Improvements in Rims or Felloes for the Wheels of Velocipedes and other Vehicles.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Dec., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 7th Oct., 1893-Accepted, 11th Nov., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rims or Felloes for the Wheels of Velocipedes
and other Vehicles.
I, CHARLES KINGSTON WELCH, of The Hollies, Eaton Road, Coventry, in the
County of Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
My invention relates to rims or felloes for the wheels of velocipedes and other
vehicles, and has especial reference to those rims which are used in conjunction
with pneumatic tyres as shewn for instance in my Specification of prior British
Letters Patent No. 14563 A.D. 1890.
The rim or felloe shewn and described in the said prior Specification is formed
with a deep central channel and two side channels or recesses which afford a seating
for the wires or other non-elastic or inextensible cores which hold the tyre in place
upon the rim.
'
It has been found with very light rims formed in the manner hereinabove
indicated that the central channel tends to bend and the whole rim to flatten when
the tyre is completely inflated and pumped hard.
An important feature of my present invention relates to the provision of means
for transversely stiffening such rims in order to prevent bending or flattening.
Another important feature of my invention relates to the manufacture of hollow
rims suitable for pneumatic tyres.
"
A further part of my invention is the provision of means whereby the possibility
of "creeping
or the slipping of a tyre round the circumference of the wheel is
obviated.
According to one method of carrying out my invention I form a rim or felloe
of suitable shape namely, with a deep central channel and side channels or recesses,
and arrange that the bottom of the said central channel, that is to say, the part
nearest the hub of the wheel, shall be transversely corrugated. The corrugations
may take the form of transverse depressions and in the case when the said
depressions are made so that the central channel of the rim or felloe is deeper at
the places where the depressions occur than at the intermediate parts between the
said depressions, I sometimes arrange that the spokes shall be passed through the
bottom of such depressions in order that the heads of the said spokes may not
extend beyond the general level of the central channel of the rim and be liable to
injure the air tube of the tyre when secured in position thereon.
In making hollow rims of the character hereinbefore indicated I prefer to use
two rims the inner being of a semicircular or other suitable shape in cross section
and the outer rim being formed with channels or recesses for keeping a tyre in
place thereon. The two rims may be secured together by rolling or folding the
edge of the outer rim round the edge of the inner rim so as to form a single hollow
rim, or by rolling or folding the said edges together in a manner easily understood.
I prefer that the joints shall occur at the extreme outer edges of the completed
hollow rim but I sometimes arrange that the same shall be nearer the hub and
form externally or internally projecting ridges at the sides of the said rim, in
which case I sometimes make the inner portion nearest the hub of thicker material.
The joints may also be soldered or brazed if thought desirable.
In carrying out the last part of my invention 1 form the whole or part of the
rim or outer portion thereof if a hollow rim is used, with transverse ribs or
corrugations. These have the effect of preventing "creeping" or gradual slipping
of the tyre round the circumference of the rim which creeping is very objectionable
and extremely liable to damage the tyre.

page_text: Although I have herein indicated several methods of carrying[my, invention into
practice I wish it to be clearly understood that I may modify the said methods in
detail in various ways without departing from the nature of my said invention.
Dated this 9th day of December 1892.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rims or Felloes for the Wheels of Velocipedes
and other Vehicles.
I, CHARLES KINGSTON WELCH, of The Hollies, Eaton Road, Coventry, in
the County of Warwick, Engineer, 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 :-
My invention relates to rims or felloes for the wheels of velocipedes and other
vehicles, and has especial reference to those rims which are used in conjunction
with pneumatic tyres as shewn for instance in my Specification of British Letters
Patent No. 14563 A.D. 1890.
The rim or felloe shewn and described in the said prior Specification is formed
with a deep central channel and two side channels or recesses which afford a seating
for the wires or other non-elastic or inextensible cores which hold the tyre in place
upon the rim.
It has been found with very light rims formed in the manner hereinabove
indicated that the central channel tends to bend and the whole rim to flatten when
the tyre is completely inflated and pumped hard.
An important feature of my present invention relates to the provision of means
for transversely stiffening such rims in order to prevent bending or flattening.
Another important feature of my invention relates to the manufacture of hollow
rims suitable for pneumatic tyres.
In carrying out my invention I form a rim or felloe of suitable shape namely,
with a deep central channel and side channels or recesses, and arrange that the
bottom of the said central channel, that is to say, the part nearest the hub of the
wheel shall be transversely corrugated. The corrugations may take the form of
transverse depressions and in the case when the said depressions are made so that
the central channel of the rim or felloe is deeper at the places where the depressions
occur than at the intermediate parts between the said depressions, I sometimes
arrange that the spokes shall be passed through the bottom of such depressions in
order that the heads of the said spokes may not extend beyond the general level of
the central channel of the rim and be liable to injure the air tube of the tyre when
secured in position thereon.
In making hollow rims of the character herein before indicated I prefer to use two
rims the inner being of a semicircular or other suitable shape in cross-section and
the outer rim being formed with channels or recesses for keeping a tyre in place
thereon. The two rims may be secured together by rolling or folding the edge of
the outer rim round the edge of the inner rim so as to form a single hollow rim, or
by rolling or folding the said edges together in a manner easily understood. I
prefer that the joints shall occur at the extreme outer edges of the completed hollow
rim but I sometimes arrange that the same shall be nearer the hub and form
externally or internally projecting ridges at the sides of the said rim, in which case
I sometimes make the inner portion nearest the hub of thicker material. The
joints may also be soldered or brazed if thought desirable.
In order that my invention may be more easily understood I will now proceed to
describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a hollow rim having transverse
corrugations in its central channel.
.

page_text: Figures 2 to 5 illustrate by way of example various hollow rims made according
to my invention.
Referring now to Figare 1, A is the convex inner periphery of the rim. A' is.
the central channel and A2 the side channels. A hollow rim of this description may
be made of one or more strips of metal suitably bent or it may be drawn weldless if
desired. At a suitable stage in its manufacture the bottom of the central groove
is corrugated as shewn at A³. The corrugations may be so made that the central
channel is deepened at the places where they occur as is shewn in the drawing, or
the corrugations may take the form of projections from the general level of the
central channel in a direction away from the hub of the wheel.
1 also make solid rims which are corrugated in a fashion-similar to that herein-.
above described. In attaching the spokes of the wheel to a rim whether solid or-
hollow which has corrugations of the kind shewn in Figure 1, I generally arrange
that the spokes shall be passed through the bottom of the corrugations so that the
heads thereof do not project beyond the general level of the central channel of the-
rim. The said heads are thus not liable to injure the air tube of the tyre when
the latter is in its place on the rim. I will refer now to Figures 2 and 3, which
show a hollow rim made according to my present invention in various stages of
manufacture. The said rim is made of two strips of metal B, C bent into suitable
form. For instance, as shewn in the drawings, one of the strips B is made convex
and the other C is formed with a middle channel and two side channels. The two.
strips are joined by their edges in the manner following, that is to say; the edges
of the strip B are turned outwards as shewn at B' Figure 2, and the edges C₁ of
the strip Care bent down so as to overhang the edges of the strip B. The two.
strips are then placed together in position for closing down as shewn in Figure 2.
The edges C¹ of the strip C are now folded on to the edges of the strip B as
shewn in Figure 3. The joint may then be brazed or soldered or otherwise made.
solid if desired and the rim finished off.
I sometimes carry the process of folding the edges together a stage further than
that shewn in Figure 3 by "tucking up" the joined edges to produce the appearance
shewn in Figure 4 before brazing or soldering them. In these rims the bottom of
the central channel C may be corrugated as above described with reference to
Figure 1 if desired. The strip C may obviously be of any desired section, that
shewn being suitable for tyres which are attached with inextensible cores or wires.
in their edges.
In the rim shewn in Figure 5 the strips are so bent that their joined edges do.
not come at the outside of the rim but are nearer the centre of the wheel. The
said edges are folded together in a well-known manner as shewn and then brazed or
soldered or otherwise secured if desirable. The projecting fold may be arranged
outside the rim as shewn at C' for instance; or the outside of the concave portion
of the rim may be smooth the joints being pressed in after being made. The rim.
shewn in Figure 5 is by way of example a crescent-shaped rim.
In all the hollow rims made in this manner the strip B forming the innermost
portion of the rim may be made of thicker material than the other part of the rim.
if desired.
I wish it distinctly understood that hollow rims made in the manner above may
be of any external form suited to the tyres which are to be placed on them the two
forms illustrated in the drawings being merely shewn as examples of my method of
making the rims.
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. For a wheel, a rim having a central chanuel and two side channels, said central:
channel being transversely corrugated, for the purpose specified.
2. For a wheel, a hollow rim formed of two strips folded together at their edges.

page_text: in the manner described with reference to Figures 2, 3 and 4 or to Figure 5 of the
drawings.
3. For a wheel, a rim constructed substantially as described with reference to any
of the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 7th in.. of Antahan 1002
C.
KINGSTON WELCH.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.