Improvements relating to Pneumatic Tyres for the Wheels of Vehicles.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 18th July, 1899-Accepted, 21st Oct.,
1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Pneumatic Tyres for the Wheels of
Vehicles.
I, ARTHUR HUDSON MARKS, of Akron, in the County of Summit, and State of
Ohio, United States of America, Superintendent, 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:-
This invention relates to pneumatic tyres for the wheels of vehicles, and
more particularly to that class of pneumatic tyres intended for use on carriages,
motor road vehicles, and the like, and has for its object to provide a tyre of
this character which will present a broad tread surface, by means of which its
adhesion may be increased, said tyre being adapted to resist puncture by reason
of its construction, and being adapted for production with a material saving in
the amount of rubber used.
To these ends my invention consists in certain novel features which I will
proceed to describe and will then particularly point out in the claims.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, of a tyre embodying my
invention;
Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view thereof; and
Figure 3, a perspective view, illustrating the mode of construction, of the
tyre.
Referring to said drawings, I will first describe the manner in which my
improved tyre is constructed or built up, the same being more particularly illus-
trated in Figure 3 of the drawings, in which 10 indicates a mandrel which has
a flattened portion 11 extending longitudinally thereof. Around this mandrel is
formed a tube 12 of rubber, and this tube is in turn enclosed by or wrapped
around with a wrapping of fabric 13. Two layers of this fabric, more or less,
are first wrapped around the rubber tube 12, and there is then formed upon the
flattened portion of the fabric, above the flattened side of the mandrel, a body
of rubber 14 built up in strips of successively decreasing width until the entire
body is approximately circular in cross section. The fabric is then again
wrapped around the partially completed tyre until about six plies or layers of
the fabric surround the portion thereof already on the mandrel, this outer wrapping
of fabric being designated by the numeral 15. A thickened tread portion 16 is
then built up of strips of rubber, so as to form a broad flat tread surface 17,
and this rubber is also carried around the fabric 15, so that the whole tyre is
enclosed in a covering of rubber. The tyre thus built up is vulcanized in a
mould in the usual manner, and it will, of course, be understood that, during this
operation, the several parts of the rubber which are in contact with each other
become one continuous body separated by the intervening layers of fabric. The
resultant product is the tyre shown in Figures 1 and 2, which has a central air
space 18, flattened at one side, as shown at 19, and enclosed and defined by a
tube 20 of rubber. This tube is in turn enclosed by a tube 21 formed of a number
of layers or plies of fabric, separated at the outer portion of the tyre for the

page_text: insertion between the said layers or plies of an insertion 22 of rubber, so shaped
that, while the under side of the said insertion and the fabric adjacent thereto
are flattened to conform to the flattened outer wall of the air chamber, the outer
portion of the rubber insertion and that portion of the fabric tube which lies
outward therefrom, are so curved as to conform in a general way to a cylindrical
shape. The tyre is completed by an outer tube or covering 24 and a broad flat
tread surface 25. The tyre, is, of course, provided with an air inlet tube 26 to
receive a valve 27, these parts being constructed in any approved manner.
It will be observed that the tyre thus constructed presents a broad flat tread
surface, which not only gives a firmer support to the vehicle and enhances the
easy riding qualities thereof, but is also of special advantage when the tyre is
applied to vehicle wheels of the automobile or self propelled class, in that the
increase in bearing surface and consequent increase in frictional contact area
gives increased tractional power to the tyre and wheel. The increased thickness
of the tread reduces the liability to puncture, and this liability is further decreased
by the fact that the fabric 21 is carried out more closely to the tread and further
away from the air chamber than it would be if the rubber insertion 22 were
omitted and the fabric wound continuously so as to be entirely flat as to its outer
portion. By the employment of an air chamber having a flat outer portion or
wall, I obtain a tyre having a definite thickness of tread, i.e. a definite thickness
of material between the tread surface 25 and the flattened wall 19 of the air
chamber, while at the same time the size of the tyre is not unduly increased,
and a comparatively large amount of rubber is thereby saved. It will be seen
that, if the tyre had an air chamber circular in cross section and of the same
maximum diameter as that shown, the diameter of the tyre from tread surface to
its innermost surface would be materially increased, and the amount of rubber
employed correspondingly increased.
I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise details of
construction hereinbefore described and shown in the accompanying drawings,
as it is obvious that the details may be varied without departing from the principle
of my invention.
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. A pneumatic tyre for the wheels of vehicles, having a broad flat tread portion
and an air chamber having that portion of its wall adjacent to the tread corre-
spondingly flattened, whereby a thickened tread is produced without an undue
increase in the diameter of the tyre, substantially as described.
2. A pneumatic tyre for the wheels of vehicles, having a broad flat tread portion,
an air chamber correspondingly flattened on its adjacent side to increase the
thickness of the tread, and a tubular body of fabric imbedded in the rubber and
having its outer layers or plies approximately circular in cross section, sub-
stantially as described.
3. A pneumatic tyre for the wheels of vehicles, having a broad flat portion,
an air chamber having its outer wall flattened to increase the thickness of the
tread, and a tubular body of fabric imbedded in the rubber and composed of a
plurality of layers or plies, the innermost of which follow the contour of the
air chamber, while the outer plies are approximately circular in cross section,
a strip or insertion of rubber being located in the space thus formed between the
two sets of plies, substantially as described.
4. The hereinbefore described improvement in the method of constructing a
pneumatic tyre, consisting in forming upon a cylindrical mandrel having a
flattened side a similarly flattened tube of rubber, partially wrapping said tube
with fabric, building out the flattened portion with rubber and completing the
fabric wrapping to form a substantially cylindrical body, and applying an external
covering of rubber, substantially as described.

page_text: 5. The hereinbefore described improvement in the method of constructing a
pneumatic tyre, consisting in forming upon a cylindrical mandrel having a
Hattened side a similarly flattened tube of rubber, partially wrapping said tube
with fabric, building out the flattened portion with rubber and completing the
fabric wrapping to form a substantially cylindrical body, and applying to the
exterior of this body an outer covering of rubber having a thickened tread portion
with a broad flat tread surface on the same side of the tyre as the flattened wall
of the mandrel, substantially as described.
Tatod thi 1041
1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.