Timothy B. Rhyne is a retired Michelin Research Fellow and co-inventor of the Tweel .
39-498: The Tweel (a portmanteau of tire and wheel ) is an airless tire design developed by the French tire company Michelin . Its significant advantage over pneumatic tires is that the Tweel does not use a bladder full of compressed air , and therefore cannot burst, leak pressure, or become flat. Instead, the Tweel's hub is connected to the rim via flexible polyurethane spokes which fulfil
78-426: A compound , which fully preserves the stems of the original words. The British lecturer Valerie Adams's 1973 Introduction to Modern English Word-Formation explains that "In words such as motel ..., hotel is represented by various shorter substitutes – ‑otel ... – which I shall call splinters. Words containing splinters I shall call blends". Thus, at least one of the parts of a blend, strictly speaking,
117-421: A conventional tire. Because the tread rubber around the outer circumference is replaceable when worn (as opposed to disposing of a whole worn tire), the potential environmental impact of a Tweel airless tire can be less than that of a conventional pneumatic tire. Tweel is useful for: "vehicles that don't have suspensions like lawn mowers – those low speed specialty vehicles that don't have suspensions. The comfort
156-523: A form suitable for carrying on horseback; (now esp.) one in the form of a stiff leather case hinged at the back to open into two equal parts". According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language ( AHD ), the etymology of the word is the French porte-manteau , from porter , "to carry", and manteau , "cloak" (from Old French mantel , from Latin mantellum ). According to
195-427: A kind of bath), the attributive blends of English are mostly head-final and mostly endocentric . As an example of an exocentric attributive blend, Fruitopia may metaphorically take the buyer to a fruity utopia (and not a utopian fruit); however, it is not a utopia but a drink. Coordinate blends (also called associative or portmanteau blends) combine two words having equal status, and have two heads. Thus brunch
234-595: A resto-modded 1955 Morris Minor Traveller, and an Aluma brand trailer hauling a Polaris ATV which was also equipped with Tweel tires) successfully participated in the entire 2013 Hot Rod Power Tour long-distance road trip event in June 2013. The iBOT mobility device and Segway 's Concept Centaur were both introduced with Tweel airless tires. Michelin also has additional projects for the Tweel concept on small construction equipment, such as skid-steer loaders , for which it seems well suited. NASA has contracted Michelin to develop
273-481: A total blend, each of the words creating the blend is reduced to a mere splinter. Some linguists limit blends to these (perhaps with additional conditions): for example, Ingo Plag considers "proper blends" to be total blends that semantically are coordinate, the remainder being "shortened compounds". Commonly for English blends, the beginning of one word is followed by the end of another: Much less commonly in English,
312-619: A wheel for the next-generation lunar rover based on the Tweel concept. This has resulted in the Lunar Rover Initiative AB Scarab wheels. In October 2012, Michelin North America Inc. began commercial sales of the Michelin 12N16.5 X Tweel for skid-steer loaders used in landscaping, construction, contracting, refuse/recycling and agricultural industries. On 8 November 2005, Popular Science magazine named Michelin's Tweel as
351-554: Is frankenword , an autological word exemplifying the phenomenon it describes, blending " Frankenstein " and "word". Timothy B. Rhyne Rhyne received his BS and PhD degrees from North Carolina State University . He started at Michelin in 1978, originally in machine design, and moving to tire research and development in 1986. He was an adjunct professor at Clemson University 's ICAR (International Center for Automotive Research) where he taught tire mechanics. In 2021, he and co-inventor Steven M. Cron were jointly awarded
390-477: Is a Japanese blend that has entered the English language. The Vietnamese language also encourages blend words formed from Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary . For example, the term Việt Cộng is derived from the first syllables of "Việt Nam" (Vietnam) and "Cộng sản" (communist). Many corporate brand names , trademarks, and initiatives, as well as names of corporations and organizations themselves, are blends. For example, Wiktionary , one of Misplaced Pages 's sister projects,
429-489: Is a blend of wiki and dictionary . The word portmanteau was introduced in this sense by Lewis Carroll in the book Through the Looking-Glass (1871), where Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of unusual words used in " Jabberwocky ". Slithy means "slimy and lithe" and mimsy means "miserable and flimsy". Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the practice of combining words in various ways, comparing it to
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#1733115757621468-461: Is acknowledged that the initial prototype automotive Tweel tires did demonstrate flaws with regard to noise and high-speed vibration and produced 5 percent more friction compared to a radial tire , these early issues were resolved in subsequent prototypes and, in 2013, automotive Tweel prototype products had been shown to be well-behaved and reliable. As a demonstration of Tweel viability and reliability, three highway-driven vehicles (a 2012 Honda CR-Z,
507-440: Is both phonological and orthographic, but with no other shortening: The overlap may be both phonological and orthographic, and with some additional shortening to at least one of the ingredients: Such an overlap may be discontinuous: These are also termed imperfect blends. It can occur with three components: The phonological overlap need not also be orthographic: If the phonological but non-orthographic overlap encompasses
546-692: Is neither a breakfasty lunch nor a lunchtime breakfast but instead some hybrid of breakfast and lunch; Oxbridge is equally Oxford and Cambridge universities. This too parallels (conventional, non-blend) compounds: an actor–director is equally an actor and a director. Two kinds of coordinate blends are particularly conspicuous: those that combine (near‑) synonyms: and those that combine (near‑) opposites: Blending can also apply to roots rather than words, for instance in Israeli Hebrew : "There are two possible etymological analyses for Israeli Hebrew כספר kaspár 'bank clerk, teller'. The first
585-664: Is not a complete morpheme , but instead a mere splinter or leftover word fragment. For instance, starfish is a compound, not a blend, of star and fish , as it includes both words in full. However, if it were called a " stish " or a " starsh ", it would be a blend. Furthermore, when blends are formed by shortening established compounds or phrases, they can be considered clipped compounds , such as romcom for romantic comedy . Blends of two or more words may be classified from each of three viewpoints: morphotactic, morphonological, and morphosemantic. Blends may be classified morphotactically into two kinds: total and partial . In
624-407: Is quite good and better than inflated tyres" said Terry K. Gettys, executive vice-president, research and development, and member of the group executive committee at French tire company Michelin. Military testing has indicated that the Tweel deflects mine blasts away from the vehicle better than standard tires and that the Tweel remains mobile even with several spokes damaged or missing. Although it
663-477: Is replaceable. Potential benefits of the Tweel include not only the obvious safety and convenience of never having flat tires, but also, in automotive applications, the Tweel airless tire has the potential to be able to brake better – a significant performance compromise that is inherent to pneumatic tires. Unlike a pneumatic tire, a Tweel can be designed to have high lateral stiffness while simultaneously having low vertical stiffness. This can be achieved because, in
702-452: Is similar to a contraction . On the one hand, mainstream blends tend to be formed at a particular historical moment followed by a rapid rise in popularity. Contractions, on the other hand, are formed by the gradual drifting together of words over time due to them commonly appearing together in sequence, such as do not naturally becoming don't (phonologically, / d uː n ɒ t / becoming / d oʊ n t / ). A blend also differs from
741-405: Is that it consists of (Hebrew>) Israeli כסף késef 'money' and the ( International /Hebrew>) Israeli agentive suffix ר- -ár . The second is that it is a quasi- portmanteau word which blends כסף késef 'money' and (Hebrew>) Israeli ספר √spr 'count'. Israeli Hebrew כספר kaspár started as a brand name but soon entered the common language. Even if the second analysis is the correct one,
780-520: The OED Online , the etymology of the word is the "officer who carries the mantle of a person in a high position (1507 in Middle French), case or bag for carrying clothing (1547), clothes rack (1640)". In modern French, a porte-manteau is a clothes valet , a coat-tree or similar article of furniture for hanging up jackets, hats, umbrellas and the like. An occasional synonym for "portmanteau word"
819-759: The "Best of What's New" honor in the Automotive Technology category. The next day, Michelin NA was awarded a Hall of Fame Award by InnoVision for continued leadership in innovation as evidenced by the development of the Tweel. TIME Magazine named the Tweel as "One of the Most Amazing Inventions of 2005" a few short days later on 14 November 2005. The Intermat innovation commission in Paris (the International Exhibition of Equipment, Machinery and Techniques for
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#1733115757621858-503: The Construction and Building Materials Industry) awarded the Tweel with a 2006 Gold Medal for Innovation. This prize reinforced Michelin's technological leadership and rewarded Michelin’s contribution to improvements in productivity and safety for the construction industry. The jury of Intermat 2006 was made up of recognized European experts and professionals and required to rank the innovations according to five criteria: A Silver Award in
897-637: The Transportation category was awarded to the Tweel SSL on 26 April 2013 by the 2013 Edison Awards. Of the 7,156 applications received, 131 finalists were selected by the Edison Awards Committee. The Tweel SSL was one of 42 winners, who represented 12 categories and symbolize the persistence and excellence personified by Thomas Alva Edison. The Tweel SSL was selected as one of the 2013 Contractors’ Top 50 New Products by readers of Equipment Today as one of
936-486: The Tweel handles and how it handles loads. The inner hub structure may be either rigid or compliant, depending on the application requirements, and as such may contain a matrix of deformable plastic structures that flex under load and subsequently return to their original shape. By varying the thickness and size of the spokes the design elements can be manipulated to engineer a wide range of ride and handling qualities. The tread can be as specialized as any conventional tires and
975-610: The Tweel. Michelin partnered with GM in 2020 to offer the Unique Puncture-proof Tire System (Uptis) that may be available for the 2024 model vehicles. The tire made its first public appearance at the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA) mobility show in Germany on an electric Mini Cooper. GM began testing the tires on a fleet of 2019 Chevrolet Bolt electric cars with the possibility for
1014-633: The Uptis to be an option on some GM vehicles in 2024. The Uptis uses an aluminum wheel assembly and rubber reinforced with glass composite and vinyl ester resin, an improvement over designs such as the Tweel. Portmanteau In linguistics , a blend —also known as a blend word , lexical blend , or portmanteau —is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together. English examples include smog , coined by blending smoke and fog , as well as motel , from motor ( motorist ) and hotel . A blend
1053-502: The beginning of one word may be followed by the beginning of another: Some linguists do not regard beginning+beginning concatenations as blends, instead calling them complex clippings, clipping compounds or clipped compounds . Unusually in English, the end of one word may be followed by the end of another: A splinter of one word may replace part of another, as in three coined by Lewis Carroll in " Jabberwocky ": They are sometimes termed intercalative blends; these words are among
1092-402: The design elements of a Tweel, the vertical and lateral stiffness are not inseparably linked and can thus be optimized independently. Because there is no air bladder under the tread, tread patterns can, if desired, even incorporate water evacuation through holes in the design thus eliminating or significantly reducing hydroplaning . Michelin expects the tread to last two to three times as long as
1131-586: The final syllable ר- -ár apparently facilitated nativization since it was regarded as the Hebrew suffix ר- -år (probably of Persian pedigree), which usually refers to craftsmen and professionals, for instance as in Mendele Mocher Sforim 's coinage סמרטוטר smartutár 'rag-dealer'." Blending may occur with an error in lexical selection , the process by which a speaker uses his semantic knowledge to choose words. Lewis Carroll's explanation, which gave rise to
1170-471: The industry’s most innovative products for the year. In January 2014, Equipment World named one of the “five game-changing” construction products of 2013 for their 2014 Innovations Awards. The Tweel SSL was named as one of those five product winners. The inventors of the Tweel, Timothy B. Rhyne and Steven M. Cron jointly received the Charles Goodyear Medal in recognition of the singular impact of
1209-403: The ingredients is the head and the other is attributive. A porta-light is a portable light, not a 'light-emitting' or light portability; light is the head. A snobject is a snobbery-satisfying object and not an objective or other kind of snob; object is the head. As is also true for (conventional, non-blend) attributive compounds (among which bathroom , for example, is a kind of room, not
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1248-490: The morphemes or phonemes stay in the same position within the syllable. Some languages, like Japanese , encourage the shortening and merging of borrowed foreign words (as in gairaigo ), because they are long or difficult to pronounce in the target language. For example, karaoke , a combination of the Japanese word kara (meaning empty ) and the clipped form oke of the English loanword "orchestra" (J. ōkesutora , オーケストラ ),
1287-495: The original "portmanteaus" for which this meaning of the word was created. In a partial blend, one entire word is concatenated with a splinter from another. Some linguists do not recognize these as blends. An entire word may be followed by a splinter: A splinter may be followed by an entire word: An entire word may replace part of another: These have also been called sandwich words, and classed among intercalative blends. (When two words are combined in their entirety,
1326-453: The result is considered a compound word rather than a blend. For example, bagpipe is a compound, not a blend, of bag and pipe. ) Morphologically, blends fall into two kinds: overlapping and non-overlapping . Overlapping blends are those for which the ingredients' consonants, vowels or even syllables overlap to some extent. The overlap can be of different kinds. These are also called haplologic blends. There may be an overlap that
1365-460: The shock-absorbing role provided by the compressed air in a traditional tire. The Tweel consists of a band of conventional tire rubber with molded tread, a shear beam just below the tread that creates a compliant contact patch , a series of energy-absorbing polyurethane spokes, and an integral inner hub structure. Both the shear beam and the polyurethane spokes can be designed to provide a calibrated directional stiffness in order to control both how
1404-480: The then-common type of luggage , which opens into two equal parts: You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word. In his introduction to his 1876 poem The Hunting of the Snark , Carroll again uses portmanteau when discussing lexical selection: Humpty Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all. For instance, take
1443-462: The two words "fuming" and "furious". Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first … if you have the rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say "frumious". In then-contemporary English, a portmanteau was a suitcase that opened into two equal sections. According to the OED Online , a portmanteau is a "case or bag for carrying clothing and other belongings when travelling; (originally) one of
1482-406: The use of 'portmanteau' for such combinations, was: Humpty Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all. For instance, take the two words "fuming" and "furious." Make up your mind that you will say both words ... you will say "frumious." The errors are based on similarity of meanings, rather than phonological similarities, and
1521-542: The whole of the shorter ingredient, as in then the effect depends on orthography alone. (They are also called orthographic blends. ) An orthographic overlap need not also be phonological: For some linguists, an overlap is a condition for a blend. Non-overlapping blends (also called substitution blends) have no overlap, whether phonological or orthographic: Morphosemantically, blends fall into two kinds: attributive and coordinate . Attributive blends (also called syntactic or telescope blends) are those in which one of
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