Improvements in or relating to Wheels and Tyres for Carriages, Cars, Trucks, Bicycles, and other Vehicles.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION,
Improvements in or relating to Wheels and Tyres for Carriages,
Cars, Trucks, Bicycles, and other Vehicles.
I, SAMUEL CLELAND DAVIDSON, of Sirocco Engineering Works, Belfast, Ireland,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My improvements relate to wheels for carriages, cars, trucks, bicycles and other
vehicles, on which tyres of indiarubber, leather, or other suitable elastic material
are employed to give resilience thereto, the said tyres being of what is termed the
non-pneumatic type, inasmuch as their resilience is not necessarily dependent
on the employment of tubes inflated with air under pressure, as in the tyres usually
known as pneumatic.
66
<
One of the practical difficulties attending the use of indiarubber or other elastic
tyres of the said non-pneumatic type, and as hitherto ordinarily mounted on the
wheels of carriages, cars, trucks, bicycles or other vehicles, is that when the wheels
have any considerable load to support, the tyre on same has a tendency to what
is known as creeping," whereby it gradually works itself forward into a loop in
front of that part of the wheel rim which presses the tyre upon the roadway or
floor, and unless the tyre be very rigidly attached to the wheel rim, it soon comes
off and when it be rigidly fastened thereon, with the whole or major part of
its inner face bearing against the rim face, as is usually the case in the method
hitherto ordinarily employed for mounting non-pneumatic tyres, on wheel rims,
the outer portion of the tyre if it extend sufficiently beyond the circumference
of the outer edge of the rim, to give a reasonably good resilience, gradually
develops the said creeping tendency within itself (more especially so in wheels of
small diameter, such as truck wheels) and eventually manages to detach itself
from and leave only the rigidly fastened inner part of the tyre remaining upon the
wheel rim, which on being thus deranged by the loss of the outer portion of the
tyre, is rendered practically useless. The objects, amongst others, of my invention,
are to so construct the rims of the said wheels that when an indiarubber or elastic
tyre is mounted thereon, of a suitable size and thickness to impart a good resilience
thereto, all tendency in the tyres to "creeping" and consequent derangement, as
above referred to, is obviated.
My invention consists in constructing the channel or hollow around the outer
face of the wheel rim, and in which the indiarubber or other suitable elastic
tyre is mounted, with transverse ledges or bars (hereinafter called the rim bars)
across the channel, with their circumferential outer edges about midway between
the outer edges of the sides of the channel and the bottom of same, so that when

page_text: the tyre is mounted therein, its inner face rests upon and is supported by said rim
bars, and its sides retained in position by the projecting edges of the rim channel
sides, beyond the outer circumference of the rim bars which are preferably at such
intervals, apart round the rim that the intervening spaces between them are
less than the width of the rim channel, and as it is desirable that the inner face of
the tyre should press somewhat firmly upon the rim bars, the diameter of the tyre
is made rather less than the outer circumference of the rim bars around the wheel,
so that the tyre has to be more or less stretched in being mounted thereon.
When the wheel and tyre are thus constructed and put into operation on a
vehicle, and the outer face of the tyre is pressed against the roadway or
floor, its inner face is thereby equivalently forced against the rim bars, and
the intermediate parts between the rim bars being unsupported, bulge inwards
more or less into the spaces between same in the rim channel. The compressed
parts of the tyre, by thus expanding into these spaces between the rim bars,
(instead of being forced in front of the wheel, and gradually accumulating in the
form of a loop, as would be the case if the inner face of the tyre were completely
supported on the outer face of the rim), consequently remains in its normal position
upon the rim bars, and has no tendency to creep forward around the rim when in
use, while at same time the parts which are unsupported between the rim bars
impart to the tyre a greater resilience, and in my improved wheels the tyres
having thus got rid of the herein before described tendency to "creeping" are also
more durable. The tyres may be constructed either solid or with one or more
tubular air spaces therein to give them a still softer resilience.
According to one modification of my invention, I may construct the wheel and
rim with the herein before described hollow or channel, and with the said rim
collars and rim bars therein, altogether complete as a metal casting, and such
construction suits well for truck or other wheels of small diameter; or according to
a second modification, I may construct same in two parts, by as it were splitting
the rim in the plane of the wheel, and leaving one section of the rim as an integral part
of the body of the wheel (and which section of the wheel is hereinafter called the
main rim section) and the other in the form of an annulus (hereinafter called the
annulus rim section) with flanges or brackets projecting inwardly in the plane of
the wheel so that same may be screwed or otherwise firmly attached to the body
of the main rim section of the wheel, and in the half channel or half hollow of
the annulus rim section, I construct the rim bars as ledges, and preferably so
projecting therefrom that they extend across to the opposite side of the half of
the rim channel or hollow in the main rim section, when the two sections of rim
are fastened together; or these rim bars may, if preferred be constructed in each
section of the rim, and so that they meet each other in the centre of the rim, when
the two sections are united.
Around the outer edges of each of the said rim sections, I preferably construct
the rim collars with inwardly projecting lips or flanges thereon, so that when the
two rim sections are screwed or bolted together, these lips project over and clasp
the inner edges of the tyre, so that they cannot in the ordinary employment and
use of the wheel, be easily jumped out of position between same; and the outer
edges of the rim bars being sufficiently inside the circumference of the said rim lip
or flange, when the inner face of the tyre is resting upon the rim bars, there is
enough of the tyre inside the rim lips or flanges to give them a firm clasp thereon.
When the rim bars are altogether constructed upon either of the rim sections,
and project across the hollow part of the other rim section, the tyre can easily be
mounted upon the rim bars before attaching the annulus rim section to the main
rim section, which is a practical advantage that this arrangement of the rim bars
possesses over having them constructed partly on both rim sections, the mounting
of the tyre being in this latter case somewhat more difficult to accomplish.
When the wheels are constructed according to this last herein before-described
modification, I preferably make the width of the inner face of the tyre somewhat
greater than the space between the rim edges when the two sections of the rim

page_text: are face to face, so that when the tyre is mounted on the rim bars, the wider part
of its inner face will project under the lips of the rim collars when the two sections
of the rim are bolted or otherwise firmly secured together, in order that the rim
lips may thus have a retaining catch on the tyre.
According to a third modification of my invention, my improved rim, with an
indiarubber or elastic tyre mounted thereon, may be constructed on an ordinary
wooden wheel for carriages or other road vehicles, and when the tyre employed is of
a narrower width than the rim face, I form around the outer face of the felloes of
the wheels a continuous channel or hollow of corresponding width to suit the
elastic tyre to be employed thereon; at short and equal intervals apart around the
rim transverse cuts are radially incised across the face of the rim, and extending
rather deeper than the bottom of said rim channel, into which transverse cuts
strips of preferably hoop iron of suitable gauge and length to exactly fit into
same are inserted and constitute the rim bars as herein before described; after
which a metal tyre is shrunk upon the two sides of the rim channel, so as to leave
the channel itself uncovered, and these tyres should be of sufficient thickness to
form retaining collars to the indiarubber or elastic tyre when mounted between
same and when so mounted the inner face of the elastic tyre rests on and is
supported by the said rim bars, the operation of which, in preventing any creeping
tendency in the elastic tyre, and keeping it in position on the rim when in use,
has already been described. But when the elastic tyre employed is of same width
as the face of the rim, I in this case make no groove or channel in the outer face of
the wheel rim, but employ it as ordinarily constructed, with a flat iron tyre shrunk
thereon over the full width of its face and apply an annulus (preferably of iron) on
each side of the said wheel rim, with the inner edges sufficiently within the
radius of the ordinary iron tyre on the wheel to allow of screws or bolts passing
through them and into or through the wooden felloes so as to firmly secure the
said annuli upon the wheel rim sides, and with the outer edges of the annuli
extending sufficiently beyond the radius of the ordinary iron tyre of the wheel, to
allow of pins or bolts constituting the rim bars being passed through and secured
in both annuli, a little beyond the outer face of the ordinary iron tyre, at short and
equal intervals apart around same, and with the edges of the annuli projecting
beyond the said pins or bolts to form retaining collars to the elastic tyre, when
mounted between same, with its inner face resting upon the rim bars. Or in
lieu of the herein before described employment of annuli and pins, the ordinary iron
tyre may be dispensed with, and an iron tyre constructed of channel section with
transverse ledges to constitute the rim bars constructed in the bottom part of the
channel, and the outer edges of said tyre to constitute the retaining collars
for the elastic tyre when mounted thereon. The said special construction of channel
iron when formed into a tyre is then shrunk on so as to firmly clasp the wooden
felloes of the wheel with its flat face inwards and the channel and transverse rim
bars outwards.
According to a fourth modification I may carry my invention into effect by
constructing my improved rim of sheet metal after the manner of an ordinary
bicycle metal rim with the continuous channel or hollow around the outer face
of same sufficiently deep to allow of transverse pins or bolts acting as rim bars
being passed through from side to side of the said rim channel, just a little clear
of the bottom of it, and with enough of the sides projecting beyond them to form
retaining collars for the indiarubber or elastic when mounted on the rim with its
inner face resting upon the said rim bars which also in this modification operate
in retaining the tyre in position on the wheel rim, the same as already described
in respect of the other modifications.

page_text: Improvements in or relating to Wheels and Tyres for Carriages,
Cars, Trucks, Bicycles, and other Vehicles.
I, SAMUEL CLELAND DAVIDSON, of Sirocco Engineering Works, Belfast, Ireland,
Merchant, 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:-
non-
My invention relates to wheels for carriages, cars, trucks and other vehicles, on
which tyres of indiarubber, leather, or other suitable elastic material are employed
to give resilience thereto, the said tyres being of what is termed the
pneumatic," type, inasmuch as their resilience is not necessarily dependent on the
employment of tubes inflated with air under pressure, as in the tyres usually known
as pneumatic.
66
One of the practical difficulties attending the use of indiarubber or other elastic
tyres of the said non-pneumatic type, and as hitherto ordinarily mounted on the
wheels of carriages, cars, trucks or other vehicles, is that when the wheels have any
considerable load to support, the tyre on same has a tendency to what is known as
creeping," whereby it gradually works itself forward into a loop in front of
that part of the wheel rim which presses the tyre upon the roadway or floor, and
unless the tyre be very rigidly attached to the wheel rim, it soon comes off; and
when it be rigidly fastened thereon, with the whole or major part of
its inner face bearing against the rim face, as is usually the case in the method
hitherto ordinarily employed for mounting non-pneumatic tyres on wheel rims,
the outer portion of the tyre if it extend sufficiently beyond the circumference
of the outer edge of the rim, to give a reasonably good resilience, gradually develops
the said creeping tendency within itself (more especially 80 in wheels of small
diameter, such as truck wheels) and eventually manages to detach itself from and
leave only the rigidly fastened inner part of the tyre remaining upon the wheel
rim, which on being thus deranged by the loss of the outer portion of the tyre,
is rendered practically useless. The objects, amongst others, of my invention, are
to so construct the rims of the said wheels that when an indiarubber or elastic tyre
is mounted thereon, of a suitable size and thickness to impart a good resilience
thereto, all tendency in the tyres to creeping" and consequent derangement, as
above referred to, is obviated.
Now according to this invention the channel or hollow around the outer face of
the wheel rim, and in which the indiarubber or other suitable elastic tyre is
mounted, has across it transverse ledges or bars (hereinafter called the rim bars)
with their circumferential outer edges about midway between the outer edges of
the sides of the channel and the bottom of same, so that when the tyre is mounted
therein its inner face rests upon and is supported by said rim bars, and its sides are
retained in position by the projecting edges of the rim channel sides, beyond the
outer circumference of the rim bars. The rim bars are preferably spaced at such
intervals apart round the rim that the intervening spaces between them are less
than the width of the rim channel, and as it is desirable that the inner face of the
tyre should press somewhat firmly upon the rim bars, the diameter of the tyre
is made rather less than the outer circumference of the rim bars around the
wheel, so that the tyre has to be more or less stretched in being mounted thereon.
When the wheel and tyre are thus constructed and put into operation on a
vehicle, and the outer face of the tyre is pressed against the roadway or floor, its
inner face is thereby equivalently forced against the rim bars, and the intermediate
parts between the rim bars being unsupported, bulge inwards more or less into the

page_text: spaces between same in the rim channel. The compressed parts of the tyre, by
thus expanding into these spaces between the rim bars, (instead of being forced in
front of the wheel, and gradually accumulating in the form of a loop as would be
the case if the inner face of the tyre were completely supported on the outer face
of the rim), consequently remains in its normal position upon the rim bars, and has
no tendency to creeping forward around the rim when in use, while at same
time the parts which are unsupported between the rim bars impart to the tyre a
greater resilience, and in my improved wheels the tyres having thus got rid of the
hereinbefore described tendency to creeping are also more durable. The tyres
may be constructed either solid or with one or more tubular air spaces therein
or with a circumferential groove around the central part of their inner face to give
them a still softer resilience.
In the accompanying drawings:
"
Figure 1 is an elevation, Figure 2 a cross section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1
and Figure 3 a section in the plane of the wheel on the line 3-3 of Figure 2 of
a small wheel such as a truck wheel constructed in accordance with my invention.
Figure 2 is a view similar to and illustrating a slight modification of the con-
struction shown in Figure 2. Figure 4 is an elevation, Figure 5 a cross section
on the line 5-5 of Figure 4, and Figure 6 a section in the plane of the wheel on
the line 6-6 of Figure 5 showing the invention applied to a larger wheel. Figures 7
and 8 are part cross sections showing the application of my invention to wheels
having wooden felloes.
Referring first to Figures 1 to 6, a is the wheel, and a* the wheel rim having on
its outer face the rim channel or hollow b in which the indiarubber or other
suitable elastic tyre d is fitted. The rim channel or hollow b is bounded on either
side by the rim collars or projecting edges e e¹ of the rim, and it is provided with
the transverse rim bars c.
In the modification shown in Figure 2^ a groove 6' is formed around the centre
of the rim channel b and is preferably about a third of the width of the latter;
the rim barse do not extend across the groove b¹ but only to its edge on each side,
so that the tyre on being placed in position is unsupported in the centre; conse-
quently when pressure is applied to the outer face of same the unsupported part
of the tyre bulges into the groove whereby the creeping tendency of the tyre is
further minimized and greater resilience is imparted to the wheel.
As shown in Figures 1 to 3 and 2 the wheel a and rim a* may be constructed
with the hollow or rim channel 6 and with the said rim collars e e¹ and rim bars
therein, altogether complete as one metal casting, and such construction suits well
for trucks or other wheels of small diameter; or as shown in Figures 4 to 6, the
wheel and wheel rim may be constructed in two parts, by as it were splitting the
rim in the plane of the wheel, and leaving one section a of the rim as an integral
part of the body of the wheel (and which section of the wheel is hereinafter called
the main rim section) and the other in the form of an annulus a¹ (hereinafter called
the annulus rim section) with flanges or brackets a projecting inwardly in the
plane of the wheel so that same may be bolted by means of bolts g to the body of
the main rim section a of the wheel. In the half channel or half hollow 6 of the
annulus rim section I construct the rim bars as ledges c and preferably so project-
ing therefrom that they extend across to the opposite side of the half of the rim
channel or hollow b in the main rim section a, when the two sections of rim aa¹
are fastened together; or these rim bars c may, if preferred, be constructed in
each section of the rim, and so that they meet each other in the centre of the rim,
when the two sections are united, or if desired they may be so placed relatively to
one another that the ends of the rim bars of one rim section are opposite to the
spaces between those of the other.
Around the outer edges of each of the said rim sections I preferably construct
the rim collars parallel with the plane of the wheel, and the outer edges of the rim
bars being sufficiently inside the circumference of the outer edge of said rim collars

page_text: when the inner face of the tyre is resting upon the rim bars, there is enough of
the tyre inside the rim lips or flanges to prevent its being pushed or forced side-
ways off the rim bars; and to give it a sufficiently strong resistance against side
thrust when going round sharp curves at a high speed or when an obstacle
encounters the tyre on one side only.
When the rim bars are altogether constructed upon either of the rim sections,
and project across the hollow part of the other rim section, the tyre can easily
be mounted upon the rim bars before attaching the annulus rim section to the
main rim section, which is a practical advantage that this arrangement of the rim
bars possesses over having them constructed partly on both rim sections, the
mounting of the tyre being in this latter case somewhat more difficult to
accomplish.
My improved rim with an indiarubber or elastic tyre mounted thereon may
also be constructed on an ordinary wooden wheel for carriages or other road
vehicles. When the tyre employed is of a narrower width than the rim face as
shown in Figure 7, I form around the outer face of the felloes h of the wheels a
continuous channel or hollow b of corresponding width to suit the elastic tyre d to
be employed thereon; at short and equal intervals apart around the rim I have
transverse cuts radially incised across the face of the rim, and extending rather
deeper than the bottom of said rim channel, into which transverse cuts I insert
strips of preferably hoop iron of suitable gauge and length to exactly fit into
same; these constitute the rim bars after which metal tyres e and e¹ are shrunk
upon the two sides of the rim channel b so as to leave the channel itself uncovered.
These tyres should be of sufficient thickness to form retaining collars to the india-
rubber or elastic tyre when mounted between same; and when so mounted the
inner face of the elastic tyre rests on and is supported by the said rim bars c, the
operation of which, in preventing any creeping tendency in the elastic tyre, and
keeping it in position on the rim when in use, has already been described.
In the arrangement shown in Figure 8, where the rubber tyre d is but very
little narrower than the rim face, the wooden wheel is fitted with an iron tyre m
constructed of channel section with transverse ledges c to constitute the rim bars
constructed in the bottom part of the channel. The outer edges ee of said tyre
constitute the retaining collars for the elastic tyre d when mounted thereon. The
said special construction of channel iron when formed into a tyre m is then shrunk
on so as to firmly clasp the wooden felloes h of the wheel with its flat face inwards
and the channel and transverse rim bars outwards.
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. In wheels for carriages, cars, trucks or other vehicles, on which indiarubber
or other more or less elastic tyres are mounted to give resilience thereto, a wheel
rim having a hollow or channel around its outer face and transverse ledges or
other equivalent device within said hollow or channel, at suitable distances apart
around the rim, said transverse ledges supporting the tyre when mounted on the
rim and in said channel, and the sides of said channel projecting beyond the outer
radius of said transverse ledges and forming retaining collars, preventing the
tyre shifting on said ledges to either side, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth.
2. In wheels for carriages, cars, trucks or other vehicles on which indiarubber
or other more or less elastic tyres are mounted to give resilience thereto, a wheel
rim having a hollow or channel around its outer face, a groove around the centre
of said hollow or channel, and transverse ledges or other equivalent device within
said hollow or channel at suitable distances apart around the rim, but not extend-
ing across said central groove, said transverse ledges supporting the tyre when
mounted on the rim and in said channel and the sides of said channel projecting
beyond the outer radius of said transverse ledges and forming retaining collars

page_text: preventing the tyre shifting on said ledges to either side, substantially as and
for the purposes set forth.
3. In wheels for carriages, cars, trucks or other vehicles on which indiarubber,
leather or other more or less elastic tyres are mounted to give resilience thereto,
a channelled or hollowed wheel rim with only one side of the hollow integral
with said rim, and an annulus secured to said wheel and forming the remaining
part of the rim, and transverse ledges constructed either in both sections of the
rim, or altogether in one or other of said sections and extending therefrom into
the hollow of the other section, in combination with an indiarubber, leather or
other elastic tyre mounted in the hollow of said rim and with its inner face
resting upon said transverse ledges, all substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
4. In wooden wheels for carriages, cars, trucks or other vehicles, in which
rubber or other more or less elastic tyres are mounted to give resilience thereto, a
groove around the central part of the outer face of the felloe and having transverse
slits across same, strips of metal inserted into said slit, narrow iron tyres shrunk
on at each side of the rim leaving a space between them corresponding with the
width of the groove on the face of the felloe and an indiarubber or other elastic
tyre mounted on said space, the inner face of said tyre resting upon the edges
of the metal strips, all substantially us and for the purpose set forth.
5. In wooden wheels for carriages, cars, trucks or other vehicles in which rubber
or other more or less elastic tyres are mounted to give resilience thereto, an iron
tyre of channel cross-section shrunk on the outer face of the felloe with the channel
outwards, and transverse ledges of approximately half the depth of the channel in
the bottom thereof, and an indiarubber or other more or less elastic tyre inserted
into the outer face of said channel with the inner face of the tyre resting upon
the said ledges, and between the projecting sides of the channel of the shrunk on
tyre, all substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
6. The several constructions of wheels substantially and for the purposes herein-
before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1
1000
J. C. MEWBURN & ELLIS,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.