Physical Structure Of Reinforcing Cords Patents (Class 152/556)
  • Patent number: 6530410
    Abstract: As the present invention there is disclosed a pneumatic radial tire comprising a carcass having a smaller tensile rigidity than that of conventional pneumatic radial tires by application of a steel cord having a smaller Young's modulus to the carcass or by application of a smaller amount of a high strength steel cord formed with carcass filaments having a greater tensile strength to the carcass while maintaining the necessary strength of the carcass. In accordance with the present invention, extension of the carcass increases and extension of a belt in the circumferential direction of the tire is suppressed when the tire is inflated by an inner pressure. As a result, compression stress working on the carcass when a vehicle turns decreases and buckling deformation of the steel cord can be prevented. Accordingly, durability is improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2003
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventor: Naohiko Obana
  • Publication number: 20030024623
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire comprises a carcass ply of cords extending between bead portions through a tread portion and sidewall portions, the carcass cords include main cords for reinforcing purpose and auxiliary cords for controlling the outflow of topping rubber during vulcanization, the main cords and auxiliary cords are arranged alternately in the tire circumferential direction, and the number of auxiliary cord(s) between the main cords is in a range of from one to three.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2002
    Publication date: February 6, 2003
    Inventors: Shinichi Miyazaki, Osamu Toda
  • Publication number: 20030019557
    Abstract: The pneumatic tire has a single carcass ply reinforced with parallel metallic cords, each cord composed of at least one filament having a tensile strength of at least (−2000×D+4400 MPa)×95%, where D is the filament diameter in millimeters. The turnup portion of the single carcass ply 12 in the bead portion of a pneumatic tire is interposed between the bead core 11 and a toe guard 18, and the radially outer edge of each turnup portion being in contact with the main portion of the carcass ply and extending to an end point 0.5 to 4.0 inches (12.7 to 101.6 mm) radially outward of the bead core as measured along the main portion of the carcass ply of the tire. A toe guard 18 associated with each bead core 11 has a first and second end and each end is disposed directly adjacent to the carcass ply. The first end 18a of the toe guard is located on the axially inner side of the main portion of the carcass ply at a location about 0.4 to 3.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 6, 2002
    Publication date: January 30, 2003
    Applicant: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Amit Prakash, Donald Woodrow Gilliam, Gary Edwin Tubb
  • Publication number: 20020189736
    Abstract: A radial medium radial truck (RMT) tire has belt or breaker plies which are reinforced by organic reinforcement cords or filaments. In one embodiment, organic monofilaments are used in the belt or breaker plies which have the following characteristics: at least 2,000 denier (2,200 dTex), a tenacity of at least 3.5 g/denier (31 cN/Tex), an initial modulus of at least 30 g/denier (265 cN/Tex) and a shrinkage of at most 6%. When an organic polymer reinforcement is used in the top belt or breaker in the belt package of a tire, scrapping of tires during a retreading operation because of corrosion is greatly reduced. In addition, acceptance for retreadability is increased because of reduced top belt or breaker damage, allowing for easier preparation for the retreading.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2002
    Publication date: December 19, 2002
    Applicant: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Italo M. Sinopoli, John Gomer Morgan, Anthony Hardy, Murat Yasar Susutoguu
  • Publication number: 20020185206
    Abstract: The invention concerns a tire whose crown contains a ply of circumferentially oriented cords. That ply is so arranged that in sensitive zones, as, for example, at the side ends of the adjacent crown reinforcing ply, the laying pitch of the circumferentially oriented cords is markedly increased. That considerably lessens the risk of damage to the circumferentially oriented cords in those zones.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 3, 2002
    Publication date: December 12, 2002
    Inventors: Pedro Costa Pereira, David Jardine
  • Patent number: 6478063
    Abstract: A radial medium truck (RMT) tire has belt or breaker plies which are reinforced by organic reinforcement cords or filaments. In one embodiment, organic monofilaments are used in the belt or breaker plies which have the following characteristics: at least 2,000 denier (2,200 dTex), a tenacity of at least 3.5 g/denier (31 cN/Tex), an initial modulus of at least 30 g/denier (265 cN/Tex) and a shrinkage of at most 6%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2002
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Italo M. Sinopoli, John Gomer Morgan, Anthony Hardy, Murat Yasar Susutoguu
  • Patent number: 6478064
    Abstract: A heavy duty radial tire comprises: a carcass ply turned up around a bead core in each bead portion from the inside to outside of the tire so as to form a pair of turnup portions and a main portion therebetween; a bead apex rubber disposed between each of the turnup portions and the main portion, each. of the turnup portions extending radially outwardly beyond a radially outer end of the bead apex to adjoin the main portion; a chafer rubber disposed along at least an axially outer surface of each of the bead portions so as to define at least a flange-contacting part for contacting with a flange of a wheel rim; the height of the radially outer end of the bead apex being in the range of from 7 to 35% of the height of the carcass at the tire equator and being less than the height of the radially outer end of the chafer rubber; and the flange-contacting part being devoid of a concave profile. When the carcass ply is made of steel cords whose sectional area is in the range of from 0.10 to 0.25 sq.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2002
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Kiyoshi Ueyoko
  • Patent number: 6460590
    Abstract: A tire having a radial carcass reinforcement covered radially on the outside by a crown reinforcement consisting of two working plies of reinforcement elements crossed over and making angles of between 10° and 45° with respect to the circumferential direction, the carcass reinforcement in its portion underneath the crown reinforcement being formed of cut reinforcement elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2002
    Assignee: Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin-Michelin & Cie
    Inventor: Noël Morel
  • Publication number: 20020096239
    Abstract: In the pneumatic tire of this invention, at least the outermost one of a plurality of rubber layers between the carcass and tread has been reinforced with a plurality of steel cords. Each of these steel cords is a single-strand steel cord with an elongation at break of not less than 4% and at least one of its component wires does not form a common circumcircle with the remaining wires. This pneumatic tire features a high anti-cut property, high wire tenacity utilization rate, high rigidity and inhibited onset and growth of separation. The curve circumscribing the cross-sections of the constituent wires of each steel cord is not a true circle. Furthermore, a high resistance to nail penetration is assured by arranging the steel cords in such a manner that, for a large majority of steel cords, the direction of maximum offset span of the circumscribing curve is substantially coincidental with the width direction of the outermost layer of rubber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2001
    Publication date: July 25, 2002
    Applicant: Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kouzi Takahira
  • Patent number: 6418994
    Abstract: The present invention provides a stainless steel wire for a carcass of a tire and a process for making such a wire. The wire comprises at least 0.02% and at most 0.2% carbon, at least 3% and at most 20% nickel, at least 12% and at most 28% chromium, the sum of the nickel and chromium being at least equal to 20% and at most 35% (% in weight). The structure of the steel comprises at least 20% in volume of martensite and it is devoid of austenite or it comprises less than 80% of it in volume.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2002
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventors: Jean-Claude Arnaud, Christian Lamoureux, Eric Depraetere
  • Patent number: 6405774
    Abstract: A rubber reinforcing steel cord of a bundle-twisted+layer-twisted structure obtained by arranging 9 steel filaments around 3 steel filaments each being two-dimensionally wave-like shaped in the lengthwise direction, intertwining all of these steel filaments in one operation to form a bundle-twisted cord, and further arranging 14 steel filaments around the bundle-twisted cord followed by intertwining. Also, a heavy duty pneumatic radial tire using the rubber reinforcing steel cord as the cord of the carcass layer thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2002
    Assignee: The Yokohama Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Ryuzo Komatsu
  • Patent number: 6345658
    Abstract: A pneumatic radial tire wherein both end portions of at least one layer of a carcass layer are turned up around right and left bead cores from the inside to the outside of the tire, and at least two layers of belt layers formed by arranging reinforcing cords in such a fashion that their inclining directions with respect to a tire circumferential direction cross one another in mutually opposite directions between the layers are disposed on the outer circumferential side of the carcass layer of a tread portion. A carcass strength coefficient K defined by the formula (1) in the specification is 0.15 to 0.35 N/mm·kPa at portions on the tread portion center side of positions P which are away by 10% of a belt width of a belt layer having the second greatest width from both edges thereof towards its inside, and is 0.5 N/mm·kPa at portions from the positions P to the bead portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2002
    Assignee: The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Zenichiro Shida, Yoshiaki Hashimura
  • Patent number: 6327842
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a metallic cord for the reinforcement of elastomers. The cord has (a) a core composed of two filaments, (b) a single filament surrounding said core and (c) a sheath of nine filaments surrounding said core and single filament.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2001
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Thomas Walter Starinshak
  • Publication number: 20010039988
    Abstract: Disclosed are polyester multi-filamentary yarn useful as a reinforcement for tires and a dipped cord formed therefrom. The polyester multi-filamentary yarn comprises at least 90 mol % of polyethylene terephthalate and has an intrinsic viscosity of 0.70˜1.2 and a tenacity of 5.5˜8.5 g/d with an intermediate elongation difference (E1−E0) between intermediate elongations E0 and E1 amounting to 6% or greater. The polyester dipped cord is produced by subjecting at least two strands of polyester multi-filamentary yarn to first twisting and second twisting, the polyester multi-filamentary yarn comprising 90 mole % of polyethylene terephthalate; forming the strands into a fabric; and treating the fabric with blocked isocyanate and resorcinol formaldehyde latex (RFL), wherein the cord satisfies the following characteristics: a) a tenacity of 5.0 g/d or greater, b) a dimensional stability index (E4.5+SR) of less than 7.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 1999
    Publication date: November 15, 2001
    Inventors: SUNG JOONG KIM, GI WOONG KIM, SEUNG OH LEE
  • Patent number: 6305451
    Abstract: A heavy duty radial tire which comprises a tread portion, a pair of sidewall portions, a pair of bead portions, a carcass extending between the bead portions and composed of a single ply of steel cords arranged radially at an angle of from 70 to 90 degrees with respect to the tire equator, and a belt disposed radially outside the carcass in the tread portion and composed of two cross plies of steel cords laid parallel with each other at an angle of from 0 to 45 degrees with respect to the tire equator, wherein in at least the central part of the tread portion having 50% of the axial width of the belt, the total amount of steel in the belt plies being in the range of from 6 to 10 times the steel amount in the carcass ply, and the thickness of rubber between the radially adjacent belt cords and carcass cords is in the range of from 0.7 to 3.0 mm. Preferably, the two belt plies are made of substantially the same amount of steel in the central part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2001
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Kiyoshi Ueyoko
  • Patent number: 6272830
    Abstract: A steel cord (10) for reinforcing elastomeric articles. The steel cord (10) having a plurality of strands (14). Each strand (14) having a core (20) and a sheath (22). The sheath (22) being a plurality of steel filaments that are helically wrapped about the core (20). A first strand (16) extending longitudinally through the center of the steel cord (10). The remaining strands (18) being helically wrapped about the first strand (16). The core (20) of the first strand (16) being a plurality of filaments twisted together. In a preferred embodiment, the core (20) of the first strand 16 being three filaments twisted together.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2001
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: John Gomer Morgan, Italo Marziale Sinopoli
  • Patent number: 6273160
    Abstract: Tires using high tensile reinforcement with value of at least 1240 N(280 lbs) for U+T type cord and at least 2000 N(450 lbs) for bunched type cord.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2001
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Farrel Bruce Helfer, Dong Kwang Kim, John Gomer Morgan, Robert Martin Shemenski, Italo Marziale Sinopoli, Guy Jeanpierre, Gia Van Nguyen
  • Publication number: 20010008159
    Abstract: Motor vehicle wheel including a wheel rim and a tire having a tire interior enclosed by the wheel rim and the tire. The tire is mounted on the wheel rim, and the wheel also includes an insert composed of a ring-shaped sound-absorbing material that is positioned within the tire interior. The wheel further includes an acoustically transparent support element having tensile strength, at least in a circumferential direction of the tire, that is coupled to the insert.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2001
    Publication date: July 19, 2001
    Applicant: CONTINENTAL AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Thomas Dodt, Klaus Kleinhoff, Oliver Schurmann, Frank Gauterin, Ivar Veit
  • Patent number: 6257291
    Abstract: Reinforcing fabric for articles made from elastomeric material, particularly for pneumatic tires, comprising a plurality of filamentary elements having at least tensile strength, parallel and adjacent to each other in a plane, lying in a predetermined direction. The reinforcing elements, preferably cords, are incorporated in an elastomeric material and constitute at most the 40% of the volume of the fabric.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2001
    Assignee: Pirelli Coordinamento Pneumatici S.p.A.
    Inventors: Maurizio Boiocchi, Gurdev Orjela
  • Patent number: 6253536
    Abstract: A steel cord for radial tires having a “2+5” construction structured by twisting a core and a strand in such a fashion that they have the same twist pitch length and the same twist direction, so that the number of processing steps for the twisting process is reduced from two to one, thereby reducing the manufacturing costs while achieving an improvement in productivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2001
    Assignee: Hankook Tire Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yong Shick Han
  • Patent number: 6247514
    Abstract: A strip of tire ply stock is reinforced with steel cords wherein the steel cords are constructed of high strength wire filament having at least a tensile strength of −2000×D+4400 MPa where D is the filament diameter in mm. Tires are constructed with the ply stock in the belt and/or carcass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2001
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Dong Kwang Kim, Amit Prakash
  • Patent number: 6244315
    Abstract: A tire for two-wheeled vehicles is described, said tire having a transverse curvature coefficient with a value of not less than 0.15, comprising a torus-shaped carcass having structural means which allow improvements in the handling of the vehicle, while leaving unchanged the other performance characteristics, in particular the comfort. These structural means consist in at least one ply of a rubberized fabric provided with textile cords having a count of between 420/2 and 840/2 dtex and a modulus of elasticity of between 100,000 MPa/cm and 200,000 MPa/cm. Preferably the carcass comprises a pair of these rubberized fabric plies reinforced with PEN cords.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Pirelli Pneumatici S.p.A.
    Inventor: Giancarlo Armellin
  • Patent number: 6237663
    Abstract: A metal cord for reinforcing articles made from elastomeric material comprises a plurality of metal wires wound spirally around each other. At least one of the metal wires is formed from a shape memory material, has capacities of recovering a previously memorized shape, and is deformed from the memorized shape. The shape memory wire of the cord has the recovery capacities substantially active in a first heat cycle and degraded to at least a significant predetermined extent after the first heat cycle. One or more such metal cords may be incorporated in pneumatic tires, reinforcing fabric, and other articles, including by means of processes described herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2001
    Assignee: Pirelli Coordinamento Pneumatici S.p.A.
    Inventors: Marco Cipparrone, Gurdev Orjela, Guido Riva
  • Patent number: 6213182
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire having an improved sidewall structure is disclosed, wherein a carcass comprises at least one carcass ply of cords, which comprises an axially innermost part extending through a sidewall potion from a belt edge to the axially inside of a bead core and an axially outermost part extending through the sidewall potion from the belt edge to the axially outside of the bead core, and the rubber thickness measured at the maximum tire section width point in the sidewall portion from the outer surface of the tire to the carcass cords in the axially outermost part being not more than 1.5 times the diameter of the carcass cords but not less than 0.2 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masahiro Hanya, Kazuya Suzuki
  • Patent number: 6209604
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire for passenger cars comprises bead cores, a carcass layer, a tread portion, and side wall portions, wherein a rubber reinforcing layer having a crescent-shaped cross-section and at least one sheet of a rubber-filament fiber composite having a thickness measured under a pressure of 20 g/cm2 of 0.05 to 2.0 mm which is formed from a rubber component and filaments having a diameter or a maximum cross-sectional dimension of 0.0001 to 0.1 mm and a length of 8 mm or more are disposed in said side wall portions. Reinforcing cords of carcass plies are made of an aliphatic polyamide fiber having a melting point of 250° C. or higher.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventors: Tomohisa Nishikawa, Kenji Matsuo, Kazuomi Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 6203932
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing steel wire for reinforcement of rubber articles comprises the steps of passing a wire rod plated with brass, through a group of dies immersed in a lubricant containing phosphate in continuous wet processing, winding the resulting steel wire around a spool, mounting the spool on a pay of unit of a twister assembly, and drawing the steel wire by the use of one or more dies arranged between the pay of unit and twisting unit of the twister assembly and having an area reduction per die of at least 5%, to reduce the diameter of the steel wire. Phosphor compound in the coating film formed on the brass plating of the steel wire contains phosphor in the range of 0.2 to 0.9 mg/m2 and zinc oxide in the range of 20.0 to 70.0 mg/m2. Also, provided is a steel cord which comprises twisted steel wires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2001
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventor: Hara Hisakatu
  • Patent number: 6186205
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire for a passenger car having a pair of bead portions, a toroidal carcass portion extending over both bead portions, at least two belt layers provided in a crown portion of the carcass, a tread portion positioned at an outer peripheral side of the belt layer, and side wall portions provided at the right and left sides of the tread portion, and which further includes a steel cord as a reinforcing material for reinforcing at least one layer of the carcass portion and the belt layer. The steel cord is formed by plying a plurality of filaments each having a strand diameter of 0.125 to 0.275 mm, and has an inflection point on an S—S curve. A reduction rate of a diameter of the steel cord under a load stress which is one third of breaking strength in comparison with a no load condition is equal to or more than 20%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2001
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuo Oshima, Kozo Sasaki, Tomohisa Nishikawa, Kazuomi Kobayashi, Kenji Matsuo
  • Patent number: 6158490
    Abstract: A metallic cord has (a) a core composed of two filaments either parallel or intertwisted with each other, (b) a single filament surrounding the core and (c) a sheath of nine filaments surrounding the core and single filament. Preferably, the diameter of each filament ranges from about 0.15 to 0.4 mm. The cord may reinforce elastomeric articles such as tires, belts and hoses and preferably is used in a belt ply or carcass ply of a pneumatic tire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2000
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Thomas Walter Starinshak
  • Patent number: 6135183
    Abstract: A runflat radial ply pneumatic tire 10 has a carcass 30 which has a pair of sidewalls 20, each sidewall being reinforced with at least two sidewall fillers or runflat inserts 42, 46 and at least two cord reinforced plies 38, 40 and a bead core 26. The tire has one or more reinforcing belts 36. Each sidewall has at least one ply 38 or 40 reinforced with cords, the cords have a modulus E of X, X being at least 10 GPa. At least one ply has a turnup end 32 wrapped around the bead core 26. A first ply 38 or 40 is reinforced with substantially inextensible cords having a modulus E greater than X of the cords of the other ply. The second ply 38 or 40 is spaced from the first ply 38 or 40 by the second filler or runflat insert in the sidewall 20.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2000
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Thomas Reed Oare, Amit Prakash, Robert Edward Hall, Gary Edwin Tubb
  • Patent number: 6119748
    Abstract: In a pneumatic tire for run-flat running comprising a stiffener rubber, viewing a cross-section of the tire-rim assembly inflated under an air pressure corresponding to 15% of a maximum air pressure of the tire, a top of the stiffener rubber is located inward from a specified line segment PA in a radial direction of the tire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2000
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuomi Kobayashi, Tomohisa Nishikawa, Kenji Matsuo
  • Patent number: 6119747
    Abstract: A steel cord for the reinforcement of rubber articles has a two-layer construction in which a core consists of two steel filaments and a sheath arranged around the core consists of nine steel filaments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2000
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventor: Takaya Yamanaka
  • Patent number: 6112789
    Abstract: Special cords of textile material are used for reinforcing a portion of a pneumatic tire. The cord comprises at least one yarn and has a first portion adjacent to its outer peripheral surface and a second radially inner portion, adjacent to its core, wherein the second portion is constituted by filaments which are compacted and possibly fused together and the first portion by discrete filaments. Further a method for making such cord and a pneumatic tire including such cord are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2000
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Rene Fran.cedilla.ois Reuter
  • Patent number: 6109017
    Abstract: A steel cord according to this invention comprises two core wires and five outer wires each having a diameter larger than that of each core wire and integrally twisted on the core wires, wherein a strand constituted by the five outer wires and the two core wires has an oblong cross-section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2000
    Assignee: Tokyo Rope Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiroshi Kawatani
  • Patent number: 6102095
    Abstract: A corrosion resistant steel cord for reinforcing rubber articles, particularly a belt and/or carcass of a pneumatic tire, has a residual compressive stress inside the twisting helix of each steel filament such that a ratio R.sub.1 /R.sub.0 is less than one, where R.sub.0 is the radius of curvature of a helix in each helically formed steel filament obtained by untwisting of the cord and R.sub.1 is the radius of curvature of the helix after removal of a surface layer from the inside of the helix in the steel filament. The steel filaments have a tensile strength of 4,000-4,800 N/mm.sup.2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2000
    Assignees: Bridgestone Corporation, Bridgestone Metalpha Corporation
    Inventors: Naohiko Obana, Yoshikazu Kaneko, Ryuzo Osawa
  • Patent number: 6089295
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire comprises a carcass ply made of cords each having a complex elastic modulus E* (kgf) and loss factor tan .delta. satisfying the following conditions: tan .delta.>0; tan .delta..ltoreq.0.001.times.E*-0.173; tan .delta..ltoreq.-0.0003.times.E*+0.174: and E*.ltoreq.340, under a temperature of 120 degrees C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2000
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masato Komatsuki, Shinichi Miyazaki
  • Patent number: 6026878
    Abstract: A runflat radial ply passenger or light truck pneumatic tire 10 has a carcass 30 reinforced with at least one sidewall insert or filler 42 and one substantially inextensible cord reinforced ply 38, the ply being wrapped about two bead cores 26 and located radially inward of a belt reinforcing structure 36. The sidewall insert or filler 42 is located radially inward of the ply 38. The cord 43 has a minimum modulus E of 10 Gpa and is generally inextensible and less heat sensitive than conventional synthetic cords used in passenger and light truck tires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2000
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Zhibin Zhang, Thomas Reed Oare, Amit Prakash
  • Patent number: 5948186
    Abstract: A tire includes polybenzazole (PBZ) fibers, preferably either polybenzoxazole (PBO) or polybenzothiazole (PBT) fibers which are liquid-crystalline. The PBZ fibers can be incorporated into either the carcass of the tire, the reinforcing belts, or both. Preferably the PBZ fibers have a) a tensile strength of at least 4.0 GPa; b) a tensile modulus of at least 140 GPa; and c) an average void diameter of 25 .ANG. or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1999
    Assignee: Toyobo Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kazuyuki Yabuki
  • Patent number: 5938870
    Abstract: A pneumatic radial tire comprises a carcass comprising an outer carcass ply made of cords having a first heat-shrinkage-percentage K1 and an inner carcass ply is made of cords having a second heat-shrinkage-percentage K2 different from the first heat-shrinkage-percentage K1, and the cord tension of the inner carcass ply is smaller than the cord tension of the outer carcass ply. A method of making the tire comprises steps of making the outer carcass ply of cords having a first heat-shrinkage-percentage K1, making the inner carcass ply of cords having a second heat-shrinkage-percentage K2, wherein the first heat-shrinkage-percentage K1 at 150 degrees C. is 120 to 160% of the second heat-shrinkage-percentage K2 at 150 degrees C., and heating and vulcanizing a raw tire to heat-shrink the outer carcass ply cords in a larger degree than the inner carcass ply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 17, 1999
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masayuki Sakamoto, Toshihiko Omokawa, Masahiro Hanya
  • Patent number: 5909757
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire comprises a radially inner bead core disposed in at least one of the bead portions, a radially outer bead core disposed radially outside the inner bead core, a buffer rubber layer disposed between the radially inner bead core and radially outer bead core to provide a predetermined space therebetween, and a toroidal carcass extending between the bead portions through the tread portion and sidewall portions, wherein the carcass comprises a ply of cords turned up around the radially outer bead core to be secured thereto, passing between the radially outer bead core and the buffer rubber layer, so that a radially outward tension of the carcass caused by tire inflation acts less on the radially inner bead core than the radially outer bead core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 8, 1999
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kiichiro Kakumu, Masatoshi Tanaka
  • Patent number: 5908685
    Abstract: An elastomeric composite structure 45 having two arrays of parallel cords 41, 43, each array of cords 41,43 being of different modulus or percent elongation. The array of cords 41,43 are spaced and provide different bending stiffness dependent on the direction of the applied load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 1, 1999
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Amit Prakash, Thomas Reed Oare, Gary Edwin Tubb, Robert Edward Hall
  • Patent number: 5906693
    Abstract: An organic fiber cord for rubber reinforcement satisfies relationships of S1.gtoreq.2.5, S2.ltoreq.1.8 and S2.ltoreq.S1-2.0 wherein S1 and S2 are dry heat shrinkage factors under particular conditions in order to improve the durability and dimensional stability of rubber articles without the degradation of other properties in the rubber article. When such an organic fiber cord is applied to a carcass ply of a pneumatic radial tire, the tire durability and uniformity are considerably improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 25, 1999
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventors: Takao Morii, Yasuyuki Tamura
  • Patent number: 5873962
    Abstract: A steel cord intended for use to reinforce rubber products is produced by drawing, into a steel filament of 0.10 to 0.40 mm in diameter and more than 3,000 N/mm.sup.2 in strength, a wire rod having a carbon content of more than 0.70% by weight, and twisting a plurality of such steel filaments together. Also a pneumatic tire is provided which employs in at least a portion of a reinforcing member thereof the steel cord improved in corrosion resistance and having an R.sub.1 /R.sub.0 ratio .times.100 which is less than 100, where R.sub.0 is the radius of spiral curvature of the spiraled steel filament resulting from untwisting said steel cord and R.sub.1 is the radius of spiral curvature of said steel filament of which the surface layer inside the spiral is removed by dissolving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 23, 1999
    Assignee: Bridgestone Metalpha Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshikazu Kaneko, Naohiko Obana
  • Patent number: 5871600
    Abstract: A runflat radial ply pneumatic tire 10 has a carcass 30 which has a pair of sidewalls 20, each sidewall being reinforced with at least two sidewall fillers or runflat inserts 42, 46 and at least two cord reinforced plies 38, 40 and a bead core 26. The tire has one or more reinforcing belts 36. Each sidewall has at least one ply 38 or 40 reinforced with cords, the cords have a modulus E of X, X being at least 10 GPa. At least one ply has a turnup end 32 wrapped around the bead core 26. A second ply 38 or 40 is reinforced with substantially inextensible cords having a modulus E greater than X of the cords of the other ply. The second ply 38 or 40 is spaced from the first ply 38 or 40 by the second filler or runflat insert in the sidewall 20.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 16, 1999
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Thomas Reed Oare, Amit Prakash, Robert Edward Hall, Gary Edwin Tubb
  • Patent number: 5855703
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire comprises various tire components each comprised of a rubber-coated layer containing a given number of reinforcing elements. In at least one of these rubber-coated layers, not less than 30% of all reinforcing elements are divided into plural groups each comprised of a combination of m-steps and n-rows viewing in a thickness direction of the rubber-coated layer, in which each of m and n is an integer of 2 or more representing the number of the reinforcing elements, and a distance between mutually adjacent and opposite reinforcing elements not grouped with each other is wider than a distance between mutually adjacent reinforcing elements in the group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 5, 1999
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventors: Toshiya Miyazono, Yoichi Okamoto
  • Patent number: 5820711
    Abstract: A pneumatic radial tire comprising a tread portion, a pair of sidewall portions, a pair of bead portions each with a bead core therein, a carcass extending between the bead portions, a belt disposed radially outside the carcass and having a pair of edges, a rubber bead apex disposed in each bead portion and extending radially outwardly from the bead core, portions of the carcass one between each edge of the belt and the maximum tire width position are each provided therein with a rubber spacer disposed between axially adjacent carcass cords so that the cord spacing between the axially adjacent cords is in the range of from 0.55 to 5.5 times the diameter of the cords, whereby steering performance is improved without increasing the tire weight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 13, 1998
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masayuki Sakamoto, Yutaka Kuroda, Katsuhito Miura
  • Patent number: 5802829
    Abstract: A two-layered twisted steel cord for reinforcing rubber articles, comprising a core including two filaments and a sheath including six or seven filaments wound around the core, in which an average twist pitch of the core is set to be at least 30 mm, and when six filaments are used for the sheath, a ratio of diameter ds of each filament of the sheath to diameter dc of each filament of the core, ?(ds/dc).times.100!, is set in a range of 58.0 %<ds/dc<161.5%. When seven filaments are used for the sheath, the ratio of diameter ds to diameter dc is set in a range of 47.3%<ds/dc<121.1%. The two-layered twisted steel cords are used for reinforcing rubber articles, such as a pneumatic radial tire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 8, 1998
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventor: Takaya Yamanaka
  • Patent number: 5797257
    Abstract: A cord comprising at least a first pair and a second pair of wires (2a, 2b) of different diameter randomly disposed in transverse cross section thereof, is obtained by arranging in a nacelle (7) of a double-twisting laying machine, a twister (16) operating upstream of a preformer (15). The twister (16), rotating in a direction opposite to that of the impeller (5) and at a speed which is twice that of the impeller, neutralizes the internal torsional stresses induced in the wires (2a, 2b) by effect of the double twisting carried out upon the action of the impeller itself. Thus, a better control of the preforming operation executed on the wires (2a, 2b) disposed parallel in respectively coplanar axes is enabled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 25, 1998
    Assignee: Pirelli Coordinamento Pneumatici
    Inventors: Marco Cipparrone, Omero Noferi
  • Patent number: 5779829
    Abstract: The pneumatic tire has a single carcass ply reinforced with parallel metallic cords, each cord composed of at least one filament having a tensile strength of at least (-2000.times.D+4400 MPa).times.95%, where D is the filament diameter in millimeters. The turnup portion of the single carcass ply 12 in the bead portion of a pneumatic tire is interposed between the bead core 11 and a toe guard 18, and the radially outer edge of each turnup portion being in contact with the main portion of the carcass ply and extending to an end point 0.5 to 4.0 inches (12.7 to 101.6 mm) radially outward of the bead core. The toe guard 18 has a first and second end and each end is disposed directly adjacent to the carcass ply. The first end 18a of the toe guard is located on the axially inner side of the main portion of the carcass ply at a location about 0.4 to 3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 14, 1998
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Amit Prakash, Donald Woodrow Gilliam, Gary Edwin Tubb
  • Patent number: 5772808
    Abstract: A steel cord for the reinforcement of rubber article has a three-layer twisting construction comprising a core layer comprised of a single steel filament, a first sheath layer comprised of six steel filaments and a second sheath layer comprised of steel filaments subtracted by 1 or 2 filament from maximum steel filament number arranged on a circumscribed circle of the first sheath layer without a wrap filament. In this steel cord, filament diameters of the core layer and the sheath layers satisfy the particular relationships. The steel cord is used in a carcass ply of a heavy duty pneumatic radial tire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 30, 1998
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshinori Kuriya
  • Patent number: 5766384
    Abstract: A tire component used in a pneumatic radial tire is a rubber-coated layer comprised of a given number of reinforcing elements separately arranged in parallel with each other, in which the reinforcing elements corresponding to at least 30% of all reinforcing elements included in the rubber-coated layer are divided into plural groups, and a distance between mutually adjoining and opposite reinforcing elements not grouped with each other is wider than a distance between mutually adjoining reinforcing elements separately arranged at equal spaces. Thus, the occurrence of cracking at cut ends of the reinforcing elements is prevented to improve the tire durability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 16, 1998
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventors: Toshiya Miyazono, Yoshihide Kohno, Hiroyuki Koseki, Yoichi Okamoto