Patents Examined by Justin R Fischer
  • Patent number: 11833867
    Abstract: The present invention provides a tire that uses an elastomer-metal cord composite, which composite is obtained by coating metal cords with an elastomer, each metal cord being composed of a bundle of metal filaments arranged without being twisted, and which composite is capable of highly improving the performance of the tire. The above described tire is one including a belt (105) which includes at least two belt layers (105a) and (105b). In this tire, the belt layers (105a) and (105b) are each obtained by coating metal cords (2) with an elastomer (3), each metal cord (2) being composed of a bundle of a plurality of metal filaments (1) arranged in a row without being twisted; at least one pair of adjacent metal filaments in the metal cord (2) differ in at least one of the amount of shaping and shaping pitch; each of the belt layers (105a) and (105b) has a thickness t1 of more than 0.30 mm and less than 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: BRIDGESTONE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kazuki Uemura
  • Patent number: 11833858
    Abstract: Pneumatic vehicle tire having a profiled tread (3), side walls (5) and rounded tire shoulders, wherein, when the tire is mounted on a rim, the tread (3) has, in a first operating state with no load, a first contact surface and outside of the contact surface has profiled shoulder portions (4) extending in the direction of the side walls (5). The shoulder portions (4) have blocks (8a, 8b), between which grooves (9a, 9b) extending in the direction of the side walls (5) are provided and which are provided with sipes (11, 12, 13) and/or grooves extending in the direction of the side walls (5), wherein, in at least one further operating state of the tire mounted on the rim, the tire has a further contact surface, which is wider than the first contact surface and at least partially includes the shoulder portions (4) and the profiling thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH
    Inventor: Ulrich Behr
  • Patent number: 11827058
    Abstract: A tire is provided with a shoulder circumferential groove, a crown circumferential groove, and middle lateral grooves. The middle lateral groove comprises: an axially outer part and an axially inner part which are inclined to the same direction as first inclined portions of the shoulder circumferential groove; and an in-between part which is inclined to the opposite direction to the axially outer part and the axially inner part. The axially outer part is smoothly continuous with the first inclined portion. The groove width WA1 at the axially outer end of the axially outer part is larger than the groove width WA2 at the axially inner end of the axially outer part, and the groove width WB1 at the axially outer end of the axially inner part is larger than the groove width WB2 at the axially inner end of the axially inner part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Shunsuke Ito
  • Patent number: 11827059
    Abstract: A tread portion includes a groove having first and second groove walls opposing each other, at least one first recess formed by partially recessing the first groove wall, and at least one second recess formed by partially recessing the second groove wall. A depth of each of the first and second recess from a ground contact surface is less than a groove depth of the groove. The first recess includes a first opening disposed at the first groove wall, and a first end portion extending substantially parallel to the first opening at a position farthest from the first opening. The second recess includes a second opening disposed at the second groove wall, and a second end portion extending substantially parallel to the second opening at a position farthest from the second opening. The first and second end portions are disposed so as not to oppose each other through the groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Koichi Nakajima
  • Patent number: 11820175
    Abstract: A tyre includes a crown main groove formed by unit patterns. Each of the unit patterns includes a first inclined element, a second inclined element, a first bent element, and a second bent element. The first inclined element extends obliquely. The second inclined element extends obliquely in a direction opposite to the first inclined element. The first bent element extends so as to connect between the first inclined element and the second inclined element. The second bent element is connected with the second inclined element. The first bent element is bent so as to be convex toward the first tread edge without having a component extending in parallel with the tyre circumferential direction. The second bent element is bent so as to be convex toward the second tread edge without having the component extending in parallel with the tyre circumferential direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Kazuki Fukushima
  • Patent number: 11813893
    Abstract: A tire for a civil engineering vehicle the endurance of which has been improved by the addition of an anti-creep layer (30) with a thickness E2 interposed between the airtight inner layer (20), with a thickness E1, and the reinforcer coating layer (46) of the carcass reinforcement (40), with a thickness E3. The thicknesses E1, E2 and E3, being measured in millimetres in a shoulder region forming the transition between the crown and each sidewall of the tire, satisfy the following equations: 2?E1?4; 6?E2+E3 and E1/E2?0.6. In addition, the viscoelastic loss P60 of the elastomeric mixture M2 of the anti-creep layer (30) is at most equal to 20%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN
    Inventors: Thierry Royer, Patricia Lagarde
  • Patent number: 11813896
    Abstract: A tire includes a visible outer surface being provided with a decorative region at least partially, the decorative region having 2 to 10 micro-protrusions per 1 mm2. The micro-protrusions protrude in a tapered manner toward outwardly of the tire. The micro-protrusions include first protrusions having a first taper angle and a second protrusions having a second taper angle greater than the first taper angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Yuta Sakakibara, Tomohiro Hamada, Tokuhito Nakajima, Sawa Ogihara, Suxiang Yuan
  • Patent number: 11807044
    Abstract: A motorcycle tire for running on rough terrain includes a tread portion. The tread portion includes a base surface and a plurality of blocks. The blocks include a crown block arranged on a tire equator side and a shoulder block arranged on a tread edge side. A height of the shoulder block from the base surface is larger than a height of the crown block from the base surface. The shoulder block is provided on the base surface side with a base portion that has a locally increased cross-section taken along the base surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Masahiro Hikita
  • Patent number: 11807048
    Abstract: Tire (1) comprising a carcass reinforcement (2) surmounted by a crown reinforcement (3), itself capped by a tread (7), the said tread being connected to two beads (6) via two sidewalls (4) each having an exterior surface (40), at least one of the said sidewalls comprising at least two circumferential protrusions (5a, 5b, 5c), each sidewall (4) comprising an equator point (E) situated on the exterior surface of the sidewall radially at the same position as the axially outermost point (20) of the carcass reinforcement (2) in the unladen reference configuration, each circumferential protrusion (5a, 5b, 5c) being bounded by a radially upper wall (51), by a radially lower wall (52), and by a connecting wall (53) situated between the radially upper wall (51) and the radially lower wall (52) tire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN
    Inventors: William License, Jacques Babaud
  • Patent number: 11801714
    Abstract: In a tire 12, a tread 14 includes a tread main body 44 and edge portions 46. A wear resistance index of each edge portion 46 obtained according to JIS K6264-2 is higher than that of the tread main body 44. An outer surface S of the tire 12 includes a tread surface ST, a pair of shoulder surfaces SH connected to the tread surface ST, and a pair of side surfaces SW connected to the shoulder surfaces SH. Each shoulder surface SH includes an outer surface formed by the edge portion 46, and a contour of each shoulder surface SH is represented by a circular arc having a center at an inner side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Satoshi Tanaka
  • Patent number: 11801715
    Abstract: A tire includes a tread portion including four circumferential grooves between outboard and inboard tread edges, and five land portions divided by the circumferential grooves. The circumferential grooves include an inboard shoulder circumferential groove located nearest to the inboard tread edge in the circumferential grooves. The land portions include an inboard shoulder land portion disposed axially outward of the inboard shoulder circumferential groove and having a ground contact surface with the smallest axial width in the land portions. The inboard shoulder land portion is provided with inboard shoulder lateral grooves and inboard shoulder sipes. The inboard shoulder lateral grooves include inner ends away from the inboard shoulder circumferential groove. The inboard shoulder lateral grooves extend axially outward from the inner ends to a location beyond the inboard tread edge. The inboard shoulder sipes extends from the inboard shoulder circumferential groove to a location beyond the inboard tread edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Keiji Higuchi, Ryota Ikeda, Takashi Hagihara, Takuya Osawa, Takuya Fujimoto
  • Patent number: 11794526
    Abstract: A tyre includes a tread portion including a tyre equator, a tread edge, a tread width which is a distance in a tyre axial direction from the tyre equator to the tread edge, a shoulder land portion including the tread edge. The shoulder land portion is provided with a plurality of first shoulder lateral grooves. Each first shoulder lateral groove includes an inner groove portion extending inwardly in the tyre axial direction of the tread edge and an outer groove portion extending outwardly in the tyre axial direction of the tread edge. Each first shoulder lateral groove, in a tread development view, has a groove area Sb of the outer groove portion extending in a region from the tread edge to an 125% position of the tread width is greater than a groove area Sa of the inner groove portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Tetsuro Saeki
  • Patent number: 11787237
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire has a pair of sidewall portion 3. An outer surface of at least one of the pair of sidewall portions 3 includes a decorative region 5 extending in a tire circumferential direction. In the decorative region 5, a plurality of pattern elements 8 are arranged, whereby the decorative region 5 includes a plurality of circumferential pattern lines 6 in each of which the pattern elements 8 are aligned in the tire circumferential direction, and a plurality of radial pattern lines 7 in each of which the pattern elements 8 are aligned in a tire radial direction. In each circumferential pattern line 6, lengths in the tire circumferential direction of the pattern elements 8 are changed in the tire circumferential direction. In each radial pattern line 7, lengths in the tire radial direction of the pattern elements 8 are changed in the tire radial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoki Ishida, Takahiro Kawanoue
  • Patent number: 11787140
    Abstract: The invention relates to a pneumatic vehicle tire, which has a tread (1), which has a tread segment (6) that is arranged radially outside, said tread segment having a material strip (7) that is arranged helically in windings approximately in the circumferential direction, wherein the material strip (7) in the region of the tread segment (6) has at least two layers (8, 9) in the longitudinal direction of the material strip, wherein the first layer (8) is formed of a first rubber mixture and the second layer (9) is formed of a second rubber mixture and wherein the layers (8, 9) connect the radially outer surface (10) to the radially inner surface (11) of the tread segment (6). The problem addressed by the invention is the creation of a pneumatic vehicle tire that has advantageous snow driving behavior and, at the same time, improved properties on a dry roadway. In addition, the tire should be simple to produce.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH
    Inventors: Mohamed Aymen Jabri, Viktoria Pavon Sierra, Sven Kastens
  • Patent number: 11781525
    Abstract: Provided is a power generation system. The power generation system comprises: a pneumatic tire; a wheel on which the pneumatic tire is mounted; and at least one generator wind turbine attached to the pneumatic tire and/or the wheel in a cavity defined by the pneumatic tire and the wheel. The generator wind turbine is configured to lay flat or stand upright.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: The Yokohama Rubber Co., LTD.
    Inventor: Atsushi Tanno
  • Patent number: 11780268
    Abstract: A tyre includes a tread portion being provided with a pair of shoulder circumferential grooves on an outer surface thereof and a tread reinforcing layer disposed in the tread portion. The tread reinforcing layer includes a circumferential belt layer having a plurality of first reinforcing cords oriented along a tyre circumferential direction. The circumferential belt layer includes a pair of axially spaced first circumferential belt plies extending in radially inner regions of the pair of shoulder circumferential grooves. The pair of first circumferential belt plies is arranged apart from one another at a distance L equal to or more than 20 mm in a tyre axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Naofumi Kitani
  • Patent number: 11772427
    Abstract: A motorcycle tire includes a tread portion, a pair of sidewall portions, a pair of bead portions, a toroidal carcass extending between the pair of bead portions, and a belt layer and a band layer disposed outwardly in the tire radial direction of the carcass in the tread portion. The carcass includes a plurality of carcass cords. The band layer includes a jointless band ply having a band cord wound spirally at an angle equal to or less than 5 degrees with respect to a tire circumferential direction. The belt layer includes a plurality of belt cords arranged in a direction intersecting with the carcass cords. The belt cords intersect with the carcass cords at an intersection angle ?c in a tread crown region, and intersect with the carcass cords at an intersection angle ?s in tread shoulder regions, and the intersection angle ?c is greater than the intersection angle ?s.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Yoshihisa Noguchi
  • Patent number: 11772428
    Abstract: A tire has a tread portion comprising a first land region divided by a circumferential groove extending continuously in the tire circumferential direction. The first land region is provided with first lateral grooves extending thereacross to circumferentially divide the first land region into blocks. The blocks include a first block provided with a second lateral groove and sipes. The second lateral groove has two end portions which are inclined with respect to the tire axial direction to a first direction toward one side in the tire axial direction, and a central portion between the two end portions which is inclined with respect to the tire axial direction to a second direction opposite to the first direction toward the above-said one side in the tire axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Kenta Yagi
  • Patent number: 11772430
    Abstract: A tire 1 includes a tread portion 2, and how the tire is to be oriented when mounted to a vehicle is specified for the tire. The tread portion 2 has an outer tread edge T1, an inner tread edge T2, a first crown main groove 4, a second crown main groove 5, and three land portions demarcated by the first crown main groove 4 and the second crown main groove 5. The land portions include an outer shoulder land portion 7 demarcated between the outer tread edge T1 and the first crown main groove 4. The outer shoulder land portion 7 has a largest width in a tire axial direction among the three land portions. The outer shoulder land portion 7 has an outer shoulder lateral groove 20 and an outer shoulder sipe 21.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroki Koike, Masayuki Fujita
  • Patent number: 11772425
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire has a tread reinforcing layer comprising a net structure formed from a tape of rubber coated reinforcing cord(s). The net structure comprises first oblique segments and second oblique segments of the tape which intersect with each other, forming interspaces therebetween. The first oblique segment has a first axial outer part in which the angle of the tape with respect to the tire circumferential direction decreases toward one end in the tire axial direction of the net structure. The second oblique segment has a second axial outer part in which the angle of the tape with respect to the tire circumferential direction decreases toward the above-said one end of the net structure. The first axial outside part is connected to the second axial outside part directly or through a circumferential segment of the tape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Masafumi Otani