Improvements in or relating to Pneumatic Tyres.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Aug., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 29th Aug., 1893-Accepted, 2nd Dec., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Pneumatic Tyres.
I, JOHN FULLERTON PALMER, of Riverside, County of Cook, State of
Illinois, United States of America Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:--
on
In the manufacture of pneumatic tyres it has been found almost impossible to so
join the ends of the strip of fabric as to avoid thickening the tyre at that point.
It is obviously of great importance that this should be avoided if possible and the
primary subject of my invention is such a process as will enable me to make the
various kinds of rings of fabric as used in the several styles of tyres now
the market and so join the ends that the said ring of fabric will present a thickness
uniform throughout its circumference it being understood that the application of the
processes described is limited to the manufacture of rings and tubes of fabric
described in my applications now before the English Office under date of
7th March 1893, Nos. 4926 and 4926A, or other material possessing the
characteristic of having strain resisting threads running in but one direction of the
single sheet of material, such for example as a special canvas possessing strong
warp threads and the wett being used simply to hold the said warp threads in their
relative positions for manipulation in the process of manufacture of tyres, or where
separate threads themselves are wound into a tube mechanically and secured in
their place by any means suitable to the purpose.
The application noted above treats of a fabric in which parallel threads of any
suitable material are embedded in a sheet of rubber out of contact with each other,
it being necessary when strength is required in more than one direction to use two
such sheets-one superimposed upon the other with the threads running at different
angles in other words the longitudinal and cross threads instead of being
interwoven are held in their relative positions and at the same time kept from
contact with each other by the rubber. By reason of these threads the complete
fabric being made in separate sheets, I am enabled when making an endless ring of
fabric to make the joint in such a manner that it cannot be distinguished from any
other portion of the sheet-in the tube the joint is shown only by the overlapping
of the ends of the strips longitudinally of the tube. In making a simple endless
ring of fabric for use in the manufacture of ordinary moulded covers I cut the
single sheet material at an angle to the direction of the threads so that when the
two sheets are laid together, on bringing these two ends together the outermost
thread at each end of each separate layer is brought into the same relation with
the other, as any other two threads in the fabric resulting in an endless band of
uniform thickness the entire length and showing no indication of a joint.
It is obvious that this same result may be obtained by winding a single strip of
fabric upon a mandrel of any suitable section in helical form, removing the tube
thus made from the mandrel flattening the same and causing the inner surfaces to
adhere together in any suitable manner, the ends of such a strip will present the
appearance above described and when brought together in the same manner as
before described will give the same results as the former process except that the
threads will be continuous except at the last turn or joint throughout the length of
the tyre or band instead of being cut at the edge.
For some forms of pneumatic tyres this method presents many advantages as
when wires are to be introduced or incorporated into the edges of the fabric it will
readily be seen that such a result could be accomplished by drawing them through
before the tube is flattened or by winding the fabric upon the wires themselves,
they being held parallel by any suitable means. In such a case it would be well.

page_text: to overlap the ends of the fabric upon itself at the end of the last turn where the
additional thickness would be no disadvantage whatever. In making what is known
to the trade as a single tube tyre the method of joining the ends would be as
follows: After making up on a straight mandrel a length of tubing suitable for
a tyre using two layers of the fabric, one wound at a different or opposite angle to
the other, the two ends of the tube are brought together, and the loose ends of the
strips of fabric brought around and overlapped on each other longitudinally of the
tyre on the inner or rim side of the same, the two layers being treated in the same
manner. This leaves that part of the tyre outside of the rim of a bicycle or other
wheel of uniform thickness throughout the entire circumference of the tyre.
It is apparent that a joint may be made when using such a fabric as has been
described by cutting the strips in such a manner that the line of their ends will
encircle the tyre transversely and by pressure, or separating the threads and
intermingling them make a fairly good joint and it will be understood that I claim
this method as well as those described as possessing the characteristic of a thickness
uniform with the balance of the tyre or band, but the method I prefer is as
stated.
Dated thin 9.1
Ր A1000
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Of London, Nottingham, Liverpool, and Manchester,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Pneumatic Tyres.
1, JOHN FULLERTON PALMER of Riverside, County of Cook, State of Illinois,
United States of America, Gentleman, 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 :-
In the manufacture of pneumatic tyres it has been found almost impossible to so
join the ends of the strip of fabric as to avoid thickening the tyre at that point.
It is obviously of great importance that this should be avoided if possible and the
primary object of my invention is such a process as will enable ine to make the
various kinds of rings of fabric used in the several styles of tyres now on the market
and to so join the ends that the said ring of fabric will present a thickness uniform
throughout its circumference, it being understood that the application of the
processes described is limited to the manufacture of rings and tubes of fabric
described in my applications now before the English Office under date of the
7th March 1893 Nos. 4926 & 4926A, or other material possessing the characteristic
of having strain-resisting threads running in but one direction of the single sheet of
material, such for example as a special canvas possessing strong warp threads and
the weft being used simply to hold the said warp threads in their relative positions
for manipulation in the process of manufacture of tyres, or where separate threads
themselves are wound into a tube mechanically and secured in their place by any
means suitable to the purpose.
The application noted above treats of a fabric in which parallel threads of any
suitable material are embedded in a sheet of rubber out of contact with each other,
it being necessary when strength is required in more than one direction to use two
such sheets one superimposed upon the other with the threads running at different
angles in other words the longitudinal and cross threads instead of being inter-
woven are held in their relative positions and at the same time kept from contact
with each other by the rubber. By reason of these threads, the complete fabric
being made in separate sheets, I am enabled when making an endless ring of fabric
to make the joint in such a manner that it cannot be distinguished from any other
portion of the sheet in the tube the joint is shown only by the overlapping or
meeting of the ends of the strips longitudinally of.the tube.

page_text: In the accompanying drawings I have shown the winding of a single strip of the
above described fabric and the method of making the joint, like letters representing
like parts throughout these drawings.
In Figure 1 a single strip of fabric A is wound helically into a flat strip B of the
required size and the ends brought towards each other, forming an approximate
ring. This may be either flat as shown in the drawing, or, if wound upon a
mandrel, it will take the form of a tube. It will be observed that the strip end C
lies to the inside of the ring while the strip end D comes to the outside; the
dotted lines E indicate where the ends A will be severed when the ring is made up.
In Figure 2 the ends have been brought together so as to form a complete
ring B, the strip end D.being superposed upon the strip end C of Fig. 1, and the
triangle 4, 5, 6, representing the meeting surfaces D and C. The ends A may now
be cut off upon the lines E so as to complete the shape of the ring. as above
described.
When thus finished the only division or exposed ends appearing upon the ring
would be upon the line 4, 6, but if the ring be tubular the two ends thus exposed
would meet and in vulcanizing become united, so that no junction would then
appear as the threads would meet end to end as well as the complete strips; the
actual joint line would lie longitudinally along the tyre and would be made upon the
inside of the ring but this would be scarcely if at all visible.
With this joint it will be seen that the line 4, 5, is the junction line upon the
outside of the ring the threads F lying parallel to each other but separated by
the rubber so that when vulcanized a perfect joint without seam or thickening is
produced which can scarcely be detected by examination. The joint upon the
inside of the ring upon the line 5, 6, is similar in all respects to that upon the
line 4,.5, so that the ring of fabric is produced complete.
In Figure 3 a similar winding and joint is shown but the threads F run more
obliquely than in the former case.
If the strip A be wound around a couple of wire hoops G, Fig. 4, or if these be
drawn through the tube before it is flattened they would before vulcanization
be pressed into the edges of the ring as shown in cross section in Fig. 4, thus
producing a cover suitable for some forms of pneumatic tyre as at present
constructed. This could be thickened upon the tread by the addition of rubber in
the usual manner if required; but so far as the fabric and manufacture are
concerned the band would be of the same thickness throughout except at the edges
around the wires. In such a case it would be well to overlap the ends of the fabric
upon itself at the end of the last turn where the additional thickness would be no
disadvantage.
A band could be made by placing one upon the other with their opposite edges
projecting two strips A of the fabric with the wires laid against the inner edges and
upon the projecting portions of each strip and then turning the projecting edges A'
over the wires as illustrated in Fig. 5 upon a larger scale where one edge is shown
only partly turned over; in this case the greater portion of the band from a to a
would be of uniform thickness but the overlapped portion would be thicker than the
rest. The threads of the respective sheets would be angularly disposed to each
other so that when the edges are turned over the threads would meet and appear
continuous as shown at b on the drawing.
If the ring B is desired to be tubular it would be made in the same manner but
wound upon a straight mandrel, then removed and the ends brought together. as
before excepting. that the. strip ends would be overlapped or wound one upon the
other to the extent necessary to produce an efficient joint. This would thicken
the tyre at that particular portion, but as the thickening would be made upon the
inside of the ring it would not interfere with the running of the tyre.. A. second
strip would be wound upon the first, but in the opposite direction, and if necessary
more than two thicknesses' could be employed. The joints should be overlapped as
shown at HFig. 6 to procure a good hold and prevent twisting of the tyre.
It is apparent that a joint may be made when using such a fabric as has been

page_text: described by cutting the strips in such a manner that the line of their ends will
encircle the tyre transversely and by pressure or separating the threads and inter-
mingling them make a fairly good joint and it will be understood that this method
as well as those previously described possessing the characteristic of a thickness
uniform with the remainder of the tyre would be within the scope of this
Specification and claims; nevertheless I prefer the former method.
Any of the usual means of fastening the tyre to the rim such as beads, wires,
hooks or the like may be employed with tyres constructed as set forth herein.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is ;-
1. An endless band or ring for pneumatic tyres of the material described
presenting a uniform thickness throughout its entire circumference.
2. Forming an annular tube of the material described so as to present a uniform
thickness throughout its circumference by superimposing one layer of fabric upon
another the threads in one running at an angle to the threads in the other and
joining the ends as described.
3. An endless ring of fabric of the nature described in which the continuity of
each thread is broken at but one place.
4. An endless ring of two-ply fabric of the nature described of uniform thickness
throughout its circumference in which the continuity of the threads is broken at
but one place and the edges thickened into beads or provided with wires or other
mechanical means for attachment to the rim.
5. Making an endless ring of fabric by winding a single strip of the material
described on any suitable form removing the tube thus made and causing the
inner surfaces to adhere together and joining the ends substantially as described.
6. Making an endless ring of fabric having wired or enlarged edges by winding
a single strip of the material described spirally upon a mandrel and afterwards
introducing the wires or thickening material and thereupon flattening the tube and
causing the sides to adhere together or winding the fabric upon the wires themselves
the said wires being held parallel by any suitable means and joining the ends in
such a manner that the major portion of the space between the wires is of uniform
thickness throughout the circumference of the ring and the continuity of the threads
broken at but one place.
7. A band formed by superimposing two thicknesses of the fabric described
with their edges projecting and their threads augularly disposed to each other
laying a wire at each receding edge and turning over the projecting edges and
vulcanizing substantially as described and illustrated in Fig. 5 of the accompanying
drawings.
8. A tubular ring of fabric of the nature described in which the continuity of
each thread in its spiral course over the whole tyre is broken only at the joint or
joints the ends of the threads overlapping each other and the tread side being of
uniform thickness substantially as described and illustrated in Figure 6 of the
accompanying drawings.
9. A tubular ring of fabric of the nature described in which the continuity of the
threads is broken only at the joint or joints the ends of the threads overlapping
each other and the tread side being of uniform thickness throughout substantially
as described.
10. Making the joint in a single tube tyre made of the material described by
disposing the strips as described and overlapping their ends on the inner side of
the ring substantially as described.
Dated this 28th day of Avant 1902
JOHN F. PALMER.
W. P. Thompson & Boult,
Agents for the Applicant.