It’s impossible to think or talk about the history of tyres without talking about Charles Goodyear who made it all possible. Goodyear tyres dubai would have been impossible without the never say never attitude of this chemist. Goodyear discovered vulcanization accidentally when he heated rubber with sulphur. This was in the year 1844.
This made rubber such that it could be used irrespective of the weather conditions. Prior to Charles Goodyear’s discovery of vulcanization, rubber would always congeal during the summer or when stored in a hot place. This effectively rendered the rubber useless.
This was Goodyear’s life work, it took him years, tons of money, even running his family into debts before he achieved his goal. Ironically though, Goodyear died penniless, he had to deal with so many patent suites, these cost him a lot of money.
The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company was founded by Frank Seiberling. It was however, named after the inventor of vulcanization, Goodyear in honour of the great man’s work
Another popular name in tyre history is Englishman John Boyd Dunlop. He officially invented pneumatic tyres, these are air filled tires. It was originally intended for bicycles, this was in 1888, he used it on his tricycle and it worked well. Originally though John Dunlop wasn’t actually the first person who invented inflatable (pneumatic tyres), it was just him who popularized it.
Robert William Thomson, a Scotsman was actually the first inventor of this kind of tyres. However, his design was very expensive and it had several limitations, therefore it did not catch on. 7 years after Dunlop invented his own brand of inflatable tyre, Andre Michelin tried outfitting pneumatic tyres to cars, it didn’t work though. Prior to then, though he has succeeded in creating a kind of inflatable tyre which could be detached from the rim.
In 1911, a man named Phillip Strauss would succeed in this endeavour (that is making pneumatic tyres that could work with automobiles). 1904 was the first time mountable rims where attached to tyres and car owners could begin to change tyres themselves. The first grooved tyres were invented in 1908. This offered better traction, and gripping ability to cars especially in wet conditions.
By 1937, tyres had started been made from synthetic rubber. Overtime, tyre engineering and technology would undergo so much changes and improvements, with a lot of them being led or paid for by the tyre companies.
Prior to 1946 the bias-ply tyres were the most popular tyre type in the world, until Michelin changed that. Michelin introduced the radial tyres; it is called this name, because when you look at the side what you see are radial lines, running round the tyre.
It became very popular is Europe and Asia because it meant better fuel efficiency and better handling. It took a while to get popular in America.
All these innovations have made it possible for us to enjoy the reliable tyre we use now. Tyres now have been so standardized that you can even choose not to buy your tyres offline. You can buy yours tyres dubai online, or in Sharjah or any other parts of the world.
Thanks to the work of men like Goodyear and Dunlop, travelling by road is smoother than it once was.