George Schrader is credited with the pioneering effort and experimental work that resulted in patents issued for the housing design with its removable and interchangeable core and cap, a design that is still in use today. Indeed, the Schrader^® valve has changed very little since 1898.

A Schrader^® valve consists of a hollow cylindrical metal tube, typically brass, with the exterior end threaded. The interior end takes a variety of forms depending on its application. In the center of the exterior end is a metal pin pointing along the axis of the tube; the pin's end is flush with the end of the valve body.

Generally, 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 pneumatic tires. Most air hose fittings (chucks) for inflating tires actually are not threaded; instead, they seal by compressing a rubber collar around the threads. Both tire chucks and tire gauges include a built in fixed pin to depress the valve core's stem as you apply the tool to the valve.

Depressing the pin is also the method for manually relieving the pressure retained by the valve. As mentioned above, a pressure gauge, when pressed firmly onto the end of a valve, depresses the pin to open the valve so that the pressure inside can be measured.

Dimensions:

Metric:

External Thread: 7.7 mm OD, thread root diameter is 6.9 mm x 0.794 mm pitch.
Internal Thread: 5.30 mm OD x 0.706 mm pitch

American:

External Thread: 0.305 in OD, thread root diameter 0.302 in x 32 tpi (threads per inch)
Internal Thread: 0.209 in OD x 36 tpi.