An Improved Pneumatic Hub for the Wheels of Cycles, Light Vehicles and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Sept.; 1897
Complete Specification Left, 15th July, 1898-Accepted, 27th Aug.,
1898
144
An Improved Pneumatic Hub for the Wheels of Cycles, Light
Vehicles and the like.
I, THOMAS GREGORY, 28, Bankside Street, Roundhay Road, Leeds,
Yorkshire, Solicitor's Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
Improvement in wheels of cycles velocipedes perambulators motor cars light
vehicles and the like, by the application of an air tube cushion in their hubs
which under ordinary circumstances cannot be punctured. The hub or construc-
tion thereof consists of an outer cylinder made of wood iron steel brass aluminium
or the like material, and an inner cylinder made of similar or the like materials
which are held together by metal springs or washers of rubber. The rubber air
tube or cushion is concealed between the said two cylinders and is protected by
flanges (of like material as the cylinders) and fixed in at the ends of the said
cylinders. These flanges also cause the wheel to rotate on the spindle or shaft
in a true plane.
The air tube or cushion is inflated in the ordinary way by an air pump and the
valve is placed between the spokes of the wheel or at the side of the axle barrel.
Dated this Sixteenth day of September 1897.
An Improved Pneumatic Hub for the Wheels of Cycles, Light
Vehicles and the like.
I, THOMAS GREGORY, of 28, Bankside Street, Roundhay Road, Leeds, in the
County of York, Solicitor's Clerk, 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:
-
The object of my invention is to provide a resilient hub for the wheels of cycles,
motor cars, omnibuses, carriages, perambulators, or the like vehicles, so as to
take up vibration without being liable to puncture.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.

page_text: between which said cylinders is concealed an inflatable air tube or cushion C of
rubber or the like elastic material, having a canvas or other suitable cover D
(which may be secured in any suitable manner) and a valve placed in any suit-
able position (but preferably at S between the spokes of the wheel).
The inner cylinder or drum B is mounted on the bearing sleeves or bushes E E
through which the axle or spindle J passes, the said cylinder B being rigidly
connected to the flanges F F on the said bearing sleeves E E by means of studs
or screws G. Rubber washers H H are inserted between the flanges F and the
inner cylinder B, and are fixed thereto by means of the aforesaid studs G.
The said washers H are also secured, by means of bolts, rivets, or studs K or
the like near their outer periphery, to the annular rings or flanges L M, which
fit within the outer cylinder A and have between them an annular recess N into
which the flange F loosely fits, so preventing any jarring or vibration being
transmitted to the axle or spindle J. The outer ring or flange L has projections P
which engage in recesses in the flange R of the outer cylinder or casing A.
The said washers H consequently transmit the rotary movement between the
inner and the outer cylinders, thus reducing the strain on the periphery of the
air-tube C and preventing the valve being stripped from the said air-tube.
The rings or flanges L M serve also as a protection for the air-tube C and
washers H, and cause the wheel to rotate on the spindle or axle J in a true plane.
If necessary I may employ, in place of or in addition to the rubber washers H,
coiled metal springs.
The outer cylinder or casing A, the inner cylinder or drum B, or both of them,
may be made concave towards the air-tube C, so as to ensure the said air-tube
being central after inflation.
The cylinders A and B, the flanges L M, and the sleeves E may be made in
any suitable, metal or material, and for larger wheels a wooden nave may be fitted
between the flanges R of the outer cylinder A. Our invention, however, is
applicable to wheels for all kinds of vehicles.
The axle or spindle J may, if desired, be mounted on ball bearings in the
sleeves or bushes E, particularly when the hub is applied to cycles or the like
light vehicles.
'Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In supports for the axles and hubs of cycle, omnibus, carriage, or the like
wheels, the employment of external and internal cylinders with an intermediate
inflatable air-tube or cushion, the said cylinders being connected at each end (so
as to transmit the rotary movement) by a rubber washer or its equivalent fixed to
the inner cylinder and having rings or flanges engaging with the outer cylinder,
substantially as shown and described.
2. In supports for the axles and hubs of cycle, omnibus, carriage, or the like
wheels, the combination of the cylinders A and B, the air-tube or cushion C with
canvas cover D, the spindle J, the bearing sleeves or bushes E with flanges F,
the rubber washers H or their equivalent, the rings or flanges L M having internal
recesses N for the said flanges F, and the locking projections P on the said rings
or flanges L, all arranged substantially as, and for the purposes, shown and
described.
1000