Patents Examined by Kendra Shin
  • Patent number: 9033012
    Abstract: A tire 1 comprises rib-shaped land portions 20 extending in a tire circumferential direction TC and has a circumferential groove 30 adjacent to the land portions 20 and extending in the tire circumferential direction TC. Tread contact surfaces 10 of the land portions 20 form smooth surfaces with no gap when a normal load is applied and the tread contact surfaces are in contact with a road surface. The circumferential groove 30 includes a shallow groove portion 40 extending in the tread-width direction TW, and a deep groove portion 50 adjacent to the shallow groove portion 40 in the tire circumferential direction and extending in the tread-width direction. A deep groove portion 50 is recessed more inwardly in a tire radial direction TR than the shallow groove portion 40 with a groove bottom 40c of the shallow groove portion 40 being an upper end of the deep groove portion 50.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: BRIDGESTONE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yukihiro Kiwaki, Takaaki Kojima
  • Patent number: 9022086
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire that is provided with a first fastener of a separatable pair of mechanical fasteners on a tire inner surface, wherein, even in cases where a desired object is engaged/fixed using only one fastener, the object does not rotate having the fastener as a central axis when the tire is in use. A first fastener of the pair of mechanical fasteners is provided on a tire inner surface, and the mechanical fasteners are provided with a rotation preventing mechanism for preventing the fasteners from mutually rotating when the pair of mechanical fasteners are engaged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsushi Tanno, Daisuke Kanenari
  • Patent number: 9016339
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire including a separatable pair of mechanical fasteners wherein a first fastener of the pair of mechanical fasteners is provided on a tire inner surface. In this pneumatic tire, the obtained engagement force of the pair of mechanical fasteners is great and is essentially free of variations (positional variation within the tire and variation from tire to tire); the engagement force deteriorates/declines minimally over time due to extreme usage conditions including repetitive deformation and compaction over an extended period of time caused by tire rotation at high speeds in a state of relatively elevated temperatures; and the desired engagement force can be maintained over an extended period of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsushi Tanno, Masatoshi Kuwajima
  • Patent number: 8985169
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire capable of improving snowy road performance while controlling the occurrence of uneven wear of the tire due to buckling deformation. A tire 10 having a block pattern is provided with raised bottom portions 19 in lug grooves 15 extending in a direction intersecting with a main groove 13 and shoulder grooves 12, 14. The raised bottom portion 19 crosses the shoulder groove defining the center blocks 16 and shoulder blocks 17. The height of the raised bottom portion 19 is in a range of 10 to 20 percent of the groove depth of the shoulder groove. As a result, the edge components in the circumferential direction of the tire are increased and the rigidity in the axial direction of the tread 11 is uniformized without causing a decline in the draining characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Nishi
  • Patent number: 8985168
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire according to the present invention includes a tread section provided with circumferential grooves extending in a tire circumferential direction, lateral grooves extending in a tread width direction, and a plurality of land blocks defined by the circumferential grooves and the lateral grooves, each of the land blocks provided with sipes formed to extend to a predetermined depth from a tread surface inward in a tire radial direction, each of the sipes having an end portion communicating with at least any one of the circumferential grooves and the lateral grooves. At least one of the plurality of sipes includes an expanded diameter section on an inner end in the tire radial direction, and the expanded diameter section is formed to increase in diameter extending toward each of sidewalls of the land block.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventors: Makoto Kurokawa, Takeshi Iwatani
  • Patent number: 8978722
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire comprising a tread portion, side wall portions, and bead portions. The tread portion of said pneumatic tire includes at least one groove unit including a main groove extending in a tire circumferential direction and an auxiliary groove extending in the tire circumferential direction that has a smaller width than that of the main groove. The main groove and/or the auxiliary groove meanders in a wave or zigzag manner, and the main groove and the auxiliary groove intersect so as to intertwine with each other. Additionally, a rib portion extending in the tire circumferential direction is disposed adjacent along the groove unit including the main groove and the auxiliary groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Naoko Suzuki
  • Patent number: 8973637
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire is described having a triangular shaped apex which extends radially outward of the bead core, and wherein the apex is formed of at least two zones. Each zone is formed of a different material, wherein the first zone extends from the base of the apex to the tip of the apex, and the second zone is located adjacent the ply. The zones are preferably formed by extrusion to form one cohesive apex. The first zone is formed of a material having a G?/G? ratio in the range of about 0.155 to about 0.183. The second zone is formed of a material having a G?/G? ratio in the range of about 0.125 to about 0.133.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventor: Philip Carl Van Riper
  • Patent number: 8967214
    Abstract: A wind-up side cord of a chafer is arranged in such a manner that an angle of inclination of a first line connecting a first point and a second point with respect to a tire circumferential direction is 20 to 40 degrees, and is formed as a circular arc shape which is convex to an outer side in the tire radial direction, a turn-up side cord of the chafer is arranged in such a manner that an angle of inclination of a second line connecting a third point and a fourth point with respect to the tire circumferential direction is 30 to 50 degrees, and is equal to or less than 5 degrees in a change of the angle of inclination with respect to the tire circumferential direction, and a distance in the tire circumferential direction from a fifth point to the first line is 2 to 12 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Norihiko Kodama
  • Patent number: 8960252
    Abstract: A passenger vehicle tire, the crown reinforcement of which has three distinct elements, the three distinct elements comprising: a radial carcass reinforcement formed of reinforcing elements connecting the two beads of the tire, a crown belt comprising reinforcing elements parallel to the circumferential direction of the tire, and a crown triangulation layer comprising reinforcing elements making an angle of between 10 degrees and 80 degrees with the circumferential direction of the tire, the reinforcing elements of the triangulation layer having a flattened cross section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignees: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A., Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin
    Inventor: Michel Deal
  • Patent number: 8925602
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire has an asymmetric tread pattern and an outboard tread edge and an inboard tread edge to be located outside and inside of a vehicle respectively. Inboard shoulder blocks have an axial width and outboard shoulder blocks have an axial width more than the axial width of the inboard shoulder blocks. The inboard and outboard shoulder blocks are each provided with a plurality of sipes. The sipes of each outboard shoulder block include a circumferential sipe as the axially outermost sipe. The circumferential sipe extends at an angle of not more than 10 degrees with respect to the tire circumferential direction. The outboard shoulder block has an axially outer sidewall of which surface is provided with a plurality of narrow buttress grooves extending radially inwardly from the outboard tread edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Naoki Kageyama
  • Patent number: 8925600
    Abstract: Winter tyre includes a tread band on which a plurality of grooves, blocks and sipes of complex shape are provided, wherein the complex shape of the sipe is defined by a first protuberance having a vertex at a first depth from the tread surface. The vertex is connected to a sipe reference plane via a first connecting surface facing toward a radially outer side of the sipe and a second connecting surface facing toward a radially inner side of the sipe, the first connecting surface being inclined with respect to the plane of reference at an angle of between about 50° and about 90°, and the second connecting surface being inclined with respect to the plane of reference at an angle of between about 0° and about 50°.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Pirelli Tyre S.p.A.
    Inventors: Andrea Trombin, Stefano Montesello, Gianfranco Colombo
  • Patent number: 8925599
    Abstract: A heavy duty tire comprises a tread portion provided with belt plies and circumferentially-extending main grooves, wherein a shoulder rib area between the axially outermost shoulder main groove and a tread edge is subdivided by a sub groove into an axially inner main rib zone and an axially outer sub rib zone. The main rib zone is provided with a high elastic modulus rubber layer extending along the axially outer edge of the main rib zone to form a part of the tread face and made of rubber having an elastic-modulus higher than that of rubber forming the tread face except for said part of the tread face. The axial width (W1a) of the high elastic modulus rubber layer is 0.3 to 0.6 times the axial width (W1) of the main rib zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Taro Okabe
  • Patent number: 8905098
    Abstract: In a pneumatic tire including a tread portion, side wall portions, and bead portions, a plurality of drainage grooves formed from circumferential grooves or width direction grooves is provided in the tread portion. The drainage grooves partition land portions. A plurality of loop-shaped narrow grooves formed so that a pivot angle from a starting point to a terminating point is not less than 90° and less than 360° is concentrically disposed in the land portions. At least one end of the narrow grooves is open to a common drainage groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiraku Kouda
  • Patent number: 8899286
    Abstract: Pneumatic tire tread which reduces tread pattern noise while suppressing air column resonance from circumferential grooves is provided with a number of sets of resonators and at least two types of branch groove shapes; the length of the first branch grooves at least 40% of the length of the contact surface, and groove width between 10% and 25% of the circumferential groove width; the length of the second branch grooves between 40% and 90% of the length of the first branch grooves, and the groove width no less than the first branch groove width; first openings and second openings alternately present on same circumferential groove; length between openings in first branch grooves is no more than 50% of the length of the contact surface; difference between the minimum cross-sectional void ratio in the ribs where the branch grooves are provided and the maximum cross-sectional void ratio is no greater than 10%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignees: Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin, Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventor: Nicolas Dautrey
  • Patent number: 8887776
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire has a nonconductive tread rubber constructing an outer surface of a tread portion, a nonconductive side wall rubber constructing an outer surface of a side wall portion, and a rim strip rubber constructing an outer surface of a bead portion. The pneumatic tire has a conductive sheet formed by a conductive rubber. The conductive sheet reaches the rim strip rubber from the tread rubber while passing between a carcass and the side wall rubber, and terminates without being exposed to the outer surface of the bead portion. The rim strip rubber is partitioned into a nonconductive rubber portion and a conductive rubber portion, and the conductive rubber portion is connected to the conductive sheet and is exposed to a bead bottom surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2014
    Assignee: Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yoshinori Asayama
  • Patent number: 8844591
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire including a closed sipe in a land portion formed in a tread surface, provided with at least three cuts extending in a radiation direction from an imaginary axis that extends in a depth direction of the land portion, and that terminate in the land portion. A widened portion where a width of a cut is locally increased is formed at at least one position of an intermediate region from the imaginary axis to a terminating portion of the cuts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Katsuyoshi Sekine, Masatoshi Kuwajima
  • Patent number: 8844590
    Abstract: In a tire 1, a central land portion row 20C and intermediate land portion rows 20M are formed by center-side main grooves 10C. A projecting portion 50 projecting outwardly in a tire radial direction TR from a groove bottom surface 11 of the center-side main groove 10C is provided in the central groove 10C. The projecting portion 50 is located on an extension line L1 extending in an extending direction of lug grooves 30M, and extends outwardly in the tread width direction TW from a sidewall 21 of the central land portion row 20C. An inner end height H1 of the projecting portion 50 located on an innermost side thereof in the tread width direction TW and continuous to the central land portion row 20C is greater than an outer end height H2 of the projecting portion 50 located on an outermost side thereof in the tread width direction TW.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventor: Yukihiro Kiwaki
  • Patent number: 8826952
    Abstract: A retread tire and methods for its manufacture, the retread tire having a precured tread band bonded to a prepared bonding surface of a base portion of the tire. The precured tread band includes a back face bonded to the prepared bonding surface of the base portion of the tire and a tread groove bottom portion that extends below the back face of the tread band. The tread groove bottom portion may optionally include a void portion of the tread groove and may include the bottom wall of the tread groove and/or just the side walls of the bottom portion of the tread groove. Also included may be a base groove formed in the base portion of the tire and open to the prepared bonding surface of the tire, wherein the tread groove bottom of the tread groove is embedded within the base groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignees: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A., Compagnie Generale des Etablissments Michelin
    Inventors: E. Bruce Colby, Nathan J. Panning
  • Patent number: 8826956
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire having a pair of bead portions; bead cores each having a polygonal cross section; a radial carcass having respective ends wound around the corresponding bead cores from the inner to outer side; one layer of wire chafer disposed outwardly of the radial carcass relative to the bead core; and a rubber chafer in a contact area between the bead portion and a prescribed rim, wherein, in a cross section of the tire assembled with the prescribed rim, the angle between the bottom side of the bead core and a bead seat of the prescribed rim is in the range of 0±2°, and a portion, on the tire outer surface side, of an outermost layer filament of steel cords constituting the wire chafer extends at an angle in the range of 90±5° relative to the extending direction of ply cords of the radial carcass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventor: Akira Sasaki
  • Patent number: 8794277
    Abstract: Provided is a pneumatic tire for motorcycle in which the abrasion resistance and the steering stability of the tire at the time when the motorcycle is travelling while leaning sideways are combined by resolving the above-mentioned problems and improving the tread pattern. Provided is a pneumatic tire for motorcycle including a tread portion 11, a pair of sidewall portions 12connected to both sides of the tread portion and a pair of bead portions 13individually connected to the sidewall portions. The tire tread portion has a tread pattern having a plurality of transverse grooves 1to 9.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventor: Takaki Hayashi