Abstract: This invention relates to steel wires and steel cords used as a reinforcement for rubber articles such as pneumatic tire, industrial belt and the like, particularly steel wires and steel cords having an excellent adhesion property to rubber, in which an amount of phosphorus included as an oxide in a surface layer region from a brass plated surface applied to a circumferential face of a wire up to a depth of 5 nm in a radial direction of the wire is controlled to not more than 1.5 atomic %, whereby an excellent adhesion property between steel cord and coating rubber can be provided even when an adhesion promoter conventionally added in a coating rubber composition for the steel cord is reduced or is not added.

Abstract: A belt package including at least three belt layers for use in a pneumatic tire, wherein the filament tensile strength of the steel cord/steel filament of the outermost belt layer on the tread side is made 5% or more lower than the filament tensile strength of the steel cord/steel filament of an intermediate belt layer adjacent to the above outermost belt layer to make the ductility of one or both of the outermost belt layer and the innermost belt layer higher than the ductility of at least an intermediate belt layer adjacent to the above belt layer. Thereby, required tensile strength is secured and bending resistance and cut resistance are improved.

Abstract: This invention relates to steel wires and steel cords used as a reinforcement for rubber articles such as pneumatic tire, industrial belt and the like, particularly steel wires and steel cords having an excellent adhesion property to rubber, in which an amount of phosphorus included as an oxide in a surface layer region from a brass plated surface applied to a circumferential face of a wire up to a depth of 5 nm in a radial direction of the wire is controlled to not more than 1.5 atomic %, whereby an excellent adhesion property between steel cord and coating rubber can be provided even when an adhesion promoter conventionally added in a coating rubber composition for the steel cord is reduced or is not added.

Abstract: In a multiple slip type wet-drawing process using plural drawing pass stages each comprised of a die and a capstan drawing a wire rod passed through the die, an average slip rate in each drawing pass stage other than a final stage is set to a range of 5.about.80 m/min, whereby the wire drawing is carried out without causing problems such as damage of wire rod surface, wire breakage, premature wearing of die and the like.