Pneumatic Tires
Nearly all of the tires that have been used during the past 100 years have been pneumatic tires. They are made from rubber and allow for a far more comfy ride than other kinds of materials. The contemporary transportation system of the world completely relies on pneumatic tires.
A pneumatic tire is a kind of tire made of durable rubber and filled with compressed air. Motorized vehicles like buses, cars, trucks, airplanes and motorcycles all utilize pneumatic tires. Non-motorized wheeled vehicles, like bicycles, also use pneumatic tires.
History
The tire started following the invention or iron bands utilized around wooden wheels. It wasn't until the mid-19th century that the utilization of solid rubber in the construction of tires. The first patent for a successful pneumatic tire was issued in the year 1888 to Irishman John Dunlop who created an inner-tube for a bicycle tire. This was when the term "pneumatic" started to describe tires.
Seven years after, in 1895, Andre and Edouard Michelin produced pneumatic tires for a car in France. The company of the Michelin brothers was destined to become a top producer of tires for cars. The first company in the United States to make tires was Goodyear Tire company founded in the year 1898, followed by the Firestone Tire & Rubber company in 1900, the second United States company to make tires.
Function
For the first part of the 20th century, pneumatic tires required a rubber inner tube in order to hold the air pressure. Tires were constructed of reinforced layers of cord or plies covered with rubber. The plies were laid on an angle or bias to define the tire's shape and strengthen it. These "bias ply" tires had a tread pattern for traction.
Modern radial tires are made with the plies running at 90 degrees across the tire body. They require no inner tube as the tire forms an airtight seal with the wheel. This was an invention of the Michelin company in the year 1948. The tires did not become commonly utilized until the latter parts of the 1970s. Radial tires provide better fuel economy and last longer.