From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Article from The Autocar magazine discussing the construction and evolution of the Beldam steel-plated non-slipping tyre.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 1\7\ B001_X15 20 46 50 59-page110 | |
| Date | 5th October 1912 | |
| R.R. 235A (150 H) (S.A. 301. 19-2-15) G 0950. X20 P1402 THE AUTOCAR, October 5th, 1912. 611 The Beldam Tyres. The Construction of the Steel-plated Non-slipping Type. THE last time we referred to the Beldam tyre it was hardly on the market, and was made by an outside firm for its inventor. Since then matters have progressed more than a little, for only a few days ago we found the inventor of these tyres installed in his own well-appointed works at Windmill Road, Brentford, Middlesex, where a good range of up to date tyre machinery and certain special machines were turning out Beldam tyres in considerable quantities. Fig. 1.—The evolution of the plates used in the Beldam steel plated tyre, the bottom (No. 5) design being now used. The points that have swayed Mr. Beldam in designing the Beldam tyre have been resilience, a steel device homogeneous with the tyre, a smooth tread which should exert no grinding effect on the road, rapid radiation of the heat caused by friction, good grip under all weather conditions, immunity from punctures as far as possible, and durability. The Beldam tyre has been three years in evolution, and as presented to the public to-day is the outcome of much research and experiment. In the matter of a metallic non-skid, Mr. Beldam was convinced that the proper place for a steel grip was not on the surface of the tread but at the side of it. He holds that the tendency of a tyre in side-slip is to “cant” or be dragged behind the rim, and the taking up of circumferential slip on each side of the tread lessens the strains. In this way it is claimed that the tyre is endowed with a double grip of rubber and steel each acting independently of the other. In order to attain this end, Mr. Beldam built tyres with inserted steel plates as shown in the accompanying sketches, arriving at No. 5 as the best possible form after many experiments. As now made the plate is combined and amalgamated with the rubber, which passes through the hole in the middle, coming out at the slots underneath each end of the plate. By this means while wholly secured each plate is free to follow the movement of the tyre. Fig. 2.—Section of the Beldam steel plated tyre showing how the plates are incorporated with the rubber tread. Much stress is laid upon the radiating effect of the plates; it is claimed that after a long run, when it is almost impossible to bear the hand upon an ordinary steel-studded cover, the Beldam is found actually cool. This being so, the capability of getting rid of its heat must make for increased life, for the heating up of tyres is known to be a great factor in their destruction. In the Beldam tyre the load is supported by the entire surfaces of contact with the road; the steel plates, “floating” as they do in the rubber and cushioned by the air within the tyre, are brought to bear equally on the load with the rubber portion of the tread. When the rubber ceases to hold laterally the V shaped cheeks of the plates take charge and prevent any tendency to side-slip. It should be noted that as long ago as the late autumn of 1910 four Beldam tyres, two carrying plates and two all rubber, were entered for a 4,000 miles R.A.C. trial on a 38 h.p. Daimler, weighing 1 ton 15 cwt. 3 qrs. They went through this trial without puncture or other incident, and the trial was then continued for another 1,000 miles with the same eminently satisfactory result. Fig. 3.—The Beldam steel plated tyre. Fig. 4.—The Beldam all-rubber tyre. A campaign is being started by the Sussex Centre of the Roads Improvement Association against the central tramway standards erected at Brighton to the great danger and inconvenience of motorists and other traffic. * * * According to St.{Capt. P. R. Strong} Petersburg and Moscow registers, the number of motor cars on the streets of the respective towns were: St.{Capt. P. R. Strong} Petersburg, 1,056 in 1910 and 1,479 in 1911; in Moscow, 264 in 1909, 518 in 1910, and 826 in 1911. | ||