Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Apr, 1897-Accepted, 10th July, 1897
SIMON PIERRE FRANCOIS LEHMKUHL of 122 Malakkastraat, The Hague, Netherlands,
Engineer 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 :-
.
My invention relates to a new tyre which is stretched (and therefore can bear the
weight of the cycle and the cyclist) by means of shortening one or more endless wires
of steel or any other material. These wires of steel are placed between the tyre and
the rim or into the tyre and rest on supports which are fastened to the rim (or can
be regarded as to be fastened to the rim) and to the tyre alternately. As the supports
which are fastened to the rim are never moved, the tyre is stretched, if the wires are
shortened. These supports are situated round the circumferences and directed to the
centre of the wheel. Each of them must be longer than half the height of the tyre
in order to give the wires the form of a broken line. Fig. 1 shows this principle. It
consists of a scheme of the rim, the tyre, the supports and the wires and is a vertical
section through the centre of the wheel. It is clear that there must be several
supports, in Fig. 12 + 33 = 66. In Fig. 1 r is the rim, t the tyre, 8, and 8,
are supports and wis the endless wire. If the length of the wire is shortened, the
supports 8, remain on their places, but the supports s are pressed outwards, in such
a way that the tyre is stretched and takes the form t₁.
How this principle is to be performed is shown in Fig. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Fig. 2 is a part of a vertical section through the centre of the wheel, Fig. 3 is a
section on a b and Fig. 4 a section on c d of the tyre. Fig. 5 shows the arrangement
with which the wires are stretched, seen from beneath.
r is the rim w wire & supports.
t is the tyre 8, supports.
Firstly a tyre is made of which Fig. 6 shows a section. This is not a tube, and
the ends c and are not fastened together.
Therefore it is possible to put the supports into the tyre and to fasten the supports s
to both the sides of the tyre and the supports 8, only to one side, for example by
means of little screws. After the wires with the arrangement KL are put into the
tyre. The little wires q serve to prevent the wires w from leaving their places.
fare wires which connect the supports. After the ends c and c, are fastened together,
the tyre is like a tube and is ready to be put round the rim. After it is put
round the rim, it is stretched by working the key e of the arrangement.
The air pressure of the pneumatic tyre is here substituted by an endless wire and a
number of supports.
THE ARRANGEMENT K L FIG. 2.
The arrangement K L Fig. 2 is a section KL of Fig. 5. It consists of a plate P
furnished with two little bearings n n for the axle u and a part m with two little
bearings for the axle ų. The wires w are rolled up on the axle u by working the
key e and the key e₁, serves to rotate a little toothed wheel fastened on the axle u₁.
This little toothed wheel moves the fork z which can slide in the part m and this
fork prevents the axle u from turning back. Instead of a fork and toothed wheel

page_text: a ratchet wheel with click are sufficient. The other ends of the wires are fastened
to the plate P The plate Pcan slide along the support 8, in the same manner as the
wires along the other supports.
There are many remarks with reference to this tyre:
1. As the wire slides along the supports, it will be an improvement to place little
pulleys on the supports.
2. The supports are here made of wood, but can be of steel or aluminum.
3. It is better to use many wires and of little thickness than a few and of greater
thickness.
4. The wires can be substituted by an endless strap of leather or rame (a product
from India).
5. The wires can be made of a material which is not elastic but can also be made
of an elastic material such as caoutchouc and india rubber.
6. The foot of the supports & can be enlarged in order to touch the tyre on a greater
part of the circumference.
7. These wires and supports can also partly substitute the air pressure of a
pneumatic tyre.
To declare the remark 7 serves the following:
As the wires and supports of this tyre fill the place of the air pressure of a
pneumatic tyre, it is clear that these wires and supports can also partly fill the place
of the air pressure. If for example a tubeless (Fleuss) tyre is furnished with these
supports and wires, it can be stretched by means of the air pressure and also (at the
same time) by means of shortening these wires. Then it is clear that it can bear
more weight.
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:
Any tyre which is made in accordance with the principle declared in my
specification, namely:
A tyre which is stretched by means of shortening one or more endless wires of steel
or other material or an endless strap of leather or other material, this wire or strap
being supported by supports which are fastened alternately to the rim (or can be
regarded as to be fastened to the rim) and to the tyre in such a way that this wire or
strap forms a broken line.
n
AL 14th dow of Anvil 1907
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