Features of the Dunlop Low-pressure Tyre.
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WE KNEW of no instance whete balloon -tyres, i.e., low-pressure tyres, were being adopted for commercial service, either for passenger or goods carrying, until the issue of the , new programme of Morris Motors, Ltd., a few days ago, which includes a commercial traveller's car so equipped, but since this class of equipment is being found to give very satisfactory service in certain other spheres of use it is practically safe to predict that before very long such tyres will be used to a greater extent on some types of business vehicie, end, as we indicated in an article on "Low-pressure Tyre Developments " in our issue dated July 22nd, they possess distinct possibilities for passenger vehicles of moderate seating capacity.
It is for this reason that we feel that we should keep our readers posted with the latest. developments in connection with low-pressure tyres, and we accordingly intend to make some reference to the cord balloon tyres which the Dunlop Rubber Co., Ltd., have recently placed on the market.
After exhaustive experiments,, which, we are informed, have been conducted over several years, the company decided to adopt the wired-on type of tyre for low-pressure work, and, unlike the MO beaded-edge tyre, which is essentially inflation-held, it is retained on the rim by virtue of inextensible wire edges, smaller in circumference than., the lips of the rim. Its construction can be clearly seen in the illustration which we reproduce. Tbe Dunlop balloon tyre, it should be mentioned, is used in conjunction with a well-base rim made in a single piece, in which the necessary strength can be provided by a much lighter construction and which provides a simple means of fitting and detaching the tyre; moreover, this construction allows the valve to pass through the side of the rim, a feature which is of importance when the actual diameter of the wheel is of small dimensions, The Dunlop balloon tyres are being made in sizes which are recommended S.M.M. and T. Practice.
The tyre itself is, of course, made upon the same principles as the Ordinary Dunlop cord of normal sections, and the tread is essentially of the same thickness and width as that of the usual type, a feature which is worthy of particular note, as the area of contact with the ground is increased by lengthening rather than by widening. The tubes provided for Dunlop balloon tyres are moulded to shape. •
The company are providing a comprehensive range of low-pressure tyree of the wired type, and they are also producing. a beaded-edge balloon tyre intended to displace the 30-in. by 31-in. tyre without the need for rim -alterations.