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

page_text: Date of Application, 24th June, 1898
Complete Specification Left, 24th Mar., 1899-Accepted, 29th Apr., 1899
Improvements in Elastic Tyres for Wheels of Vehicles.
I, HENRY O'CONNOR BRIDGEWATER, of 35, Lansdowne Road, Aylestone Park,
Leicester, Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in elastic tyres for wheels of vehicles
and has for its object the improvement of that class of tyre in which india-
rubber balls, or air bags of any desired shape, are arranged round the rim of
the wheel and enclosed in a cover. Tyres of this description have been found
unsatisfactory principally it is believed from the fact that the balls or the like
have been allowed play within the cover.
creep
"from the balls and at the
By my invention I remove all play or
same time attain a much greater degree of efficiency.
To carry out the invention I may first provide a length or strip of metal
slightly concave in section and long enough to extend round the inside of the rim
of the wheel, thus forming a band and having projections at each of its ends
to engage with the said rim. Before placing the said band in the rim, however,
there may be solutioned to it a lining or length of canvas, cloth or the like
and a number of balls may also be solutioned to another length of canvas or
the like, the balls touching each other. It will be readily seen that when the
last mentioned length of canvas with the balls solutioned thereto is placed in
position in the metal band, after the latter has been placed in the rim, the
canvas being on the outside of the circle and the balls adjoining the metal
band, the balls will be slightly compressed into one another and thus form an
approximately continuous air cushion or tube. Other ways of preventing the
balls creeping may be accomplished by having suitably shaped projections
arranged longitudinally on the inside of the cover, or the balls may be formed
with projections to pass through openings in the metal band, but in any case
after the balls have been put on the metal band it is desirable to hold them
together with solutioned canvas and enclose the whole in a suitable cover in
the well-known manner. A tyre such as described will maintain a considerable
degree of efficiency.

page_text: 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 elastic tyres for wheels of vehicles
and has for its object the improvement of that class of tyre in which india-
rubber balls or air-bags (readily removable in case of puncture) of any desired
shape are placed round the rim and enclosed in a cover.
Tyres of this description have hitherto been found unsatisfactory principally
because the balls have been allowed play within the cover, thereby causing a
certain amount of " creeping."
By my invention remove the disadvantage mentioned and provide a tyre
for wheels of vehicles, especially suitable for velocipedes, having the inherent
quality of returning with a spring, to the form from which it has been pressed,
after the removal of the external force. The nature of the invention will be
readily understood on reference to the sheet of drawings accompanying this
specification. Like letters and numerals indicate like parts throughout the
several figures.
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation showing a series of balls attached to
a plate of metal or other material by canvas strips, and Figure 2 is a cross
section of Figure also showing the rim and the outer cover.
Figures 3, 4 and 5 are views of modifications illustrating various ways of
attaching the balls to a plate for the purpose hereinafter described, Figure 6
being a side view of Figure 3.
The balls A A are formed of india-rubber in the ordinary way, a sufficient
number being provided to extend all round the rim of the wheel when slightly
compressed against one another, as shown in Figure 1.
A strip or plate B of metal or equivalent, is provided of sufficient length to
pass around the base of the rim b of the wheel. The said strip or plate B
may be concave in section according to the section of the rim b, but the flat
section as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 entails less trouble in making.
A length of canvas, cloth or equivalent, is solutioned to the inside or outside
of the strip or plate B, forming a lining C, the length of such lining being
preferably the length of the strip or plate B, and of sufficient width to pass from
the base of the balls A A to a sufficient height to protect the said balls when
in position from the rim or fastening of the outer cover c.
The balls A A are next placed in position on the strip or plate B and the
lining C is brought upward and solutioned to the balls.
The strip or plate B, the lining C and balls A A to which there has been
solutioned a further strip of canvas or the like I are next placed round the
rim of the wheel and kept in position thereon by projections B (see Figure 1)
on the plate B passing into holes formed in the said rim b. As will be seen in
Figure 1, when the balls are in position i.e. after the strip or plate B has been
bent round the rim of the wheel and held therein by the projections B¹, the
balls A A will be slightly compressed against one another and the resiliency
thereby increased.
In the modification shown in Figure 3, instead of the lining (, a strip E of
rubber, canvas or equivalent is solutioned at E¹¹ to the outer surface of each
ball leaving the centre part free so that the said balls can be slid over the strip
or plate B before mentioned. Instead of the strips E being solutioned to the
balls, they may be formed therewith as shown at Figure 4. When using
balls having such strips as A they are slid on the strip or plate B before it is
bent round the rim, but by using balls A such as shown in Figure 5, the said
strip or plate B may have a number of slots cut therein equal in number to
the balls to be used, each slot being long enough to allow the projecting
strip A shown in Figure 5 to be passed through, after which the ball is turned
at a right angle and held in position.
It will be readily seen that when the balls have been attached to the plate B

page_text: in either of the herein before described ways and the said plate attached in
position in the rim there will be formed an approximate air cushion or tube.
The outer cover e may be held in position on the rim by means of wires c¹
threaded through the edges of the said outer cover the ends of the wires c¹
being sprung into holes in the rim in the well-known manner, or the said outer
cover may be attached in any other desired way so as to be readily detachable
for the removal of any perished balls and the insertion of fresh ones.
When inserting a fresh ball A in place of any removed, it is unnecessary to
attach it to the plate B as it will be kept in position by the adjoining balls and
the outer cover.
I am aware that balls have been used in several ways for the purpose of
forming an elastic tyre for the wheels of vehicles, both with and without outer
covers so that I make no claim for the use of balls for such a purpose.
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:
In elastic tyres for wheels of vehicles, a plate such as B, having attached
thereto in any of the ways hereinbefore described a series of balls or air-bags,
the said plate being bent round the rim of the wheel and held therein, in the
manner described, and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 23rd day of March 1899
H. O. BRIDGEWATER.
W. P. Thompson & Co.,
Of London, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.