The Goodyear & Tire Rubber Company

Anthony J Scarpitti

Michael Alois Kolowski

Frederick W Miller, Iii

Keith Carl Trares

Donald W Gilliam

Stephanie Carol Brown

Richard L Galante

Paul Bryan Maxwell

Darrell E Covert

William M Hopkins

Frederick William Miller

Andy Ngoc Hoang

Andy N Hoang

Andrew N Hoang

Sean David Montag

David John Balter

Karl Eric Sundkvist

Sean D Montag

Jeffrey Leon Sevart

Gary Robert Burg

Grover W Rye

Anthony John Fierro

David C Wagner

Theodore M Kersker

Stephenie C Brown

Tire including a continuous pressure membrane. The tire includes a carcass, a rubber layer surrounding the carcass, and a belt. The carcass includes at least one continuous pressure membrane defining a generally U-shaped cross section. The pressure membrane includes a crown portion, a first sidewall portion, and a second sidewall portion connected with the first sidewall portion by the crown portion. The belt may be composed of at least one additional continuous pressure membrane adjacent the crown portion.

Tire including a continuous pressure membrane

A pneumatic tire has a compact bead configuration, and high interlocking forces between the carcass ply cords and the bead cords. The carcass ply is formed from one or more cords wound continuously between a first end and a second end, wherein the at least the first end of the carcass ply is located in one tire bead portions. In the bead portion of the tire, the carcass ply cords are interwoven among a plurality of bead wires. The interwoven carcass ply cords follow a zigzag path.

Tire bead configuration

Method and apparatus for post-cure correction (PCC), either partial or substantial, of various tire nonuniformities which have been detected during a tire manufacturing process by a tire uniformity machine (TUM), preferably testing a tire which has been nominally cooled down (i.e., nominally completed curing) after removal from a tire curing mold. The method comprises the steps of: (1) selecting the tire during a tire manufacturing process after the selected tire has been rejected by a tire uniformity test due to at least one tire uniformity defect; (2) providing 360 degree circumferential tread restraint which holds the tread in an ideal tread shape, concentric to the axis of rotation and nominally perpendicular to the equatorial plane; (3) sealingly holding the beads concentric to, and equidistant from, the axis of rotation, and symmetrically spaced about the equatorial plane; and (4) inflating the selected tire to a controlled pressure, and holding the controlled pressure for a controlled time while the tread is restrained and the beads are sealingly held. An optional additional step before the inflating step (4) comprises heating the selected tire, preferably to a controlled temperature above a glass transition temperature of the tire's ply cord material; and before the end of the controlled time cooling the selected tire below the glass transition temperature. The method steps can be repeated if the corrected tire is still rejectable as determined by a repeated TUM test. An apparatus (PCC device) is provided suitable for implementing the inventive method.

Post cure correction of tire uniformity

Method and apparatus for constrained post cure inflation (CPCI), for improvement of tire uniformity, footprint shape factor, and tread wear. The method comprises the steps of: (1) initiating the method on a tire after the tire has been removed from a tire curing mold (preferably while the tire is still hot); (2) providing 360 degree circumferential tread restraint which holds the tread in an ideal tread shape, concentric to the axis of rotation and nominally perpendicular to the equatorial plane; (3) sealingly holding the beads concentric to, and equidistant from, the axis of rotation, and symmetrically spaced about the equatorial plane; and (4) inflating the tire to a controlled pressure, and holding the controlled pressure for a controlled time while the tread is restrained and the beads are sealingly held. Optional additional steps include: before the inflating step, heating the tire, preferably to a controlled temperature above a glass transition temperature of the tire's ply cord material; and before the end of the controlled time, cooling the tire below the glass transition temperature. An apparatus (CPCI device) is disclosed which is suitable for implementing the inventive method.

Constrained post cure inflation

A pneumatic radial tire combination for four-wheeled automobile or light truck vehicles. The tire combination has a pair of front steer position tires and a pair of rear position tires. The front steer position tire has a footprint when the tire is normally inflated for normal load that has a footprint shape factor of greater than 1.00 at a 50% load, and about 1.00 at both 85% load and 100% load, the footprint shape factor being defined as the maximum circumferential extent of the tire's footprint at the centerplane of the tire's footprint width divided by the average of the circumferential extent of the tire's footprint width as measured at 40% of the footprint from both sides of the central plane of the footprint. The rear position tire footprint, when the tire is normally inflated for normal load, has a footprint shape factor of about 1.00 at 50% load, and 1.00 or less than 1.00 at 85% load and 100% load when measured similar to the method described for the front position tires.

Footprints for nonrotatable automobile and light truck tires

A pneumatic radial tire combination for four-wheeled automobile or light truck vehicles. The tire combination has a pair of front steer position tires and a pair of rear position tires. The front steer position tire has a first tread arc when the tire is normally inflated for normal load but unloaded, of decreasing radii extending toward the lateral edges and a straight line drawn between the intersection of the tread arc curvature and the centerplane is inclined at an angle &thgr; of greater than 5&deg; relative to a tangent line L, L being tangent to the tread arc at the centerplane and parallel to the axis of rotation R. The rear tire 20 when similarly measured has a tread arc having an angle &thgr; of less than 5&deg;.

Front tires and rear tires for automobile or light truck

Tire tread

A radial pneumatic light truck or automobile tire 40 having a tread 42 is described. The tread 42 has a base 43, a plurality of traction elements 52 extending radially outwardly from the base 43 and at least one circumferentially continuous wide groove 54,55. The wide groove 54,55 has a circumferentially continuous window 72 extending from the tread base 43 to the radially outer contacting surface 53. The window 72, when viewed in the ground contacting portion of the tread 42, has a shape that is triangular or trapezoidal having two sides 73,74 and a radially outer long base 75. The long base 75 has an axial width of 7% to 20% of the tread width. The wide groove 54,55 has a zig-zag portion 70 extending radially from the tread base 43 in a circumferentially continuous path. The sides 73,74 of the window 72 define the maximum axial extent or amplitude of the zig-zag portion 70 into the wide groove 54,55. Preferably the tread 42 is asymmetrical and non-directional and has two wide grooves 54,55 dividing the plurality of traction elements into three zones 60,61,62, each zone having a different net-to-gross ratio.

Radial pneumatic light truck or automobile tire

Tire sidewall segment

Growing community of inventors

Uniontown, OH, United States of America

Anthony J Scarpitti