An article about the history of the creation and evolution of the automobile wheel - an excursion into history, steel and cast products, a look into the future. At the end of the article there is an interesting video about creating a wheel.

The content of the article:

It is no secret that such an invention as the wheel is the most important attribute of our lives. But few people know that the first wheels appeared many thousands of years ago and were used for sculpting pots and other products. After the appearance of such an item in everyday life, people's lives became more comfortable and productive. The wheel served as a kind of catalyst that pushed man to new fruitful discoveries. What is the history of the creation of the automobile wheel?

A little history about the car wheel

However, some scientists are of the opinion that the history of the creation of the wheel goes back much further, and date the discovery to the beginning of the Paleolithic era (from 15 to 750 thousand years ago).

Then people invented a new transport device, which involved connecting two logs along the edges of a large wooden platform. Unfortunately, the invention did not prove itself due to many shortcomings and poor wear resistance.

After 1500 years, another change occurred in the life of the wheel. People were faced with the task of creating an effective device for faster transportation of goods and saving consumable material. The result was spoked wheels. Scientists believe that the birthplace of chariots is Ancient Egypt, but a modernized version of the wooden product was also found in Greece.

The first version of a full-fledged steel wheel was found in an area inhabited by Celtic tribes more than 3,000 years ago. But the understanding of “metal” means a steel circle, and the knitting needles were still made of wood until F. Bauer presented a prototype of metal knitting needles. They used high-strength iron wire passing through the rim. To ensure good balance, the spokes were pulled tightly. Similar products are still used on bicycles.

Another very important discovery occurred in 1845, when R. W. Thomson registered a patent for the first pneumatic tire for automobiles. The idea was improved at the end of the 19th century, and soon such an invention appeared on all bicycles of that time. Hard rubber increased the vehicle’s grip on the road, making travel comfortable and fast. It was during this period that the evolution of the wheel reached a completely new level.

Wheels for cars

The pneumatic version was presented famous brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin, who after some time, became the founders of the company of the same name. By the way, its products are in demand to this day. In addition, in 1910, BF Goodrich employees produced the first high-quality tires with a long service life and excellent wear resistance. During production, a certain amount of carbon was added to rubber. Soon other tire manufacturers began to use the technology.

In the far West for a long time Wooden artillery wheels were used, but in the mid-20th century they were replaced by welded spoked structures. They were installed on Ford T series cars. And if we compare the situation with European countries, where hard tires from Michelin were still in great demand, America was conquered by Dunlop's pneumatic developments. But the tires used in those days were significantly different from modern ones - they were made from white Carbonless rubber, and their service life rarely exceeded a distance of 3-3.5 thousand kilometers. But after traveling 40-60 kilometers, the tires needed urgent and lengthy repairs, because... their surface quickly burst or was punctured.

Oddly enough, the next leap in the evolutionary development of wheels had similarities to the previously existing solid design. This was explained by the need to reduce costs through the use of steel products. The frame was made from a strip of metal, and the disc was made from sheet metal, which was knocked out using pressing equipment. The two elements were then welded to each other to create a product that was lightweight and resistant to heavy loads. The main advantage of this technology was its speed, which made it possible to produce wheels on a large scale. The use of automated production equipment has made the manufacturing process accessible and widespread.

Currently, there are two types of car wheels:

• Alloy wheels - cast;
• Steel.

Steel wheels

Pros of steel wheels:

• The main advantage of this technology is its low cost. average price products domestic production equal to 500-100 rubles;
• Excellent plastic properties, due to which the disc absorbs all the energy when colliding with obstacles, for example, while driving over rough terrain, reducing the impact on the suspension and tire;
• Maintainability. Even a heavily deformed steel disc can be quickly restored. It is enough to straighten the structure, and it can be used again;
• The rate of theft of steel wheels is relatively low.

1. Impressive weight. The use of steel sheets negatively affects the thickness of the metal, because if it is reduced, wear resistance and strength indicators will drop significantly. Heavy wheels put an intense load on the car and cause increased fuel consumption.
2. Unpresentable design. Even the application of advanced manufacturing standards does not give the structure a unique design look. We have to cover the ugly steel structure with caps;
3. Intolerance to corrosive processes. In particular, this indicator is typical for budget models made using simplified technology.

Alloy wheels

• chill casting;
• low pressure casting;
• casting under resistance.

The advantages of alloy wheels are obvious:

1. Lack of enormous weight and heavy load on chassis car. As a result, the performance properties of the vehicle are improved, and the wear rate of rubber is significantly reduced. Also, a high-quality cast disc prevents overheating of the brake pads;
2. The appearance of the wheels, made using casting technology, is impressive. If wheel design works for you important role, using alloy wheels is the best solution.

• Noticeable fragility of the structure. If the car collides with any obstacle, it is likely that the disc will crack and become unusable;
• Insufficient anti-corrosion properties and formation of galvanic couples with steel structural elements. This is especially noticeable in products made of magnesium alloy. If the protective coating is reduced, the process of disc destruction will occur much faster.

A look into the future of car wheels

In 2006 employees famous brand showed the world their unique development - tubeless wheels made using a completely new technology. They are not pneumatic, as they consist entirely of rubber treads and elastic spokes that absorb shocks and other impacts, reducing the wear of the wheels and suspension.

The guys from Michelin are confident that the new technology will give car wheels increased load capacity and high resistance to off-road driving.

Still, the revolutionary Michelin tubeless tires are a new word in the world of the automotive industry. But they will become relevant exclusively for electric cars.

Video about the history of the creation of the wheel:

Often, even the most educated people cannot immediately give a clear answer to a simple question about the most ordinary things. A lot of necessary and not so necessary information is stored in memory, which a person uses every day at work or at home. But some knowledge is completely erased because it is not applied in practice, although it may be interesting. For example, can you clearly tell who invented the wheel, when and under what circumstances? But this is a question from the school curriculum, and from the middle classes!

First mentions

The Sumerians, the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia, are considered to be the inventors of the great-great-wheel. In the burials of this people, chariots were found, which were a kind of chair mounted on wooden axles with rounded rollers on the sides. The approximate date of burial is 2700 BC.

However, numerous cave paintings indicate that the first images of a round wheel were made much earlier - around the 4th millennium BC. And the shape of the disk was known 25 thousand years BC, as evidenced by amulets made of mammoth bones, symbolizing the sun. That is, even then people understood that the disk could rotate and roll under the influence of an external push. But this knowledge has not yet been applied for practical purposes.

Not all discoveries in history have a clear name for the inventor. For example, there is still debate about who invented the radio.

During the construction of the Egyptian pyramids, carts were used, laid on logs, which were rolled along special rails. Later it was noticed that when over time the central part of the log wears out, the load on it is held more securely. This is how solid wooden axles with round rollers on the sides appeared. Where was the wheel, separate from the wooden axle, with a rim and spokes, invented for the first time?

The first examples, already reminiscent of the modern wheel, were used in Egypt, Ancient Rome and Greece. They were still made of wood, but they already had spokes - their number depended on the diameter of the wheel. And around the 3rd millennium, the Celts began to make this part from iron. To make it less loud, the rim was covered with animal skin.

History of development and improvement

In what year was the wheel with a real, modern tire invented? This happened in 1888, and the credit belongs neither to an engineer nor to a car mechanic. We have to thank the ordinary veterinarian from Scotland, John Boyd Dunlop. Watching his son ride a bicycle, the doctor was mentally indignant at the noise that the iron wheels of the bicycle made when they came into contact with the surface of the path. By chance, he noticed how much the sound softened when the wheel ran over a rubberized hose for watering flowers, forgotten on the path. Without thinking twice, the veterinarian cut off the pieces the right size, soldered them and put them on steel.

This is how the first pneumatic tires appeared. This invention made the name of Dunlop famous throughout the planet; the company of the same name, which produces tires for cars, still exists today.

Later, the bearing was invented, and at the beginning of the last century, wheels with light alloy discs appeared. Today the wheel is enough complex design, which bears little resemblance to the first prototypes. For its manufacture, various materials and special technologies are used, on the development of which entire teams of specialists work.

For a long time it was believed that there is nothing in nature similar in shape and purpose to a wheel. There was a hypothesis that the idea was given to the ancients by aliens from other worlds. However, not so long ago a phenomenal discovery was made based on archaeological excavations. The skeleton of an artiodactyl wild animal resembling a boar was discovered. Its limbs ended in... wheel-shaped rounded bone growths!

The discovery was a real sensation. Scientists to this day have not come to a consensus on what it really is: the result natural evolution nature, an anomalous mutation, or indeed the consequences of experiments by extraterrestrial civilizations.

The wheel is one of most important discoveries humanity in the field of mechanics. The history of the wheel, according to historians, began in the Bronze Age (4-1 millennium BC).

Modern hypothesis of the creation of the wheel

The word “wheel” comes from the Proto-Slavic “kolo” and the Proto-Indo-European “kel-so” and means “rotation”. The name “chariot” comes from the same root.

According to the latest data from researchers, the history of the invention of the wheel originates from Europe. The earliest clay wheels were found during excavations of the Trypillian culture in the territory modern countries(Romania and Ukraine), which date back to 5 thousand BC. e. More “later” finds were made in areas of Germany, Poland and the North Caucasus. Ancient burials of people along with chariots were recently discovered on the border between Armenia and Georgia in the upper reaches of the Kura River (4-3 thousand BC).

One of the prototypes of wheels is considered to be ancient stone millstones for grinding grains into flour. The first wheels were made of clay, stone and only then of wood.

The appearance of wheels in Mesopotamia

According to another hypothesis, the history of the appearance of the wheel originates in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and Egypt, where the predecessors of wheels are considered to be rollers that were used in construction (4 thousand BC).

The prototype of wheels was the well-known method of transportation during the construction of the Egyptian pyramids of huge stone blocks using rolling logs (rollers), which was not very convenient, but showed people the possibility of using round objects to carry loads. The Sumerians, who also used logs to move heavy objects, learned to move loads in the same way.

The first carts

The history of the creation of the wheel is directly related to the advent of agriculture, because the fertile land in the river valleys of Asia, Egypt and China had to be cultivated. The appearance of such inventions as the plow and sail also dates back to this time.

At first, people began to make two-wheeled carts, when 2 wooden wheels were mounted on an axle. The very first wheels were made from solid logs. Ancient people cut a circle from a log or fastened it from boards, cutting it in a circle.

The carts moved with the help of harnessed animals (donkeys or bulls), but such a cart could only be turned by hand. Later, four-wheeled ones also appeared (around 3500 BC). Of course, such designs were not invented in one year; improvement continued for centuries.

Cave paintings found by archaeologists show carts with a very primitive design: four wheels mounted on axles, and a platform on top to place the load. Such ancient devices were discovered in Mesopotamia, the seat of civilization where the development of metalworking first began.

The spread of wheeled structures occurred in Europe and northern Asia; it is not for nothing that the word “cart” is of Mongolian origin. Images of carts were found in Southern Siberia (mid-2 thousand BC). Nomads even began to make houses on wheels - large carts with a roof. Gradually, such structures reached China.

The next improvement related to the wheel was a design in which the front wheels could turn freely using a swivel front axle. Now people, sitting in the cart, could turn it, controlling the animals.

At the same time, there was a need to build roads so that vehicles could move first between the field and the settlement, and then between settlements began to transport food and cargo.

The appearance of chariots

The history of the appearance of the wheel indicates that, along with carts for transporting goods, people began to make vehicles for people. This is how the first chariots appeared, harnessed by donkeys, buffaloes and mules, since horses were not yet used in those days. The ancient people learned to breed the first horses and the breeds they needed only in 2 thousand BC. e. Only wealthy people and military personnel rode chariots.

Most often, chariots were used during military operations. War chariots were common in the countries of Mesopotamia, Egypt and others. Their importance in those days is evidenced by the fact that rich and revered fellow citizens (most often kings) were buried along with their chariots.

The design of these means of transportation developed gradually. At first, these were massive platforms on which stood warriors throwing darts at enemies, or archers. Ancient Egyptian chariots were already lighter and more maneuverable.

The emergence and development of such devices contributed to revolutionary changes in military affairs. The use of such combative and fast transport was often decisive and made it possible to defeat enemies.

Another leap in the wheel revolution was the invention and use of spokes, first wooden, then metal. The use of spokes made it possible to greatly reduce the weight of the wheels themselves and the entire chariot. The next step was the invention of wheel rims.

The further history of the development of the wheel is connected with Europe and the Celts. In the period 1500-1000. BC e. they started using metal for the rim, and then the wheels became completely metal, as did the chariots. But the cargo carts remained wooden.

Hypothesis about the invention of the potter's wheel

According to the third hypothesis, the history of the wheel is connected with the invention of the potter's wheel. It still remains unclear which of them was invented first - a pottery stone wheel, shaped like a wheel laid horizontally, or a wheel in a cart for transportation.

The invention of the potter's wheel also dates back to the Bronze Age. At the same time, the wheel began to be used for making dishes from clay and Ancient Egypt, after several hundred years, the Egyptians even began to make dishes on rapidly rotating circles, which influenced the variety of shapes of ancient dishes and its quality.

Was there a wheel in America?

The question of the existence of the wheel among the American Indians still remains unclear. The Spanish conquistadors, having sailed to America, did not find any wheeled transport, but excavations indicate that the children of the Incas, Aztecs and Mayans had toys with wheels. Apparently, the military invasion of the Spaniards slowed down this process, and the history of the wheel in America did not find its logical continuation.

Similar finds - miniature images of toy wheeled carts were discovered by archaeologists in European countries.

Using the wheel in other devices

Gradually, the wheel began to be used in other devices. Over time, it found its use for water devices, according to the records of the scientist Vitruvius already in the 1st century. BC e. Water wheels also spread to ancient Rome. Two types of such wheels were used: gravy (for slow-flowing rivers) and bulk (on fast mountain rivers).

During construction, people also began to use a lifting block, the basis of which is also a wheel. Later, the wheel found another application - a spinning wheel was created for spinning wool. According to historical data, it was invented around 1 thousand BC. e. in India and surrounding areas of Asia.

Improving the wheel design

For several thousand years, the history of the wheel made almost no progress in its development. And only in the middle of the 18th century, a new improvement finally appeared - tires were invented. The first wheel tires were made of thick fabric (canvas) and only then they began to be made of rubber.

One of the impetuses for further improvement was the invention in 1817 by the German professor K. von Dres of the first bicycle, more similar to a wooden two-wheeled scooter (it was called a “trolley”).

The appearance and improvement of the wheel is the most epic invention that pushed humanity to the beginning of the transport revolution, which in the 19th century included railway transport (the structure of which is also based on the use of wheels) and river transport - with the discovery of the steam engine, the first wheeled river steamers were launched.

The next step in history was the creation of cars, and already here the wheel structure has undergone a lot of improvements, which continue to this day.

Which hypothesis is correct

The official and now recognized version of the origin of the wheel considers its homeland to be Mesopotamia or Mesopotamia, which is argued by scientists by the appearance by that time of tools that could not be dispensed with in the manufacture of wheels.

The same hypothesis is presented in schools and other educational institutions, many films and cartoons have been made that tell the history of the wheel for children, about its development, improvement and the emergence of new types of transport.

It would be appropriate to mention philosophical meaning wheel “Movement... life... infinity”, which confirms the essence of his discovery.

It's no secret that the lion's share of inventions, especially those that form the technical basis, are not so much the product of intense engineering thought as the result of thoughtful observation of the world around us. However, there are exceptions. Thus, the wheel, an elementary device that combines rotational and translational motion, has no analogues in nature. It was this mysterious circumstance that gave rise to the version about the extraterrestrial origin of the wheel.

The exact time and place of the invention of the wheel is difficult to determine. However, the possibility of forward motion of a round object has been known to people since ancient times. Amulets in the form of small disks with holes in the middle and radial slits, indicating the sun and its movement across the sky, belong to the majority early cultures. One of these finds was made during excavations of a primitive site on the Sungir River. The discovered “sun wheels” were carved from mammoth bone approximately 25 thousand years ago, during the Upper Paleolithic period.

A wheel is round, freely rotating or a disk attached to an axle, allowing the body placed on it to roll rather than slide. The wheel is widely used for transport purposes, and is also widely used in various mechanisms and tools. It is one of the oldest and most important inventions of mankind. The first images of the wheel discovered in Mesopotamia date back to the 4th millennium BC. e.

Around the same time, historians attribute the appearance of the prototype of the roller wheel, with the help of which people moved weights. It was noticed that it was much easier to drag a mammoth or a heavy stone along fallen trees, especially if the path came across straight and smooth round timber that rolled along the ground. Then the logs, cleared of branches, began to be specially placed under the loads, moving forward as they moved. This method was used in the construction of the Egyptian pyramids to move stone slabs weighing several tons. The first carts were drag sleds placed on several log rollers fastened together.

Fragment of the inlaid “Standard of War and Peace”. Ur, Mesopotamia.

There is a centuries-old distance between the rollers and the real wheel. At first, people noticed that after the rollers in the middle part wore out and became thinner, the load slipped less and it became easier to transport. Then the roller logs began to be specially burned or hewn, and thus the ancestor of the modern wheelset used in railway transport appeared: wooden disks that form a single unit with the axle and rotate with it.

The first evidence of a wheeled vehicle dates back to the 4th millennium BC. e. This is an image of a wheeled sleigh found during excavations at the city of Uruk in Mesopotamia. By 2700 BC. e. Drawings of carts also appear there. At the same time, the Sumerians begin to bury their kings along with their chariots. Such burials were found in Kish, Ur, and in the Elamite city of Susa.

The next step was to separate the wheels from the axle. The wheelset is good for driving on rails, but when driving on the road, difficulties arise at every turn: a heavily loaded cart can tip over or even fall apart. In the 2nd millennium BC. e. In Asia Minor, wheels with central holes in the hubs appeared, in which a fixed axle was fixed. Now, when turning, each wheel could rotate at its own speed, which greatly increased maneuverability. To make the wheels rub less against the axle, the hubs were lubricated with grease or tar. However, carts with wheels made of a single piece of wood were still very heavy and clumsy. They moved slowly, usually harnessed by powerful but leisurely oxen.

The "Sun Cart" from Trundholm is a miniature sculpture of a cart from the Bronze Age. XVIII-XVII centuries BC e.

To lighten the heavy disc wheel, radial slots began to be made in it, which were later replaced by spokes fixed between the hub and the rim. The number of spokes was usually even, their number depended on the diameter of the wheel: the larger the diameter, the more spokes were required. In Egypt, wheels with four spokes became widespread, in Greece and Rome with eight. To make the wheel run softer, it was sheathed in leather or covered with a wooden hoop along the rim. The Celts began to use an iron rim instead of a wooden one about 3 thousand years ago. This made the wheels more durable, and the chariots in general more mobile and lighter, which greatly helped in the development of new territories.

The advent of the wheel gave impetus to the development of crafts. There is probably no area of ​​production where the wheel is not used. Blocks and winches in construction, pottery wheels, spinning wheels, water-drawer and mill wheels, gears and pulleys have served people for many centuries. The wheel played an even greater role in the era of the industrial revolution; it is difficult to find a mechanism that does not have at least a tiny wheel or gear in its design. Precision mechanisms, including astronomical instruments and chronometers, also cannot do without this invention.

Over time, the wheel found more and more new areas of application, but its main transport function remained unchanged for many centuries, and no revolutions occurred in it. And only the 19th century brought discoveries that made traveling on wheeled vehicles more convenient and enjoyable.

In 1846, Robert William Thompson, an English railway engineer, received a patent for the progenitor of the pneumatic tire, made of rubberized fabric. The tire consisted of two parts: a tube and an outer covering. The chamber was made of several layers of canvas, impregnated and coated on both sides with a solution of natural rubber or gutta-percha. The outer covering consisted of pieces of leather connected by rivets. The entire structure was bolted to the rim; it had a valve through which the tire was inflated. Wide practical application The “air wheel” was not found, and after the death of the inventor it was completely forgotten.

More than 40 years later, Scottish veterinarian John Boyd Dunlop watched his son ride his bicycle around the yard. In those days, bicycles were bulky, with metal rims, they bounced with a grinding sound on every pebble. Dunlop noticed how the rubber hose, which the bicycle ran over, softly absorbed the shock. He cut a piece of hose to fit the circumference of a bicycle wheel, welded it into a ring, adapted a nipple and... became the world-famous inventor of a pneumatic tire, for which he received a patent in 1888. Now Dunlop is one of the largest manufacturers of tires.

Two years later, British engineer Child Welch proposed separating the tube from the tire, inserting wire rings into the edges of the tire and placing it on the rim, which subsequently received a recess towards the center. At the same time, the Englishman Bartlett and the Frenchman Didier independently developed methods for mounting and dismantling tires. All this determined the possibility of using a pneumatic tire on a car. The creators of modern tires are constantly changing them chemical composition and tread pattern, which makes the car more maneuverable, increases traction, and reduces tire wear.

Bicycle with Dunlop pneumatic tires.

Wooden wheel with spokes.

Another important innovation was the ball bearing. Even in Ancient Egypt, when transporting the heaviest loads, rollers were placed directly under the object being moved, sinking them into specially dug grooves. In the furrows that set the direction of movement, it was easier for the rollers to rotate. The invention of the tapered ball bearing is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. In 1907, Swedish engineer Sven Wingqvist invented the first self-aligning spherical ball bearing. In the same year, the new product hit the market.

A bearing is a kind of wheel within a wheel. Friction between the axle and hub increases with speed and cannot be eliminated by even the best lubrication. But if smooth steel balls are placed between the axle and the hub, the hub with its inner surface will roll over the balls, and the balls, in turn, along the axle. The balls in the bearing are located between two rings, with the outer ring adjacent to the hub and the inner ring adjacent to the axle. There is also a roller bearing, in which instead of balls there are steel rollers between the rings, similar to small rollers.

The wheel itself has changed over the past two centuries. Wooden spokes were replaced with lightweight steel ones, and a central hub was added to the design. In the 1920s, the first alloy wheels were produced. Today, wheels are made from special, very strong and lightweight aluminum alloys.

One might think that by the 19th century. the technical potential of the wheel and the possibility of modifying it were completely exhausted, but the original thinking people no, no, and they found new uses for it. For example, in 1893, inventor George Ferris presented at an industrial exhibition in Chicago new attraction. A wheel with a diameter of 75 m, rotated by steam engines, lifted 36 cabins attached to the rim for 60 people each. The first Ferris wheel, which allowed passengers to admire the panorama of the exhibition, was a huge success, and today it is an indispensable part of the amusement park of even a small provincial town.

However, engineers do not leave the wheel alone to this day. For example, the development of a flexible elastic rim helped eliminate significant shortcoming low cross-country ability on off-road and swampy terrain. Such a wheel is capable of changing shape from round to elliptical depending on the load, which ensures better grip on the surface. And for driving in deep snow or sand, you can even use square wheels. Probably, the simpler the invention, the more options for its use, which means that the wheel will demonstrate itself in a new form more than once.

Ferris wheel at the Chicago World's Fair. 1893

Wheel in space

The first celestial body on which a wheel appeared was the Moon. This happened on November 17, 1970, when the Soviet unmanned station Luna-17 delivered the first lunar rover to the surface of the Earth’s satellite. It ran on eight wheels with a lightweight mesh rim, and each wheel had its own electric motor.

Who invented the wheel?

But the Martians are against it!

Ahead of the rest of the planet

Do you know that…

However, some scientists dispute the Sumerian priority. They refer to certain finds on the territory of modern Romania (“Cucuteni culture”, from the name of the ancient village of Cucuteni in Romania, sometimes called “Tyrolean culture” - editor’s note). They date back to the 5th millennium BC. But what is it? Unintelligible remains of clay crafts, which can only be mistaken for wheels with a very vivid imagination. Unscientific. But our archaeologists, A.D. Rezepkin in the North Caucasus and A.V. Kondrashov in Kuban, we discovered real wheel models! And one can even assume that they are older than the Sumerian ones. Of course, these are just assumptions, not evidence. But further - more. An absolutely amazing discovery was made during excavations of the ancient site of Sungir, which Vladimir region. A wheel has been found that may be 25 thousand years old! Of course, additional painstaking research of the find is needed. But if this is confirmed, it will turn out that we are far ahead of the rest “in the area of ​​the wheel”! And you say - Sumerians...

Patent for the invention of the wheel

Why is it square?