Improved Pneumatic Tires and Rims for Cycles and other Vehicles
Year: 1896

page_text: Improved Pneumatic Tires and Rims for Cycles and other Vehicles
I, JAMES WILLIAM SMALLMAN, of Camp Hill Grange, near Nuneaton, in the County
of Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to pneumatic tires and rims for cycles and other vehicles.
In the tubeless" tire described and claimed in the Specification to "Letters
Patent No. 2782 of 1892 granted to me, the band is rendered air-tight by means of
a flap or flaps.
The object of the present invention is to provide a better system of constructing a
detachable tire having no air-tube.
In my improved tire, each edge of the band is furnished with an adjustable wire
ring. The band is lined with india-rubber and the margins of the band have on the
outsides above the wire rings india-rubber (smooth or 'rough) which, when air is
pumped into the space between the band and the rim, will form air-tight joints
against the insides of the rim-flanges. The parts of the band that touch the bottom
of the rim have india-rubber over them. The india-rubber lining and margins may
be in one piece. When the wire rings are tight, the band will hold air well enough
to bring the india-rubber on the margins into action, whereupon, when the pressure
is sufficiently great, the joints between the band and the rim become perfectly air-
tight.
If a screw tightening arrangement with a handle be employed, said handle may
lie in a recess in the india-rubber on the margin of the band. Or a lever tightening
device may be used.
The rim-flanges may be turned in to form grooves and the india-rubber on the
margins of the band may correspond in shape and be forced by the inflation into the
grooves.
The valve-stem may be soldered or brazed to the rim or it may be detachable and
fitted with a washer to effect an air-tight joint.
The central part of the rim (where the spoke-nipples are) is made air-tight with
enamel or other substance or by a stretched india-rubber strip the ends of which may
be attached to the rim near the valve-stem.
Dated the 7th day of October 1896
Improved Pneumatic Tires and Rims for Cycles and other Vehicles.
I, JAMES WILLIAM SMALLMAN, of Camp Hill Grange, near Nuneaton, in the County
of Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
[Price 8d.]

page_text: 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 tires and rims for cycles and other vehicles.
In the "tubeless" tire described and claimed in the Specification to Letters
Patent No. 2782 of 1892 granted to me, the band is rendered air-tight by means of
a flap or flaps.
The object of the present invention is to provide a better system of constructing
a detachable tire having no air-tube.
In my improved tire, each edge of the oanu s urnished with an adjustable wire
ring. The band is lined with india-rubber and the margins of the band have on the
outsides above the wire rings india-rubber (smooth or rough) which, when nir is
pump into the space between the band and the rim, will form air-tight joints
against the insides of the rim-flanges. The parts of the band that touch the bottom
of the rim have india-rubber over them. The india-rubber lining and margins may
be in one piece. When the wire rings are tight, the band will hold air well enough
to bring the india-rubber on the margins into action, whereupon, when the pressure
is sufficiently great, the joints between the band and the rim become perfectly air-
tight.
If a screw tightening arrangement with a handle be employed, said handle may
lie in a recess in the india rubber on the margin of the band. Or a lever tightening
device may be used.
The rin-flanges may he turned in to form grooves and the india-rubber on the
margins of the band may correspond in shape and be forced by the inflation into the
grooves.
The valve-stem may be soldered or brazed to the rim or it may be detachable and
fitted with an india-rubber washer to effect an air-tight joint.
The central part of the rim (where the spoke-nipples are) is made air-tight with
enamel or other substance or by a stretched india-rubber strip the ends of which
may be attached to the rim near the valve-stem.
The accompanying drawings show how my invention may be carried into effect,
though I do not limit myself to the details illustrated, as it will be obvious many
modifications may be made.
Fig. 1 represents in transverse section my improved tire in a special "Westwood"
rim.
Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the tire in a hollow rim.
In Fig. 3, the tire is mounted in a solid rim.
A is a band of india-rubber and fabric. A¹ are adjustable rings. a is
the india-rubber lining of the band. a¹ are india-rubber jointing surfaces
C is a "Westwood" rim, C₁ a hollow
provided on the margins of the band.
rim and C a solid rim. c are the insides of the rim-flanges. D (Fig. 2) is
a strip of india-rubber to close the holes drilled for the spoke-nipples in the rim. The
rings A¹ may be of solid or stranded wire or other material and their ends may be
connected like the ends of the wire rings now in use for securing the covers over the
air-tubes in detachable pneumatic tires. A (Fig. 3) is the handle of a screw by
which the ring A¹ on the right-hand side of the rim is tightened or released. This
handle lies in a recess a in the india-rubber on the margin of the band. The
handle pertaining to the left-hand ring is not shown.
When the rings A are tightened, the edges of the band make joints with the
bottom of the rim. These joints need not be perfectly air-tight but must be close
enough to allow sufficient air to be pumped into the space between the band and the
rim to bring the india-rubber surfacés a into action against the insides c of the rim-
flanges. Directly the pressure of air in the tire is sufficient, the joints between the
surfaces al and the rim become practically perfect. When the tire is deflated, soft
soap or similar substance can be easily put between the india-rubber surfaces a' and
the insides c of the rim-flanges.
One edge of the band may be permanently fixed to the rim by a wire fastening

page_text: or by cement and may extend over the bottom of the rim and act instead of the
strip D.
A tire constructed according to my present invention is so simple that it is most
unlikely to get out of order or give trouble to inexperienced persons.
There have already been several attempts to employ adjustable wire rings for
producing air-tight joints in "tubeless" pneumatic tires. These wire rings were used
in conjunction with shallow rims and were relied upon to create joints sufficiently
tight to permanently retain compressed air. Even if the joints be perfectly air-
tight to commence with, the pressure of the air between the band and the rim draws
the wire rings far enough away from the bottom of the rim to permit air to escape
beneath the edges of the band. In my improved tire and rim, however, the joints
made by the adjustable wire rings are not solely depended upon, other joints being
afterwards formed by the inflation of the tire.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I claim :-
1. A pneumatic tire and rim made or acting substantially as described.
2. A pneumatic tire and rim in which joints are made by the edges of the band,
other joints being subsequently formed by the margins of the band, substantially as
described.
3. A pneumatic tire and rim in which joints are made between the edges of the
band and the bottom of the rim by adjustable rings, other joints being subsequently
formed between the margins of the band and the sides of the rim by the inflation of
the tire, substantially as described.
4. A pneumatic tire and rim in which joints are made by screwing up wire rings,
other joints being subsequently formed by the air inside the tire pressing the margins
of the band against the flanges of the rim, substantially as described.
5. A pneumatic tire and rim substantially as illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.