-I got this idea from this martian popping thing from the Archie Mcfee catalogue. This little rubber "martian" had eyes, ears, and mouth that would balloon out when you squeezed its body.
Whenever I need to buy a new set of tires for my ORV, (not SUV) (*) I find myself debating over the right tire for me. The variety driving situations that I encounter demands an extremly versitile tire; river crossings, rock ledges, and deep snow are common obstacles. Inevitably, I end up with a tire that you might see at a monster truck rally. Although I feel the need to be prepared for anything (yes, I was a boy scout), I feel guilty burning up so much extra fuel because of large tires when I am on the pavement-which is about 90 percent of the time-not to mention having the poor highway handling of an off road tire.
I would like to see a tire that is adjustable to all situatons. During your everyday driving situations, the tire would have a normal road tread pattern with all the economic qualities of a highway tire. Now, anytime you feel the primal urge to go drive over a tree, drive onto your roof (www.rotten.com), or make your own parking spot, The inflatable tire will get you there.
The tire starts out thick walled with a typical tread. Folded between the rows of tread are more rows of increasingly more aggressive tread waiting to be unleashed. To expose these addidional rows, like a shark grows extra rows of teeth, one would simply add more air to the tire. Inflation could be stopped at any point for perfect traction. The overall circumfrance of the tire would change as well, so you could also combine these tires with inflatable boddy lifters like on the defender-90. This idea could be combined with many other half-bakes such as the anti-severe tire damage strips. They might also be heavier incorporating the idea of heavy SUV tires(*).
I don't know how exactly they would support themselves and not roll sideways, but hey, they figured out how to build the segway. Maybe there would be a chip in the things and they could be adjusted from the comfort of the captains chair.
-demtangs
(*)SUVs are oversized family wagons never intended for off road use and have no business being there.-- demtangs, Apr 18 2003 Hummer tire inflation system http://www.lynchhum...onentpages/CTI.html [krelnik, Oct 04 2004] Pneumatic tire and tread therefor having variable rolling contact with the ground http://164.195.100....797&RS=PN/3,949,797A similar idea, but without the variable pressure [ldischler, Oct 04 2004] What about the tires that are on the Pope's limo? No air, can't deflate, plenty of longevity.-- colaaddict, Apr 19 2003 I think you could do this as a two- state tire. A pneumatic profile: solid rubber with nominal air for low rolling resistance on the highway. And the blown-out martian inflated profile you desire for traction on soft surfaces, deep snow, sand etc. Temporary traction effect, and it would depend on a construction that could deflate and bond again into a tight pneumatic state. You'd have to give up on getting aggressive rock rumbling and river fording tires though: in case you've never looked at an unmounted tire, they are not quite all rubber. Crossing laminates of steel belts and thick compound material provide rigidity, tread integrity, and structural strength for a wide variety of performance criteria, including deformation resistance. Anything flexible enough to inflate and change its shape as you describe wouldn't be strong enough to deal with the hazards of rough off-road terrain.-- roby, Apr 19 2003 Your idea about the changing tread is new, but the basic concept of changing the inflation of the tire to accomodate different terrain is quite common on all-terrain vehicles. The HUMMER has an automatic system built in so you can control this from inside the vehicle. (See link).-- krelnik, Apr 19 2003 //when it gets full, you can just throw it out the window.// Off road, of course.-- ldischler, Apr 20 2003 //ALWAYS keep a litter bag in your car...// --Steve Martin, standup routine, approx 1977-- krelnik, Apr 20 2003 Rather than changing the tire pressure per se why not use Goodyear's existing technology and insert an inflatable rib all along the tire between the tread and the inner wall of the tire. It would be the same tech used in the inflatable plane of WWII built by Goodyear. Rather than having extra treads that pop out, putting in the ribs would cause the existing ribs to swell outwards when you inflate just the ribs. That way you don't have to use as expensive a rubber compound as you would need to alter the tire pressure that drastically. It seems like it would be alot like the pneumatic tire idea linked up there but would not be adjustable on the fly.-- STUpidIDIOT, Jul 26 2004 this inflatable tread would be vulnerable to punctures since it would have to be relatively thin to be able to inflate and 'pop out'.
Rather than adding tread, an inflatable *subtractive* tread may be more effective. So as before, the tread is filled with inflatable tubes, but fully inflating them brings them flush with the rest of the tire (and deflating them, they reside deep in the tread). The thin/flexible part of the inflatable tube is then protected by the walls of the tread (and the top surface of the tube can be made as thick as desired).-- xaviergisz, Nov 15 2005 I had an extra set of tires mounted on extra steel wheels for my 4WD pickup truck: a set of everyday "highway" tires, and a set of offroad/winter tires. It took less than 45 minits to change out the tires, using air tools, of course.-- whlanteigne, Apr 12 2013 45 minutes using air tools?! I'm pretty sure I could change out all four tires in under 45 minutes using just the jack and tire iron that came with the truck.-- ytk, Apr 12 2013 Time from getting the tires and tools out to putting up the first set of tires and putting away the tools, about 42 minutes.-- whlanteigne, Apr 12 2013 Seeing as I use trains, I can't really compete. Until they come up with offroad/winter wheels for trains.-- not_morrison_rm, Apr 12 2013 random, halfbakery