From children's toys to the birth of Michelin
1898 is the birthday of tire man bibendum, but the establishment of Michelin Company began more than 60 years ago. 1832 in the era when there were no cars, the carriage was the only means of transportation for people. Michelin's grandfather Barbier and his cousin Daubry set up a small agricultural machinery factory in clermont-ferrand. At first, they only produced some rubber ball toys for children to play with. Later, they began to manufacture rubber hoses, rubber belts and carriage brakes and exported them to Britain. This is the prototype of Michelin. 1On May 28th, 889, edouard michelin inherited his grandfather's career. With the help of his brother Andrew Michelin, Michelin Company was formally established, and Edward became the first manager, thus the modern Michelin Company developed.
When Edward took over the factory, the factory was still producing simple brake pads. 1889, an accidental event caught the attention of Michelin brothers. They imagine that if bicycle tires can be easily replaced, there will be broader development prospects. The story of Michelin tires begins. 189 1 year, Michelin brothers finally developed bicycle tires that could be disassembled and replaced in fifteen minutes, and applied for a patent for their first successful invention with foresight. This easy-to-replace tire was best verified in various subsequent bicycle races and was quickly recognized by the public. In just one year, their products have 10000 users. 1894, Michelin installed a newly invented tire on the bus to replace the traditional iron wheel, which made the passengers feel unprecedented comfort and silence.
During the period of 1895, few people had enough confidence in the magical means of transportation-cars. One of the reasons is that the hard "tire" can not fully protect the mechanical structure of the wheel, which often leads to fracture. It is urgent to develop and popularize new pneumatic tires for automobiles. At that time, all automobile manufacturers were afraid to equip Michelin pneumatic tires in the competition. In order to publicize and prove the advantages of the products, Michelin Brothers designed and manufactured their own cars-the company's body, a 4-horsepower Daimler engine and, most importantly, a replaceable Michelin pneumatic tire. In the Paris-Nielsbohr-Paris motor race, the two brothers went into battle in person and ran the whole race brilliantly, which caused a sensation in Paris. Many curious people even cut the tires to find the mystery. The competition verified the applicability of pneumatic tires in automobiles, and also wrote the birth of the first automobile tire into history.
1899, an expandable electric car equipped with Michelin-RIM created an amazing speed of 100 km/h; 1906, Michelin invented the detachable automobile rim;
1908, the rear wheel developed by Michelin began to be used in trucks and buses. 1900- 19 12 years, Michelin's tires were successful in all large-scale international automobile races, and Michelin brothers also found an effective way to make their company and products famous-automobile races.
"going to the world"
At the beginning of the 20th century, Michelin began to quickly establish its own production base around the major automobile manufacturing centers in Europe and North America, striving to develop side by side with the booming automobile and transportation industries. 1906, "Michelin Tire Co., Ltd." and the first overseas production factory were established in London and Turin, Italy. At this time, Michelin's employees in Feon have grown to 4000. By 1908, the factory in Milton, USA also produced the first Michelin tire in North America.
19 14 years, World War I started, and Michelin turned to design and produce bombers for the French government. The aircraft they produced can carry 400 kilograms of bombs, reach the speed of 100 km/h and have a cruising range of 200 km, which was considered excellent at that time. From 19l5 to 19 18, Michelin * * * produced 1884 aircraft and built the world's first concrete runway. It can be said that World War I has become another stage for Michelin to show its leading technology. 19 19, Michelin returned to its old business after the war, and the increase in the number of cars after the war strongly stimulated the development of the tire industry; In the same year, parallel tires have gradually replaced rubber canvas tires; 1923, the world's first low-pressure (2.5 bar) comfortable travel tire was born, and its service life was extended to 15000 km. During the period of 1927- 193 1, Michelin factories also appeared in England and Germany, and a second tire factory was put into operation in Italy.
constant innovation
The 1930s was a decade of continuous innovation and progress for Michelin: after trying bicycles, cars and airplanes, Michelin became interested in trains again, and made the first railway tire in 1929, which brought quiet, comfortable and sensitive acceleration and smooth braking to railway transportation. 1930, Michelin applied for a patent for its embedded tubular tire, which is a modern tubeless tire. 1932, ultra-comfortable tires with lower tire pressure (1.5 bar) came out, with a service life of 30,000 kilometers;
1934, Michelin introduced super comfortable brake tires with special patterns to avoid water skiing on slippery roads. 1937, Michelin invented the wide-section pilot tire, which effectively improved the road handling of the car at high speed and showed the true colors of today's low-section tires. 1938, Michelin combined rubber and steel wire perfectly, and successfully designed a steel wire tire, which improved the heat resistance and heat load resistance of the tire, and also took an important step towards the development of radial tire.
After experiencing rapid development in 1930s, World War II brought Michelin into the darkest and most turbulent era in history. The devastating and cruel war, the death of edouard michelin, and successive major blows can't stop the development of Michelin. During the war, faced with the shortage of raw materials, Michelin kept the supply of munitions, and secretly carried out the research on radial tires, which laid the foundation for the development of radial tires after the war.
After years of unremitting efforts, 1946, the world-famous radial tire that changed the world tire industry was finally "born" in Michelin's factory. At that time, this kind of X-type tire with steel cord reinforced structure was officially put on the market in 1949, and since then, another tire technology revolution broke out. Once the radial tire came out, it quickly occupied the whole market and was adopted by almost all types of cars. It has greatly improved various characteristics of the tire: longer service life, more comfortable and safe driving and more perfect control. In addition, fuel saving is also an advantage that cannot be ignored. These have become the decisive advantages of Michelin's dominance in the tire industry in the next 30 years, and have also discouraged other peers. Radial tire seems to have knocked on the door of tire high technology. Since 1950s, the original radial tire has been continuously developed and innovated: 1959 introduced the "X" tubeless truck and automobile tire, which is famous for its high-speed continuous driving without heat accumulation; 1965, Michelin manufactured XAS tires with asymmetric tread patterns, and radial tires were first used on off-road vehicles.
In order to meet the growing demand of racing drivers, Michelin began to produce a series of radial tires for racing and cross-country competitions; 1968, the new VR tire can make the speed reach 240 km/h, and the limit speed even exceeds 300 km/h, which is excellent in safety and comfort. 1976, the invention of TRX tire marked a milestone in the development of radial tire. Because of its new matching form with the rim, the deformation zone of the tire wall is enlarged and the performance is greatly improved. 1980, Michelin invented BIBTS tires for motorcycles, and then developed them from 125cc to motorcycle series tires with the largest displacement. 1985, Michelin introduced the M series automobile tires, and since then, Michelin has gradually become the first in the world.
Mercedes is on the track.
In France at the end of last century, a jockey conceived to gather outstanding racers from different countries to organize a car race, and suggested to the French car club to use the Grimpet race logo used by his racing association for car races. His idea was adopted and the name was used for the next eight games. Nevertheless, the facts tell people that only the ACF Grand Prix of 1906 can be called the first truly green grand prix car race.
Racing over 65,438+0,200 kilometers is a real challenge for tire manufacturers. Michelin provides participants with an opportunity to try their new technology and let them use a new type of detachable rim, which can make the tire easy to replace after bursting. You know, flat tires were common on such a long muddy path at that time. * * * Thirty-four cars took part in the 1906 race, and Michelin and its detachable rims were being tested on the spot: the driver Francois replaced the damaged tires in only three minutes, and finally won the championship at an average speed exceeding10/km/h. After the race, people were surprised to find that1/h completed the race. This is the early green field competition, and Michelin's brilliant sports career began.
Michelin has been speeding on the track for more than 100 years. Nowadays, in the competition department of Michelin, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 150 people are working non-stop for racers and teams; Organize and plan 220 tests every year and transport 2400 tons of tires to all parts of the world. Speaking of achievements, looking back at the last quarter of the 20th century, more than 65,438+020 world champion drivers and manufacturers sang their praises on Michelin tires, including 82 motorcycle races (road races and cross-country races), 65,438+03 world champion off-road vehicle drivers and teams, and champions of various groups in the past 65,438+03 Paris-Dakar Rally. In addition, it is worth mentioning that Michelin once stood out in the F 1 competition, which condensed the world's highest technology and attracted the most fans. 1977- 1984 In eight seasons, Michelin won 59 races, three drivers and two world champions, and the tire man Bibidum made Michelin famous in the f 1 race. After reaching the peak, that is, driver Nicky Lauder brought Michelin the third (and last) championship, Michelin announced that it would withdraw from the F 1 race (but did not give up other forms of two-wheeled and four-wheeled racing), followed by a long wait and see for more than ten years. Michelin once thought that the F 1 race would not last long, but time will prove that the top event of this car race has passed. All these make Michelin regain the confidence and reason to set foot on F 1 again. 1999, Michelin made a formal decision and quickly put it into action, and reached a 200 1 agreement with BMW-Williams and Jaguar. Everything is just like 100 years ago. Michelin will continue to perform magic in the challenging arena.
look into the future
Michelin's products have been used in many fields, from detachable tires to the latest "vertical anchor tire" (PAX system). Whether it is automobile, engineering, agricultural machinery, suspension system, or even aerospace, Michelin's technology is everywhere. All kinds of cars in every country in the world, including antique cars, light buses, luxury cars, four-wheel drive off-road vehicles and trucks of all levels, are equipped with all-weather tires or snow tires. Michelin has traveled all over the world.
In the different development stages of Michelin products, and even in the future, environmental protection and energy saving have never been ignored, requiring longer service life, reducing fuel consumption and noise, and recycling waste tires. Since 1946 invented radial tire, Michelin has saved 30% of raw materials; 1992 "environmental protection" tires and new production procedures save 60% energy.
Higher safety standards, more comfortable riding experience, more diversified services ...; Lower energy consumption and less environmental concerns. Long-term pursuit of more in some aspects and less in others, to promote the development of transportation to a more distant realm, this is the realm of Michelin!