Tires for Motorbuses and Motorvans.
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The Development of Motor Traffic Leads to Important Manufacturing Extensions.
Peter Union tires are so well known, and appreciated, for their sterling qualities, that it is not surprising that their sales show a steady increase among users of motor vehicles. Many of the motorbus companies operating in the Metropolis, in addition to Provincial ones, use them, and find them satisfactory under exacting running conditions. The London centre of the Peter Union Tyre Company, Limited, is situated at 6, Upper Saint Martin's Lane, W.C., and samples, and sections, of tires, varying from light pneumatic to the heavy, 5-inch, solid, twin patterns, employed for heavy lorries and public service vehicles, can be inspected there.
The London establishment is a branch of the German one, which is styled the Mitteldeutsche Gummiwaaren-Fabrik, Louis Peter, and owns large works, at Frankfort-on-theMain, which were established thirty-five years ago. The business was founded by the present chairman, Kommerzienrath Louis Peter, and the undertaking was, two years ago, formed into a limited -company, with a capital of 3,000,000 marks (..sso,000) fully paid. Since its inception, the increase in the company's sales have made an extension., and addition, to the buildings compulsory, with the result that the factory has been, practically, reconstructed. The chief productions are tires of two entirely different descriptions; solid tires for heavy roads, and the lighter types for vans, pleasure vehicles, and motorcycles. An important department is that in which sheet rubber, hose piping, rubber mats, and numerous other smaller articles and parts are manufactured. The first pneumatic tire, made at Frankfort, was constructed about the year ISM. This was of a light pattern, intended for use upon the wheels of a bicycle, and named Peter's Union. Since that year (t888) tires have formed the chief production of the company, and agencies have been established in many of the chief towns the world over. Mr. R. E. Bockemuhl, the London manager, has been connected with the rubber industry for over twelve years, and he has made many tours in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, for the purpose of opening up new agencies for the sale of the productions under notice. The makers claim the distinction of being the first to produce a pneumatic tire in Germany, and, aho, the first to bring out a design suitable for heavy motors.
For those who do not know the principle upon which the tire is constructed; it may be said that an endless, perforated, steel band, carried in an ebonite sheath which is vulcanised in the mass of rubber near its greatest section, is employed to retain the tire upon the rim. The advantages claimed for this method of manufacture are that creeping is prevented, and stretching does not take place. By enclosing the flat steel band in a sheathing, the tendency to tear, or otherwise damage the tire, is eliminated to a great degree. The illustration clearly demonstrates the method of construction, which has stood the test of time.