Kenneth Carl Hecker

Title: Kenneth Carl Hecker and Tire Innerliner Innovation.

Introduction

Kenneth Carl Hecker is an inventor associated with Mogadore, Ohio, and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. His patent work addresses materials for pneumatic tire innerliners, which help limit gas loss from tires. He holds 2 patents.

Latest Patents

Hecker’s listed patents, “Innerliner for Pneumatic Tires” and “Innerliner for Pnuematic Tires,” describe the same core innovation: using styrene-butadiene rubber blended with platey filler to create an innerliner with gas-barrier and tensile-fatigue properties.

One disclosed formulation combines about 40 to 99 parts per hundred rubber (phr) of styrene-butadiene rubber with 15% to 30% bound styrene, about 1 to 60 phr of a higher-styrene rubber with 40% to 60% bound styrene, and about 40 to 125 phr of platey filler. Another formulation uses styrene-butadiene rubber with 15% to 30% bound styrene and about 125 to 200 phr of platey filler.

The patent descriptions present these blends as a potential, lower-cost alternative to halobutyl rubber for tire innerliners, while aiming to retain the performance characteristics needed for the application.

Career Highlights

Hecker’s documented patent contributions focus on tire materials and the design of integral innerliners for pneumatic tires. The disclosed formulations combine rubber composition and platey filler to address both gas retention and durability.

Collaborations

Hecker is associated with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. His listed coworker is Richard Robinson Smith.

Conclusion

Kenneth Carl Hecker’s patent work explores styrene-butadiene rubber and platey-filler blends as a practical approach to pneumatic tire innerliners, with the goal of balancing gas-barrier performance, fatigue properties, and material cost.