Biography: John Boyd Dunlop | Veterinarian and British inventor who invented and patented the first wheels of tyres with inner tube.

(Dreghorn, 1840 - Dublin, 1921) Veterinarian and British inventor who invented and patented the first wheels of tyres with inner tube. After having studied at the University of Edinburgh veterinary career and exercise in that same city veterinary surgery, in 1867 moved to Belfast (Northern Ireland), where Dunlop became interested in medicine in general and especially for one of his passions, mechanics and transport-related problems.

John Boyd Dunlop

From the year 1845, Robert William Thomson English had developed the air tire and obtained a patent. Its tires were made with fabric impregnated with rubber or jutapercha. However, these tires were not imposed and soon fell into oblivion. It was Dunlop who, in the few spare of that available, was proposed to rescue the basic idea of Thompson by introducing slight improvements.

Dunlop set out to develop wheels lighter and with a better suspension for light vehicles, in particular bicycles, wheelchairs, tricycles, etc, and thus leave the uncomfortable solid rubber wheels. It seems that the idea came to him by the pleas of nine-year-old Johnny. The boy used a tricycle every day to go to school through the cobbled streets of Belfast pebbles and complained of the rattle, since the wheels were fitted with solid rubber tires.

Dunlop put hands to work in the year 1888. It employed a rim composed of a hollow rubber tube wrapped fabric that could withstand the pressure of the air. This coating was then impregnated with rubber in order to protect it from wear by friction with the road. The hollow Chamber was set on the wheel with elements suitable for this purpose, and in that position once inflated with an air pump, for which Dunlop gave the Chamber of a small tube equipped with a no return valve.

First experiments were such a success that Dunlop immediately had the support of Belfast R.W. Edfin and Fintey Sinclair Ltd. bicycle factory The invention was patented by Dunlop with the name of Pneu-Bicycles. He also managed to convince, the following year, runner racing bicycles W. Hume that you participate in a competition using its tires. While Hume was not at its best in a way, he beat with a considerable advantage the favorite thanks to the new air wheels.

The invention, as it was logical to assume, immediately attracted the attention of entrepreneurs. Ultimately, Dunlop sold the patent to William Harvey, owner of the Pneumatic Tire and Booth´s Cyde Agency, who was in charge of ensuring the success of the invention, revolutionizing the construction of bicycle and making possible the development of the nascent automotive industry.

Extracted from the website: Biografías y Vidas