Improvements in and relating to Pneumatic Tyres.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 14th June, 1898-Accepted, 6th Aug., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Pneumatic Tyres.
We, UZZIEL PUTNAM SMITH, Inventor, and THOMAS KANE, Manufacturer, both
of 64, Wabash Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States of America,
do hereby declare the nature of our invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Our invention relates particularly to that class of pneumatic tires known as
clincher tires, and especially to the means by which the tire is held in position
and engagement with the rim. The object of our invention is to provide a simple,
economical and efficient means for holding a pneumatic tire of the clincher type
in position and engagement with the rim; and the invention consists in the
features, combinations and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.
In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view taken
through a wheel rim and tire constructed and arranged in accordance with our
improvements; Fig. 2 a perspective view of one of the flaring rings by which the
tire is held in place; and Fig. 3 an enlarged detail view showing a section of the
flaring securing ring.
In the art to which this invention relates, it is well known that clincher tires―
that class of pneumatic tires which are held in place by the inflation of an inner exten-
sible core-require rims made in a particular manner, which prevents ordinary
wheel rims from being used in connection with a clincher tire. Our invention,
therefore, is intended primarily to provide a clincher tire of such construction
and arrangement that it can be used in connection with an ordinary rim, so that
the rider can have at his command either a clincher or an ordinary cemented
pneumatic tire as desired. A further object of our invention is to provide simple,
economical means for securing the tire in position.
In constructing a tire in accordance with our improvements, we prefer to use a
wheel rim A of the usual type, viz., a wheel rim which is crescent-shaped in cross-
section-that is, having a plain, concaved, peripheral groove 'a to which a
pneumatic tire in the shape of a regular tubular annulus may be cemented. In
making our improved type of tire, we provide an outer sheath or casing B, which
is rifted circumferentially on its inner side, so that its lateral edges b are pre-
ferably situated some distance apart, though this is not absolutely necessary.
Adjacent to these lateral edges, and preferably imbedded in the tire sheath, are
two flaring metallic rings C, so constructed and arranged that the plane in which
they lie is practically coincident or tangential with the concaved surface of the
peripheral groove. In this arrangement a line drawn from the lateral edge e to
à point directly opposite on the same lateral edge would be diametrically larger
than a line drawn from the opposite lateral edge c¹ to a point diametrically
opposite. In other words, the lateral edges of the securing rings are of different
diameters, (1) for the purpose of enabling the lateral edge of the tire to be readily
removed or inserted in place; and (2) so that it will more readily conform to the
contiguous rim surface and assist in locking the tire in position. It is not

page_text: absolutely necessary that the securing rings be made in this flaring shape, but
we consider it preferable.
It will be seen from an inspection of Figure 1 of the drawings that the inner
diameter of the flaring ring is less than the diameter of the concave wheel rim.
It will also be observed that this continuous ring or band is embedded in the tire
sheath. The peculiar advantages derived from this construction are, first, that it
is practically impossible to so inflate the tire as to strip the sheath from its engage-
ment with the wheel rim; second, the tire sheath may be placed on the wheel or
removed therefrom with facility; and, finally, the user has his option to use either
a double tube tire, or a single tube tire in combination with what is known as a
crescent wooden rim.
pre-
In the clincher type of tire it is advisable to use an inner tube D), which is
ferably inserted between the sheath or casing and the wheel rim, so that as it is
inflated and expanded it acts to force the securing rings apart and lock them firmly
against the grooved peripheral surface of the rim.
The advantages incident to a tire constructed in accordance with our improve-
ments are, (1) that it can be used in connection with the ordinary bicycle rim;
(2) that it can be used practically in connection with almost any type of rim; (3)
that there is no necessity for an additional central peripheral groove on the wheel
rim for clearance; and (4) that the tire is very simple and economical to manu-
facture and very efficient in operation.
While we have described our invention with more or less minuteness as regards
details, and as being embodied in certain precise forms, we do not desire to be
limited thereto unduly, or any more than is pointed out in the claims. On the
contrary, we contemplate all proper changes in form, construction and arrange-
ment, the omission of immaterial elements, and the substitution of equivalents, as
circumstances may suggest or necessity render expedient.
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 pneumatic tire provided with an outer sheath
slitted circumferentially at its inner surface and provided with two continuous
flat metallic flaring bands the inner diameter of which is smaller than the outer
diameter of the wheel rim and embedded in the sheath at or near its lateral edges,
and a wheel rim provided with a concave peripheral groove of larger diameter at
its lateral edges than the inner diameters of the flaring rings, substantially as
described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.