The first practical pneumatic tire was made by the Scot, John Boyd Dunlop, in 1887 for his son's bicycle, in an effort to prevent the headaches his son had while riding on rough roads. (Dunlop's patent was later declared invalid because of prior art by fellow Scot Robert William Thomson).
Pneumatic tires are made of a flexible material, such as rubber, with reinforcing materials such as fabric and wire. Tire companies were first started in the early 20th century, and grew in tandem with the auto industry. Today, over 1 billion tires are produced annually, in over 400 tire factories, with the three top tire makers commanding a 60% global market share.
Chronology
- 1843 – Charles Goodyear announces vulcanization
- 1846 – Robert William Thomson invented and patented the pneumatic tire
- 1888 – First commercial pneumatic bicycle tire produced by Dunlop
- 1889 – John Boyd Dunlop patented the pneumatic tire in the UK
- 1890 – Dunlop, and William Harvey Du Cros began production of pneumatic tires in Ireland
- 1890 – Bartlett Clincher rim introduced
- 1891 – Dunlop's patent invalidated in favor of Thomson’s patent
- 1892 – Beaded edge tires introduced in the U.S.
- 1894 – E.J. Pennington invents the first balloon tire
- 1895 – Michelin introduced pneumatic automobile tires
- 1898 – Schrader valve stem patented
- 1900 – Cord Tires introduced by Palmer (England) and BFGoodrich (U.S.)
- 1903 – Goodyear Tire Company patented the first tubeless tire, however it was not introduced until 1954
- 1904 – Goodyear and Firestone started producing cord reinforced tires
- 1904 – Mountable rims were introduced that allowed drivers to fix their own flats
- 1906 – First pneumatic aircraft tire
- 1908 – Frank Seiberling invented grooved tires with improved road traction
- 1910 – BFGoodrich Company invented longer life tires by adding carbon black to the rubber
- 1919 – Goodyear and Dunlop announced pneumatic truck tires
- 1938 – Goodyear introduced the rayon cord tire
- 1940 – BFGoodrich introduced the first commercial synthetic rubber tire
- 1946 – Michelin introduced the radial tire
- 1947 – Goodyear introduced first nylon tires
- 1947 – BFGoodrich introduced the tubeless tire
- 1963 – Use of polyester cord introduced by Goodyear
- 1965 – Armstrong Rubber introduced the bias belted fiberglass tire
- 1965 – BFGoodrich offered the first radial available in North America
- 1967 – Poly/glass tires introduced by Firestone and Goodyear
- 1968 – United States Department of Transportation (DOT) numbers required on new tires in USA
- 1974 – Pirelli introduced the wide radial tire
DOT Code
In the United States, the DOT Code is an alphanumeric character sequence molded into the sidewall of the tire for purposes of tire identification. The DOT Code is mandated by the US Department of Transportation. The DOT Code is useful in identifying tires in a product recall.
The DOT Code begins with the letters "DOT" followed by a plant code (two numbers or letters) that identifies where it was manufactured. The last four numbers represent the week and year the tire was built. A three-digit code was used for tires manufactured before the year 2000.
For example, 178 means it was manufactured in the 17th week of 8th year of the decade. In this case it means 1988. For tires manufactured in the 1990s, the same code holds true, but there is a little triangle (Δ) after the DOT code. Thus, a tire manufactured in the 17th week of 1998 would have the code 178Δ.
After 2000, the code was switched to a 4-digit code. Same rules apply, so for example, 3003 means the tire was manufactured in the 30th week of 2003.
Other numbers are marketing codes used at the manufacturer's discretion.
Source: www.wikipedia.org |
John Boyd Dunlop
February 5, 1840 – October 23, 1921
(Image from public domain. Copyright Expired) |
