The History Of Tyres
These days, you probably can’t imagine life without car tyres, but travelling hasn’t always been so comfortable. The first tyres were a simple band of iron and steel which tied the wooden segments of a wheel together. Can you imagine sitting in a coach fitted with wheels like that as it bounced over potholes and rough roads?! Those bands may be world’s away from our modern day tyres, but that is where they first started. The name originated from those bands which ‘tied’ the wheel together.
So, how did a metal band become a pneumatic tyre? First, vulcanised rubber had to be discovered. In the 1800s, Charles Mcintosh was experimenting with the sap of an Amazonian tree, known as latex. This substance had some problems, but in 1839 another Charles, Charles Goodyear, discovered that adding sulphur to melted latex produced a vulcanised rubber with both strength and elasticity. This vulcanised rubber was first used to cushion bicycle tyres.
The first pneumatic tyres were invented by John Dunlop, although someone else had unfortunately patented the idea. Following a protracted legal battle, John Dunlop was able to establish the Dunlop Rubber Company. Finally, the Michelin brothers invented the detachable pneumatic tyre, consisting of a tube bolted on to the wheel’s rim, in 1891. Finally, something that is recognisable as a car tyre! And, as you can see, there were some familiar names involved in its development.