Did you know that on this day in 1844, Charles Goodyear received a patent for vulcanized rubber?

His last name might ring a bell and if you were thinking, “Could this be the man behind Goodyear Tires?” you would be correct!

Charles Goodyear was an American inventor who discovered the innovative process of vulcanized rubber.

His story begins in 1834 when he began to experiment with natural rubber. Five years later in 1839 by way of an accident, he discovered the process of vulcanization.

Let’s pause for a quick science lesson.

Vulcanization is essentially a chemical process that’s used to convert natural rubber or related polymers into more durable materials through the addition of sulfur and other accelerators or curatives.

OK – Back to the story.

So, after making this discovery, Goodyear realized that he was on to something! It was at this moment that he became determined and laser-focused on finding a better way to make rubber more stable.

Along his journey, Goodyear lived a very meager life. He didn’t have much to his name and lived for years off of the money that he received from investors.

Despite his financial woes, Goodyear continued on with his unwavering inventing spirit and, as we mentioned before, given the fact that the rubber industry in America was starting to plummet, he discovered that through vulcanization he could make rubber melt-proof and reliable.

Ten years after his journey started, Goodyear received a patent for his process, licensed it to manufacturers and made history.

Charles Goodyear’s story is a great example of how strong and resilient the inventing spirit can be. Though curveballs were thrown at him along the way, Goodyear kept his head down and feverishly worked to make his dreams a reality.

Are you going to take a page out of Charles Goodyear’s book? Submit your invention idea, today!

Copyright Davison, 2016

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcanization

http://www.biography.com/people/charles-goodyear-9315611#synopsis

https://www.american-inventor.com/charles-goodyear

Images:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Goodyear-Charles-LOC-closeup.jpg

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Charles Goodyear was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in late December 1800. He was the oldest of six children; and in his teens, he went to Philadelphia to learn the hardware trade. By the age of 26, Goodyear had opened his own hardware store, specializing in agricultural implements. While business was good for a while, by the early 1830s his store was failing and he was looking for another business. Around 1832, Goodyear began to hear about ‘gum elastic’ and found that factories in New England had been manufacturing goods, such as aprons, hats, carriage tops, and waterproof shoes. This gum elastic, or natural rubber, was harvested from the sap that oozed from the bark of trees native to Central and South America.

In 1834, Goodyear visited a rubber company’s retail store and was struck by a new product on display. It was a rubber life preserver, and he could see that the tube used for inflation wasn’t very effective or well-made. So he decided he could do better, so he went home to make better tubes. But when he returned to the store with his invention a few days later, the manager told him that the company was on the brink of bankruptcy because his customers were demanding refunds for all of the shoes, boots, raincoats, and other items made of rubberized cloth. The customers returned these products because the rubber they were made with would melt into a gooey, foul-smelling mess in the heat of summer and froze stiff in the winter.

As rubber’s fatal flaw became apparent, the ‘Great India Rubber Panic’ of the 1830s caused most of New England’s rubber factories to close. While the rubber industry in America seemed destined for failure, Goodyear didn’t give up. Despite having no formal scientific training, he decided he would figure out a way to make rubber easier to handle. After years of experimentation and little money to support his large family, Goodyear had a breakthrough when, in 1839, he accidentally spilled some India rubber, sulfur and lead onto a hot stove. What resulted was a substance that was hard but pliable. In fact, the new material had ‘memory’—it returned to its original shape after being twisted. This process (later called vulcanization) made rubber heat-proof, waterproof and winter-proof; and it opened the door for an enormous market for rubber goods.

Even though he solved the huge rubber problem, the public’s view of rubber was still tainted from the previous episodes of gooey rubber; so his efforts to secure capital landed on deaf ears. At last, in 1842, he managed to secure some backing and started a small factory in Springfield, Massachusetts. The factory was run largely by Charles’ two brothers and his brother-in-law; and in that factory, the team worked out the kinks of making the invention practical. By 1844, the process was sufficiently perfected and Goodyear felt it safe to take out a patent.

Although he was hailed as a great inventor at expositions all over the world, Goodyear was barely solvent when he died in 1860. Luckily, royalties from his invention gave his surviving children enough money to enjoy the comfortable life that had largely eluded their father. And his legacy was so great, that in 1898, almost forty years after his death, Frank Seiberling started The “Goodyear” Tire & Rubber Company in recognition of Charles Goodyear’s contribution to the products they made; rubber tires for bicycles and carriages. When the automobile age started, “Goodyear” became a household name and today has sales of more than $20 billion. So the next time you’re out for a ride in your car, remember Charles Goodyear made that smooth ride possible.

Copyright Davison 2013

Images:

http://www.ushistory.org/us/images/00000048.jpg

http://memory.loc.gov/rbc/rbpe/rbpe06/rbpe068/06802500/001dr.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-60guH-2XPDs/TYAewk1RoUI/AAAAAAAABdo/PAzjXDAtzEY/s1600/goodyear+tires.jpg

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Goodyear

http://www.goodyear.com/corporate/history/history_story.html

http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventors/a/CharlesGoodyear.htm

http://massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=175

http://www.ushistory.org/us/25c.asp

http://www.goodyear.com/corporate/history/history_overview.html

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