Improvements in Tyres for the Wheels of Vehicles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 17th May, 1898-Accepted, 18th June, 1898
[Communicated from abroad by Frank Elmer Hall, of 123, Pearl Street, Boston,
Massachusetts, United States of America, Manufacturer.]
Improvements in Tyres for the Wheels of Vehicles.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, 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 :—
The invention, subject of the present application, is an improvement in elastic
tires, more especially adapted for use with or application to the wheels of carriages
and similar vehicles, but applicable to the wheels of vehicles generally. The inven-
tion has for its object the production of a better and more practicable form of tire
for such purposes and to avoid, in the construction of the same, certain defects and
objectionable features which are met with in tires of this class as heretofore made.
The device embodying the invention belongs to that special class of elastic
vehicle tires comprising a metallic rim or holder that encircles the felly of the
wheel, and a tire proper or bearing surface for the wheel composed of india rubber
or similar elastic or cushioning material, and it is further distinguished by the
division of the said tire proper into a number of independent sections or blocks,
separated, at least along the bearing or peripheral portions by short spaces.
The improvement resides in the construction of the device as a whole, and will
be described by reference to the accompanying drawing.
Fig. 1 is a side view and part section of a portion of a wheel rim with tire
thereon.
Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the tire holder.
Fig. 3 is a section of the rim and tire taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the blocks or sections.
Fig. 5 is a view 'in perspective of a reinforcing plate to be used in the
tire.
Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a modified form of the invention.
Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a modified form of tire holder.
The parts which in the preferred form of the invention constitute what may be
termed the rim or holder for the tire, are a flat band of steel or iron A, and a
perforated band of like material B.
The former may be, and in practice generally is, the ordinary metal tire of the
wheel, shrunk on to the wooden felly and secured thereto in any proper and
usual manner.
The latter is a band with perforations or openings C, C, and downwardly extending
flanges D, D, which, normally, when the parts are in place, closely embrace and
approximately cover the sides or edges of the band A.
The two flanges or edges of the band B may be in one piece with the cross-
piece E, or the latter, as shown in Fig. 7, may be independent and rivetted to the
sides. In either construction, the openings in the band are for the reception of
rubber blocks or projections from a rubber band which constitute the tire proper.

page_text: Blocks or independent sections of hardened rubber Fare employed, and these are
moulded in substantially the form shown, with a body of the cross-section of an
ordinary rubber carriage tire, and a widened or flanged, flat base b. The latter is of
such dimensions as to fit in the recess or space under the band B, while the body just
fits the rectangular openings in said band.
On each side of the line of openings in the band B and in the inner or under
surface of the same, runs a channel or groove G, into which the flanges bare forced
when the band is drawn tightly over the wheel, and this serves to secure more fixedly
the sections in place.
Any convenient means may be used for uniting the ends of the band B or securing
it to the wheel, such as a plate H with downturned ends which engage with the
cross-pieces at the ends of the band. The plate H is secured to the wheel rim by a
bolt or screw K.
In order to more effectually retain the elastic sections in place and prevent them
from being pulled out through the openings in the band B, as by sudden side strains,
reinforcing plates L of metal or other suitable material secured to or incorporated
with the base and flanges of each section are sometimes employed. These reinforcing
plates may be united to the material of the sections or blocks of india rubber in the
process of vulcanization or otherwise incorporated therewith. The plates may be of
metal or other suitable material and when incorporated with the sections should be
perforated as shown.
The principle of the construction of the improved tire makes it possible to apply it
directly to vehicle wheels whether provided with ordinary metal tires or not without
any change in the latter. To apply it, the sections of rubber are inserted in the
openings in the band B, and the latter is placed around the wheel rim, its ends drawn
up until the flanges come down over the edges of the metal band or tire A or of the
wooden felly if the band A be absent, and firmly clamp the sections F, and it is then
secured in position.
The band B serves merely as a retaining band to hold the tire sections in position,
and as the flat bases of the latter rest upon the flat periphery of the band A, the
greatest resiliency and life is secured.
Wheels have heretofore been provided with elastic tires composed of sections or
blocks of india rubber secured in or between two metal bands, one of which, in some
cases, has constituted the wheel rim proper, and in others has been shrunk upon the
wooden or other felly. But the present invention resides in the improved form or
construction devised for this purpose, and which is characterized by the combination
of the flanged and perforated band B and the rubber blocks or sections constructed
and arranged as set forth.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a tire for vehicle wheels, the combination with blocks or sections of india
rubber having flat bases with flanges at the sides and ends and adapted to rest upon
the periphery of a wheel, of a band B, composed of side-bars with flanges that
embrace the side edges of the wheel, and cross-bars E, the said band being applied
over the said rubber blocks with the side bars bearing on the flanges at the sides and
the cross-bars over the flanges at the ends of said blocks, and means for drawing
together the ends of the band and holding it to the wheel, as set forth.
2. In a tire for vehicle wheels, the combination with blocks or sections of india
rubber having flat bases with flanges at the sides and ends and adapted to rest upon
the periphery of a wheel, of a band B composed of side bars with flanges that
embrace the side edges of the wheel and having channels or grooves G in their under
surfaces, and cross-bars E, the said band being applied over the said rubber blocks with
the side bars bearing on the flanges at the sides and the cross-bars over the flanges at the
ends of said blocks and means for binding the said band firmly to the wheel whereby
the flanges of the blocks will be forced up into the channels or grooves G, as set forth.

page_text: 3. The combination in a wheel tire with blocks or sections of india rubber having
flat bases with flanges at the sides and ends and adapted to rest upon the periphery of a
wheel, and reinforcing plates or strips L. secured to the said bases, of a band B
composed of side bars with flanges that embrace the side edges of the wheel, and
cross-bars E, the said band being applied over the rubber blocks with the side bars
bearing on the flanges at the sides and the cross-bars over the flanges at the ends
of said blocks, and means for drawing the band tightly about the wheel and thereby
clamping the rubber blocks in position, as set forth.
Dated this 17th day of May 1898.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.