Every motorist knows the pain of a flat tire. The modern low-profile tire is an amazing piece of technology, but it is still susceptible to sharp pieces of metal, carelessly left on a service station floor.

Tire manufacturers have come up with a number of potential solutions, ranging from run flat tires (which are noisy, expensive, and still need replacement if punctured) to the Tweel (which is pretty awesome, but only good for low-speed applications right now).

One possible intermediate step would be to incorporate a layer of small gel-filled capsules, embedded in rubber, between the tread and the compressed air tube/layer (see diagram).

The gel capsules would serve as additional protection against punctures, and potentially could also be used to improve the ride and reduce tire noise.

As per the usual: I have no idea if this is an original idea, and I haven’t tested it to see if it works.