Year: 1892

page_text: This print is in accordance with the Original Specification as it stands after
Amendment (under Section 18 of the Patents, &c., Act, 1883), as allowed
by the decision of the Comptroller General, of the 26th day of August 1998.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (AMENDED).
ашрговещение шейшанс ires anu wineer nins ror thе заше.
I, THOMAS B. JEFFERY, of 224, N. Franklin Street, Chicago, County of Cook,
State of Illinois, and United States of America, Cycle Manufacturer, 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;
Reference being made to the acompanying drawings, in which;-
Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation of a portion of a wheel and tire embodying.
my invention, one-half of the figure being a section at the central plane of the
wheel.
Fig. 2 is a section at the line 2-2 on Fig. 1, showing the tire not inflated
and without an inflatable core.
Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the same form of tire, that is, without an
inflatable core, fully inflated and thereby locked in the rim.
Fig. 4 is a similar section showing the tire with an inflatable core partially
inflated, or, as it might appear, without inflation.
Fig. 5 is a similar section of a similar tire showing the inflatable core fully
inflated.
Fig. 6 is a perspective of a piece of a core longitudinally corrugated.
Fig. 7 is a similar view of a core circumferentially corrugated.
Fig. 8 is a transverse section of a tire having a slightly modified form of core
not inflated.
Fig. 9 is a similar view of the same tire shown in Fig. 8, with the core inflated.
This invention comprises two prominent features, either of which may be
utilized without the other, but which are combined in the tire which is hereinafter
described. The first relates to means of securing the tire to the wheel, and the
second is designed to diminish the danger of puncturing an inflated core and to
prevent leakage of air through the same when it is punctured.
A is the rim of the wheel; B, the exterior sheath or tube of the tire, which,
in. some forms, may constitute the entire tire, that is, may be used without an
interior core. C represents an interior inflatable core when such is to be employed.
FU 077

page_text: I will first describe the tyre as it may be used without an inflatable core, the
outer sheath or tube B being itself inflatable. This tube or sheath may be made
with a canvas lining or body B₁ and a tread B2, but when used without an
inflatable core the canvas lining is not essential, though I prefer to so construct
it in all cases.
The inner circumferential wall or base B of the tube or sheath B
in cross section constitutes a re-entrant angle or curve, that is, it is formed
transversely curved or angular, the curve or angle projecting toward the center of
the circle to which the remainder of the tube in transverse section conforms. At
the opposite lateral edges of the base, the tire is provided with the exterior pro-
jecting beads or spurs bb. The rim A has the seat for the tyre substantially
cylindrical, that is, transversely without hollow or concavity (except certain
grooves hereinafter referred to to accommodate the spoke heads), and at the
opposite lateral edges, said rim has the up-turned flanges aa hooked inward
toward each other, and overhanging the tire seat a¹. The recess in the hooked
or overhanging flanges a is adapted to receive the laterally projecting spurs or
beads of the tire. The tire in its normal condition, that is, when not inflated,
-may readily be inserted between the hooked flanges aa, so that its opposite
laterally projecting spurs or beads will be in position to be lodged within the
hooked flanges a when properly forced apart laterally. Upon inflating the tire
the interior pressure of the air will force the inner circumferential wall or base
outward, i.e. away from the center of the inflated cavity, until it rests upon
the seat a¹ of the rim, and in so doing, said base being transversely straightened
will force the spurs or beads 64 into the hooks or hooked flanges a of the rim,
thereby effecting secure engagement between the tire and rim, which will
continue so long as the tire is kept inflated, and pressure upon the tire when in
use, by increasing the tension of air within the cavity of the tire, will more
securely hold the base thus straightened and seated, and thereby hold the beads
or spurs more securely engaged with the hooks or flanges a of the rim. The
base B is made comparatively stiff in order that when seated by the interior
pressure it may not buckle or become crimped but may force the beads
and into the hooked flanges as described.
apart
I do not prescribe or limit myself to any specific means of making this portion
of the tire stiff as necessary, but it may be done by subjecting this portion to
special vulcanizing process to harden it, or other means which will occur to the
rubber manufacturer may be employed.
When an interior inflatable core C is to be employed with a sheath of the
construction already described, the operation in inflation will be substantially
the same as already described, the interior core being very flexible and acting
against the re-entrant base B4 with substantially the same effect as is produced
by the direct action of the compressed air within the cavity against such base,
but with somewhat greater certainty. When such core is to be employed it is
not necessary that the sheath should be air-tight, the core being relied upon to
retain the air; and the most convenient method of introducing the core is to
have the sheath split circumferentially at the middle of the base B*, so that the
core may be introduced bodily through the rift thus made. This rifting of the
base at the middle point, as shown in Fig. 3, does not interfere at all with the
mechanical action of the sheath or tube B, in locking the same to the rim by
the engagement of the spurs or beads of the tire with the flanges of the rim.
because the edges abutting at the rift act against each other as the core is
inflated and such inflation tends to force the base 13' down to the seat a precisely
as if no division had been made. Considering the action of the device as thus
constructed, it will be seen that the two halves of the base thus rifted act as
levers against each other at their edges abutting at the rift, to force the beads
at the opposite edge of such levers into the hooks or seats prepared for them in
the rim, and this conception of this feature is to be regarded as substantially
the equivalent of the conception primarily suggested, that the base is
re-entrant into the circle to which the remainder of the sheath in transverse

page_text: section conforms; and when once properly seated in the rim,-whether this is
caused by the action of the parts of the divided base against each other, or by
the action of the inflated core pressing both against the base and also laterally
against the sheath, the two portions of the base, without regard to their abut-
ting against each other, operate as lever arms against which the interior pressure
is exerted to prevent the exterior spurs from being unhooked from the rim, and
in view of such action, I have applied the term lever base" to the base of a
sheath which operates as two levers to hold the two exterior rim-engaging spurs
in engagement with the rim.
The broad rim which is desirable in this construction in order to afford the
greatest security in the mode of fastening the tire to the rim, makes desirable
securing the spokes at two lines or planes instead of all at one central plane
as is customary. I have therefore shown such a construction, alternate spokes
being secured in planes at opposite sides of the central or equatorial plane of the
wheel. In order that the heads of the spokes may not protrude into the tire or
prevent the base B34 from seating broadly on the seat a', I provide the grooves a²²
in the rim in the planes of the spoke apertures 20, and in said grooves the spoke
heads are lodged, so that they do not protrude above the general surface of the
seat a', said seat being thus divided into three parts alternating with the two
grooves, said three parts being all equally elevated and affording a continuous
seat for the tire as above described.
Heretofore, inflatable cores for wheel tires have been so constructed as to be
distended when inflated, that is, 'the wall or skin of the inflatable core has been
made of elastically extensible material, and the core has been made enough
smaller than the sheath by which it was to be retained, so that when inflated to
the full capacity of the sheath, said extensible wall or sheath has been stretched.
When thus constructed and distended, the skin is exceedingly liable to puncture,
and when punctured, even by the finest point, it will gap open at the puncture
and the same will extend by the mere cohesion of the surrounding material
until a mere pin prick will become a wide-open gap. I aim to prevent such a
result by making the inflatable core in its normal condition, that is, when not
distended, larger than the interior cavity of the sheath. It is sufficient for the
purpose that it be larger in either dimension, but it is preferably larger both
transversely and longitudinally, or circumferentially with respect to the wheel.
Such core, therefore, when placed within the sheath, before inflation, will be
wrinkled or creased as seen in Fig. 1, and when fully inflated, these wrinkles
or creases will disappear or diminish only by the compression of the substance
of the skin or wall of the core between the exterior sheath and the interior com-
pressed air, so that when thus inflated as in the condition of use, instead of
being stretched is in the opposite condition, and if punctured, the reaction of the
material tends to close up the puncture, and the greater the interior pressure
due to the compressed condition of the air the more forcible the action of the
substance of the skin tending to close the gap or puncture, so that even a cut of
considerable length will be held close by the interior pressure, the edges of the
cut under such pressure acting very much as a check valve closing the tighter
the greater the pressure of air seeking escape.
The core may be formed with corrugations, either longitudinal as in Fig. 6
or circumferential as in Fig. 7, so that when placed in the sheath it shall not be
irregularly wrinkled or creased, and the corrugations may not be wholly obliter-
ated or flattened out in the inflating but only diminished. There is an advantage
in having the corrugations or 'wrinkles greater than can be wholly obliterated,
viz. that any puncturing point which may be driven through the sheath has
less chance of encountering the wall of the core when it is thus corrugated or
wrinkled, because it may strike between the corrugations, and if it does strike
the crest of a wrinkle or corrugation, the later will yield and not stand so
rigidly against the point as if there were no wrinkle.
If the base portion of the inflatable core be arched inward, following in

page_text: general the feature of construction which characterizes the sheath, inflation of
the core tending to straighten that part will cause the core, to a degree varying
according to the stiffness of this arched portion, to intensify the effect attributed
to the corresponding construction of the sheath,-to wit: making the exterior
beads of the lateral edges seat firmly in the hooked flanges of the rim, because
the core will not slip much from its lodgment in the corners b¹ of the cavity
of the sheath in the process of inflation and if the said base portion of the
core has any stiffness the straightening of that base in inflation will cause it to
push against the sheath in the corners b', and add so much force to the force
which will hold the tire in engagement with the rim. This suggests a modifi-
cation which is present in Figs. 8 and 9, wherein the core having the stiff base
arched inward serves directly and solely as the means of forcing the lateral edges
of the sheath apart and into engagement with the rim.
The description herein of the form of the base as arched or folded inward or
forming a re-entrant angle or curve is to be understood as referring to
the form at the instant the tire is inserted between the flanges of the rim and
before it has been caused to protrude its spurs sideward under said flanges. The
tire may be so molded as to require lateral compression to cause it to enter be-
tween the flanges, and such lateral compression will give the base the described
re-entrant form.
For convenience in removing the tire from the rim when it is collapsed or
relieved from the interior air pressure, I provide the small holes a, large enough
to insert the finger or a small tool about the size of a lead pencil to push up the
base 1, so that the spurs or beads may be withdrawn from the flanges to
permit the removal of the tire from the rim. This construction is desirable,
because when the tire has been for some time inflated and the base thereby seated
and the spurs closely engaged with the flanges of the rim, the rubber may adhere
somewhat to the rim both at the seat a, and also in the hooks or flanges, and
even if it does not adhere, it may have no tendency to assume the re-entrant form
after having been so long straightened.
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 I am
aware that it has been previously proposed to form hollow tires with projections
or ribs engaging with recesses in the wheel rim and also to secure tires. (without
cement or separate fastenings) by the action of the internal pressure causing a
mutual engagement between the rim and the tire, 'but what I claim is:-
:-
1. An inflatable tire having the base or inner circumferential wall of stiff
material adapted to resist buckling o creasing, such base being transversely
folded or arched inward, forming a re-entrant angle or curve and provided with
exterior laterally projecting beads or spurs at the opposite edges of said base:
substantially as set forth.
2. An inflatable tire 'having the base or inner circumferential wall of stiff
material adapted to resist buckling or creasing, transversely folded or arched
inward forming a re-entrant angle or curve and provided with laterally projecting
beads or spurs 64 at the opposite edges of said base, in combination with a rim
having a seat for the inner circumferential wall of the tire bounded by hooked or
overhung flanges adapted to receive the beads or spurs of the tire: substantially
as set forth.
3. A tire sheath having a base or inner circumferential wall of stiff material
adapted to resist buckling or folding, transversely arched or folded inward form-
ing a re-entrant angle or curve, and provided with exterior laterally projecting
beads or spurs at the opposite edges of such base; combined with a flexible inflat-
able core within such sheath adapted when inflated to press outwardly against
such base; substantially as set forth.
4. A tire sheath having the base or inner circumferential wall of stiff material
adapted to resist buckling or creasing, transversely folded or arched forming a

page_text: re-entrant angle or curve and provided with exterior laterally projecting beads
or spurs at the opposite edges of such base, in combination with a flexible inflat-
able core within such sheath, adapted when inflated to force the base outward,
and with a rim having a seat for the base of the sheath laterally bounded by the
hooked or overhanging flanges adapted to receive the beads or spurs of the base;
substantially as set forth.
5. A tyre sheath B having at its inner circumference at its lateral edges the
exterior and oppositely projecting spurs or beads b, and the interiorly projecting
lever base B, in combination with an inflatable core C within said tire sheath
and adapted when inflated to press outwardly against the lever base B*; and
with a rim A having a seat a¹ to stop the outward movement of the lever base B*
at the middle part, and flanges or hooks at its edges to receive the lateral pro-
jections of the sheath; substantially as set forth.
6. A tire sheath having at its inner circumference at the opposite lateral edges
outwardly projecting beads or spurs, in combination with the rim having the tire
seat bounded by hooks or flanges to engage said spurs, and the inflatable core
within such sheath having its base normally inwardly arched and lodged at its
corners or angles against the sheath directly inward from said exterior spurs or
beads, said base of the core being stiff and adapted to resist creasing or folding;
whereby the inflation of the core causes its base to straighten and force the spurs
of the sheath into engagement with the rim substantially as set forth.
Dated this 26th day of February 1892.
HERBERT & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant, 18, Buckingham Street, Strand, W.C., London.