Pneumatic Tires
Most of the tires which have been used over the past 100 years have been pneumatic tires. They are constructed of rubber and allow for a far more comfy ride than other types of materials. The world's contemporary transportation system depends completely on pneumatic tires.
The pneumatic tire is a reinforced rubber tire and is then compressed with air. Motorized vehicles including airplanes, motorcycles, cars, trucks and buses all use pneumatic tires. Non-motorized wheeled vehicles, like bicycles, also use pneumatic tires.
History
The tire began after the creation or iron bands utilized around wooden wheels. It wasn't until the middle part of the 19th century that the utilization of solid rubber in the construction of tires. The very first patent for a successful pneumatic tire was issued in 1888 to Irishman John Dunlop who invented an inner-tube for a bicycle tire. This was when the word "pneumatic" began to describe tires.
Seven years later, in the year 1895, Andre and Edouard Michelin made pneumatic tires for a car in France. The company of the Michelin brothers was destined to become a top manufacturer of tires for cars. The first U.S. company to produce tires was Goodyear Tire company established in the year 1898, followed by the Firestone Tire & Rubber company in the year 1900, the second company in the United States to produce 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 made of toughened layers of plies or cord 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.
The modern radial tire has been constructed with plies that run across the body of the tire. Inner tube is not required since the tire forms an airtight seal with the wheel. This was an invention of the Michelin company in 1948. The tires did not become widely used until the latter parts of the 1970s. Radial tires offer better fuel economy and last longer.