Cyclist Willie Hume demonstrated the supremacy of Dunlop's tires in 1889, winning the tire's first-ever races in Ireland and then England. Fagan participated in designing the first pneumatic tires. His doctor, John, later Sir John Fagan, had prescribed cycling as an exercise for the boy and was a regular visitor. It was an effort to prevent the headaches of his 10-year-old son Johnnie while riding his tricycle on rough pavements. The first practical pneumatic tire was made in 1888 on May Street, Belfast, by Scots-born John Boyd Dunlop, owner of one of Ireland's most prosperous veterinary practices. However, this never went into production. The first patent for what appears to be a standard pneumatic tire appeared in 1847 lodged by Scottish inventor Robert William Thomson. A skilled worker, known as a wheelwright, would cause the tire to expand by heating it in a forge fire, placing it over the wheel and quenching it, causing the metal to contract back to its original size so that it would fit tightly on the wheel. The earliest tires were bands of leather, then iron (later steel) placed on wooden wheels used on carts and wagons. History John Boyd Dunlop on a bicycle, c. However, over the course of the 20th century, tyre became established as the standard British spelling. The 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica states that 'The spelling 'tyre' is not now accepted by the best English authorities, and is unrecognized in the US', while Fowler's Modern English Usage of 1926 says that 'there is nothing to be said for 'tyre', which is etymologically wrong, as well as needlessly divergent from our own older & the present American usage'. The spelling tyre began to be commonly used in the 19th century for pneumatic tires in the UK. The Times newspaper in London was still using tire as late as 1905. Nevertheless, traditional publishers continued using tire. The spelling tyre does not appear until the 1840s when the English began shrink-fitting railway car wheels with malleable iron. The word tire is a short form of attire, from the idea that a wheel with a tire is a dressed wheel. Moreover, normal use of tires produces micro-plastic particles that contain these chemicals that both enter the environment and affect human health. Waste tires, if not recycled properly or burned, can release toxic chemicals into the environment. Because of the widespread use of tires for motor vehicles, tire waste is an extremely large portion of global waste leading to widespread need for tire recycling, through both mechanical recycling and reuse, such as for crumb rubber and other tire-derived aggregate, and pyrolysis for chemical reuse, such as for tire-derived fuel. The manufacture of tires is often highly regulated for this reason. Unmaintained tires can lead to serious hazards for vehicle and vehicle operators, ranging from flat tires which can lead to damage to the vehicle, to blowouts, where tires explode during operation. Metal tires are still used on locomotives and railcars, and solid rubber (or other polymers) tires are still used in various non-automotive applications, such as some casters, carts, lawnmowers, and wheelbarrows. Pneumatic tires are used on many types of vehicles, including cars, bicycles, motorcycles, buses, trucks, heavy equipment, and aircraft. Early rubber tires were solid (not pneumatic). Before rubber was developed, tires were metal bands, fitted around wooden wheels to hold the wheel together under load and to prevent wear and tear. The tread provides traction while the body provides containment for a quantity of compressed air.

The materials of modern pneumatic tires are synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric, and wire, along with carbon black and other chemical compounds. Tires provide a footprint, called a contact patch, that is designed to match the weight of the vehicle with the bearing strength of the surface that it rolls over by providing a bearing pressure that will not deform the surface excessively. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, are pneumatically inflated structures, which also provide a flexible cushion that absorbs shock as the tire rolls over rough features on the surface. Tractor tires have substantial ribs and voids for traction in soft terrain.Ī tire ( American English) or tyre ( Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which the wheel travels. For the film, see Rubber Tires.Īssorted new automotive road tires, showing a variety of tread patterns.

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