Improvements in and relating to Pneumatic Tyres for the Wheels of Bicycles, Tricycles, and other Velocipedes and Vehicles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 20th June, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 20th Apr., 1897-Accepted, 19th June, 1897
Improvements in and relating to Pneumatic Tyres for the Wheels
of Bicycles, Tricycles, and other Velocipedes and Vehicles.
STUART BUNTING Merchant and Agent 91 Smallbrook Street Birmingham do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
For the purpose of my invention I construct a continuous pneumatic tyre made of
india rubber and other suitable material with beads or thickened edges to each
foot, so as, to fit into the corresponding beads or inturned flanges of any suitably
shaped rim.
Between the feet of said tyre is placed an inverted Ushaped band, made of india
rubber and other suitable material, forming an arch, so that the free ends which rest'
on the rim, may spring and press against the feet of the tyre and hold the beads of the
latter into the beads of the rim.
Or, one side of the free end of the arched spring band may be vulcanised to the
foot of the tyre so that both may be held by the bead of the tyre attached thereto, by
being pressed into the bead or inturned flanges of the rim by the spring or pressure
from that end of the arched band and the opposite ends or feet of both tyre and
arched spring band may be open & separate so as to engage themselves together in
whatever way is found most desirable in making a union or closed joint when' both
are held in the bead or inturned flange of the rim.
Repairs or patches can be made on the inside of the tyre by opening same and the
means by which this desirable end can be obtained is, by pressing one side of the
arched spring band, so as to relieve and make free the beaded portion of the tyre from
the beaded or inturned flange of the rim when the arched spring. band returns again
to its normal condition & place in the rim.
The tyre is again closed by pressing the arched spring band so as to make way
for the beaded portion of the tyre to get into the beaded or inturned flange of the
rim where the tyre is again held by the pressure on the bead from the free end of the.
arched spring band.'
A flap or tongue, if found desirable, may be vulcanised to one or both sides of
the arched 'spring band; inside the tyre, so as to cover that portion where the arched
spring band and tyre meet and thus assist in making a tight joint by the inflation of
the tyre pressing against the said flaps or tongues, so that the tyre may be made into
a single and continuous closed tube which can readily be opened in case of puncture,
for repairs or patches on the inside.
The tyre is inflated by the usual method & means, of forcing air, gas, water or other
liquid or fluid into same and retained there by one or other of the ordinary valves and
it will be easily understood from the foregoing that inflation assists in the holding on
of the tyre to the rim, by pressing the arched spring band to the rim and the feet
outwards against the feet of the tyre.
An inner lining of any suitable metal or other material may, if found desirable,
be placed round the inside of the walls of the tyre and underneath the flaps of
the arched spring band, so as to prevent puncture and give strength to the tyrė.
Dated this 19th day of June 1896.
:
STUART BUNTING.

page_text: Improvements in and relating to Pneumatic Tyres for the Wheels.
of Bicycles, Tricycles, and other Velocipedes and Vehicles.
I, STUART BUNTING of 91, Smallbrook Street, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, 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 an improved construction of pneumatic tyre of the so-called
"tubeless" type, as hereinafter more particularly specified.
In the accompanying drawing which illustrates this invention :-
Figure 1 is a view in transverse section showing the tyre mounted in the
wheel rim.
Figure 2 is a similar view showing one edge of the tyre dismounted from the
wheel rim.
Figures 3 and 4 are views in transverse section of other forms my invention may
assume, and
Figures 5 and 6 are views in transverse section of a further modification, the former
showing the tyre mounted in the wheel rim and the latter showing one edge of the
tyre dismounted.
Throughout the views similar parts are marked with like letters of reference..
The tyre A which is made of rubber reinforced with canvas or other suitable fabric
and lined with rubber or other suitable air-proof material, has beads or enlargements a
on its edges which are shaped to adapt them to engage with recesses 6 at the edges of
the wheel rim B. Between the enlarged edges a of the tyre is a
hoop or band C
of an inverted U-shape in cross section, the said band being shaped and formed
so as to exert a transverse pressure on the edges a of the tyre A when placed in
the wheel rim so that it acts both to keep said edges engaged with the recesses b
in the wheel rim and also to make an air-tight joint between the edges of the tyre.
The hoop or band may either be constructed out of a flat band in which case
it can conveniently be cut off a cylinder of the required diameter, or it may be
moulded in an arched shape, which is a convenient method of production when it
is necessary to vary the thickness of any parts of the arch for the purpose of giving
it increased strength.
The hoop or band may either be made of soft rubber or it may be made partly of
hard rubber and partly of soft rubber as shown by Figure 4 in which case the
elasticity is confined to the crown of the arch. The hoop or band can be stiffened
without unduly increasing the weight by making it corrugated or ribbed on its
inner side.
The hoop or band C is preferably fixed to one of the edges a of the tyre but
this is not obligatory.
In order to retain the hoop or band C in the wheel rim and keep it in a central
position when the tyre is removed the wheel rim B may have either one central
groove b' as shown by Figure 3 or a pair of grooves b¹, b', as shown by Figures 4, 5
and 6 for the feet of the hoop or band C to rest in.
It will be seen that by this construction an initial air-tight joint before inflation
is commenced is obtained by the use of the transversely elastic hoop or band C,
and that the pressure of the said hoop or band on the edges of the tyre is rein-
forced when the tyre is inflated owing to the crushing pressure exerted on it by the
compressed air.

page_text: 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.) The improvements in and relating to pneumatic tyres, substantially as herein
before described and illustrated by the accompanying drawing.
(2.) A pneumatic tyre consisting essentially of an air-proof tube divided circum-
ferentially on that side adapted to lie in the wheel rim, and having its edges shaped to
engage with the wheel rim, and of a hoop or band of an inverted U-shape in cross
section adapted to lie between the divided edges of the tyre and act on them so as to
form an air-tight joint between them and also keep them engaged with the rim, as
set forth.
this 15th day of April 1897.
ROBERT E. PHILLIPS, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., M.I. Mech. E.,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent,
70, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.