Improvements in Pneumatic Tire Protectors.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Sept., 1896-Accepted, 5th Dec., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Pneumatic Tire Protectors.
We HENRY LOUIS MCKELLOPS and EDWIN OVERTON COCHRANE, both of
No. 850 Market Street, in the City and County of San Francisco, State of
California, United States of America, Dental Surgeons, 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 the protection of the tread and adjacent portion of a
pneumatic tire that run in contact with and in close relation to the ground; and
it has for its object to provide for application to and use on pneumatic tires of all
kinds, both on the wheels of bicycles and upon the wheels of other vehicles fitted
with that description of tire, an improved tire protector that shall possess among
others the quality or property of retaining its position on the tire without fastening
means of any character.; of effectively protecting the tread and the portions of
the tire-body adjacent to it; and of being applicable to pneumatic tires of the
different styles and manufactures now to be found in the market or already in use
on wheels, without any special fitting.
To such end and object our invention consists in a metal protector in the form
of a circular hoop or band which in cross section is convex on the outer face and
concave on the inner face, and is of proper diameter to fit closely over the outer
circumference of the pneumatic tire, covering the tread and the adjacent portions
of the tire; the said protector being held in position by the expansion of the tire
when inflated, without requiring fastenings of any kind to keep it in place, and
having proper width of face to cover and protect from injury the tread and the
adjacent portions of the tire-body that run in contact with and near the surface of.
the ground.
The following description explains at length the nature of our said invention
and the manner in which we proceed to construct and produce the same-reference
being had to the drawing that accompanies and forms part of this specification.
Figure 1 of the said drawings represents in side elevation a bicycle wheel with
a pneumatic tire having my improved protector applied to it.
Figure 2 is a transverse section on an enlarged scale through the tire, with the
protector in place.
Figure 3 is a similar section through the tire and the protector, the latter part
being separated from the tire;
The wheel A with my improvement applied to it is of the kind most used at the
present time on safety bicycles, and is herein illustrated and described for the
purpose of showing the general form and application of our said improvement;
but it should be understood that the improvement is applicable as well to all
vehicle wheels fitted with pneumatic tires.
B is the hollow rubber tire fitting a concave seat in the rim A*, and expanded by
forcing in air in the usual manner.
C is the protector covering the tread and the adjacent portions of the tire body
which run in contact with and closely to the ground.
The said part C is a circular hoop or band made of concave shape in cross-section
by rolling and shaping a thin, flat strip of metal of proper length, such as thin
steel, into such curved shape and then uniting the ends together with a smooth
joint, so that a circular hoop or ring is produced convex on the outside face and
TD01
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page_text: concave on the inside in cross-section at any point taken diametrically through the
same in a plane parallel with the axle.
The curvature of the inner side, or that face of the hoop which comes next the
tire, corresponds with the curve of the rubber tire, or nearly so, when the tire is
blown up for use; and consequently the diameter of the circle on which such curve
is struck depends on the working diameter of the tube forming the tire and, in like
manner the longitudinal curvature of the hoop is governed by the diameter of the
tire to which it is to be applied, and of the rubber tube forming such tire.
The dimensions of the tire of the wheel to which our said protector is to be
applied thus govern the size and curvature transversely of such protector. As
tires for bicycles are made at the present time in a limited number of sizes,
however, it is only necessary to provide as many sizes of hoops or protectors of
this kind as there are standard sizes of pneumatic tires in the market.
As illustrating one manner of producing and applying our said improvement we
have shown in Figures 2 and 3 a cross section of a pneumatic tire one and one half
inches in diameter, with a protector of about one and one eighth inches in width
measured on a straight line. Such protector is formed of a strip of sheet metal
measuring one and one-quarter inches wide; this is shaped by passing it between
rolls, and then bent to a true circle o. proper diameter and the ends united together
with a smooth joint. Thin sheet metal of uniform thickness and of proper quality
to be rolled and afterwards hardened is recommended for the purpose. The outer
face of it may be roughened like a file before the hardening operation, if it be found
desirable.
For placing and centering the protector C in position it will be found convenient
to form small ridges or beads b, as indicated in the cross-section Figure 3, around
the rubber tube B on either side of the tread and at proper distance from the
center line of the tire to receive the edges of the protector C.
In placing and fixing the protector on the tire it is set over the pneumatic tubing
when the latter is in position on the rim of the wheel, before it is fully inflated,
and then by attaching and working the air-pump the tire is inflated to the usual
extent and is pressed into the protector. As long as the rubber tube remains
inflated the close fit and contact of the rubber within the concave face of the
protector keeps the protector from slipping on the tire or from being pressed out
of place sidewise.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
As a new article of manufacture, a protector for pneumatic tires, formed of
metal, convex on the outer face, concave on the inner face, adapted to fit over and
surround that portion of the tire which comes in contact with and runs in close
relation to the ground and to hold its place by the expansion of the tire, as
described.
Dated this 22nd day of Anust 1900
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.