping (or the said links or sections may be made of malleable cast
metal) each of about the form shewn more clearly by Fig. 7 by which it will be

page_text: seen that the link A is made somewhat of an inverted trough section consisting of
an upper part a¹ and two downwardly projecting side portions a' a' at the proper
distance apart for the ordinary metal tyre B and felloe C of the wheel to fit
between them. In the upper part a' of each of the links A there is formed a
hole a through which projects the indiarubber block or stud D which is made
with a contracted neck to fit the hole a' and also has an enlarged base which
fits underneath the top part a' of the section A and beds on the ordinary metal
tyre B. The enlarged base keeps the metal block D in place in the hole a' and
prevents the block becoming detached from the section when the sections are fixed'
round the wheel. In order to secure the sections together to form an endless tyre
around the wheel each of the sections has its sides a a³ formed as hooks e at one
end and made with a projecting side stud fat the other end these studs f being of
a size for the hookse of the next section to engage with. The studs fare by
preference made with flat heads as shewn so as the better to prevent the hooked
end e of the next section from springing off the studs. The said studs may be
formed and fixed to the sides a a in various ways for instance as shown in
Figs. 4, 5 and 7 the heads of the studs can conveniently be made of projecting
ears formed on the sides a as which are bent back parallel with the said sides at a
short distance therefrom and secured by the stud passing through the ears and
through the sides a² a³ the ends being rivetted over; a suitable distance block or
washer f¹ forming the part of the stud for the hooks to engage with being threaded
on the studs to make up the spaces between the ears g and the sides a² a. The
space between the hooked ends ee of the sides a² a³ at one end of the section has
to be about the same as the width across the outside of the sides a² a³ at the other
end of the section where the studs ff are situated so that the stud end of one
section will pass between the hooked ends e of the next section for the hooks to
engage with the studs as aforesaid.
To form the tyre a sufficient number of sections A with their indiarubber
blocks D are linked together by the hooked sides of each section engaging with
the corresponding studded sides of the next section as above described and these
are placed round the wheel so as to embrace the ordinary metal tyre B and
felloes C as shewn in Figs. 1 and 3 and drawn tightly round the wheel so that the
first and last sections can be hooked together to complete the tyre, when if the
tyre has been tightly pulled round the wheel and it is of the proper length it will
be perfectly secure as the enlarged bases of the sections allow a certain
amount of stretch of the sectional tyre to enable the first and last sections to be
hooked together.
I find the screw cramp illustrated by Fig. 8 a useful tool for drawing the
sectional tyre tightly round the wheel to enable the first and last sections
to be hooked together. This cramp forms no part of this invention and
consists of two levers H¹ H' jointed together at I the other ends h¹ of the levers
being made forked of the proper size to engage with the ends of the sections A as
shewn and these levers H H being connected together by a right and left hand
screw J by turning which the levers H¹ H' and the sections A with which they
are engaging can be drawn together so as to permit of the first and last sections
being hooked together to complete the tyre and secure the same to the wheel as
aforesaid. The said cramp is similarly used for drawing the sections together to
unhook the same when it is desired to remove the tyre from the wheel.
By increasing or diminishing the number of links or sections A. the tyre can be
lengthened or shortened so as to suit any diameter of wheel. If one of the links
or sections A should break or become damaged this can readily be removed and
replaced by a new link or section and when one or more of the indiarubber
blocks D becomes worn the same can readily be removed and replaced by a new
indiarubber block.
It will be evident that instead of making each of the sections A of a sufficient
length to take only one of the indiarubber blocks the said metal links or sections
may be made long enough to take two or more of the said indiarubber blocks.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A sectional elastic tyre for the wheels of common road vehicles formed of a
series of metallic sections shaped so as to embrace the ordinary metallic tyre and
wooden felloes and hooked together at the sides of the same and each provided
with one or more indiarubber blocks which together form the wheel tread and fit
in corresponding perforations in the metallic sections and extend between the
insides of the metallic sections and the periphery of the ordinary metal tyre of the
wheel, all substantially as described.
2. In sectional elastic tyres of the kind denoted under Claim 1, making the
metallic sections.in the form substantially as herein before described and illustrated
by Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the accompanying drawing.
3. The combined metallic and rubber sections for-forming an elastic tyre for
the wheels of common road vehicles, each of the said. sections consisting of a
metallic part shaped so as to embrace the sides of the ordinary metallic. tyre and
wooden felloes and hook to the next sections at the sides thereof, and provided with
one or more indiarubber blocks to form a portion of the wheel tread, the said
indiarubber block or blocks fitting in a corresponding perforation or perforations
in the metallic section and provided with an enlarged base fitting inside the metallic
section to bear against the ordinary metallic. tyre of the wheel all substantially as
herein before described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 10th day of May 1895.
JAMES TONKS..