IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH ELASTIC WHEEL. TIRES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert William Thomson, of Edinburgh, in the
County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, Civil Engineer, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH ELASTIC WHEEL.
TIRES."
.
Sealed the 31st March 1871, and dated the 4th October 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert William Thomson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th October 1870.
I, ROBERT WILLIAM THOMSON, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid
Lothian, North Britain, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH ELASTIC
WHEEL TIRES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to improvements in connection with elastic
wheel tires, such as are described in the Specification of Letters Patent
granted to the present applicant, and dated 24 October 1867 (No. 2986).
By the present Invention external metal shoes are employed to protect
the tire, which tire may be of vulcanised rubber or other suitable elastic

page_text: material; but instead of the shoes being connected together by links at
the sides they are made quite separate, although placed near together,
and are held in place by their bent back ends engaging upon the inside
of the metal rim or tire of the wheel; or they may be formed with slots
to work on pins or bolts projecting laterally from the rim of the wheel.
These shoes or shoe bars may be made of various widths, and may be
corrugated or have projections on the inner surface to give the rubber a
hold on the bar, and on the outer surface to give the bar a hold on the
ground, the projections on the steering wheel being fore and aft on the
external surface of the shoe bars. The shoes are by preference made of
steel, tempered so that they can be opened at the back and. be sprung
into their places, and they are by preference of a convexly curved shape
at the sides. The rubber tire is in some cases fixed to the iron wheel
rim by curing or vulcanising the rubber in contact therewith, the rim
being made part of the mould in which the curing process is effected.
A layer of hard or comparatively hard rubber may be applied next to
the iron rim and between it and the soft rubber forming the bulk of the
tire. The iron rim may be formed with one or more ribs, flanges, or
projections if required for preventing the lateral displacement of the
rubber tire. In some cases the rubber or other elastic tire is applied in
separate pieces, which pieces are securely held in place by the shoes or
shoe bars.
The present improvements are applicable for road steamers or other
self-moving carriages, and also for any wheeled conveyances to be drawn
thomine
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert William Thomson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd April 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WILLIAM THOMSON, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North
Britain, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and

page_text: grant unto me, the said Robert William Thomson, Her special licence
that I, the said Robert William Thomson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert William Thomson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
AND CONNECTED WITH ELASTIC WHEEL TIRES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Robert William Thomson, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert William Thomson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement in writing, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say:--
My said Invention relates to improvements in connection with elastic
wheel tires, such as are described in the Specification of Letters Patent
granted to me, and dated 24 October 1867 (No. 2986),
By my present Invention external metal shoes or shoe bars are
employed to protect the tire, which tire may be of vulcanised rubber or
other suitable elastic material; but instead of the shoes being connected
together by links at the sides they are made quite separate, although
placed near together, and are held in place by their ends, which are bent
back and engage upon the inside of the metal tire or rim of the wheel.
The forms of the improved shoes may be modified, and also the modes of
connecting them to the wheel.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood I hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and representing
modifications of my improvements. In these Drawings the same
reference numerals are used to mark the same or like parts wherever
they are repeated.

page_text: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a rubber-tired wheel furnished with the
simplest modification of my improved shoes or shoe bars; Figure 2 is a
vertical section, but only showing the parts close upon the plane of
section. The shoes 1 are plain bars or narrow plates made by preference
of tempered steel and bent into the form best seen in Figure 2, so that
they can be opened at the back and be sprung into their places; they
embrace the rubber tire 2, but leave spaces at the sides for the lateral
spreading of the rubber, and their bent over ends 3 engage upon the
insides of the laterally projecting edges of the cylindrical metal rim 4 of
the wheel. The sides of the shoes 1 are tapered, as seen in Figure 1, to
prevent them from interfering with each other at or near the continually
changing part where the rubber tire is compressed.
Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation, and Figure 4 a vertical section
showing a second modification; and Figures 5 and 6 are similar views
showing a third modification, in both of which modifications the shoes 1
are formed with slots 5 in their sides to work on pins 6, and be thereby
connected to the metal rim 4. In Figures 3 and 4 the pins 6 are shown
as formed on the ends of half round bars 7 fixed across the face of the
metal rim 4, and forming projections which give a better hold on the
rubber tire 2. These or other equivalent projections on the metal rim 4
may be used alone or in conjunction with holes made through the rim.
In Figures 5 and 6 the pins 6 are short studs fixed upon the insides of
the laterally projecting edges of the rim 4. In these Figures also the
rim 4 is shown as provided with flanges 8 for preventing the rubber
tire 1 from working off from the rim 4. The shoes 1 may be made of
various widths, and may be corrugated or have projections on the inner
surface to give the rubber a hold on the shoe, and on the outer surface
to give the shoe a hold on the ground.
Figure 7 is a full size section of the middle of a shoe as at right angles
to Figure 2 with suitable projections formed on both surfaces. Pro-
jections 9 may be formed by rivetting or otherwise fastening T or other
iron on the outer surface of the shoe, as shown in the section, Figure 8.
When applying these projections to the steering wheel of a road steamer
I dispose them to run round the wheel, as shown in Figures 3 and 4,
whereby an improved steering action is obtained, whilst in the case of
the driving wheels I dispose them transversely or across the tire, as
shown in Figures 5 and 6.
My improved shoes may be used with rubber or other elastic tires

page_text: constructed or applied in various known ways, as, for example, when
the tire is cemented to the rim 4, as may be conveniently done with the
rim applied as the inside of the mould in which the rubber tire is cured
or vulcanised, or when the tire is made in separate pieces.
My present improvements are applicable for road steamers or other
self-moving carriages, and also for any wheeled conveyances to be drawn
by horses or otherwise; and it is one advantage of the modification
shown in Figures 1 and 2 that the shoes are free to move round on the
rubber tire.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated; but
that what I believe to be novel and original and claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,--
1. The applying of protective metal shoes or shoe bars unconnected
with each other and free to move round on the elastic tire, substantially
as herein-before described.
2. The forming of protective metal shoes or shoe bars for elastic
wheel tires with slots to work on pins fixed to the wheel, substantially
as herein-before described.
3. The forming of the shoes or shoe bars with projections on their
inner or outer or both surfaces for the purposes and substantially in the
modes herein-before described.
4. The forming of projections (7) on the surface of the metal rim (4)
of the wheel to give it a better hold on the rubber tire, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert William Thomson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.