Tire

“ The tire of a wheel is the outer circumferential portion that rolls on the ground or the track prepared for it. When the track is smooth and level, as in a railway, the principal functions of the tire are to provide a hard, durable surface for the wheel, and to reduce to a minimum the resistance to rolling. ”

“ A.--It is not indispensable that the whole tire should be of steel; but a dovetail groove, turned out of the tire at the place where it bears most on the rail, and fitted with a band of steel, will suffice. This band may be put in in pieces, and the expedient appears to be the best way of repairing a worn tire; but particular care must be taken to attach these pieces very securely to the tire by rivets, else in the rapid revolution of the wheel the steel may be thrown out by the centrifugal force. ”

“ Tire Cloth.—A fabric made from strong slackly folded yarns of good-quality cotton used in the lining of tires. The warp threads are very closely set, so as best to withstand strain. The weft threads are very openly set, so as to prevent undue pressure on the warp threads, which should lie straight and so avoid friction or cutting which might arise from the action of the inflated inner tube and the tire whilst in use. ”

“ In making tires, the strips of fabric are built together about a steel core to form the body or carcass of the tire. The beads are also added. The side strips, the breaker strip and finally the tread are applied. All of these pieces are sticky, and as they are laid together and rolled down by small hand rollers they adhere to each other, and when the tire is completed it looks very much like the tires you see on automobiles, but it is not yet vulcanized. The rubber is much like tough, heavy dough—there is not much stretch to it and in a cold place it would become hard and brittle. ”

“ It was the hind wheel of a wagon. The wagon itself was standing in front of the shop, with one end of the hind axletree supported by a block.
"What do they heat the tire for?" asked Marco.
"To swell it," replied Forester. "It is necessary to have the tire go on very tight, so as to hold the wheel together with all the force of the iron. Now when iron is heated it swells, and then shrinks again when it cools. So they heat the tire hot, and put it upon the wheel in that state. Then when it cools it shrinks, and binds the whole wheel together with a very strong grip." ”

“ And finally tires may get rim-cut, which means that the steel rim which fastens them on wears them through by rubbing. The result of these things is what is known as a flat tire with all the air gone out, and the automobile bumps on the hard rim.
Boys and girls have tire-troubles, too. I have seen boys and girls get so vexed about things that they just exploded in a burst of temper like a blow-out in a tire. I have known them to run up against something sharp and difficult which took all the buoyancy out of them, just like a nail causing a puncture in a tire. ”

“ The foundation of a tire as every motorist knows consists of alternative layers of rubber, fabric, or cord, covered with a tread and breaker strip of rubber. The tread and breaker strip, however, are not worth the space they occupy if they are placed over a poorly constructed foundation of cheaply made fabric. Therefore, great care should be exercised in choosing a tire of standard make which has been tested, inspected, and guaranteed to be in perfect condition, and gives a mileage guarantee. ”

“ Among the old tire makers who are still in the field are the New York Belting and Packing Company. Their League Special single tube tire is a high speed road tire, constructed of precisely the same rubber and fabric used in the League racing tire, the quantity of each being practically doubled, to give the strength and wear required for road service. The rubber is fine Para, the fabric Sea Island, strong and light, woven so that each individual thread has free play in every direction. ”

“ To detach the tire after deflation, one part of the edge of the outer cover is depressed into the bottom of the rim, the opposite part then projects slightly beyond the edge of the rim and is pulled outside; one portion being got outside, the rest easily follows. ”

“ In the road tire it is used to thicken the tire at its most vulnerable points, and in the track racing tire serves as a tread and as a protector of the threads. The outer cover is now put on, the ends spliced and the tire is ready for the mold. A great increase of speed is obtained by this method of construction, and the pliability, elasticity and yielding qualities of the Kangaroo tire lend an additional pleasure to road riding. ”

“ And to entirely remove the last trace of the gloom that Peabody had forced upon them, it was necessary only for a tire to burst. Of course for this effort, the tire chose the coldest and most fiercely windswept portion of the Pelham Road, where from the broad waters of the Sound pneumonia and the grip raced rampant, and where to the touch a steel wrench was not to be distinguished from a piece of ice. ”

“ The intermediate inner tube, it is claimed, positively prevents porosity. The method of manufacture, as above described, produces their road tire. The only difference between their track tire and road tire is that in the racing tire the outer shoe is omitted. ”

“ In shrinking the tires on the wheels, the practice usually followed at present is to turn the wheel-centre, bore the tire in a cylindrical form, and rely solely upon the contraction of the tire by cooling to retain it upon the wheel. ”

“ One comes through forming in each tire hundreds of large rubber rivets. One compels us to vulcanize in each tire base 126 braided piano wires.
One comes through our double-thick All-Weather tread, with its sharp, tough, resistless grips. These things together mean a super-tire. ”

“ A vehicle wheel having a metallic rim with angularly propelling flanges to form a channel or groove with tapered or inclined sides, a rubber tire, the inner portion of which is adapted to fit in said groove or channel, and the outer portion having sides at an angle to the inner portion, the angle or corner between the outer and inner portions being located within the outer periphery of the flanges, and independent retaining wires passing entirely through the inner portions of said tire and also within the outer peripheries of the flanges, substantially as described. ”

“ The repair of a puncture of a tubeless tire can be very quickly done. Since the inner surface of the air- tight layer is accessible, after placing the patch in position the tire can beinflated and the bicycle ridden at once ; whereas in the double- tube tire sufficient time must elapse between the patching and the inflation to allow the rubber solution to set. ”

“ Broken Fabric.—The fabric of a tire may be ruptured without giving any indications on its outer side. When there is a strong impact force, like a transverse ridge, which will force in the tire, several things occur. First, the body of the tire is flattened out so that it has a bulging cheek on each side ”

“ The rolling resistance of the steel tire will therefore be least; next in order come the pneumatic tire inflated hard, and the pneumatic tire inflated soft, while the solid rubber tire has the greatest resistance. ”

“ It is a much faster vehicle, especially uphill, than a small car of equal price. The rear tire, however, is subject to severer working conditions than the two driving wheel tires of a small car, and must be of adequate strength, or trouble will be frequent. ”

“ In bicycles, motor-cars, and other road vehicles in which freedom from vibration and shock from uneven road surface is desired, rubber or pneumatic tires are employed. These elastic tires are capable of absorbing small irregularities in the road surface without transmitting much vibration to the frame of the vehicle. ”

“ Are there many states of the road in which a wide tire is of considerable advantage to the road!--Yes. In the majority of cases do you think the superior width of the tire which the Steam Carriage has over a Carriage drawn by horses, is altogether an advantage or a disadvantage?—A wide tire has the advantage upon the average. ”

“ In running the wheels with a ‘traveller,’ a wedge must be driven in one of the joints of the felloe for the purpose of tightening the other joints in the rim. Then get the length of the felloe, and in running the tire cut it 1⁄8 inch shorter than the rim measures. In this explanation we are supposed to have steel tire, and we have a kind of steel tire now that is very high and difficult to weld, and there are many smiths that will profit by this lesson if they attend to the precaution we give. ”

“ The chances of getting a puncture will be greatly reduced by keeping your tires properly inflated, as a hard tire exposes much less surface to the road than a soft tire, and also deflects sharp objects that would penetrate a soft tire. ”

“ A novelty in treads is a tire called the “Won’t Slip,” which was invented by C. J. Bailey, the inventor and patentee of Bailey’s rubber brushes. The entire tread of the tire is covered with round teeth closely set together. The makers say it will not slip under any [Pg 77] conditions of surface, such as wet car rails, asphalt or macadam, and that it is 90 per cent. puncture proof when under pressure.
The B. F. Goodrich Company of Akron, O., make a corrugated rubber tread band which is endless and which can be applied with rubber cement to the worn treads of all kinds of pneumatic tires. ”

“ Curious things can happen in a brief absence. We returned to the car to find one of the back tires perfectly flat, the head of the family sitting serenely unconscious of her misfortune. We had picked up one of those flat-headed boot nails that Europeans love so well, and the tire had slowly and softly settled. There are cleaner, pleasanter things than taking off a tire and putting it on again in the rain, but I utilized a deep doorway on the corner for the dry work, and Narcissa held the umbrella while I pulled and pushed and grunted and pumped, during the more strenuous [Pg 167] moments. ”

“ Every automobile carriage takes twenty-five pounds of rubber for each tire, or 100 pounds altogether. This great and growing industry, together with the now common use of rubber tires on horse-drawn vehicles, raises the sum total of rubber employed in the arts to an enormous figure. ”

“ Didn't you ever see a wheel with the spokes bent out of shape?"
"I don't know," said Marco. "I never noticed wheels much."
"They do get bent, sometimes," said Forester. "It requires great care to put on a tire in such a manner, as to give it just the right degree of force to bind the wheel strongly together, without straining it."
The Tire.
As soon as the tire became of the right temperature, the men took it up again with the pairs of tongs--taking hold with them at different sides of it--and then they put it down carefully over the wheel. The wheel immediately began to smoke on all sides. ”

“ The iron tire is laid on the pavement, and around it as much of oak chips as is considered sufficient to soften the iron to the required degree: the lighted wood burns away, the tire is riveted to the wheel, and the ashes carefully swept up. The little vagabonds take advantage of the heat communicated to the pavement, and do not leave the spot till they have drawn from it the last radiation of warmth. ”

“ If either of these seemingly small details is out of order it may be impossible to pump the tires hard enough ; the bicycle being ridden, the tires may be nipped in many places between the rim and sharp edges on the road surface, and practically ruined. _ Tires for Motor Cars. — In the cost of upkeep of a motor car the tires are the most expensive item. For a slow speed vehicle an ordinary steel tire, shrunk or hydrauhcally pressed on a wooden wheel, is cheap and durable. ”

“ They claim that this tire possesses great speed owing to the very slight frictional contact of the surface and that upon a loose or sandy road its broad flat surface will ride upon the top of the sand and not sink down in it like the ordinary round tread tire would. Side slip is also avoided by the use of the rib and the edge of the tread.
STRAUS
PROTECTED TIRE.
Every one actively interested in the subject of tires will readily admit that the puncture proof tire is the tire of the future. ”

“ In the early years of the motor-car, when a tire was punctured or otherwise defective, the operator was obliged to make a repair on the spot, or at least remove the tire cover, insert a new tube, replace the cover and inflate the tire anew. This was always an unpleasant interruption of a pleasure drive and a most aggravating occurrence in the case of an urgent business trip. The difficulty was overcome by the adoption of the demountable wheel in Europe and the demountable rim in America. ”

“ Now, having the car ready for the grind, we will consider some suggestions touching on the actual work of handling it on desert roads. When you come to the point where your road map tells you that you will encounter several miles of deep, fine sand, you should deflate your tires to fifteen to twenty-five pounds pressure, according to your load and tire size. Four and one-half inch tires should carry twenty-five pounds ”

“ The tire iron should be pushed in just enough to get a good hold on the under side of the bead, but not so far as to pinch the inner tube between the rim and the tool. A second iron should be inserted in the same fashion some seven or eight inches from the first, and a third tool the same distance from the second. As a cylinder tire must be pried over the clinch, three or four levers will come in handy in a case of a “one man job,” and the knee of the driver can be used to good advantage to hold down one lever while the other two are being manipulated in working the shoe clear of the rim. ”