Section One -- The history of wheel & early rubber tire

Throughout human history, the invention of wheel stimulates the growth of transportation and society. In China, wheel has been used for over 2000 years, from simple wooden wheels initially, it later developed to mount iron hoops on the outer perimeter. In 16th century, natural rubber was found, people started using latex to make early rubber shoes, rubber ball and other rubber products. Since 1833, people were trying to use rubber for absorbing and reducing the shock while carts were traveling. Until 1839, American scientist Charles Goodyear invented vulcanization, the value of rubber has been improved as well as expend the potential of rubber and promote the development of rubber industry.

Section Two – the history of pneumatic tires

a.Invention of pneumatic tire

In 1845, solid tire with vulcanization has been invented and widely used in next 20 years. Due to the lack of elasticity and insecurity of fix position, so tires are not conveniently used till British doctor John Boyd Dunlop invented pneumatic tire, because of this, he obtained the paten of it. This type of tires has both proper elasticity and light weight, dramatically reduced the shock between tire surface and road, also opening a new era of pneumatic tire. Since the fix method is to use the hollow hose inflatable extension and brushing the glue paste and rim combined into a whole, so cannot be casually loaded and unloaded also not durable. 1889, American Bartlett patented the wedge tire. In 1890, the successful trial of the tires composed of outer and inner tubes, the tire ring is equipped with metals, further solve the tire and rim tightly fixed difficulties, this is the modern tire prototype. After the advent of two pneumatic tires with two different tire ring shapes, the foundation for the development of inflatable tires was initially laid. In 1896, the United States established the first manufacturer of pneumatic tires.

b.Developing of pneumatic tire

After pneumatic tires emerged, the requirements of structural material were getting higher. Americans started replacing canvas with cotton cord, reinforce the body ply strength, overcome the difficulty of tire building, at the same time improve the mileage, the development of tire varieties, so that the tire has the possibility of molding. After the tire uses cotton curtain cloth, carbon black is also used on a large scale for tread glue as a reinforcement agent, so that the tire mileage increased by 3-5 times. The appearance of gas carbon black improved the wear performance and tensile strength of the tread, and the tire structure was only shaped - earlier known as high-pressure tires.

In 1919, the widespread use of organic promoters, anti-aging agents and various active agents greatly shortened the time of vulcanization, so that the production technology of tires more perfect.

Beginning in 1923, low-pressure tires, were used in inner tires. Because of its air capacity is larger than high pressure tire, it can better absorb shock and vibration, improve the cushioning performance of the tire, and increase the tire and ground subsequent area, improve the tire wear resistance and driving stability and safety, expand the application range of the tire. With the expansion of the use of butyl rubber and other synthetic rubber, furnace carbon black instead of slot carbon black, auxiliary agent varieties continue to improve, tire varieties have a faster development. There are varieties of inner-tube tires, high-travel tires and ultra-low-voltage tires.

Skeleton material plays an important role in the evolution and quality improvement of tires. Between 1937 and 1947, the skeleton material of the carcass broke through the traditional cotton cord, and the nylon cord appeared, which increased the carcass strength and promoted the major change of the tire structure. Nylon cords were used in 1942 to make military tires and in 1947 for the manufacture of consumer tires. The French company Michelin, which pioneered the first wire oblique tires in 1933, produced steel radial tires in 1948, which caused a sensation all over the world. The high-strength characteristics of the steel cord make the tendency of the radial tire replace the bias tire obviously.