The wheel is an amazing tool that we are able to use to transport things and transmit power from one place to another.

A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the main components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be moved easily facilitating movement or transportation while supporting a load, or performing labor in machines. Wheels are also used for other purposes, such as a ship’s wheel, steering wheel, potter’s wheel and flywheel. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel

There is an idiom about reinventing wheels and that is what we are going to talk about in this document. It goes something like; “Don’t go and reinvent the wheel.”

By this they mean that they don’t want you to go and discover something that has already been discovered and executed on and to instead just go and find that method or object to use or build from.

It also means that you shouldn’t attempt to build a better mousetrap because the best is already made and so you should stop trying. This is the most common usage for inventors to hear and so the most common engineering methods are used instead of the new technologies that you invent or are just coming out on the market to use.

This sounds reasonable but it removes the drive of innovation and replaces it with the same ol’, same ol’ methods that are tried and true so far. Some people have decided to ignore the idiom about reinventing the wheel, and have gone and reinvented the wheel in creative and useful ways.

TRACK TYPE VEHICLES (e.g. bulldozer, tanks)

For a long time it was wheels that took to the rock and soil to rock and soil earth moving and agricultural machines. This is where Caterpillar Inc. comes into play.

The steam tractors of the 1890s and early 1900s were extremely heavy, sometimes weighing 1,000 pounds (450 kg) per horsepower, and often sank into the rich, soft earth of the San Joaquin Valley Delta farmland surrounding Stockton, California. Benjamin Holt attempted to fix the problem by increasing the size and width of the wheels up to 7.5 feet (2.3 m) tall and 6 feet (1.8 m) wide, producing a tractor 46 feet (14 m) wide. But this also made the tractors increasingly complex, expensive and difficult to maintain.

Another solution considered was to lay a temporary plank road ahead of the steam tractor, but this was time-consuming, expensive, and interfered with earthmoving. Holt thought of wrapping the planks around the wheels. He replaced the wheels on a 40 horsepower (30 kW) Holt steamer, No. 77, with a set of wooden tracks bolted to chains. On Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1904, he successfully tested the updated machine plowing the soggy delta land of Roberts Island.^[11]

Company photographer Charles Clements was reported to have observed that the tractor crawled like a caterpillar,^[3] and Holt seized on the metaphor. “Caterpillar it is. That’s the name for it!”^[11] Some sources, though, attribute this name to British soldiers in July 1907. Two years later Holt sold his first steam-powered tractor crawlers for US$5,500, about US$128,000 today. Each side featured a track frame measured 30 inches (760 mm) high by 42 inches (1,100 mm) wide and were 9 feet (2.7 m) long. The tracks were 3 inches (76 mm) by 4 inches (100 mm) redwood slats.^[11]

Holt received the first patent for a practical continuous track for use with a tractor on December 7, 1907 for his improved “Traction Engine” (“improvement in vehicles, and especially of the traction engine class; and included endless traveling platform supports upon which the engine is carried”).^[12]

You have tracks on agriculture machines, earth moving machines (bulldozer), and military machines (tanks).

SHARK WHEELS (e.g. skateboard)

The shark wheel is a unique square wheel that goes back and forth. It seems to produce a number of useful traits for skateboarders. You can see more on their website: http://sharkwheel.com/

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TWEELS (airless ribbed tires)

Michelin has made an airless tire called the Tweel. You can see more on their website: http://www.michelintweel.com/

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Bridgestone also has a concept for an airless tire as well. See more on their website: http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tread-and-trend/tire-talk/airless-concept-tires

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OMNI-DIRECTIONAL WHEELS (moves in any direction)

A forklift and other vehicles can use omni-directional wheels which allow for the vehicle to move in any direction. Airtrax Cobra forklifts use this well. See there website here: http://www.airtrax.com/

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ENERGY RETURN WHEELS (airless with spring structures)

Energy Return Wheels or ERW is what one guy is calling his invention. It is car and bike wheels both with the same type of engineering. The idea is somewhat like a Tweel where it is airless and spring loaded with something other than air. Tweel use ribs that deform and support. The ERWs use actual springs or rubber structures that will create the support and spring functions. It seems to work great on cars and bicycles. See more on their website: http://www.energyreturnwheel.com/

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LOOPWHEELS (spokes replaced with loop springs)

These wheels replaced the spokes with springs that are strips in a loop format to provide springiness needed but that keeps the lateral forces at bay. It reduces high frequency vibration through the springs this way which causes less fatigue on the riders joints. See more on their website: https://www.loopwheels.com/

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STAIR CLIMBER WHEELS

Stair climbing wheels are a neat assembly of three wheels in a triangle pattern. The center of the triangle has the main axle running through it. They are used on carts and can be use for many things that climb or go down stairs.

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MORPH WHEELS (wheelchair)

You can even get wheels that fold up. A bicycle wheel has been created to fold up. See more on their website: http://www.folding-wheels.com/

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