Improvements in Wheel Tyres.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd July, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 2nd May, 1895--Accepted, 15th June, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wheel Tyres.
I. JOHN GEORGE AULSEBROOK KITCHEN, of 28 Rose Grove, Ardwick,
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Cycle Tyre Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in pneumatic wheel tyres specially
suitable for the wheels of cabs and similar vehicles, the object being to so
construct the same that they shall be non-puncturable and furthermore shall be
readily detachable from the wheel rim.
Hitherto the outer casings of pneumatic tyres have been formed of rubber lined
with canvas, wire gauze being in some cases inserted within the rubber to prevent
puncture of the inner air tube, and the selvedge edges of the outer casings have
been provided with tubular portions to receive one or more coils of retaining
wires.
According to my invention the air tube of a pneumatic tyre is encircled or
covered by a hand strip or web formed of a number of spirally coiled rings or
warps of wire placed side by side and each interwoven with the adjacent ones in
such a manner that the convolutions are looped together. The wire webbing thus
formed may be embedded in an ordinary rubber outer casing and if necessary a
canvas lining may be provided to give greater strength.
To each of the selvedge
edges of this casing an endless encircling chain of special make may be connected
in such a manner that in its normal position on a flanged wheel rim, each chain is
sufficiently tight to prevent the casing being removed even if the air tube is
deflated but by pressing the sides of the casing inwardly, i.e. towards each other,
the endless encircling chains will be partly turned over so that they lie on their
sides thus enlarging their internal diameter sufficiently to allow of their removal
from the wheel rim.
It will be understood that the casing may slightly stretch circumferentially but
cannot give in width each of the spiral coils forming a sort of chain in the direction
of the warp way.
The encircling retaining chains are preferably such as to admit of the outermost
spring warp coils being interwoven therewith, and of such a construction that
when in their normal positions projecting Hanges with which some of the links are
formed rest on the bottom of the wheel rim, and that when the chains are turned
say about a revolution about the axes of their links the projections will leave the
bottom of the wheel rim and at one part of the circumference of the wheel the
body part or side of the chains will rest thereon, thus allowing sufficient slack to
allow the opposite portion of the chain to pass over the projecting flange of the
wheel rim. The chain may be made in various ways, thus the links may be of
sheet metal stamped with eyes and, after being passed partly through the eyes of
the next link, bent so that the end portions come together as well understood.
The spiral wire webbing may be flattened and may be made of steel, phosphor
bronze or other suitable material of circular, flattened or oval cross section.
It will be understood that the number, diameter and size of warp coiled springs
will depend somewhat on the weight the tyre is intended to carry and that thongh

page_text: such tyres are specially suitable for the wheels of cabs and other like vehicles they
are also applicable for cycles.
Dated this 2nd day of July 1894.
1, JOHN GEORGE AULSEBROOK KITCHEN, of 28 Rose Grove, Ardwick,
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Cycle Tyre Manufacturer, 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 relates to improvements in pneumatic wheel tyres specially
suitable for the wheels of cabs and similar vehicles, the one object being to
construct such tyres that they shall be less liable to puncture than usual, and
furthermore shall be readily detachable from the wheel rim.
Hitherto the outer covers or casings (hereinafter called covers) of pneumatic
tyres have usually been formed of rubber lined with canvas, wire gauze being in
some cases inserted within the rubber to prevent puncture of the inner air tube,
and the selvedge edges of the outer covers have been provided with tubular
portions to receive one or more coils of retaining wires.
According to my invention the air tube of a pneumatic tyre is encircled or
covered by a band, strip or web formed of a number of spirally coiled rings or
warps of wire placed side by side and each interwoven with the adjacent ones in
such a manner that the convolutions are looped together. The wire webbing thus
formed may be embedded in an ordinary rubber outer cover which is lined with
canvas to give greater strength. To each of the selvedge edges of the rubber and
canvas lined cover, an endless encircling chain of special make may be connected
in such a manner that in its normal position on a flanged wheel rim, each chain is
sufficiently tight to prevent the cover being removed, even if the air tube be
deflated; but by pressing the sides of the cover inwardly, i.e. towards each other,
the endless encircling chains will be partly turned over so that they will lie on
their sides, thus enlarging their internal diameter sufficiently to allow of their
removal from the wheel rim.
The encircling retaining chains are preferably of such a construction that when
in their normal positions, projecting flanges with which some of the links are
formed, rest on the bottom of the wheel rim, or in grooves formed therein, so that
when the chains are turned say about a revolution about the axes of their links,
the projections will leave the bottom of the wheel rim, and at one part of the
circumference of the wheel, the body part or side of the chains will rest
thereon, thus allowing sufficient slack to allow the opposite portion of the
chain to pass over the projecting flange of the wheel rim.
The chain may
be made in various ways, thus the links may be of sheet metal stamped with eyes
and, after being passed partly through the eyes of the next link, bent so that the
end portions come together as well understood The spiral wire webbing may be
flattened and may be made of steel, phosphor-bronze or other suitable material,
and he of circular, Hattened or oval f. im in cruss section.
It will be understood that the number and diameter of the warp coiled spri
and the width of the combined springs, will depend somewhat on the weight the

page_text: tyre is intended to carry, and that though such tyres are specially suitable for the
wheels of cabs and other like road vehicles, they are also applicable for cycles.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a cross section showing part of the felloe and rim of a carriage wheel
fitted with a pneumatic tyre according to this invention, the tyre being inflated.
Fig. 1 is a similar view showing a slightly modified construction of tyre.
Fig. 2 a cross section shewing the diametrically arranged portions of a wheel
felloe and rim fitted with a tyre like that shown in Fig. 1 but deflated; the upper
part of the figure shewing one of the retaining chains in the act of being passed
over the wheel flange or rim, and the lower part of the figure shewing the
diametrically opposite portion of the chain resting flatwise in the groove of the
rim, the other retaining chain being shown in both parts of the figure in its normal
position.
Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 1 showing a modified construction of tyre and
the retaining chains resting in grooves formed in the wheel rim.
Fig. 4 is a similar view to Fig. 2 but showing a modified construction of tyre
and wheel rim.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a portion of one form of retaining chain
for use with a tyre according to this invention. The outer detachable tyre
cover A in each case is of india rubber lined with one or more thicknesses of
canvas B sufficiently wide to enable its edges to be passed around the retaining
chains CC, and to be cemented to the intermediate portion of the cover, as shown,
in the usual manner. In the form of carriage tyre shown in Figs. 1, 1 and 2, the
tread portion of the outer cover is provided with a number of tempered coiled wire
springs D, forming warps, each of which is coiled or interwoven with the one next
it and the whole moulded in the body of the rubber cover as shewn so as to form
a kind of protection against puncture of the inner air tube. The sides of the
outer rubber casing A taper to an edge and terminate about level with the inner
edge of the retaining chains CC as shewn, so that on the outer side of each chain
there is a thickness of rubber as well as of canvas, whilst on the inner side of the
chain there is only one or more thickness of canvas. The chain C is preferably of
a Hat section, as shewn in Fig. 5 and when in its normal position on the wheel
rim E stands almost vertical ou its edge portion C, as shown in Figs. 1, 1 and 3,
this edge, which forms the inuer and smallest diameter of the ring formed by the
chain when on edge, being preferably made wider than the outer edge C² in order
to place the centre line of the links somewhat higher in the flanged wheel rim E
than would otherwise he the case, so that when the chain is turned through about
a of a revolution, as shewn at the lower left hand portion of Fig. 2, a sufficient
amount of slack, will be produced to enable the diametrically arranged portion of
the chain and the attached cover A to be slid over the projecting flange of the
wheel rim as shewn at the upper left hand portion of Fig. 2,
In Fig. 1 an annular packing piece F of soft or semi-elastic material such as
felting, india-rubber, or the like is shown inserted between the air tube G and the
groove of the wheel rim E for the purpose of preventing the retaining chains CC
from sliding inwards towards one another or canting over should the inflating
tube G become punctured. The packing piece F may be formed of india-rubber
in one piece with or cemented to the inflating, or air tube G, if desired and be
made slightly larger in diameter than the groove in the wheel rim so that when
free a concentric open space will be left between the two. When this arrangement
is employed for retaining the chains C in position the cover A is detached by
sliding the edge along the bottom of the groove in the wheel rim E and partly
turning them over until the outer side of the casing rests on the bottom of the
wheel rim. By this means the packing hoop F is moved outward in the groove by
the inner edge of the chain C until the latter slides beneath it, the lower edge C¹ of
the chain C being in this case preferably made somewhat deeper than usual to
allow for the difference in the thickness of the canvas on the one side and the
india-rubber and canvas on the opposite side of the chain. For removing the

page_text: outer casing A when used as shewn in Fig. 1 the side of the casing is pressed
inwardly or the reverse way to that just described as clearly shewn at the left
hand side of Fig. 2.
In the modified construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the wheel rim is formed
with slightly grooved parts E' at the bottom of the flanges, into which take the
edges of the retaining chains as shewn, the said grooved parts forming internal
ribs. In this case the rim instead of being in the form of an endless hoop as is the
case in the examples shown in the other figures, is split or divided transversely
so that after being arranged to encircle the felloes H of say a wooden wheel, the
two ends of the rim can be drawn tightly together and secured in
any convenient
manner such as by screws or the like. To remove the cover A from the wheel
rim, its sides must be pressed inwardly until the flat side of the chain rests on the
projecting bottom thereof as shewn at the bottom left hand side of Fig. 4.
Figs. 3 and 4 the tyre cover A is shown without the wire webbing formed by the
coiled wire rings D.
It is to be understood that when the retaining chains have been measured off to
form a ring of the required diameter, their two ends are permanently secured
together. The radial width of the chain measured from the axis of the chain to
its inner side C or periphery will depend on the depth of the flanges of the wheel
rim with which the chain is to be used.
Removable tyres according to this invention may be modified to suit different
classes of vehicles such as cycles without departure from the essential features of
my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is—
1. In a pneumatic tyre, an outer cover the edges of which are provided with
endless encircling or retaining chain so arranged that by canting or partly turning
either edge of the cover with chain, one portion of the Hat side of the chain can
be caused to lie on the bottom of the wheel rim and provide sufficient slack to
enable the diametrically arranged portion of the edge of the cover and chain to
be slipped over the adjacent projecting flange of the wheel rim substantially as
herein before described.
2. Pneumatic tyres having outer covers constructed with retaining chains and
with or without interlaced coiled wire springs in their tread portions, substantially
as hereinbefore described with reference respectively to and shown in Figs. 1
and 2, and in Figs. 3 and + of the drawing annexed, whether or not a packing
piece F (Fig. 1A) be provided between the edges of the outer cover and between
the wheel rim aud air tube as set forth.
Dated this and dow of V 100%