Patents Assigned to Michelin Recherche et Technique
  • Publication number: 20030037853
    Abstract: A wheel, having first and second bead seats which are inclined towards the outside and a cylindrical wall intended for supporting a support ring, constituted by the assembly of:
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2002
    Publication date: February 27, 2003
    Applicant: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventors: Thomas Emberger, Denis Alff
  • Publication number: 20030034108
    Abstract: A tire with a carcass reinforcement ply, anchored within each bead by winding around an annular element, the tensile strength of which is less than the tensile strength of a conventional tire bead wire of the same dimension, and an assembly of at least two textile bead reinforcement layers which are arranged in contact with the annular element, wherein the annular element is metallic, has a tensile strength of between 3 and 5 times the tension imparted to the carcass reinforcement by the recommended inflation pressure, and the elongation at break of which is at least equal to 6%, all the reinforcement layers formed of elements of aromatic polyamide having a tensile strength of between 0.5 and 1 time the tensile strength of the annular element, and the total of the tensile strengths of the annular element and of the assembly of the reinforcement layers being between 6 and 8 times the tension imparted to the carcass reinforcement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2002
    Publication date: February 20, 2003
    Applicant: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventors: Forrest Patterson, Michel Ahouanto
  • Publication number: 20030029539
    Abstract: Wheel rim comprising two rim seats having different diameters, inclined outwards and extended axially outwards by two humps of small height, the rim seat of smaller diameter being connected axially on the inside to a bearing surface via a truncated conical portion and the rim seat of larger diameter being connected axially on the inside to the said bearing surface by a rib of small or zero height, whose axially interior wall has a generatrix that makes with the rotation axis an angle open radially and axially outwards and at the most equal to 30°, characterised in that the said rib, which has an axially inside wall of axial width at most equal to the axial width of the said second seat is provided circumferentially with at least two transverse grooves of small size.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2002
    Publication date: February 13, 2003
    Applicant: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventor: Jean-Pierre Pompier
  • Patent number: 6516849
    Abstract: A vehicle wheel, comprising a rim, a disc, a tire defining with the rim a circumferential cavity C, and at least one resonator suitable for attenuating a natural resonant frequency of said cavity, said wheel also comprising a safety support, for supporting the tread of this tire from the inside in the event of loss of inflation pressure, said support providing at least one of the walls of said resonator. The invention also provides for the safety support comprising resonators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventors: Julien Flament, Denis Jubert
  • Publication number: 20030025384
    Abstract: Mounting rim designed to form a rolling assembly with a tire and an inflatable and inflated tread bearing support, and comprising on each side of the equatorial plane a rim seat inclined outwards and extended axially outwards by a projection or hump, characterized in that it comprises, axially towards the inside between each rim seat for the tire beads and the equatorial plane XX′, at least one truncated conical seat inclined inwards and designed to receive a bead of a tire tread bearing support. The rolling assembly is used either with a bearing support in the form of a toric membrane inflated hard which retains its shape and pressure if the tire is punctured, or with a bearing support in the form of a membrane that can expand in the event of a tire puncture and entirely fill the internal cavity of the tire.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2002
    Publication date: February 6, 2003
    Applicant: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventor: Olivier Muhlhoff
  • Patent number: 6505663
    Abstract: A tire having two beads and a radial carcass reinforcement, each bead having no anchoring bead wire and being reinforced by an armature including at least two plies turned up over themselves to form four reinforcement layers axially close to one another, the two axially innermost layers being composed of elements parallel to one another from one layer to the next, and the two layers axially at the center being composed of elements crossed from one layer to the next, and the reinforcement layers have their radially outer edges positioned within the bead at different heights such that any annular strip of the reinforcement armature of the bead, having at least two layers of reinforcement elements and located between two parallels to the rotation axis of the tire, is formed of at least two layers of reinforcement elements crossed from one layer to the next.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2003
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventors: Michel Ahouanto, Luc Bestgen, Forrest Patterson
  • Patent number: 6506862
    Abstract: The present invention provides a process for the preparation of a diene elastomer having a reduced amount of vinyl linkages, by anionic polymerization of one or more monomers comprising at least one conjugated diene monomer. The process for preparing the diene elastomer having a reduced amount of vinyl linkages comprises anionically polymerizing one or more monomers comprising at least one conjugated diene monomer in a polymerization medium comprising a hydrocarbon solvent, a polar agent comprising one or more heteroatoms and a monolitiated or polylithiated organolithiated initiator, wherein an organometallic complex of the formula LiAl(R)3(R′), in which Li is a lithium atom, Al is an aluminum atom, and R and R′ are each an alkyl, cycloalkyl or aryl group, is added to the polymerization medium to produce the diene elastomer having a reduced amount of vinyl linkages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2003
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventors: Jean-Luc Cabioch, Jean-Noël Gorce
  • Patent number: 6506274
    Abstract: An apparatus for manufacture of a tire, the apparatus including a drum with shoulder having a generally cylindrical main receiving surface to receive the products to be assembled, the main receiving surface being radially retractable. The drum has a shoulder axially to the side edges of said main receiving surface. The drum is mounted on a shaft. At least one associated axially movable side crown is mounted coaxially with the drum. The drum has a lateral protuberance coaxially juxtaposed to at least one of its shoulders. The side crown is axially slidable at least partly under the lateral protuberance, the lateral protuberance forming a quasi-cylindrical support surface whose outside diameter is smaller than the diameter of the main receiving surface. The side crown has a substantially cylindrical outer surface capable of passing axially outside of the lateral protuberance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2003
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique, S.A.
    Inventors: Marc Evangelista, William Steiner, David Bailey
  • Patent number: 6503973
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a vulcanizable rubber composition which can be used for the manufacture of tires. The invention also provides for a tire, the tread of which comprises such a composition. The rubber composition posses improved hysteresis and physical properties in the vulcanized state, while retaining satisfactory processing properties in the non-vulcanized state. The rubber composition comprises a reinforcing white filler and a diene block copolymer which is intended to interact with the white filler, the block copolymer comprising a diene block polymer having on at least one chain end thereof a polyether block having a molecular weight of between 1000 g/mol and 3000 g/mol, the polyether block corresponding to the formula: O—CH2—CH2—O)n—R,  (I) in which n is an integer other than zero and R is a saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2003
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventors: Pierre Robert, Jean-Luc Cabioch, Jean-Michel Favrot
  • Publication number: 20020195187
    Abstract: An aircraft tire, inflated to a high pressure, comprising a tread connected to two beads 2 by way of two sidewalls 6, each bead having at least one annular reinforcing element 3, a crown reinforcement and a radial carcass reinforcement 1 comprising a number of axially inner plies 1A to 1D greater than or equal to two, which radial carcass reinforcement plies have textile reinforcing elements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2002
    Publication date: December 26, 2002
    Applicant: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventors: Cyrille Roget, Fernando Suarez
  • Patent number: 6494242
    Abstract: The tire of the invention has an optimized path of the outermost carcass designed to maximize the extent of tensile stress in the sidewall and bead portions of the tire. The invention further provides separate reinforcement structures in the bead portion for anchoring the carcass or carcasses in the bead and for retaining the bead on the mounting rim during deflated operation, and said anchoring reinforcement also facilitates the maintenance of the desirable carcass profile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2002
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique
    Inventor: Roger Cary Cottrell
  • Publication number: 20020185210
    Abstract: A process for improving the adhesion of a tire cover to dry ground includes providing a tire cover having a tread comprised of an electrically insulating material which is delimited radially by inner and outer faces and laterally by two lateral faces connecting between them the radially inner and outer faces of the tread, and further providing at least one circumferentially extending conductive layer which substantially connects the lateral faces to one another, the conductive layer having a resistivity less than that of the insulating material, which insulating material is provided radially on either side of the conductive layer in the tread.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2002
    Publication date: December 12, 2002
    Applicant: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventor: Valery Poulbot
  • Patent number: 6488064
    Abstract: The present invention provides a tire with a sacrificial rib to protect the main ribs of the tire's tread by delaying the onset of irregular wear and the growth thereof. The improved tire tread comprises a plurality of main ribs formed by grooves extending generally circumferentially around an outer surface of the tire to form a main tread width for contacting the supporting surface. A sacrificial rib is provided for contacting the supporting surface at each lateral side of the main ribs. The sacrificial rib is separated from the main ribs by a narrow shoulder groove having a groove width not greater than about 1.5 millimeter. The sacrificial rib has a surface width in the range of about 2.5 percent to about 12 percent of said tread width. The sacrificial rib has a recess defined by a radial offset from a transverse or lateral profile of the main ribs. The offset has a value in the range of about 0.50 millimeter to about 2.0 millimeters when the tire is new.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2002
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique, S.A.
    Inventor: Robert Ciprian Radulescu
  • Patent number: 6484773
    Abstract: A tread pattern for a tire, the tread pattern being formed by elements in relief defined by grooves, some of these elements in relief being provided with at least one blind incision, that is to say, one which does not open into the grooves. These elements in relief include at least one cutout which opens into at least one groove defining these elements, and such that, on the running surface, each blind incision crosses at least one open-ended cutout of the same element, whatever the level of wear of the tire. Each of these open-ended incisions has a depth substantially equal to the depth of the blind incisions which it crosses and is filled with a filler material, the filler material having the characteristic of being gradually eliminated under the action of frictional contact with the ground during travel to form a channel of low depth which enables the air trapped in the blind incisions to escape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2002
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique
    Inventor: Rémi Bruant
  • Publication number: 20020171216
    Abstract: The invention relates to a suspension device (1; 11) intended to connect a wheel carrier (3) to a body (5) of a vehicle, the device having means (4, 8, 9) conferring to the wheel carrier, with respect to the body, a degree of camber freedom and a degree of suspension deflection freedom substantially independent of one another. The said means comprises an intermediate support (4) linking the wheel carrier to the body, the intermediate support being, on the one hand, articulated with respect to the body along a substantially vertical first axis (ASI) and, on the other hand, articulated to the wheel carrier along a second axis (R1R2), so that a rotation of the intermediate support about the first axis permits the degree of camber freedom.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 4, 2002
    Publication date: November 21, 2002
    Applicant: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A. (Switzerland)
    Inventor: Michel Deal
  • Patent number: D466860
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2002
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique, S.A.
    Inventor: Christophe Le Roux
  • Patent number: D467865
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2002
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique
    Inventors: Olivier Comps, Michel Giraud, Jean-Louis Lateulere
  • Patent number: D469056
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2003
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventor: Jose Merino Lopez
  • Patent number: D469398
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2003
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique, S.A.
    Inventors: Ronald H. Thompson, Stephen J. Lash, Scott M. Waters, Shih-Tao Chang
  • Patent number: D470455
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2003
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventor: Preston Butler Kemp, Jr.