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George Walther Sr. (August 13, 1876April 10, 1961) was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, civic leader and the holder of over 100 patents for truck wheels, brake drums, fifth wheels, and landing gear/legs for the trucking industry. He was the founder of the Dayton Steel Foundry. Walther developed the first practical cast steel wheel for solid rubber tires. This was a basic but critical contribution to the evolution of the early trucking industry and the U.S. Army trucks in World War I. Walther followed the design of the cast steel wheel for solid rubber tires with the design of a cast steel wheel for pneumatic tires and then the design of an improved brake drum. When semi-trailer trucks were developed, he designed improved versions of the fifth wheel and landing legs for semi-trailer trucks. Walther’s engineering skills resulted in patents for many developments of truck wheels, brake drums, fifth wheels, and landing legs that have helped to expand the role of trucks in the transportation industry. ==Early life in Germany== George Walther was born on August 13, 1876 in the industrial German city of Steinbach-Michelstadt of Hessen, Germany. The two cities, separated only by a railroad, were small: Michelstadt was the largest with 1,500 people and Steinbach, home of the Walthers, had 700 residents. The son of Heinrich and Elizabeth Walther, Walther was number 5 of 7 children. The Walther boys, according to the custom of the day started their apprentice training early. Walther was fascinated with foundry work. He started to work in an iron foundry helping fashion solid iron wheels for mine cars. Toward the close of the 19th century in Hessen, Germany, two teenagers, Walther and his brother Jacob, one an apprentice molder and the other an apprentice pattern maker, dreamed of opportunity in the country across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1892 the two youths took their dreams to their father. Many other German fathers were hearing the same requests "We want to go to America." Their father considered the request carefully and then decided that the two boys could go to America to live with his brother Jacob in Dayton, Ohio. Their father borrowed the money to pay for their passage, signing a personal note as security. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「George Walther Sr.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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