Pneumatic Tires
Most of the tires which have been used over the past 100 years have been pneumatic tires. They are made from rubber and allow for a way more comfy ride compared to other materials. The world's contemporary transportation system completely relies on pneumatic tires.
A pneumatic tire is a tire made of reinforced rubber and filled with compressed air. Motorized vehicles including buses, cars, trucks, airplanes and motorcycles all use pneumatic tires. Wheeled vehicles that are not motorized, like bicycles, also use pneumatic tires.
History
The history of tires starts with the invention of iron bands around wooden wheels. The use of solid rubber in the construction of tires started during the mid-19th century. The first patent for a successful pneumatic tire was issued in 1888 to Irishman John Dunlop who invented an inner-tube for a bicycle tire in 1888. This was when the word "pneumatic" started to describe tires.
Seven years later, in 1895, Edouard and Andre Michelin made pneumatic tires for an automobile in France. The Michelin brothers' company was destined to become a top manufacturer of tires for cars. The very first U.S. company to make tires was Goodyear Tire company founded in 1898, followed by the Firestone Tire & Rubber company in 1900, the second company in the United States to produce tires.
Function
A rubber inner tube was utilized in all pneumatic tires in the first half of the 20th century to help hold the air pressure. Tires were made of toughened layers of plies or cord covered with rubber. The plies were laid on a bias or angle to strengthen it and to define the tire's shape. These "bias ply" tires had a tread pattern for traction.
Modern radial tires are made with the plies running at 90 degrees across the body of the tire. They need no inner tube as the tire forms an airtight seal with the wheel. This was a creation of the Michelin company in 1948. The tires did not become widely used until the latter parts of the 1970s. Radial tires last longer and provide better fuel economy.