Brakes and Tires

Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber used to make tires in 1844.

John Dunlop invented the pneumatic or air filled tire in 1888 and used them on bicycles.

Andrea Michelin was the first person to use them on automobile tires in 1895 but not successfully.

In 1911 Philip Strauss invented the first successful automobile tire with an air filled inner-tube.

General description

A pneumatic tire is made of reinforced rubber and filled with compressed air; it is used on motor vehicles and bicycles etc.

Because of their principle of operation - which is like a slim balloon - pneumatic tires are much more prone to punctures than solid rubber tires but they are lighter than solid rubber tires and also have more shock absorbency.

A further answer

John Boyd Dunlop was a Scottish veterinarian and the recognized inventor of the first practical pneumatic or inflatable tyre/tire. His patent was for a bicycle tire, granted in 1888.

However, Robert William Thomson invented the actual first vulcanised rubber pneumatic tire. Thomson patented his pneumatic tire in 1845. His invention worked well but was too costly to manufacture, so was expensive to sell and did not catch on to many people. Dunlop's tire, patented in 1888, did much better, so it caught on and he received the most recognition.

Another opinion as to dates

1846 - Robert William Thomson, Scotland, Great Britain, invented and patented the pneumatic tire.

1887 - First practical pneumatic tire was made by fellow Scot, John Boyd Dunlop.

For more information see the information in the Related Links shown below.

Pneumatic tires

A device made of rubber and fabric and attached to the outer rim of a vehicle wheel. Solid rubber tires were in limited use before 1850; they are still used in some special applications, e.g., for industrial trucks in factories. The pneumatic rubber tire uses rubber and enclosed air to reduce vibration and improve traction. It was first patented by Robert W. Thomson, a Scottish civil engineer; however, it was not a commercial success until the Scottish inventor John Dunlop patented a pneumatic bicycle tire in 1888 and started a tire company.

The main parts of a modern pneumatic tire are its body, tread and sidewalls, and beads. The body is made of layers of rubberized fabric, called plies, that give the tire strength and flexibility. The fabric is made of rayon, nylon, or polyester cord. Covering the plies are sidewalls and tread of chemically treated rubber. The sidewalls form the outer walls of the tire. The tread is a thick hoop of rubber that comes into direct contact with road surfaces. To improve its traction, the tread has patterns of deep and shallow grooves and channels, depending on the intended use, and also may have protruding metal studs for icy or snowy conditions. High-performance tires have treads optimized for warm weather, and winter (or snow) tires are optimized for cold and snow; all-season tires are general-purpose tires. Imbedded in the two inner edges of the tire are steel hoops, called beads, that hold the tire to the wheel rim.

In the older type of pneumatic tire, air is sealed in an inner tube of butyl rubber beneath the body. In a tubeless tire the seal between the beads and the wheel rim is airtight and the underside of the tire body is coated with butyl rubber to keep the air from escaping. A puncture in a tire leads to loss of air and a so-called flat tire. Self-sealing tires are lined with a rubber or rubberlike compound that, when the tire is punctured by a slim object, such as a nail, coats the object and seals the hole to prevent air from escaping. A recent innovation is the run-flat tire. In the most common version, the sidewall is reinforced so that, in case of a large puncture and a total loss of air pressure, the tire is self-supporting; the vehicle can continue operating as if there were no tire problem for up to 125 mi (200 km). An innovative bead design keeps the tire securely on the rim. Such tires are often linked to a pressure monitoring system that alerts the vehicle operator to the puncture.

The most important feature of tire design is the arrangement of the cord, or ply. The three main types are bias ply, radial-ply belted, and bias-ply belted. In a bias-ply tire the cords in a single ply run diagonally from the beads on one inner rim to the beads on the other. However, the orientation of the cords is reversed from ply to ply so that the cords crisscross each other. In a radial-ply (also called radial-ply belted) tire the cords in every ply run perpendicularly from the beads on one inner rim to the beads on the other, and there is a rigid belt, usually of fine steel wire, between the tread and the plies. This construction provides longer tread wear but a rougher ride. In a bias-ply belted tire the cords in the plies are aligned as in a bias-ply tire, but a rigid belt, usually of synthetic fabric, is added. This tire has longer tread life than a bias-ply tire and provides a more comfortable ride than does a radial-ply tire.
The first practical rubber tire was made by John Boyd Dunlop while working as a veterinarian in May Street, Belfast, in 1887 for his son's bicycle, in an effort to prevent the headaches his son had while riding on rough roads (Dunlop's patent was later declared invalid because of prior art by Harold C. Lee). Lee is credited with "realizing rubber could withstand the wear and tear of being a tire while retaining its resilience".

There is no tire pressure reset button on this year and model vehicle. On this 07 Highlander, it is self reseting. Set all tires to the correct psi (there is a label on the inner driver side door) and don't forget about the spare tire as well (which is located in the back of the vehicle, underneath). Start the vehicle and drive it around the block, it should reset on it's own. If it doesn't and all the tires are at the right psi, you should check with your nearest Toyota dealership for any problems with the tire sensor system.

Answer

On the 2007 Highlander, the tire pressure reset button is located on the left side under the steering wheel (almost at your knee level) or you can say on the right of the hood release lever. You can feel it with your hand or see it if you stand out of your Highlander and open the driver side door and look on the right side of the hood release. You can check the Manual - I was getting the light and looked up in the Manual and found how to reset it. Good luck.