Abstract: A cord for reinforcing tires having a core of at least one p-aramid filament that has a modulus greater than about 6.5 N/dTex and a sheath of steel strands that are helically wound around the p-aramid filament. The steel strands consist of either a single steel wire or multiple steel wires twisted together.

Abstract: A planar sheet comprises a plurality of polyamide yarns having a yarn modulus of from 3.7 to 6.8 N/dtex, an elongation to break of from 2.9 to 4.7% and a denier of from 130 to 15,000 and a plurality of steel wires wherein the steel wire is provided with a first crimp and a second crimp, the first crimp lying in a plane that is substantially different from the plane of the second crimp. The first and second crimp pitches and amplitudes of the steel wire are such that, when the steel wire and polyamide yarns are combined, the elongation to break of the wire is similar to that of the polyamide yarn. The wires and yarns are arranged such that they are oriented parallel to each other within the planar sheet. The sheet has utility in the construction of elastomeric components for tires and belts.

Abstract: A cord for reinforcing tires, comprising a core of at least one p-aramid filament that has a modulus greater than about 6.5 N/dTex and a sheath of steel strands that are helically wound around the p-aramid filament.

Abstract: A method of mounting a tire on a rim includes selecting a tire comprising bead cores, stretching the bead cores, sliding the bead cores over a balcony portion of the rim, allowing the bead cores to elastically return to lengths corresponding to diameters of respective seats of the rim, and inflating the tire. The bead cores include one or more portions of material with characteristics of superelasticity and shape memory. Stretching the bead cores may include applying constant load to the bead cores at ambient temperature and/or causing the bead cores to undergo structural change at ambient temperature. The structural change may include complete or partial change from austenitic structure to martensitic structure. The one or more portions of material are deformable at ambient temperature in response to a constant force and recover to original shape upon removal of the constant force.

Abstract: A tire for a vehicle wheel, capable of withstanding the load at low pressure or zero pressure, includes a carcass, a crown, two axially opposed sidewalls, two bead cores, two compression-resistant annular reinforcing elements, and, optionally, a belt structure. The annular reinforcing elements are made of material having high rigidity and very low elastic hysteresis. Each annular reinforcing element is in or adjacent to a zone joining the crown to a sidewall and in a first plane parallel to an equatorial plane of the tire. Each bead core is in a second plane parallel to the equatorial plane. The distance between the first planes is greater than or equal to the distance between the second planes. A camber of an arc between a bead core and an intersection of a carcass ply line with a cylindrical surface passing through the reinforcing elements does not exceed 15% of the arc length.

Abstract: A method for generating an electric current within a tyre includes the step of including a variable magnetic field in at least one winding. The tire includes at least one bead core and the at least one winding. The at least one winding includes at least one turn wound around the at least one bead core. The electric current may power one or more electronic devices. The one or more electronic devices may include means for sensing one or more parameters associated with the tire, such as temperature sensors, pressure sensors, or a pair of extensometers orientated perpendicularly to each other to sense deformations of the at least one bead core. The at least one winding may form at least part of a first inductive element associated with and movable with respect to at least one second inductive element to form an electrical generator.

Abstract: A rubberized fabric includes at least one substantially metal-free non-woven web having a plurality of fibers. At least some of these fibers are bonded together. The fibers can be substantially oriented in one or more directions. The fabric also includes at least one elastomeric material at least partially covering the at least one non-woven web. The fabric can be incorporated in various locations in a pneumatic tire, such as in a belt structure. Additionally, a pneumatic tire may include one or more elongated rubberized structures including one or more layers of a non-woven web having a plurality of non-metallic fibers substantially oriented in one or more directions relative to the at least one surface.

Abstract: A belt for supporting strips of deformable material includes a flexible central band. One or more strips are placed onto the band. Variable-configuration air chambers are arranged along edges of the band. The air chambers, when inflated, may have upper and lower surfaces that are substantially flat and substantially parallel to the band. An apparatus for using the belt includes a storage coil, a take-up winding, and first, second, and third devices. A first part of the belt is wound onto a reel of the storage coil with a first tension. A second part of the belt is wound onto a beam of the take-up winding with a second tension greater than the first tension. The first devices vary the first and second tension, the second devices keep the air chambers in the first part of the belt inflated, and the third devices rotate the reel and beam.

Abstract: A bead core for locking a tire to a seat of a wheel rim includes a plurality of annular reinforcement elements having an inner transverse dimension smaller than a maximum diameter of the wheel rim, and being sufficiently deformable at ambient temperature to facilitate mounting the tire onto the wheel rim. The plurality of annular reinforcement elements includes at least one tightening element made of a shape-memory alloy responsive to temperature increases by increasing a tightening force on the wheel rim at a predetermined temperature. A tire including the bead core and a method for securing a tire to a rim using the bead core are also disclosed.

Abstract: A bead wire for a bead core of a tire, having at least one portion of its annular extent formed from a material having characteristics of superelasticity, resulting in increasing deformations of the bead core when a constant stretching load is applied at constant temperature. As the load ceases, the bead core recovers from the deformation. The characteristics of the bead core allow mounting a tire incorporating the bead core to a rim at ambient temperature, with intelligent adjustment of the bead core to the dimensions of the seat of the rim. The bead core increases the magnitude of an inward contraction stress as its temperature increases, so that it increases the gripping pressure exerted by the tire beads on the rim when the tire runs in the deflated state.

Abstract: A method of foreseeing and controlling wearing in the tread of a tire based on the use of cuts of a limited depth (in the order of tenth parts of one millimeter) formed on the external surface of the tread, in the thickness of the elastomeric material. The cut is preferably made by a laser beam. Rotation of the tire on a road or on any other friction surface enables both the uneven wearing of the tread, highlighted by localized spots devoid of cuts, to be quickly verified by inspecting the maintenance state of said cuts, and the wear rate of the tread, which can be drawn from calculation of the time elapsing between the disappearance of two groups of cuts of different depth.

Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus (1) for testing tire compounds, which comprises a road drum (3) and a specimen (5), rotating about respective parallel axes (X, Y) and being in rolling contact with each other. The specimen (5) of rubber to be analysed is mounted at the end of a spindle operated by a motor (6): advantageously the spindle is housed inside a closed casing (63) so as not to be exposed to water or other agents during the tests. This results in an apparatus wherein the spindle driving the specimen may be supported by non-sealed and hence low-friction bearings, thereby not altering the results of the tests carried out.

Abstract: A tire includes a toroidal carcass and a tread band. The toroidal carcass includes a central crown and two sidewalls terminating in a pair of annular beads. Each annular bead includes a metallic bead core for anchoring to corresponding bead seats of a wheel rim. The metallic bead cores include at least one annular portion made of a material having characteristics of superelasticity and shape memory. The material having characteristics of superelasticity and shape memory is deformable at ambient temperature in response to a constant force and recovers to an original shape upon removal of the constant force to facilitate mounting the tire on the wheel rim. The wheel rim includes a central cylindrical channel from which branches off, axially and outwardly, from opposite sides, diverging surfaces each terminating in a peripheral flange. The diverging surfaces form the bead seats for respective annular beads of the tire.

Abstract: A tire includes a carcass, a tread band, at least a reinforcing belt between the tread band and the carcass, a pair of bead cores disposed one at each end of the carcass with ends of the carcass wrapped around the pair of bead cores to form a pair of beads, and at least one clamp disposed around each bead core, wherein the at least one clamp is made of a shape-memory material. A bead core including at least one clamp made of a shape-memory material, a method for manufacturing a tire including at least one clamp made of a strip of shape-memory material, and a method for manufacturing a bead core including at least one clamp made of a strip of shape-memory material are also disclosed.

Abstract: A tire (20) comprises a bead core (22) of ferromagnetic material, for example steel wire, around which one or more windings (30a, 30b, . . . , 30n) of conducting wire are wound to form the secondary of an electricity generator of the induction type. The assembly of windings and bead core (22), together with the circuits using the electricity thus generated, is produced as a single unit to be incorporated, together with the bead filler (26), in a bead (28) of the tire, and of one or more magnets fixed with respect to the hub of the wheel or integral with the chassis of a vehicle comprising a wheel (18) fitted with the tire (20), which induce current in the windings. If the magnets are electromagnets (32) supplied with alternating current, the electricity generator operates both when the wheel (18) is rotating and when the wheel is stationary.

Abstract: A tire for a vehicle wheel includes a toroidal carcass, a tread band, and a first inductive element of an electrical generator. At least one tire bead includes an annular core including a steel strip spirally wound to form at least two radially-superposed layers. The first inductive element includes at least one turn of conducting wire wound around a transverse profile of one of the annular cores. Alternatively, at least one tire bead includes an annular core including a matrix based on an elastomeric or plastomeric material, the matrix incorporating fibers, yarn, or cords, and containing ferromagnetic material in at least one of a powder form or a fibril form. The tire may include at least one electronic circuit operatively coupled to the first inductive element. A system for sensing and signaling one or more parameters associated with the tire and a method for producing the tire are also disclosed.

Abstract: A bead core for locking a tire to a seat of a wheel rim includes a plurality of annular reinforcement elements having an inner transverse dimension smaller than a maximum diameter of the wheel rim, and being sufficiently deformable at ambient temperature to facilitate mounting the tire onto the wheel rim. The plurality of annular reinforcement elements includes at least one tightening element made of a shape-memory alloy responsive to temperature increases by increasing a tightening force on the wheel rim at a predetermined temperature. A tire including the bead core and a method for securing a tire to a rim using the bead core are also disclosed.

Abstract: An inflation and deflation device for an inner tube and an inner tube provided with this device are described. The inner tube is elastically expandable for the introduction of fluid into its internal volume and can be housed in the space between tire and rim, which can be isolated from the external environment at atmospheric pressure. The device does not have elements for connecting the internal volume of the inner tube and the environment outside the wheel.

Abstract: A device for inflating and deflating a flexible container which is elastically expandable for introduction of pressurized fluid into an internal volume of the container is described. The device is housed inside a cavity isolable from a surrounding environment, the device being inserted in a wall of the container. Pressurized fluid can flow from the surrounding environment into the cavity and from the cavity out to the surrounding environment. The device does not have elements for connecting the internal volume of the container and the surrounding environment.

Abstract: A belt for supporting strips of deformable material includes a flexible central band onto which one or more strips of the deformable material are placed, wherein variable-configuration spacing elements are arranged along edges of the central band. The spacing elements may be air chambers. An apparatus for using the belt, a method for feeding a strip of deformable material, and a method for storing a strip of deformable material on a storage coil are also disclosed.