There is one thing about automobiles of all kinds, shapes, and ages, they all have tires. Yep, tires are required, and there is quite a history behind tires and tire companies which stretch back to bicycle days. There have been many innovations over the years, with bias ply, radials, run-flats and now… non-pneumatic tires, which brings us full circle back to the wheel.
In 1889 the Michelin brothers came out with a startlingly new, at the time, removable pneumatic tire. The Michelin Tire Company, a French multinational behemoth of a company announced in 2005, the development of a startlingly new non-pneumatic tire (NPT). It called the tire a Tweel (tire+wheel). Unfortunately the “Coming-Soon” in the news captions was a little premature, but we may finally be getting there.
The Tweel uses plastic resin structural spokes, almost like a bicycle, only these plastic spokes provide cushioning and load carrying ability.
The Tweel removes air and adds plastic leafs that provide the suspension and cushioning for the ride
Not to be out done, Bridgestone, the world’s largest tire company announced it’s own NPT first in 2006 and then again in December of 2010. They have indicating that its tire is ready to go. The Bridgestone NPT tires are made out of 100% recycled material.
The concept is fantastic. A tire that gets its cushioning from interior plastic spokes designed to bend with the terrain. With the Michelin’s NPT cushioning the ride is accomplished with a honey comb styled plastic leafs that run from the hub of the wheel to the outer rim of the tire. Bridgestone’s tire operates on basically same premise, only it uses curved thermoplastic leafs looks a lot like a Spirograph drawing.
Think of it, no more flats, filling up the air, spares and tires 100,000 mile tire warranty. If the NPT is as comfortable, more energy efficient, and greener than what we have on the road it would be a no brainer.
It appears that the US Military took a big interest (including some money?) in getting these tires for its HUMVEES back around 2005. The Military is desperate for a tire that does not go flat. A tire that handles very rough terrain that is impervious to I.E.D. devices. An airless tire has greater contact with the road. It will keep going in spite of artery fire and it will continue to work even if 30% of it is blown away.
Enter Resilient Technologies. Resilient came up with the honeycombed design and apparently it was going to have the tire ready for tests on the HUMVEE in December of 2011. I have not been able to confirm if that has happened, but now I am seeing the same tire being presented by Michelin.
Meanwhile , Goodyear has introduced its thermoplastic tire and has developed its use with small equipment, electronic wheel chairs and other small wheel uses.
Also the US Department of Safety has issued standards for airless tires as they pertain to passenger vehicles. So apparently they see it coming.
The issues with these tires have to with their ability to carry the weight (I think that the Goodyear is rated at 660 lbs per tire). The information online suggests that taking a ride in one of these might not be exactly comfortable at this point. I guess that is not as much of an issue as it might be in a 2012 Mercedes S550.
There are other problems with these wheels, apparently they accumulate too much heat and they are noisy. Given the potential these wheels have I think the engineering will overcome these issues.
The other issue has to do with the cost of rolling out a new manufacturing method, it would mean virtually a complete retooling of the tire plant, or purchase of plants more adaptable for making these tires. Additionally there are all the balancing equipment, and support equipment that would be required.
Its an amazing concept .
i heard about this before but this technology still need some time to develop .