Pneumatic tire patentIn 1892, the first U.S. patent issued for a pneumatic automobile tire that could readily and easily be detached or mounted to the rim of a wheel. The inventors were Alexander T. Brown and George Stillman of Syracuse, New York (No. 488494). They claimed as their improvement a wheel with an exterior grooved rim with flanges to retain a tire with an inflatable tube. Peripheral metal bands embedded in the tire are designed to form a bead that will be forced by air pressure upon inflation to be seated and retained in the grooved rim. Thus no permanent connection between the tire and the wheel is necessary, and no tools for tightening are required, other than those used for inflation.[Image: a cross section of the tire and wheel] |
