Abstract: A reinforced radial tire bead construction for heavy load vehicles, such as trucks and buses, which has excellent durability and recapability. The tire has a carcass ply turnup wrapped around a bead core and a relatively soft rubber apex strip. A steel cord reinforcing layer surrounds part of the turnup and a layer of organic fiber cords is outside the steel cord layer and extending to a greater radial height. Between the turnup ends and the inner surface of the organic cord layer is a rubber strip of relatively soft material. Between the carcass ply main portion and the soft rubber apex strip is a rubber band of relatively harder material.

Abstract: A pneumatic radial tire for use in heavy duty vehicles such as an airplane and so on comprises at least one carcass ply as a tire body reinforcement, at least two belt layers as a tread reinforcement, and a tread provided with a pair of main grooves extending circumferentially of the tread at a position ranging from the side end of the tread within 15.about.40% of tread ground contact width. In this tire, the tread is composed of a tread rubber satisfying a requirement that modulus at 100.degree. C. under 100% elongation of tread rubber constituting each side portion of the tread is lower by a range of 30.about.80% than that of tread rubber constituting a central portion of the tread.

Abstract: A combination pneumatic tire and integrated circuit transponder for tire identification. The transponder is located within the tire structure and is capable of transmitting an identifying digital signal in response to interrogation by an R/F electric field emanating from outside the tire. The transponder then transmits the identifying signal, which is received, conditioned and demodulated. The tire has a steel-reinforced component, such as an annular tensile member in its bead or a steel-reinforced ply. The transponder has first and second electrodes, the first of which is positioned such that the average spacing of this first electrode's surface from one of the steel-reinforced tire components is substantially less than the average spacing of the second electrode's surface from such component.

Abstract: A splice between ends of precured tread material is effected by establishing a gap between the ends that are to be spliced together after the tread material has been fitted to the buffed area of a tire with a cushion layer of uncured rubber between the material and the buffed area. The gap is established without compressing the tread material adjacent the gap and is approximately three-sixteenths of an inch and is filled with natural rubber using an extruder gun in a manner flushing air from the gap. The tire is then cured by heat and pressure for the necessary time required by the particular curing process employed.

Abstract: Upper and lower rollers have grooves for a bead ring having a clamp area portion produced by a bead winding machine. The bead ring is placed in the groove of the lower roller with the beginning of the clamp area portion in position for pressing by lowering of the upper roller so that the bead ring is engaged by the groove in the upper roller. The rollers are oscillated between the pressing position at the beginning of the clamp area and the end of the clamp area to roll the top, bottom and sides of the clamp area portion during the movement of the bead ring. The pressure on the bead ring is released by raising the upper roller at the initial pressing position at the beginning of the clamp area so that the bead ring may be removed with the same orientation it had when it was placed in the groove.

Abstract: A heavy duty pneumatic tire comprises a tread, two side walls, two beads, a radial carcass reinforcement, and a belt composed of at least two plies of which cords are intersected in the adjacent plies. The radius of curvature of the contour of the tread appearing in a tire cross section including a tire rotary axis is asymmetrical with respect to the tire equatorial plane. A larger radius of curvature is given to the tread portion to be located outside when the tire is mounted to a wheel, while a smaller radius of curvature is given to the tread portion to be located on the inner side when the tire is mounted to the wheel. The difference between the larger radius of curvature and the smaller radius of curvature is not less than 70 mm. The rigidity of the tread is larger on the tread portion having the larger radius of curvature than on the tread portion having the smaller radius of curvature.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing surface relief holograms wherein an original surface relief hologram in the form of an endless loop or a drum is continuously coated with a radiation-curable resin. After curing, the resin bears a replica of the original hologram and it is continuously drawn off from the original as a sheet or film. The replica film becomes a hot-stamping foil when formed in contact with a carrier film, metallized, and coated with a hot-stamping adhesive.

Abstract: An envelope expander for mounting an annular envelope of a flexible resilient material upon a tire supported upon a tire support with the tire axis in a horizontal position includes a vertically disposed rigid gate-like frame having a central opening of a diameter exceeding that of a tire. A plurality of expander members adapted to grip the envelope at spaced locations along the edge of a circular opening in one side of the envelope are mounted on the frame for coordinated power driven movement radially of the frame opening between radially inner and outer end limits. With the expander members at their radially inner end limits, the envelope opening is slightly stretched and manually mounted on the members. The expanding members are then driven to their radially outer end limits, expending the envelope opening to a diameter greater than that of the tire.

Abstract: A method is provided for monitoring proper application of a length of tread stock to the periphery of a green tire carcass. The tread stock has an outer face with a centering mark defined along the length of the outer face. The stock is affixed to the green tire carcass in a supposed centered position to form an assembled green tire, and the assembled green tire is supported for rotation. A wheel having a pair of annular ridges or grooves on its peripheral surface is positioned in contact with the green tire, and the green tire and wheel are mutually counterrotated. The ridges or grooves are positioned on the wheel spaced equidistantly from the centerline of the green tire, so that counterrotation of the green tire and wheel cause the ridges or grooves to impress alignment marks into the tread stock on each side of the central groove.

Abstract: Pneumatic radial tires for load vehicles include carcass plies reinforced with composite twisted filaments having a core-sheath structure, the core being made of polyester and the sheath being made of polyamide. The sheath accounts for 40-60 wt % of the entire core-sheath structure, and the coefficient of twist K of the cords satisfies the condition 1.22<K<2.24 and the initial modulus Md (g/d) of the cords satisfies the condition Md>45.0.

Abstract: A robot for transporting a cylindrical tire carcass between various processing locations comprising arms with contoured free ends movable toward each other to thereby grasp the exterior cylindrical surface of a carcass, the free ends also being movable away from each other to thereby grasp the interior cylindrical surface of a green tire; transport means to move the arms between a pick up location, a tire building machine, and an inspection location; and control means adapted to move the arms toward each other at the pick up location to grasp the exterior cylindrical surface of a carcass and to activate the transport means to convey the grasped carcass to the tire building machine, the control means also adapted to move the arm away from each other at the tire building machine to grasp the interior cylindrical surface of a green tire and to activate the transport means to convey the grasped green tire to the inspection location.

Abstract: A reinforcing cable (40) comprises at least two yarns (41,42,43) each of which consists only of aramid filaments, and a single core yarn (44) which consists only of filaments selected from the group consisting of polyamides having a structure which is at least partially oriented and polyesters having a structure which is at least partially oriented. The aramid yarns (41,42,43) are adjacent to one another and twisted about the core yarn (44) to manufacture a cable (40), but the aramid yarns are not twisted about one another. Articles of manufacture, such as tires, which contain the new cables are also disclosed.

Abstract: A corrugated member comprising a top web (2) and a carrier web (3) is manufactured by stepwise forward feed movement of the carrier web, with simultaneous deformation of the top web and joining of the two webs. At a shaping station (1), a deformation element (6) is first introduced between the top web (2) and the carrier web (3), and the top web is pressed against the carrier web by a first pressing means (4), downstream of the deformation element. Then, upstream of the deformation element (6), the top web (2) is pressed against the deformation element by a second pressing means (5), stretched over the deformation element, and joined to the carrier web (3).

Abstract: An automatic feeder for feeding tire building materials in a tire building machine, which is installed on a base plate and mainly comprises two stock rolls arranged on the side of supplying tire building materials (rubber sheet materials), cloth inspection means (not shown), multistage first feeders provided with automatic cutting apparatus and centering apparatus, second feeders arranged on the discharging side of the first feeders, and a tire-forming drum apparatus arranged on the discharging side of the second feeder, and which ensures that many kinds of tire building materials can be subjected to an automatic cloth inspection and automatic cutting and be efficiently fed by one feeder without the need for a large installation space.

Abstract: A tire unit consisting of a coreless air tire (4), containing a reinforcing ply (7), and a rim (3), the edges (8, 10) of which are permanently connected to one another solely by bonding. The part of the tire edge (8) containing the reinforcing ply is bonded to the latter only on one side of the rim. The rim edge (10) has an undercut (28) in which the tire edge (8) contains an annular reinforcement (29). A main bonding zone (23, 37) is provided in the undercut or adjacent to it on the outside. In the main bonding zone, the tangential angle (25) to the axis (1) is at no point (24) smaller than at each point which lies closer to the tire side wall (6) or smaller than the angle (20) at which the tire side wall (6) runs clear of the rim under all normal loading conditions. Moreover, a process is proposed for producing such a tire unit.

Abstract: Extremely useful compositions for delineation of materials utilized in device applications have been found. These compositions include a polymer having segments that are at least 10 monomer units long of a first entity and segments again at least 10 monomer units long of a second entity. The monomer units are chosen so that each segment type provides a specific chemical characteristic to the polymer.

Abstract: The invention relates generally to pneumatic tires and in particular to pneumatic tires for heavy duty use comprising a diagonal ply carcass and two bead regions (1) each reinforced by two axially spaced apart bead cores (3,4). The present invention is characterized in that the radially outermost ply ending (11) of the first set (8) of plies is located at a height which is greater than the height of the radially outermost ply ending (15) of the second set (9) of plies. The tire construction according to the present invention provides particularly durable bead regions (1) and sidewall regions (2), the stiffness in the head regions (1) and sidewall regions (2) decreasing gradually from the axially inner side towards the axially outer side of the tire.

Abstract: A reinforcing laminate for use in a carcass or a belt of a heavy duty pneumatic radial tire comprises plural reinforcing layers piled one upon the other, each containing cords substantially arranged in parallel to each other and covered with a coating rubber, wherein the cords of the adjoining reinforcing layers are arranged in parallel to each other and the pitch between the cords in one of the reinforcing layers is shifted by an approximately half pitch from that of the other reinforcing layer.

Abstract: A radial tire with a split structure in the first belt layer provided with an organic fiber cord layer in the split structure and having a narrow groove extending in the circumferential direction of the tire and provided in each of both shoulder portions of the surface of a tread, wherein the narrow groove has a depth h determined in the radial direction of the tire, and a distance d.sub.1 measured between the internal edge on the shoulder side of an opening portion of the narrow groove and the radially outermost surface of the shoulder portion as determined along a parallel line to the surface of the tread, and a distance d.sub.2 measured between the internal wall surface on the shoulder side of the bottom of the narrow groove and the radially outermost surface of the shoulder portion as determined along a parallel line to the surface of the tread, wherein d.sub.1 is less than 15 mm and is smaller than d.sub.2, and a shape factor m defined by the following equation is 0.8 to 1.

Abstract: A tire reinforcing component, preferably a breaker for a radial tire, is formed from an elastomeric ply reinforced by a single continuous cord (7) which extends back and forth from edge (14) to edge (15) across the ply in a zig-zag formation in which traverses (8) (9) of the cord are parallel to each other, and a series of loops (10) (11) is formed at each edge. The ply has its edge margins (12) (13) folded inwards so that the looped edges (14) (15) lie adjacent the centerline (X--X) of the ply.A breaker of this construction is arranged preferably so that the looped edges (10) (12) are located on the radially inner side of the breaker.