The Schrader valve (also called American valve) is a type of pneumatic tire valve used on virtually every motor vehicle in the world today. The Schrader company, for which it was named, was founded in 1844 by August Schrader. The original Schrader valve design was invented in 1891, and patented in the United States in 1893. The Schrader valve consists of a valve stem into which a valve core is threaded. The valve core is a poppet valve assisted by a spring. A small rubber seal located on the core keeps the fluid from escaping through the threads. Using the appropriate tools, a faulty valve core can be immediately extracted from the valve stem and replaced with a new one. Uses The Schrader valve is used on virtually all automobile tires and motorcycle tires and most wider rimmed bicycle tires. In addition to tube and tubeless tires, Schrader valves of varying diameters are used on many refrigeration and air conditioning systems to allow servicing, including recharging with refrigerant; by plumbers conducting leak-down pressure tests on pipe installations; as a bleeding and test port on the fuel rail of some fuel injected engines; on bicycle air shock absorbers to allow adjustment of air pressure according to the rider's weight; for medical gas outlets within hospitals and some medical vehicles; and in the buoyancy compensator (BC) inflators of SCUBA systems where the ability to easily disconnect an air hose (even underwater) without the loss of tank air is critical. Schrader valves are also widely used in high-pressure hydraulic systems on aircraft. Many domestic fire extinguishers use an internal valve identical to a Schrader valve, but with a lever on top to enable quick release of the pressurized content. It is also the same thread specification used on the shutter button of some old Leica, Yashica and also Nikon F and F2 cameras. Valve A Schrader valve consists of an externally threaded hollow cylindrical metal tube, typically of nickel plated brass. In the center of the exterior end is a metal pin pointing along the axis of the valve stem; the pin's end is approximately flush with the end of the valve body. All Schrader valves used on tires have threads and bodies of a single standard size at the exterior end, so caps and tools generally are universal for the valves on all common applications. The core of the valve can be