Improvements in Pneumatic Tyres and in Felloes for Wheels.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Aug., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 15th June, 1891-Accepted, 18th July, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Pneumatic Tyres and in Felloes for Wheels.
Francis Road Lozells,
STUART BUNTING Merchant & Agent Eaton Villa
Birmingham do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:—
Wheels made in accordance with iny invention have the rim formed, preferably,
of a metal tube, but may be otherwise, of round or flat inetal either of which are
attached to the ordinary spokes in the usual way say for example as used for cycles
and have on the outer or opposite sides to the spokes, a series of cones or cups
joined to same and also joined to each other so as to form a continuous series of
cones or cups around the circumference of the rim having the open sides of cups or
cones directed outwards from the centre of the wheel.
Each cone or cup may or may not have a small tube connection formning an air
passage between the cone or cup & metal tube and with or without a valve in
each tube in the part extending into the cup or cone for use as hereinafter
described.
Each cone or cup has a ball, or other shaped chamber made of india rubber or
other flexible material inserted therein, with a hole in the ball or other shaped
chamber to fit on to the tube in cones or cups & which forms the air passage so
that a close connection is made between all the balls or other shaped chambers &
the metal tube which forms the rim & ail are inflated by one operation with a
suitable air compressing apparatus applied to the metal tube in which there is
placed a valve to retain the compressed air after having been forced therein and
from thence into all the ball, or other shaped flexible chambers having tubular
connections extending from the metal tube into same and may or may not be
provided with separate valves in the tubes which forms the air passages between
the cones or cups and metal tube or all may be controlled by the one valve in the
metal tube and the balls or other flexible chambers thereby, kept inflated and
afterwards inflated as required and in the manner as already described, thus forming
a continuous tyre of a number of air chambers round the circumference of the
tubular rim of the wheel, inflated with air to act as a cushion and thus prevent
vibration on vehicles having wheels with tyres made in accordance with my
invention.
Ball or other shaped chambers already inflated may be inserted in the cones or
cups & the latter attached to a flat metal rim instead of a tubular rim as already
described & having instead of the air passage previously explained a metal screw
running through the flat metal rim into the cones or cups having a plate at this
end so that when the inflated ball or other shaped chambers are pressed into
position in the cones or cups the pressure of the screw plate, or plate at end of
screw forced on the top of each ball or other shaped chamber compresses same &
can be repeated when necessary so as to keep up the required tension on the ball,
or other shaped flexible chambers as long as sufficient air remains therein for
that purpose & afterwards the screw is relaxed so that the ball or other shaped
chambers can be taken out of the cones or cups & freshly inflated or a new ball
inserted into the latter & acted on as before & thus keep up a continuous series
of inflated ball or other shaped chambers round the circumference of the rim, or
the plate may have a tubular screw attached so that when the tension so obtained
by pressure cannot any more be had by that means, the screw may be relaxed &
each ball or other shaped chamber inflated, thro the tubular screw extending into
Bame and air forced therein seperately into each ball or other shaped chamber by
means of an ordinary air forcing apparatus & retained by cach ball or other shaped
chamber having a valve for that purpose at the end of the tubular screw inserted

page_text: through a hole and reaching into about the centre of the ball or other shaped
chamber closely jointed at the entrance hole so as to resist the air pressure forced into
same aud keep up the tension by repeated operations when required & as before
explained thus keeping the ball or other shaped chainbers inflated with air so as
to act as a cushion & thus prevent vibration on vehicles having wheels with tyres
made in accordance with my invention.
Also for same purpose I may use inflated ball, or other shaped chambers pressed
side by side into a hollow felloe or rim of a suitable shape to hold & retain as many
chambers as I can press into same & thus form a continuous tyre round the
circumference of a hollow suitably shaped rim or felloe instead of the flat or
tubular shaped rim or felloe having cones or cups attached for same purpose & as
before described.
The object of my invention is to obviate the necessity of having to replace n
whole tyre as is the case where a pneumatic tube is used as a tyre, when the same
is cut or destroyed by coming into contact with a sharp projection on the road and
thus allowing the air which acts as a cushion to escape by substituting therefore
a tyre made up of a number of seperate air chambers, any one of which can be
easily replaced if destroyed by the insertion of a new chamber being only the
segment of a tyre & which can be always ready at hand by the rider of the vehicle
or machine carrying one or more chambers in case of emergency & as customary
in carrying a spanner.
Also same can be supplied at a very small cost when any
destroyed in comparison to a whole tubular tyre.
one chamber gets
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Pneumatic Tyres and in Felloes for Wheels.
in
I, STUART BUNTING of Eaton Villa, Francis Road, Lozells, Birmingham
the County of Warwick, Merchant and Agent, 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 remedy the defect which has hitherto marred
to a great extent the success of pneumatic tyres that is to say that whenever the
latter were accidentally cut while travelling by a stone or otherwise they collapsed
suddenly and became worthless so that the rider was unable to use his machine
again until he obtained a new tyre which was generally a matter of impossibility
when the accident occured at a distance from a large town.
Now according to my improvements I so construct a tyre that whenever the same
is cut in any part this cut portion can be removed and replaced by a new section
while the whole tyre can be inflated again by the rider who has only to carry one
or two of these sections on his machine. I form my improved pneumatic tyre of
a circular row of indin-rubber balls or spheres fixed to the rim of the wheel which
for the purpose of my invention is made in the form of a circular tube. These
balls or spheres are hollow and are fixed upon a tube fitted within the central and
lower flange of a semi-spherical cup. The tubular rim of the wheel is provided at
regular intervals with openings furnished with seatings in which the lower flange
of the cup is soldered, brazed, shrunk or otherwise fixed.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side view partly in section of a
portion of the rim of a wheel furnished with my improved pneumatic tyre, Figure 2
being a view at right angles thereto. a is the tubular rim of the wheel which is
provided with equidistant openings o over which are fixed in any suitable manner
the seatings 8. c is the semi-spherical cup furnished with a central opening provided
with a lower flange within which is soldered the central tube t projecting
outwardly as shown in Figure 1. Upon this tube the other periphery of which

page_text: When-
may be roughened or serrated is fixed the ball having an inward central and
hollow projection which bears tightly against the sides of the tube t and thus
assists in keeping the ball firmly fixed within the cup c. The tubular rim a of
the wheel may be furnished with a valve whereby the balls may be simultaneously
inflated. Or I may fit a valve in each tube t as shown at v (Figure 1).
ever one of the balls bis accidentally cut and the tyre consequently collapses when
only one valve is used in the rim a, the said ball is removed, replaced by another
which is sprung on the tube t and the tyre is inflated again by means of an ordinary
air pump carried by the rider of the machine. By having a valve to ench
tube t the tyre would not collapse and the cut bill having been replaced the rim a
would only require to be supplied with an additional amount of air for the purpose
of inflating the new ball.
.
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 :-
A pneumatic tyre for velocipedes or other vehicles consisting of a circular row
of adjoining india-rubber balls secured to the tubular rim of the wheel and inflated
substantially as described and shown and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 13th day of June 1891.
JAMES STEVENSON,
Gray's Inn Chambers, 20, High Holborn, London, W.C.,
Agent for Applicant.