A UNIQUE NON-SKID TYRE.
Page 29
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
S THERE AN effective non-skid tyre available for commercial service? This question, which, will assume the annual importance that it usually does with the approach of the winter season, will probably be answered by tyre manufacturers and commercial vehicle users in opposite ways.. Much has been done during the past few years to provide a really effective tyre, possessing non-slipping and non-skidding properties, and tyres with different tread shapes and designs are available which certainly mitigate the evil.
To the best of our knowledge, however, the design of the Coleman non-skid tyre, which many of our readers may remember made its appearance on the market some 14 years ago, is entirely unique. This tyre, as our illustrations show, is made both as a pneumatic anal as a solid, although the fundamental principles which underlie the. construction are identical.
The solid tyre is composed of three rubber bands, in which the outer bands are composed of ordinary rubber, whereas the centre band, which is always red in colour, due to its properties, is made of a special grade of soft :rubber. The centre band stands J• in. proud of the outer bands, and throughout the whole length of the life of the tyre it remains so.
The remarkable non-skidding properties of the tyre are brought, about by the fact that the soft centre band, when Jinder compression, causes two different natures of grip on the road surface at one and the same time, and this renders it impossible for the tyre to revolve without gripping, and side-slip is also checked by the automatic action of the central band. What actually happens is that the centre band spews into the cavities separating it from the outer bands, and thus increases the surface contact with the road. Moreover, the softness of the centre tyre gives, it is claimed, a greater resiliency.
Another claim that is made for the Coleman tyre is that it practically obviates mud-splashing, due to the fact that the mud is trapped between the circumferential cavities and left as ridges on the road surface. • The Coleman solid tyre can be made in one or in three sections to meet all requirements. So far our description has been chiefly applied to the solid tyre, but the Coleman pneumatic, built on the same principle, is said to be equally efficacious.
It must not be thought that the Coleman tyre is an untried type. It was in years previous to the war used on London fire-engines and on many types of heavy vehicles, and Mr. Coleman has in-his possession tyres which have accomplished record mileages under varying conditions of service. The original patents granted to Mr. E. W. Coleman have expired, but the inventor has, as a result of a decision in the Law Courts by Mr. Justice Sergeant, received an extension of 3J2 years from November 24th, and he is desirous of disposing of the patent rights over this period.