Patents Represented by Attorney, Agent or Law Firm David E Wheeler
  • Means and method of identifying objects using a zero contrast sensor
    Patent number: 6149060
    Abstract: Siping, of a specific pattern, is used as a code to provide an identification number and/or a part number on a rubber object. The depth and width of the sipes, and the height and width of the rubber bars between the sipes, can be read using a zero contrast reading device, and the specific pattern of sipes and bars can be converted into identifying symbols such as letters and/or numbers. The identity of the object can be matched with a data base which may provide the history of the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2000
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Stephen Wayne Meadows
  • Pneumatic tires made with textile cards comprising two portions, the filaments in the second radially inner portion being compacted or fused
    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
  • Pneumatic tire with polyester belt cord
    Patent number: 6026879
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire for heavy duty use comprises at least one radial carcass ply, a tread portion disposed radially outwardly of the crown region of the carcass plies and a crown reinforcing structure interposed between the tread portion and the crown region of the carcass plies. The crown reinforcing structure includes a belt assembly having at least a first, radially innermost and a second, radially outermost belt ply. The cords reinforcing the belt plies are preferably made of PET or PEN and have a linear density comprised between 2000 and 16000 Denier, a twist comprised between 2 and 7 TPI and a twist multiplier comprised between 3 and 5.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2000
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Rene Fran.cedilla.ois Reuter
  • Cure orientation by depositing cure accelerators on the surface of a fiber
    Patent number: 6017979
    Abstract: To control the orientation of curative groups in an elastomer formulation, in order to maximize the properties obtained in the vulcanized elastomer, cure accelerators are deposited on the surface of a fiber. This method results in a fiber type orientation of crosslink sites in an elastomer matrix, resulting in enhanced modulus properties. An added benefit of the method is the chemical attachment of the fiber to the elastomer formulation, which also results in enhanced modulus properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 1993
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2000
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Bruce Raymond Hahn, Douglas David Callander
  • Means and method of identifying objects using a zero contrast sensor
    Patent number: 5996892
    Abstract: Siping, of a specific pattern, is used as a code to provide an identification number and/or a part number on a rubber object. The depth and width of the sipes, and the height and width of the rubber bars between the sipes, can be read using a zero contrast reading device, and the specific pattern of sipes and bars can be converted into identifying symbols such as letters and/or numbers. The identity of the object can be matched with a data base which may provide the history of the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 7, 1999
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Stephen Wayne Meadows
  • Pneumatic tire having improved wet traction
    Patent number: 5957179
    Abstract: A directional pneumatic tire having improved wet traction has an annular aqua channel and lateral grooves which direct water from the footprint to the shoulder area of the tire to help prevent hydroplaning. The aqua channel has an extended U-shape wherein one wall of the aqua channel has a steeper incline than the other side of the aqua channel. In a preferred embodiment, the aqua channel may have a step between its shoulder side and its center side wherein the center side is higher by a distance d. In one illustrated embodiment, a center tread portion of the tire, bounded by an aqua channel and a center groove, and two lateral grooves, comprises a single block element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 28, 1999
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Maurice Graas
  • Method and apparatus for detecting cords in composites
    Patent number: 5894086
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting anomalous cords in reinforced composites uses means to deform and/or vibrate the composite and detect the vibration signature of the composite. Broken or frayed reinforcement cords in a reinforced composite cause changes in the vibration signature of the composite, and the apparatus used in the method of the invention employs a low damping material which is used in proximal contact to all the reinforcement cords in the reinforced composite, and one or more sensors to detect said changes. The apparatus may also include a computer for collating data, analyzing data, and providing a signal when an anomalous cord is recognized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 13, 1999
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Shyh-Hua Jao, Perry Marteny, George Samuel Fielding-Russell
  • Pneumatic tire with polyester belt cord
    Patent number: 5855704
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire for heavy duty use comprises at least one radial carcass ply, a tread portion disposed radially outwardly of the crown region of the carcass plies and a crown reinforcing structure interposed between the tread portion and the crown region of the carcass plies. The crown reinforcing structure includes a belt assembly having at least a first, radially innermost and a second, radially outermost belt ply. The cords reinforcing the belt plies are preferably made of PET or PEN and have a linear density comprised between 2000 and 16000 Denier, a twist comprised between 2 and 7 TPI and a twist multiplier comprised between 3 and 5.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 5, 1999
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Rene Fran.cedilla.ois Reuter
  • Pneumatic tires with spirally wound aramid cord overlay
    Patent number: 5849121
    Abstract: A method of preparing a ply of composite material by applying an adhesive to a textile material comprising greige cords, so as to achieve an acceptable bond between the cords an elastomeric matrix, while not significantly altering the properties of the cords, is provided. The textile material comprises warp cords and weft cords; the weft cords are used to convey the warp cords through a heat setting oven without applying substantial tension to the warp cords, so as to not change their stress-strain properties. In the illustrated embodiment, the warp cords are aramid cords having a linear density of 500 to 3600 Denier and a twist multiplier of 5 to 8. The cords can be used in a crown reinforcing spirally wound overlay structure of a tire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 15, 1998
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Rene Fran.cedilla.ois Reuter
  • Scraper blades for extruder
    Patent number: 5837295
    Abstract: Angled scraper blades provided on the end of a screw shaft of an extruder provide thrust for propelling polymer toward the die opening of the extruder. The scraper blades help prevent trapping of polymer between the shaft and the die plate of the extruder, which trapping can lead to scorching, burning or break down of the polymer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 17, 1998
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Ramon Alberto Diaz
  • Pneumatic tire with belt structure including reinforced gum strips
    Patent number: 5830295
    Abstract: A radial ply tire (10) has a belt assembly (21) of at least one, and preferably two, belt plies (22, 23). At least one of the belt plies has a gum strip laying flat against a belt edge or folded over the edge of a belt ply such that there is at least one reinforced gum strip on each lateral side of the belt assembly. The reinforced gum strip comprises parallel reinforced cords encapsulated in gum treatment of 0.015 to 0.55 total gauge, wherein the reinforcing cords make an angle of 5.degree. to 90.degree. with respect to the equatorial plane (EP) of the tire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 3, 1998
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Russell Earl Hobbs, Terry Russell Phillips, Michael Anthony Witten
  • Pneumatic tire having improved wear properties
    Patent number: 5824169
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire having improved wet traction has lugs containing sipes which change direction within the lug and tie bars in the sipes near each point where the sipes change direction. Siping, and the positioning of tie bars, provide means for minimizing the difference of the principle direction of lug stiffness between individual lugs. Also, a tire of the invention has 4 pitch ratios which are distributed around the tire so that extra large pitches are not located next to small pitches.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 20, 1998
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Samuel Patrick Landers, John Steven Attinello, James Christopher Stroble, Joel Joseph Lazeration
  • Calibration of optical properties to measure depth of a liquid
    Patent number: 5777731
    Abstract: A calibration device, which makes it possible to correlate optical properties of a liquid at specific depths, can be used to establish an optical property/depth correlation so that optical properties can be used to establish depth of various parts of a test object. In the illustrated embodiment, the calibration device is used to help measure hydroplaning in tires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 7, 1998
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Donald Dean McBride
  • Tire tread
    Patent number: D440911
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2001
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Mark David Slingluff
  • Tire tread
    Patent number: D440912
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2001
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Billy Joe Ratliff, Jr.
  • Tire tread
    Patent number: D441326
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2001
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Paul Bryan Maxwell
  • Tire tread
    Patent number: D441327
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2001
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Maurice Graas
  • Tire tread
    Patent number: D441328
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2001
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Richard Heinen, Georges Nicolas Hilbert
  • Tire tread
    Patent number: D441329
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2001
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Kevin Alan Reid, Craig David Miller
  • Tire tread
    Patent number: D441695
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2001
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Richard Heinen, Georges Nicolas Hilbert