| If you ever get irate when you drive over a pothole, | | | | of them into thick tubes. Then, he wrapped the tubes |
| think for a moment - it could be a lot worse. You could | | | | around the inside of the main tricycle wheel. He |
| be feeling every last bump in the road...and for a long | | | | wrapped the tubes in linen tape to make sure that |
| time, everyone who drove had to deal with that, until | | | | they were treaded. |
| John Boyd Dunlop came along. | | | | Then, Dunlop used an air pump for inflating soccer balls |
| Dunlop was a native of Scotland who grew up in | | | | to blow up the tubes. The result was a tire that had a |
| Ayrshire. Ironically, his profession by trade had nothing | | | | cushion of air to absorb bumps and create a smoother |
| to do with automobiles or vehicles of any sort - rather, | | | | ride. |
| Dunlop was a veterinarian. Eventually, Dunlop moved to | | | | Dunlop's tires proved a huge success, and in 1888, he |
| Belfast, Ireland, where he built up a thriving practice. | | | | patented his process. However, in an ironic twist, it |
| There was a problem, however. The only way to | | | | turned out that he was not the first person to invent |
| travel the roads of Ireland was by using iron or wood | | | | an inflatable tire. In 1845, Robert William Thomson had |
| wagon wheels, or wheels that were entirely made of | | | | invented an inflatable tire, but his process had not |
| hard, solid rubber. These wheels did not easily absorb | | | | become widespread because it was considered |
| bumps and dips, meaning that passengers were due | | | | expensive and impractical for individual transportation. |
| for an uncomfortable, often painful ride. | | | | Thomson, who died in 1873, was a prolific inventor who |
| Dunlop did not care for this, but he found himself put | | | | mostly used his tires for steam engines. Dunlop's tires |
| off even further when these tires began affecting his | | | | were mainly used in bicycles and tricycles, and gained |
| son. Dunlop's son had a tricycle, and riding around on | | | | widespread popularity where Thomson's had not. |
| the solid rubber was causing him an incredible amount | | | | In the end, both parties received some validation. |
| of discomfort and pain. Dunlop could not stand to see | | | | Thomson ultimately received credit for patenting the |
| his son in such agony, so he devised a plan. | | | | rubber-tire process, but Dunlop's name was the one |
| Dunlop set about developing a tire that would employ a | | | | that passed on into history - mainly because the |
| pneumatic, or air-based process. Dunlop worked and | | | | company he helped found, the Dunlop Rubber |
| worked until he figured out a plan to create a tire that | | | | Company, is still in business. The company was |
| would use air to cushion the wheels...and the rider. He | | | | purchased by Goodyear in 1999, but still operates as a |
| took two strips of rubber, then used glue to form each | | | | separate entity in the U.K. |