Improvements in or connected with Pneumatic Tyres for Bicycle and other Wheels, applicable also to Flexible Hose Pipes and to Mill Driving Bands.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Aug., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 29th May, 1894-Accepted, 30th June, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Pneumatic Tyres for Bicycle
and other Wheels, applicable also to Flexible Hose Pipes and
to Mill Driving Bands.
I, JAMES SHARPLES, of 528, Coventry Road, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Commercial Traveller, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
1
The object of this invention is to construct a band of textile fabric and apply the
same in the ways herein described so as to form an effective outside protector or an
inner lining for pneumatic tyres (for the wheels of bicycles tricycles and other
velocipedes and road vehicles) and for flexible hose pipes to prevent the said tyres
and hose pipes being punctured by thorns or other sharp objects as are met with on
ordinary roads the said band of textile fabric being also applicable for use as a mill
driving band.
I will first describe my invention as an outer protective covering for the
pneumatic tyres of the wheels of bicycles tricycles and other velocipedes and road
vehicles.
I take two or more strips of stout canvas or other suitable material of suitable
width and long enough to surround the tyre of the wheel and I lay these strips
together one on the other face to face. The canvas or other like textile material is
preferably cut on the cross so as to allow of stretching both endways and sideways
if desired. I now sew the two strips together by quilting that is the stitches cross
in diagonal lines from side to side a short distance apart thereby making it impossible
for a puncture to extend farther than the space enclosed between four of the lines
of quilting. The ends of the strips of canvas are joined at some distance apart so
that one strip overlaps the joint of the next strip and thus the band is of the same
strength and thickness at the join as at other parts. In order to bring the adjacent
threads of the canvas or other textile material of which the band is formed closer
together I now shrink the band by any convenient means such as by steeping the
same in a saturated solution of vinegar and salt for a certain length of time say for
two days more or less and then allowing the band to dry slowly, which steeping has
the effect of removing the dressing from the canvas and making the band soft and
pliable and the strands very close together so as to make it impermeable to thorns
or other sharp objects as are met with on ordinary roads. Or the band may be
used unshrunken. The band thus formed is applied round the pneumatic tyre and
secured by lacing or by side wires or other means as used for other outer coverings
of pneumatic tyres which being well known require no description here. The said
canvas band may also be applied as a lining for the outer covering of a pneumatic
tyre the outer surface being covered with india-rubber or like substance vulcanized
thereon.
When applying my invention as a protective covering for garden hose and fire
hose and other like flexible hose I make the canvas or other like textile band of
two or more strips of canvas quilted together as above described or of a single strip
of quilted canvas and I apply the covering to the hose either by being coiled around
the same the meeting edges of the band being sewn or otherwise fixed together so
as to make a spiral seam round the hose; or the protector may be bent round the
hose and the opposite edges of the protector be sewn or otherwise fixed together
80 as to make a straight seam running along the hose.
In order to increase the resistance of the canvas band formed as above
described to being punctured, I may use between the thicknesses of canvas one or

page_text: more strips of fine woven wire the strips of canvas and the woven wire being
sewn together by quilting as above described.
I make a mill driving band or mill driving belt of two or more thicknesses
of canvas laid face to face and sewn together by quilting as above described
but in this case the canvas or other like textile fabric is by preference cut on 5
the straight so as to prevent as far as possible any stretching of the band.
Dated this 28th day of August 1893.
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY.
Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in or connected with Pneumatic Tyres for Bicycle
and other Wheels, applicable also to Flexible Hose Pipes and
to Mill Driving Bands.
I, JAMES SHARPLES, of 528, Coventry Road, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Commercial Traveller, 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 :-
The object of this invention is to construct a band of textile fabric and apply the
same in the ways herein described so as to form an effective outside protector or an
inner lining for pneumatic tyres (for the wheels of bicycles tricycles and other
velocipedes and road vehicles) and for flexible hose pipes to prevent the said tyres
and hose pipes being punctured by thorns or other sharp objects as are met with on
ordinary roads the said band of textile fabric being also applicable for use as a mill
driving band.
I will first describe my invention as applied to pneumatic tyres and I will refer
to Figs. 1 to 10 both inclusive in which the same letters of reference indicate the
same or corresponding parts in all the figures.
Fig. 1 shews a portion of the said outside protector or inner lining formed
according to this invention;
Fig. 2 shews a portion of the outer covering of a pneumatic tyre with my
invention applied on the outside and on the inside of the same;
Fig. 3 shews the same portion of the outer covering partly detached from the
wheel rim so as to shew more clearly my invention applied on the inside of the
outer covering;
Fig. 4 shews a portion of a slightly modified form of the said outer protector or
inner lining and
Fig. 5 shews the same applied to the inside of the outer covering of a pneumatic
tyre.
29
1 take two or more strips of stout canvas, preferably what is known as "drill "
canvas, or other like suitable closely woven textile material of suitable width and
long enough to surround the tyre of the wheel and I lay these strips together one
on the other face to face. The number of strips forming the thickness of the
desired band will depend upon the thickness of the band required. I find that two
thicknesses are sufficient for ordinary riding on roads although when the machine
carries an extra heavy weight three thicknesses may be used; and for road vehicles !
sometimes use four, five or more thicknesses. The canvas or other like textile material
is preferably cut on the cross so as to allow stretching both end ways and sideways
if desired. For making a band like that shewn by Fig. 1 each of the strips of canvas
would be about say six times the width of the desired strip, but for making some
of the bands as hereinafter described the strips are cut to the same width as the
required band or slightly wider than the same as hereinafter described. The band A
shewn by Fig. 1 is made of two strips of canvas marked respectively a' and a² and as

page_text: before stated they are cut on the cross so that the warp threads in the strip a' will
run in the direction indicated by the lines x x and the warp threads in the strip a
will run in the direction indicated by the lines y y. I now sew the two strips
together by quilting that is the stitches cross in diagonal lines from side to side a
short distance apart as shewn in Fig. 1 thereby making it impossible for a puncture
to extend farther than the space enclosed between four of the lines of quilting.
Before sewing the said strips together I may or may not rub in powdered resin
between the strips as is done in some outer coverings for pueumatic tyres so as the
In order to bring
better to prevent a sharp instrument puncturing the same.
closer together the adjacent threads of the canvas or other like textile material of
which the band is formed I now shrink the band preferably by steeping the same
in a saturated solution of vinegar and salt for a certain length of time say from
twenty four hours to one hundred and thirty hours more or less and I then hang
the band up to drip until the dripping ceases and then the band is dried slowly and
afterwards passed between rollers and then aired in the sun or in a hot room until
it is perfectly dry and afterwards cut up longitudinally into the widths required
such as shewn by Fig. 1. The shrinking solution which I have found to answer
well in practice consists of from a quarter of a pound to a half pound of salt
dissolved in each quart of vinegar and the length of time during which the band is
left in the shrinking solution depends upon the toughness and hardness of the band
required as the longer the band is left in the tougher and harder it will become.
The steeping and shrinking of the band as above described have the effect of
removing the dressing from the canvas and making the band soft and pliable and
the strands very close together so as to render it impermeable to thorns or other
sharp objects as are met with on ordinary roads. The band thus formed as shewn
by Fig. 1 is applied around the pneumatic tyre as an outside protector or as an
inner lining for the outer covering the outer surface of the band being by preference
For instance as
covered with india-rubber or like substance vulcanized thereon.
shewn by Fig. 2 the band A may be applied outside the tread of the outer
covering B of the pneumatic tyre and be fixed thereon by india-rubber solution or
by being vulcanized thereto; or as shewn also by Fig. and by Fig. 3 instead
of or in addition to the band A on the outside of the outer covering Ba
similar band A may be applied inside the outer covering B and fixed thereto by
india-rubber solution or by being vulcanized thereon.
In the example of my invention shewn by Fig. 4 one of the strips of the said
canvas or other like textile material marked a² is made somewhat wider than the
other strip a¹ or strips of which the band is formed so that the overlapping
sides c¹² of the strip a² will, when the strip is solutioned or vulcanized to the outer
covering as shewn in Fig. 5, graduate the thickness of the protective band and
prevent that sudden step d at the sides of the same which there is in the
example shewn by Figs. 2 and 3.
Another example of my invention is shewn by Figs. 6, 7 and 8 of which Fig. 6
shews a portion of the outer covering of a pneumatic tyre and wheel rim with my
invention applied to the inside of the same; Fig. 7 shews a portion of the said
covering opened out into a flat state and with part of the vulcanized india-rubber
surface removed so as the better to shew the protective band which is made
according to this invention and Fig. 8 shews a portion of the said protective band
before the edges are folded for the purpose of forming loops for the side fixing
wires ele shewn in Fig. 6; in this example of my invention the strip of canvas a
to which the strip a¹ is sewn by quilting as above described, is made rather wider
than is the outer covering of the pneumatic tyre when opened out and the edges of
the strip a² are folded back upon the strip as shewn in Fig. 7 and solutioned to the
body of the strip so as to form looped edges in which the usual fixing wires el e³ are
threaded for the purpose of fixing the outer covering of the tyre to the wheel rim
in the way well known. The outer surface of the strip is covered by vulcanized
rubber in the usual way thus forming the outer covering such as shewn by Fig. 6
with the inner protective band vulcanized thereto.

page_text: Instead of the said protective band being solutioned or vulcanized on to the
outer covering of the pneumatic tyre as stated above the said protective hand may
be constructed so as to be fixed around the pneumatic tyre only at certain times
when required such for instance as when riding over rough roads or at other times
when there is a danger of puncturing the tyre. Fig. 9 shews one of these
protective bands constructed for occasional use but shewn broken off so as to get it
on the drawing. The said band is made a little larger than the outer circumference
of the pneumatic tyre and is wound round the same so as to lie upon the tread part
of the tyre occupying the same position as does the protective strip A shewn in
Fig. 2. The said strip A Fig. 9 is then fixed in place by any convenient means
such for instance as by having a series of eyelets g along the sides near one end and
corresponding hooks h fixed to the other end of the strip so as to engage in these
eyelets and hold the protective covering A round the tyre. Also at intervals
there are other eyelet holes marked i at certain distances apart say about six or
eight inches more or less by which the strip A can be further secured by lacing
round the wheel rim.
Fig. 9 shews my invention applied to a pneumatic tyre of the class known as
"single tube" tyres in which there is no separate outer covering. In this
application of my said invention the protective band A. made as above described is
vulcanized into the tubular tyre during the process of manufacture.
For instance
the protective band A may be solutioned on to the canvas or other insertion
portion of the tubular tyre which surrounds the inner rubber lining / and then the
band A and the canvas portion k are covered by the outer rubber tread part ƒ
which is vulcanized thereto.
When applying my invention as a protective covering for garden hose and fire
hose and other like flexible hose I make the canvas or other like textile band A
of two or more strips of canvas quilted together, as above described, or of a single
strip of canvas folded upon itself and quilted and I apply the covering to the hose
pipe by being coiled around the same as shewn for instance by Fig. 10 (in which
the hose pipe is marked J) the meeting edges of the band being sewn or solutioned
or otherwise fixed together so as to make a spiral seam round the hose the said
strip A being solutioned to the hose pipe J or vulcanized thereto in the process of
making the pipe; or as shewn by Fig. 11 the protective strip A may be made wide
enough to surround the pipe J and be bent around the same and solutioned or
vulcanized thereto and the opposite edges of the protector A be sewn or otherwise
fixed together so as to make a straight seam running along the hose. Outside
this protective covering A there may be also vulcanized rubber K which is
vulcanized onto the protective covering A after the latter has been fixed around
the pipe J.
In order to increase the resistance of the canvas or other like textile protective
band A A formed as above described from being punctured I may use between
the thicknesses of canvas one or more strips of fine woven wire the strips of canvas
and the woven wire being sewn together by quilting as above described.
I make a mill driving band or mill driving belt of two or more thicknesses of
canvas or other like textile fabric laid face to face and sewn together by quilting as
above described but in this case the outer thickness of the canvas or other like
textile fabric is by preference cut on the straight so as to prevent as far as possible
any stretching of the band and so as to prevent any joints being made on the
outside. Fig. 13 shews a portion of a mill driving band made in accordance with
this invention. It is formed as shewn by Fig. 12 of three strips of canvas or of
other like textile material marked respectively a' a² a3 and of these the strip a² is cut
on the straight and is made of about twice the width of the strips a' a³ (which are cut
on the cross) so as to project at each side; then these overlapping sides of the
strip a² are folded over the strips a¹ a³ as shewn in Fig. 13 so as to meet together
and enclose the strips a¹ a³ and thus form good rounded edges to the band which is
thus of four thicknesses of the canvas or other like textile material which are now
sewn together by quilting as stated above and shrunk and finished as herein before

page_text: described. Where the strip or band is of such a length that several strips of
canvas have to be joined together these joins are made some distance apart so that
one strip overlaps the joint of the next strip and thus the band is of the same
strength and thickness at the joins as at the other paris.
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. The manufacture and sale of protective textile bands for pneumatic tyres or
for flexible hose pipes said bands being composed essentially of two or more
thicknesses of closely woven canvas or other like textile material secured together
by sewing in cross lines at short intervals apart and then shrunk together all
substantially as herein before set forth.
2. In combination with a pneumatic tyre or with a pneumatic tyre outer covering
for bicycle wheels and other wheels the use of one or more of the improved
protective textile bands made and applied in any of the several ways substantially
as and for the purpose herein before set forth.
3. As a protector for flexible hose pipe the use of the improved protective textile
band made and applied thereto in any of the several ways substantially as herein--
before set forth.
4. The manufacture and sale of driving bands or driving belts composed of two
or more thicknesses of closely woven canvas or other like textile material secured
together by sewing in cross lines at short intervals apart and then shrunk together
all substantially as herein before set forth.
5. The manufacture and sale of driving bands or driving belts composed of two
or more thicknesses of closely woven canvas or other like textile material the outer
thickness of canvas being cut on the straight and lapped over the edges of the inner
cross cut strip or strips of canvas and all secured together by sewing in cross lines
at short intervals apart and then shrunk together all substantially as hereinbefore.
set forth.
Dated this 28th day of May 1894
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicant.