Improvements in Elastic Tyres of Wheels for Carriages, Cars, and other Vehicles Propelled Mechanically or by Animal Power.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 19th May, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 5th Feb., 1897-Accepted, 17th Apr., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Elastic Tyres of Wheels for Carriages, Cars, and
other Vehicles Propelled Mechanically or by Animal Power.
I, JOHN HAYES of 55 Steep Hill in the City of Lincoln, Civil Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention consists in the application of hydraulic pressure to the inside of
hollow tyres or tubes made of india-rubber and cloth or other suitable material,
such hydraulic tyres or tubes to be fitted or attached to the rims of the wheels in
such manner as may be found most suitable.
The application of this invention is to the wheels of all kinds and classes of
mechanically propelled vehicles or carriages, viz. motor-cars, horseless carriages,
traction engines, agricultural locomotives, and the like, worked by either steam,
gas, oil, petroleum, or other motive power, and for running on common roads; also
for cars, carriages and other vehicles worked by animal power.
The tyres as manufactured by or under this invention would be placed in position
on the rim of the wheel, then filled with water, or other suitable liquid, being
afterwards subjected to the necessary pressure internally by means of a small hand
force-pump.
As to the liquid to be employed, whilst preferably using water for pressure.
purposes, in certain contingencies I should probably use a liquid which would not
freeze or solidify by the application of intense cold.
For cars, carriages, engines, and other like vehicles of ordinary or not excessive
weight, as when employed for carrying a few passengers only, a single tube of any
desired cross-section would be ample, but for those of a heavier class such as
traction engines, or agricultural locomotives, and for the wheel tyres of which
1 should propose to use two or more of my improved hydraulic india-rubber tubes.
placed side by side, according to the width or tread necessary for any particular
purpose.
Over the tyre or tube subjected to internal hydraulic pressure, a protecting
covering or thickness of india-rubber and canvas or other approved material would
be placed and secured, in order to protect the water pressure tube or tubes from
immediate contact with the surface of the ground.
A further modification of this same principle of applying hydraulic pressure to
the tyres of wheels, would be that in the case of carriages, motor-cars, traction
engines agricultural locomotives and the like, I propose to connect the hydraulic
pressure used for the tyres, as before explained, with the motive power of the
engine belonging to such cars or other vehicles, and by means of the same
controlling when necessary the pressure within the tyres; as owing to the
changeable character of the roads according to the weather, and for other reasons,
it might be advantageous to vary somewhat, the pressure within the tyre from
time to time, and for which purpose all the tyres of any carriage so fitted, would
be hydraulically connected and the pressure recorded on a dial placed in front of
the attendant; efficient means being taken in any case to prevent the tyres being
over pressed or too highly loaded by hydraulic pressure, whilst on the other hand
this latter would never be allowed to fall below the pressure necessary "to float

page_text: or carry the cars, engines or other vehicles to which such tyres were fitted and.
applied.
Improvements in Elastic Tyres of Wheels for Carriages, Cars, and
other Vehicles Propelled Mechanically or by Animal Power.
I, JOHN HAYES of 55 Steep Hill, in the City of Lincoln, Civil 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 :-
This invention consists in the application of hydraulic pressure, to the inside of
hollow tyres or tubes made of india-rubber and cloth, or other suitable material,
such hydraulic tyres or tubes to be fitted or attached to the rims of the wheels in
such manner as may be found most suitable.
The application of this invention is to the wheels of all kinds of mechanically
propelled vehicles or carriages, viz., motor-cars, horseless carriages, traction
engines, agricultural locomotives, and the like; worked by steam, gas, compressed
air, electricity, oil, petroleum, or other motive power, and for running on common
roads.; also for cars, carriages and other vehicles worked by animal power.
The tyres as manufactured by or under this invention, would be placed in
position on the rim of the wheel, then filled with water or other suitable liquid,
being afterwards subjected to the necessary pressure internally, by means of a hand
force pump.
As to the liquid to be employed, whilst preferably using water for pressure
purposes, in certain contingencies I should probably use a liquid which would not
freeze or solidify owing to change of temperature.
For cars, carriages, engines and other like vehicles of ordinary or not excessive
weight, as when employed for carrying a few passengers only, a single tube of any
desired and suitable cross section would be ample, but for those of a heavier class
such as traction engines or agricultural locomotives, and for the wheel tyres of
which should propose to use two or more of my improved hydraulic india-rubber
tubes or of other like and suitable material, placed side by side according to the
width or tread necessary for any particular purpose; or with the same cbject in
view I might possibly make use of a coil or coils of such hollow tyres passed
round the wheels and secured to the same in a suitable manner.
Over the tyre or tube subjected to internal hydraulic pressure, in most cases
possibly, it would be necessary to have a protecting covering or thickness of india-
rubber and canvass, or other approved material, in order to protect the tube
subjected to interual hydraulic pressure from immediate contact with the surface
of the ground.
The further modification of this same principle, viz., that of connecting the
hydraulic or water pressed tyres with the motive power, as referred to in my
Provisional Specification, I propose to abandon the same, in order to render the
application of my invention as simple as possible; for the purpose of charging or
putting my improved tyres under water or hydraulic pressure, it must therefore
be clearly understood, that I rely solely on the use and application of an ordinary
hand force pump.
For purposes of traction or drawing heavy loads, by means of traction or self-
moving engines, india-rubber or flexible tyred wheels have when put to the test

page_text: proved far more emcient than the usual rigid iron wheel, fitted with crossbars or
shoes, on ordinary macadamized roads, and when ascending long and steep inclines,
but owing to the great cost of solid india rubber tyres these latter were found to
be impracticable.
One of the principal objects aimed at in the present invention therefore is a
considerable reduction in the weight of india rubber necessary to form the tyres,
by making the same hollow, whilst the introduction of water or other suitable
liquid under pressure to the interior of the same serves not only as a means of
preserving the flexibility of the tyre, proportionate to the weight of india-rubber
composing the same; the internal core of water whilst materially assisting to
reduce vibration to a minimum by transmitting the same throughout the entire
circumference of the tyre, also serves to absorb and dissipate the heat generated
within the tyre itself by friction according to the character of the ground
travelled over, and the amount of work or mechanical effect transmittel through
the same, and that too even when surrounded by an outer protecting or covering,
although the action here referred to would be more particularly called into play in
cases where the water tube or tyres are not so protected.
In order to explain somewhat more clearly my meaning on this point I would
state that when solid india-rubber tyred traction engines have been tried or put to
work for any considerable time, their application is generally attended by a strong
sulphury smell, shewing that something in the nature of decomposition or disinte-
gration of the india-rubber is going on somewhat rapidly, or in other words, that
the wear and tear on the tyres when so fitted has been excessive, and all of which
action will be greatly reduced, if not entirely done away with by the application of
water or other suitable liquid within the tyre, the subject matter of this invention.
As well as the flexible tube itself forming the tyre being put under hydraulic
pressure I also propose to make use of the same in a subsidiary sense as a
means of securing the outer flexible protective cover of my improved tyres,
although I do not restrict myself to this particular application of the hydraulic
principle, but if necessary to resort to other and well known methods of obtaining
the same result.
In certain circumstances, as where heavy loads on hard rough roads, have to
be hauled or transported, it might be desirable to protect my hydraulic india-
rubber or other kinds of flexible tyres, by means of steel shoes, forming a kind
of linked outer covering, in much the same way as formerly adopted with solid
india-rubber tyres, although such metallic shoes would form no part of this
invention.
When travelling over grass and slippery ground, it has been proved repeatedly,
that with india-rubber tyres, a great deal of slipping takes place, and consequently
the wheels of any engines, motor cars, or other vehicles worked by mechanical
agency, and intended for work on farms and for agricultural purposes, if fitted
with my improved flexible tyres, the same should be so designed as to admit
readilly, the attachment of spuds or paddles in the usual way, across the
protecting flexible rim of the wheel, and thus enable the same to get a proper
grip of the ground, a necessity when heavy loads are being hauled or taken over
the land.
As a rule, when the application of hydraulic pressure inside pipes or tubes is
referred to, it is generally intended that extreme pressures are to be utilized,
measured, say, by several hundred pounds pressure per square inch at least; in
the present application however I do not bind or restrict myself to any given
pressure, high or low, above that of the atmosphere, but reserve the right to use
that pressure which in practice is found to be the most suitable; apart from and in
addition to the pressure transmitted to the tyre by means of the hand force
pump in the usual way, the weight of the engine or vehicle will have the effect
of considerably modifying the conditions under which such tyres would be loaded
when in operation, such conditions varying according to the weight of the engine
or vehicle, the extent of tyre surface or tread in contact with the ground, and to the

page_text: character of the roads or land over which such engines would travel, and to some
extent the speed.
Referring to the accompanying sheet of drawings, throughout the several
figures, similar parts are marked as far as practicable with like letters of
reference.
In Fig. I is shewn a cross section of my improved tyre, without protective
covering, the water in the interior of the tyre being represented by horizontal shade
lines in each of the figures shewn, whilst the india-rubber forming the tyre is shewn
at d, the tyre exposed or uncovered as shewn at Fig. I whilst equally liable to
puncture as in the case of pneumatic tyres, it is maintained that in many instances,
perhaps in a majority of cases, such puncture would not be effectual in producing a
leakage, the pressure of the water inside the tyre acting on the interior of the
punctured india-rubber tyre, very much as though each puncture was the site of a
valve, the same being closed automatically as it were by the pressure of water
inside the tyre, the escape or leakage of the same being thereby minimised if
not entirely prevented, excepting possibly in the case of very bad punctures.
In Fig. II a, is the rim of the wheel, d, the flexible tyre, e, the protective
covering with solid edges or rims, as at 7, kept in position by the angle iron, ring k,
and the tyre d, before the latter is put under pressure by the hand force pump,
through the pipe or tube h.
Fig. II is a single tube tyre, with protective cover, a representing the rim of
the wheel, d, the tyre, e, the outer covering, which is made with the rims hollow as
at f, as one modification of my invention is to apply hydraulic pressure inside the
hollow rims, as a means of enlarging, expanding and securing the same tightly
within the rim of the wheel itself, or between such rim and the inner tube or tyre,
and for which purpose suitable pressure pipes h, h, are fitted to the rims, as also to
the tyre d; in applying water under pressure to my improved tyre and outer cover,
I fit stop-cocks as shewn in the positions marked a, a, in Fig. III and Fig. IV;
, are joints connecting up the pressure pipes, j, being a back pressure or non-
return valve, closed by the pressure of water within the tyre or cover as already
described.
By means of the stopcocks a, a, the india-rubber tubes d, d, forming the tyre,
may be pressed by the hand force pump, either at the same time as the rims f,, of
the outer cover, or separately as found to be most convenient; at j', is shewn the
nozzle or end of the pipe for the reception of the hand forcepump. The spaces c, c,
Fig. III fill up with a suitable material before putting in my india rubber tyres, d,
and cover, e, such filling being a protection from the wire spoke ends, passing
through the rim of the wheels, where owing to lightness, that form of construction
be adopted, as in the case of carriages drawn by horses or the lighter forms of
vehicles driven by nechanical power, it being understood that this improved water-
pressed or hydraulic tyre is not intended as being in any way applicable to bicycles,
tricycles or other appliances propelled or worked by human agency.
Fig. IV shews the application of my improved tyre, when several or more rings or
tubes are required side by side on the same wheel, whilst much the same effect may
be obtained by coiling spirally round the wheel several or more convolutions of the
same tube;-here a, is the iron rim of say a traction engine wheel, stiffened by
tee-iron rings b, h; c, c, being wooden packing or filling, having cavities or indenta-
tions formed there in at intervals round the circumference for the purpose of receiving
when under pressure such parts of the tyre as would be in contact with the same
and thereby prevent the tendency of the tyre to slip or move round the wheel;
as the object or purpose for which these cavities here referred to is clear and self-
evident I have not deemed it necessary to show the same on the accompanying
drawings; e, e, the outer cover, fitted with hollow rims 1,1, as in Fig. 111; fi,
being the short water pressure pipe connected direct with the outer cover,
whilst h³, fill the same function for the tyre; " " being the joint of pipes inside
the rim of wheel; g, g, being also part of the pipes conveying pressure to the tyres
and rims.

page_text: 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 :-
For wheel tyres such as those described and particularly referred to herein, the
employment of hollow tubes of india-rubber, inside of which I apply water or other
approved liquid under pressure.