January i, 1904. J 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



131 



TIRES AT THE ENGLISH CYCLE SHOWS. 



THE Palmer Tyre, Limited, exhibited at the Stan- 

 ley show the most marked new feature of the season, in 

 the shape of the " Palmer Cord " motor tire, a result of 

 experiments for some years at the Silvertown works of 

 the India-Rubber, Gutta-Percha, and Telegraph Works Co., 

 Limited, the manufacturers of the Palmer cycle tires. The 

 " Palmer " was the first tire in which was made the important 

 departure of employing a specially designed fabric to obtain 

 what was required in a pneumatic tire. The manufacturers have 

 further developed the same principle in meeting the special 

 wants in the way of a pneumatic tire for use on motors and other 

 heavy vehicles. Uniformity of tensions in a motor tire has been 

 recognized as a most important factor, and most difficult to ob- 

 tain in a canvas lined tire. It has been found almost impos- 

 sible, in building large tires, to so arrange that the threads 

 (warp and weft) in the different layers of canvas shall be of 

 equal tension everywhere, and one of the illustrations herewith 

 (Figure 1) is intended to illustrate the distortion of a tire which 

 results from the employment of ordinary methods of manufac- 

 ture. An end aimed at in the manufactureof the Palmer Cord 

 tire has been the arrangement of all the threads so that the 

 strains are direct ; there are no slack threads and the tensions 

 on all the threads are uniform. This requirement has been 

 found to be more easily met by the use of few than of many lay- 

 ers of fabric, and the standard Palmer construction now in- 

 volves only two layers. In vulcanizing tires, it was discovered 



at Silvertown that the air con- 



r^PWWfc^^ tained in the fabric or canvas ex- 

 "7 pands considerably under the in- 

 / creased temperature, the expan- 

 sion preventing the rubber from 

 making a good contact with the 

 thread, besides tending to an ac- 

 cumulation of air at points where 

 FIQ - '■ the pressure happens to be least, 



and thus causing weak places in the tire. As a result of such 

 discovery, experiments were undertaken which have resulted 

 in the production of a 

 cord from which all air 

 has been expelled. The 

 cord used in the new 

 Palmer tire is composed 

 of a number o( fine 

 threads, each one of 

 which has been individ- 

 ually treated by a patent fig. 2. 

 process, the final result being a cord composed of 24 threads, 

 each of which is insulated from every other thread by India- 

 rubber applied in the 

 form of solution, and 

 from which the air has 

 been expelled. A further 

 step is the flattening of 

 these built-up cords, in 

 order to produce a fab- 

 ric more compact than 

 where round cords are 

 used. Another illustra- 

 tion (Figure 2) shows 

 fig. 3. the position of the cords 



in the formation of a section of outer cover built up of two 

 layers of flattened cord, indicating how, in spite of the circular 

 form of the tire, an equal degree of tension is obtained through- 

 out. The anchoring of the cord 

 to the beaded edges of the tire 

 cover is by means of steel pins 

 passing through the loops of the 

 cords and into the canvas bead. 

 Two methods of attachment to 

 the rim are (1) the ordinary 

 clincher style, in rims fitted there- 

 for ; and (2) the flange fixing type 

 illustrated herewith (Figure 3.) 



The Palmer company exhibited 

 also their detachable cycle tires, 

 a sectional cut of which is shown 

 herewith. Still another illustra- 

 tion relates to the Palmer tubu- 

 lar rims for cycle tires. Instead palmer detachable cycle tire. 

 of using woven tape for covering the heads of the spoke nipples 

 with this rim, a steel tape is supplied which forms a smooth 

 surface to support the edges of the tire. The ends of this steel 

 tape are secured by a special patented fastening, shown in 

 one of the accompanying cuts. 



VALVE MOLE-. 



Fastening of "Silvertown" steel rim tape, 

 steel tape for palmer cycle tire. 



The Continental Caoutchouc and Guttapercha Co. 

 (London and Hanover, Germany). — Their exhibit of " Conti- 

 nental " motor tires included the set used by Mr. Jenatzy on 

 the car with which he won the Gordon Bennett race last year; 

 a full assortment of tneir standard tires ; and numerous motor 

 and cycle accessories made 

 at their Hanover works. An 

 illustration herewith gives a 

 sectional view of the "Con- 

 tinental " tire for 1904. 



The Clipper Pneumat- 

 ic Tire Co., Limited (Cov- 

 entry). — Bicycle tires, and 

 the "Clipper-Continental " 

 motor tire. The latter is 

 made at Hanover by the 

 Continental company and 

 sold in Great Britain, un- 

 der a license from the own- 

 ers of the Bartlett Clincher 

 patent, the Clipper compa- 

 ny being sole agent for the 

 Continental company for 

 motor'goods, continental tire. 



