Slashdot Mirror
Reinventing the Wheel
bob zee sent in this link about reinventing the wheel, err, tweel, err, whatever. Wheels are an interesting challenge in engineering design: they need to be hard to be durable, soft for a smooth ride, grippy to grab the road, but smooth to reduce rolling resistance, flexible to absorb shocks, yet stiff to reduce heat build-up, and so on. Rubber tires are a relatively recent invention.
Out of all the things to reinvent... the wheel?
I'm still waiting on that new mousetrap! That Rube-Goldberg device of a game just isn't cutting it.
Great. Back to the basics. What's next - the incline plane?
"Wheels are an interesting challenge in engineering design: they need to be hard to be durable, soft for a smooth ride, grippy to grab the road, but smooth to reduce rolling resistance, flexible to absorb shocks, yet stiff to reduce heat build-up, and so on. "
And yet we can't patent any of it.
"Please let them bring these out for motorbikes, thats one of those things we bikers dream about.. a tyre that never goes pop when your doing 100mph down the autobarnes."
If you're doing a 100MPH down the Autobahn? Tires going 'pop' are going to be the least of your worries. Of course 'pop' could simply be Darwin calling another biker home.
When was the last time anyone of you had a flat tire?
Last week, you insensitive clod.I figure the loud swooshing noise made by the tires would actually be a bonus, since it would drown out all the weird rattling noises my car normally makes. Plus I can only imagine how cool the water would look flying out the sides of the tires after a big rainstorm.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Chrome-plating frivolous?! Forget cost -- don't you know that chrome makes it faster?
Gee, do you think maybe these engineers aren't total idiots?
I mean, seriously.
Not to be mean. It's a thought. I'm sure it took them all of 12 seconds to decide not to expose a bunch of radial fins on the side of the tire. Maybe another 4 to decide not to make the tire out of chalk, too. I bet they spent another 9 rejecting granite sidewalls as an option.
-Lep
I am allowed to criticize you: you are not allowed to criticize me. Sorry, that's just how things are.
Last month I hit a pot hole in the middle of the mall parking lot (didn't see it, the whole parking lot was a lake due to the warm temps and rain) puncturing the sidewall of the tire.
Why do you ask?
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
In Arkansas.... but they would look good on all the cars up on blocks in the front yards :-)
It's a good thing that it doesn't apply to the railroad :-)
bash$
Now if a war broke out in Arkansas, can the military be given a fine for driving around in their tanks? (they most likely have a bigger gun than the cop, but two wrongs don't still make a right)
bash$
"where it appears non-pneumatic tires are prohibited for speeds > 10mph."
That's not half as bad as the requirement that a person waving a lantern has to walk ten feet in front of the car to avoid spooking horses. They really need to change that law. The wife is getting tired of waving a lantern everytime we go out to dinner.
well, it's not a non pneumatic tire right? it's not a tire at all. It's a tweel, see?
Use stone wheels and make the roads out of iflateable rubber that way no one gets a flat, just everyone at the same time.
For what its worth, I have a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering and am, in fact, an idiot. So its not impossible...
Custom, hands-free Linux installs. Instalinux
This is absurd, how will secret agents be able to survive underwater for a few minutes whilst their arch-enemies check for survivors to a mysterious car crash?
Even if you reinvent it, you will be liable for royalties.
USPTO 5,707,114
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Actually, underinflation is an extremely common problem with inflatable tires. This reduces mileage, increases noise, and can reduce manuverability and also increase the probability of a rupture. If the design problems with this "tweel" thing can be worked out it might be a superior solution without these risks.
As far as the aerodynamics of exposed ribs go, it seems that the example in the photograph was intended for initial testing of this concept on Segway scooters. If you are driving a Segway fast enough for wind resistance to be a big factor then your clothes and hairstyle will be the first things to check and get under control.
I took a Java course in college and the first chapter in the Course Text was all about not re-inventing the wheel.
But when I got a program off the internet and handed it in for my assignment I was penalised heavily.
I give up. Spinner rims?
Please help metamoderate.