Inflated Or Expanded In Emergency Only Patents (Class 152/519)
  • Patent number: 8978724
    Abstract: Provided is a pneumatic tire/rim assembly which is improved in the run-flat durability with the mass of the tire being reduced. In a pneumatic tire/rim assembly with a run-flat capability, an air bladder (2) made of a circular ring-shaped film body is inserted inside a pneumatic tire (1) mounted on a rim (R). At least part of the film body is formed of a sealing layer (3) made of a thermoplastic resin or a thermoplastic elastomer composition obtained by blending an elastomer in a thermoplastic resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hideki Hamanaka
  • Publication number: 20150013870
    Abstract: A system for allowing a pneumatic tire supported on a wheel rim of a vehicle to continue in operation after rupture of the tire. The system includes an air bag container which divides the interior tire volume into a radial outer chamber providing normal pressure for inflation of the tire and a radial interior chamber, within the air bag, which is inflated to a substantially higher pressure. The container is intended to rupture when the tire is deflated by a puncture or the like allowing the higher pressure air bag to escape from its container and fill the entire tire volume at a normal operating pressure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2014
    Publication date: January 15, 2015
    Inventor: Ronald L. Kyle
  • Patent number: 8720511
    Abstract: A run flat tire which comprises a ply layer (4) disposed extending toroidally between a pair of bead cores and comprising ply coating rubber and ply cords, an inner liner layer (5) disposed circumferentially at an inner side of the ply layer, side reinforcing rubber layers (6) having an approximately crescent-shaped cross section and disposed in side portions of the tire between the ply layer and the inner liner layer and rubber sheets (7) disposed extending at interface of the ply layer and the side reinforcing rubber layer, wherein relations of t90>tp10 and t10<ts90 are satisfied when characteristic values of vulcanization obtained in accordance with JIS K6300-2 are represented by tp10 and tp90 for the ply coating rubber, ts10, and ts90 for the side reinforcing rubber and t10 and t90 for the rubber for a sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventor: Fumihiro Shiraishi
  • Patent number: 8528612
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a useful inner structural supporter type run flat tire having enough structural strength for controlling the steering wheel to some extent when the tire goes flat and having easy structure for installing to the rim wheel. A wheel 10 has a flange 11 with a bead part of a tubeless tire fitted thereto and a container 12 having a diameter smaller than that of the flange 11, and comprises a rim valve for adjusting the air pressure of the tubeless tire, and a second rim valve for adjusting air pressure in an inner tire 20. The inner tire 20 is stored in the container 12. While the inner tire 20 is stored in the container 12, the tubeless tire 30 is fitted to the flange of the tire wheel 10, air is fed into the inner tire 20 via the second rim valve until the air pressure reaches a predetermined value, so the inner tire 20 is inflated inside the tubeless tire 30, and an inner tire is provided as the inner tire in the outer tubeless tire space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Inventor: Kazuhiro Ikeda
  • Publication number: 20130020004
    Abstract: A system for allowing vehicles equipped with pneumatic tires to continue operating after a tire failure which would normally cause deflation of the tire employs one or more airbags stored in deflated configuration either about the exterior surface of the rim supporting the pneumatic tire or externally of the tire. The system further includes a container for compressed gases. A sensor connected to the inflated tire to detect sudden deflation releases the compressed gases so as to inflate the airbag to either support the tire or provide an exterior running surface adjacent to the deflated tire. The system may employ a rim with a specially deep drop-center section to allow mounting and dismounting a tire in a conventional manner despite the space in the drop-center section occupied by airbags.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2012
    Publication date: January 24, 2013
    Applicant: Hybrid Electric Conversion Co., LLC
    Inventor: RONALD KYLE
  • Patent number: 8281835
    Abstract: A run-flat support assembly for a wheel rim of a pneumatic tired wheel and method for use of the same are disclosed. In one embodiment, a tubular support structure is positioned in a tire cavity of the pneumatic tired wheel and coupled to the wheel rim to turn concurrently with an axis of rotation of the wheel rim. A skeletal structure is disposed within the tubular support structure. Circumferentially spaced linkages are displaceably secured to respective mounting races of a body of the skeletal structure. Each of the circumferentially spaced linkages is adapted to plastically fail at a pre-determined moment load in a run-flat condition, thereby pivoting relative to the respective mounting race.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Dynamic Runflats, Inc.
    Inventor: William W. Gardetto
  • Publication number: 20110073231
    Abstract: Present invention provides a safety tire which could increase the running distance in the run-flat state by adequately configuring a diaphragm. The safety tire has an inflatable annular or hollow toroidal diaphragm which fractionates a tire cavity to an outer chamber and an inner chamber, the diaphragm having a communicating part communicating the outer chamber with the inner chamber, when the tire and the diaphragm is attached onto a rim and the inner and outer chamber is filled with a first internal-pressure, and the communication part being closed when the internal-pressure of the outer chamber drops from the first internal-pressure beyond a second internal-pressure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2008
    Publication date: March 31, 2011
    Applicant: BRIDGESTONE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yoshihide Kouno
  • Patent number: 7911332
    Abstract: A wheel having a controlled pressure includes a rim associated with a tank adapted to be filled with a fluid to a first pressure; a tire mounted on the rim and having an inner volume inflated to an operating pressure at a reference temperature, the operating pressure being lower than the first pressure; and at least one valve assembly adapted to establish a communication between the tank, the inner volume of the tire and the external environment. The valve assembly includes a command valve, an exhaust valve and a compensation valve operatively associated with each other. The command valve controls communication between the tank and the inner volume of the tire. The exhaust valve is connected to the external environment, to the inner volume, to the command valve and to the compensation valve. The compensation valve is connected to the exhaust valve and the command valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignee: Pirelli Tyre S.p.A.
    Inventors: Renato Caretta, Pier Giuseppe Piantanida, Stefano Sangiovanni, Maurizio Marchini, Giorgia Sgalari
  • Publication number: 20110030867
    Abstract: A system for allowing vehicles equipped with pneumatic tires to continue operating after a tire failure which would normally cause deflation of the tire employs one or more airbags stored in deflated configuration either about the exterior surface of the rim supporting the pneumatic tire or externally of the tire. The system further includes a container for compressed gases. A sensor connected to the inflated tire to detect sudden deflation releases the compressed gases so as to inflate the airbag to either support the tire or provide an exterior running surface adjacent to the deflated tire.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2010
    Publication date: February 10, 2011
    Inventor: Ronald Kyle
  • Publication number: 20110030868
    Abstract: Provided is a pneumatic tire/rim assembly which is improved in the run-flat durability with the mass of the tire being reduced. In a pneumatic tire/rim assembly with a run-flat capability, an air bladder (2) made of a circular ring-shaped film body is inserted inside a pneumatic tire (1) mounted on a rim (R). At least part of the film body is formed of a sealing layer (3) made of a thermoplastic resin or a thermoplastic elastomer composition obtained by blending an elastomer in a thermoplastic resin.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2009
    Publication date: February 10, 2011
    Applicant: THE YOKOHAMA RUBBER CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hideki Hamanaka
  • Patent number: 7882873
    Abstract: A run-flat tire of improved load bearing capacity after being punctured is disclosed. The tire has two circumferential sidewalls, at least one circumferential intermediate wall interposed between the sidewalls, and a transverse base extending from one sidewall to the other and defining a compartment between a sidewall and an adjacent intermediate wall or between two adjacent intermediate walls. Each compartment is adapted to assume an expanded symmetrical configuration when an adjacent sidewall or intermediate wall is punctured. A carcass portion is provided within each sidewall, each intermediate wall and base. A shock absorber is provided in the vicinity of a junction connecting each intermediate wall to the base. A padding element is affixed to the inner liner portion applied to the bead wrap of each intermediate wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2011
    Inventor: Eldad Rubin
  • Patent number: 7757736
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device for repairing a tubeless mounted assembly for a cycle, more particularly for a bicycle, comprising a rim and a tire. According to the invention, the repair device comprises an inner tube, the internal diameter D of which inner tube is greater than the diameter of the rim seats.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2010
    Assignee: Michelin Recherche et Technique S.A.
    Inventor: Bernard Moreau
  • Publication number: 20090178747
    Abstract: It is to solve a problem on an elongation of a partition in a safety tire wherein hollow particles called as a foamable composition are filled in a hollow ring-shaped partition and to propose a safety tire with a partition structure sufficiently developing a function of hollow particles. In a safety tire comprising a tire-approved rim assembly formed by assembling a tire onto an approved rim, a chamber defined inside the assembly through a hollow ring-shaped partition and extending along the rim in a circumferential direction, and thermally expandable hollow particles filled in the chamber, each of which particles consisting of a continuous phase of a resin and a closed cell(s), a hollow ring-shaped sub-partition is disposed on at least radially outside of an outer peripheral portion of the partition and a tire internal pressure is applied to an inside of the sub-partition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2006
    Publication date: July 16, 2009
    Applicant: BRIDGESTONE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Koji Otani
  • Publication number: 20080257470
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device for inserting inside tires of a vehicle so that it follows its course without stopping after a bursting. The device comprises a cluster of flexible bladders (1) which are made of rubber, have a diameter of one to several inches according to the use, are interconnected by a cord (2.1) with its distribution branches (2.2, 2.3) and an inflating stem (3). The air enters each bladder via the cord by means of a very sensitive mini-check valve (9). During inflation, the air contained inside the space of the tire is purged via a purging system (6, 7, 8). In one variant, the principle of the valves, cord and purge is retained, but there are fewer bladders and they have the shape of sections of the tire. Bladders that are resistant to depression can also be used with the same valves and purge but without a cord. The refilling ensues by an over inflation step followed by a reduction effected by the purge until the operating pressure is reached.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2006
    Publication date: October 23, 2008
    Inventor: Philippe Biesse
  • Patent number: 7165587
    Abstract: The invention proposes a technique of preventing a propagation of a damage in a reinforcing layer to a toric air bag even if the reinforcing layer arranged on an outer peripheral side of the toric air bag in a safety tire to suppress an unnecessary size growth of the toric air bag and allowed to a proper expansion deformation of the toric air bag in the puncture of the tire or the like is damaged by foreign matters entered through a puncture hole into the tire, in which the reinforcing layer separately arranged from the toric air bag is fitted on the outer peripheral side of the toric air bag having a hollow torus shape over its full periphery to suppress the propagation of the damage in the reinforcing layer to the toric air bag through an interface layer therebetween.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsuito Tsukagoshi, Osamu Saito
  • Patent number: 7017633
    Abstract: There is proposed a toric air bag for a safety tire capable of sufficiently and equally contacting with a full inner face of a tire in the expansion-deformation of the toric air bag by a drop of an internal pressure in the tire, wherein at least an expansion-deforming portion of the toric air bag having a hollow torus shape as a whole is constructed with a tension support member, and to the expansion-deforming portion is given a property indicating a characteristic of extension ratio-tensile force that tensile force per unit width is substantially and gradually increased with the increase of elongation through the expansion-deformation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2006
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventors: Yuji Yamaguchi, Masahiko Yamamoto, Yugo Zuigyo, Osamu Saito, Tetsuhito Tsukagoshi
  • Publication number: 20040177909
    Abstract: The invention proposes a technique of preventing a propagation of a damage in a reinforcing layer to a toric air bag even if the reinforcing layer arranged on an outer peripheral side of the toric air bag in a safety tire to suppress an unnecessary size growth of the toric air bag and allowed to a proper expansion deformation of the toric air bag in the puncture of the tire or the like is damaged by foreign matters entered through a puncture hole into the tire, in which the reinforcing layer separately arranged from the toric air bag is fitted on the outer peripheral side of the toric air bag having a hollow torus shape over its full periphery to suppress the propagation of the damage in the reinforcing layer to the toric air bag through an interface layer therebetween.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2003
    Publication date: September 16, 2004
    Inventors: Tesuhito Tsukagoshi, Osamu Saito
  • Publication number: 20040140042
    Abstract: There is provided a tire-rim assembly capable of stably running over a distance required even in the dropping of the tire internal pressure after the injuring of the tire without sacrificing rolling resistance and ride comfort in the usual running before the injuring of the tire, wherein a great number of substantially sphere-shaped particles each consisting of a continuous phase of a resin and a closed cell(s) and having a mean bulk specific gravity of not more than 0.1 are disposed in an interior defined by assembling a hollow doughnut-shaped tire onto an approved rim, and a pressure at 25° C. in the interior of the tire is not less than 150 kPa as an absolute pressure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2002
    Publication date: July 22, 2004
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Teratani, Koji Otani, Toshiyuki Ishikuro
  • Publication number: 20040065398
    Abstract: A tire safety system mounts on a vehicle wheel rim inside a pneumatic tire. A tire air pressure sensor produces a tire air pressure reading mounted inside the tire. An inflatable member forms a toroidal expandable internal safety structure. The inflatable member is mounted against the vehicle wheel rim. The chemicals container inside the inflatable member receives an electrical signal at an activation input. The chemicals container creates pressurized gas inside the inflatable member for inflation when a signal is received at the activation input. A circumferential radially expandable protective belt mounted around the inflatable member expands with inflatable member inflation to accommodate operation the tire when expanded. A computer receiving tire air pressure readings from the tire air pressure sensor sends a signal to the activation input upon a sudden change in tire air pressure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 7, 2003
    Publication date: April 8, 2004
    Inventor: Itzhak Sapir
  • Publication number: 20020121325
    Abstract: A safety liner (20) for a vehicle tire (500) includes a toroidal tube (22) having at least one hole (24). At least one plug (26) is selectively insertable into the at least one hole (24). Toroidal tube (22) is compressible into a flattened circular shape by a compressive force, and when the compressive force is removed, the toroidal tube (22) resiliently assumes its original toroidal shape. Safety liner (20) is installed in the cavity (503) of vehicle tire (500) as the vehicle tire (500) is being installed on the tire rim (502). If a blowout or other leak occurs, safety liner (20) will cause the shape and pressure of vehicle tire (500) to be retained for a period of time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2001
    Publication date: September 5, 2002
    Inventor: Donald Albrecht
  • Publication number: 20020000280
    Abstract: The rubber mixtures according to the invention consisting of a rubber, a filler and a specific sulphurized mineral oil are suitable for producing shaped vulcanizates, in particular for producing tires with reduced rolling resistance and high resistance to wet skidding, and tires with particularly reinforced side walls (“run flat tires”).
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2001
    Publication date: January 3, 2002
    Inventor: Thomas Scholl
  • Patent number: 6209601
    Abstract: The invention relates to a novel wheel which serves for equipping with a pneumatic tire and essentially realizes two apparently incompatible properties of solid rubber tires and pneumatic tires, namely strength and good shock absorption, in a single wheel. This wheel is distinguished by the fact that it has a toroidal hollow foam member enclosed by the pneumatic tire and comprising reversibly deformable material having a large number of enclosed cavities serving for the absorption of gas. The substantial advantage of the tire according to the invention is obvious. Damage to the tire skin by a stone or nail does not in fact inevitably lead to an immediate and complete loss of air, as is often the case with known tires. Thus, the toroidal hollow foam member can itself store air in its cells, which not only permits continued riding for a certain time but also reduces the risk of accidents in the event of damage to the tire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Inventor: Marco Märk
  • Patent number: 5746850
    Abstract: A double inner tube and valve system for use in a wheel assembly including a circular rim with a base wall and opposing radially extending flanges defining a well, and an aperture formed in said base wall. A tire is mounted on the rim, and defines an annular cavity in conjunction with the rim. The double inner tube is positioned in the annular cavity and defines an inflatable primary tube adjacent to the tire, and an inflatable secondary tube positioned between the primary tube and the rim. A valve assembly is attached to the double inner tube and positioned in the aperture in the rim. The valve assembly comprises a primary valve in fluid communication with the primary tube to allow inflation of the primary tube and a secondary valve which replaces the primary valve and is in fluid communication with the secondary tube for inflation of the secondary tube. The valve assembly is selectively configurable to inflate the primary tube or the secondary tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 5, 1998
    Inventors: Marcus P. Luscher, Stephen F. Ridley