Improvements in Mechanical Fastenings for Pneumatic Tires.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Mar., 1898-Accepted, 14th May, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mechanical Fastenings for Pneumatic Tires.
A Communication to me from THE LOZIER MANUFACTURING Co., a Corporation
organized under the laws of the State of Ohio, of Toledo, in the State of
Ohio, U.S.A.
I, EDMUND EDWARDS, of the Firm of Edwards and Co., Chartered Patent Agents
and Engineers, of 65 and 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, 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, and accompanying drawing, that is to say:-
My invention relates particularly to that class of pneumatic tires, employing
inner air tubes surrounded, protected and held in restraint by outer shoes or
coverings, which shoes are detachably secured at their edges to the rims or fellies
of the wheels upon which they are mounted in such manner as to be readily
released and detached therefrom to afford access to their interiors and to the air
tubes contained therein.
It consists of binding rings composed of flexible wires or cords, adapted to clamp
the edges of the shoes to the rims and provided with means for adjusting their
diameters so that they may be loosened and freely removed from the rim or
tightened and securely clamped thereon; the particular means forming the subject
of this application being applied to one or both of the binding wires as desired, and,
extending through the rim are controlled by nuts, which are accessible from the
exterior.
The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention, and some of its modifica-
tions in the best forms now known to me, but some changes in the features of
construction and the relative positions of the parts might be made by a skilful
mechanic without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the
claims at the end of this specification.
Figure 1 is a view partly in elevation and partly in longitudinal section on
the line 1, 1, of Figure 2, of a portion of a wheel rim and pneumatic tire, having
my invention applied thereto.
Figure 2 is a plan view of the same with the upper portion of the pneumatic
tire broken away and omitted for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the
special features of the invention.
Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section of the same on the line 3, 3, of
Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a view of parts of the clamping mechanism, showing them in the
positions assumed when the ends of the wire band are most widely separated and
the band at its greatest diameter.
Figures 5 and 6 are detailed views of the bolt and link of the clamping
mechanism.

page_text: Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view of the metallic socket or lining for the
aperture through the wheel rim.
Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12 illustrate several modifications of the mechanism for
contracting the diameter of the wire bands.
Figures 13 and 14 illustrate modifications in the construction of the edges of
tire shoes to which my wire clamping bands may be applied. The bands in the
first three figures are shown lying in hollow beads at the edges of the shoe and,
therefore, not readily detachable from the shoe, while in Figures 13 and 14, the
bands are applied to shoe edges of such construction as will permit, when they are
loosened, of their being entirely removed therefrom.
Binding wires for the edges of pneumatic tires of the class to which my invention
pertains are well-known in the art and have been used to a considerable extent
with more or less success. The principal difficulty heretofore experienced has
resulted from the want of some simple, light, readily accessible and effective means
for reducing or increasing the diameters of the bands so that they may bind the
shoes securely upon the rims or permit of their ready removal and re-application.
I have sought to overcome this difficulty by means of my invention which I will
now explain.
In the drawing A, is a wheel rim of any suitable material and shape. B, is the
air tube of the pneumatic tire, and D, the sheath or shoe which surrounds and
protects the air tube. This sheath may have hollow edges or beads d, as shown
in Figures 1, 2 and 3, through which the clamping wires E, are passed or it may
be provided with suitably hooked, notched or open ribs or beads, C, C¹, see
Figures 13 and 14, to be engaged by the clamping wires E, in the manner shown
in said figures.
My invention, however, does not lie in any particular method of applying the
band to the edges of the tire as this may be done in many ways now well-known,
but it consists particularly in the device for shortening the band or reducing its
diameter by means of an exterior screw or nut accessible from the outside of the
rim. To this purpose, one end of the wire band E, is secured to the inner end of a
draw-bolt F, and the other end to a link G, pivoted at g, to the draw-bolt, which
stands at a right angle to the general direction of the band at this point, and
extending through an aperture in the rim and projects beyond its inner face. This
aperture in the rim is lined by a socket H, rectangular at its opening inside of the
rim where it is provided with a rounding or sloping side h, which merges into the
cylindrical portion h³, of the socket, which projects beyond the outer surface of
the rim and is screw-threaded on its exterior as shown. A thimble I, fits over the
outer projecting end of the socket and is shaped at one end to bear snugly upon
the outer surface of the rim against which it is clamped by a screw ring or nut J,
on the projecting cylindrical end of the socket H, thus securely clamping the
socket and the thimble I, in place. The outer end of the bolt F, is screw-threaded
and adapted to receive a nut K, which bears against the outer face of the ring J.
When the band is to be tightened, the nut draws the bolt down into the socket and
with it the toggle link (, which, sliding upon the inclined inner surface of the
socket, swings its free end towards the bolt and draws the ends of the wire together
as shown in Figure 1, thus contracting the diameter of the band, which may he
again expanded by loosening the nut and pushing the bolt up into the socket.
The nut K, is preferably provided with a cylindrical portion j, which extends
loosely into the socket, a polygonal section k, adapted to be engaged by a wrench,
and a milled section 7, adapted to be engaged by the fingers of the operator, or any
other suitable means for turning it.
The ends of the wires are shown as bent around at right angles to form portions
which pass through holes in the heads or eyes of the bolt and the link and are
upset or riveted at their outer ends to prevent disengagement. This means of
fastening the wires to the links is not, however, material to my invention as other
means might be employed with equally satisfactory results.

page_text: In order to compensate for slight variations in the sizes of wheel rims, particu-
larly wood rims, which are influenced more or less by humidity or other atmospheric
conditions, I prefer to make the sleeve or thimble I, of elastic yielding material
such as rubber, which allows the parts to be drawn firmly to their proper positions
as shown in Figure 1, without unduly straining any of them.
I contemplate the use of turn-buckles L, in each band to adjust the length of
the band independently of the special tightening device which constitutes my
invention. Where turn-buckles are used they would preferably be located on the
opposite side of the band to the tightening device, that is, half way round the
wheel.
I also contemplate using tightening devices in one band only, of a shoe, the
other band being tightened and held permanently in place by a turn-buckle,
except when it is desired to remove the shoe entirely from the rim. In ordinary
usage, it is sufficient for repairs, inspection, etc., that one side only of the shoe
be detached from the rim and to this end it is necessary that only one side of a
tire shoe should be provided with my special detachable tightening device.
At the points where the bands or binding wires are connected to the tightening
or contracting mechanism, the beads or ribbed edges of the tire-shoe in which they
are encased or upon which they lie, may have to be cut away as at M, Figures 1
and 2, and in such a case, the opening or gap is covered by a flap N, which is
secured at one edge to one side of the shoe and lies across the opening in the bead,
securely closing it against the expansion of the inner air tube.
Broadly stated, my invention may be said to consist of mechanism to which the
ends of the wire bands are attached and which, when drawn substantially at right
angles to the general direction of the wire into a recess or socket having sloping
sides, contracts or brings together its members and draws together the adjacent
ends of the wire, reducing the diameter of the band.
In the mechanism shown in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive, this is effected by drawing
the bolt and toggle-link pivoted thereto into a sloping socket in such manner that
their outer free ends to which the wires are attached are brought closer together.
In Figures 9 and 10 and 11, I show a modification of this construction, which
consists of a pair of toggle-links O and P, pivotally connected at p, to the upper
end of the bolt F, the ends of the wires being attached to the free ends of the
links which ends draw together or approach each other when the links are drawn
in the socket by the bolt F, as shown in Figure 10.
In Figure 12, I show another modification in which the upper end of the bolt
is bifurcated, the forks f, to which the ends of the wires are attached, being made
springy so that they will yield and approach each other as they are drawn into the
contracted opening at the top of the socket H.
The thimble I, in Figures 1 and 3 is, as before stated, preferably made of an
elastic or yielding material to compensate for inequalities in the wheel rims, and
where such thimbles are used and the lengths of the wires properly adjusted in
assembling the mechanism, turn-buckles L, are not essential for further adjustment
of the wires.
The thimbles R, shown in Figures 9, 10 and 12 are of metal and unyielding and
with such thimbles I prefer to use turn-buckles in both wires of a tire fastening.
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 vehicle wheel the combination of a rim having an aperture formed
through it, a pneumatic tire sheath or shoe, a binding wire or band to engage the
edge of said shoe, its ends being connected to the separable extremities of members
of a device which, when drawn into the aperture in the rim, are caused to approach
each other and draw the ends of the band together and contract its diameter,
substantially as set forth.

page_text: 2. In a vehicle wheel the combination of a rim having an aperture formed with
inclined or contracting sides, a pneumatic tire sheath or shoe, a binding wire or
band to engage the edge of the shoe, separable members, the free ends of which are
connected to the ends of the band, a bolt lying in the aperture and connected at one
end to the separable members, its other end projecting through the rim and
provided with an adjusting nut, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
3. In a vehicle wheel the combination of a rim having an aperture, a metallic
socket or lining for said aperture formed with inclined or contracting sides on its
inner end, its outer cylindrical end projecting through and beyond the outer surface
of the rim, a thimble embracing the projecting end of the socket and resting
against the face of the rim and a nut or ring screwed upon the threaded end of the
socket to securely clamp the socket and thimble in place, as set forth.
4. In a wheel tire the combination of the rim A, tire shoe D, wire band E,
bolt F, toggle link G, and nut K, with the aperture through the rim, the socket H,
lining said aperture and extending beyond the outer face of the rim, the thimble I,
and screw ring or nut J, arranged and operating, substantially as and for the
purpose herein before set forth.
5. In a wheel tire the combination of the rim A, tire shoe D, wire band E, and
bolt F, the separable links or members connected to the bolt and to the ends of the
wire band, the nut K, the aperture through the rim, the socket H, with the elastic
thimble I, on its outer end and the screw ring or nut J, arranged and operating,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 17th day of March 1898.
EDWARDS AND CO.,
65 and 66, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.