The Goodyear & Tire Rubber Company

James Earl Koerner

Charles Kenneth Schmalix

William M Hopkins

Robert John Hermann

Timothy Patrick Lovell

Joseph Alan Incavo

Warren James Busch

Peter Ross Shepler

Patrick David Marks

Ernest Wilford Looman, Jr

Thomas Roy Fuhrig

Terrence Lee Parsons

Nathan A Gammon

Michael Charles Ruegg, Jr

Donald Edward Helle

Max Harold Dixon

Daniel Thomas Murphy

Jeffrey Leon Sevart

Junling Zhao

Arun Kumar Byatarayanapura Gopala

Peter Jung-min Suh

Ahmad Shafiq Bani Hani

Paul Keyser Blackiston, Iii

Michael William Kestner

Jeffrey McKay West

Jin-Shy Steve Gau

Andrew Peter Killmeyer

Frank George Licari

Charles K Schmaltx

Jeffrey Mckay West

Jin Shy Steve Gau

Jr Ernest Wilford Looman

Jr Michael Charles Ruegg

A tire includes a pair of sidewalls extending from a respective bead area to a tread. The tread is formed with a plurality of tread elements and a radially outer surface. A sensor unit is mounted to the tire and includes a pair of electrical contacts. The tread wear sensor plug includes a cylindrical projection extending through an opening formed in one of the tread elements, a flange, and a wire including proximal ends disposed in the flange and a distal end near a radially outer surface of the projection. An electrical circuit is formed by each proximal end of the wire electrically contacting a respective one of the sensor unit electrical contacts. When the tread element and the cylindrical projection wear down to the distal end of the wire, the wire and the circuit break. A notice is transmitted by the sensor unit when the circuit breaks.

Tire with tread wear sensor plug

A method for making a compartmentalized sealant strip and barrier assemblyhas the steps of co-extruding a barrier stripof non-sealant elastomeric material with a plurality of projecting linear extending wallsand a sealant stripwherein the sealant stripis formed on one side of the barrier stripfilling the space between the plurality of projecting wallsto form a plurality of linearly extending rows of sealantacross the transverse width of the co-extrusion to form the compartmentalized sealant strip and barrier assembly. The step of co-extruding may further include the step of: forming the projecting wallson an inclined angle relative to a plane perpendicular to the width of the assembly. The step of co-extruding further has the step of forming the barrier stripwith lateral edgesandthat extend beyond the lateral outermost sealant stripson each side of the assembly, the lateral edgesbeing bonding surfaces to seal the sealant strip and barrier assemblyinto an uncured rubber layer when assembled into an unvulcanized tire

Method and apparatus for making a compartmentalized tire sealant strip

Tire

A method for making a compartmentalized sealant strip and barrier assemblyhas the steps of co-extruding a barrier stripof non-sealant elastomeric material with a plurality of projecting linear extending wallsand a sealant stripwherein the sealant stripis formed on one side of the barrier stripfilling the space between the plurality of projecting wallsto form a plurality of linearly extending rows of sealantacross the transverse width of the co-extrusion to form the compartmentalized sealant strip and barrier assembly

A tread for a unidirectional pneumatic tire has first and second circumferentially extending zones. The edges of the zones are parallel to the equatorial plane of the tire. Each zone has a width between 40% and 60% of the tread width. The first zone has substantially aligned lateral wide groove segments extending across the width of the first zone. The segments form an angle between 70 and 90 degrees with the equatorial plane. The net-to-gross ratio of the first zone is at least 3% more than that of the second zone. The leading edge of the blocks in the first zone are narrower than the trailing edge. The second zone has substantially aligned lateral wide groove segments extending across the width of the second zone. The segments form an angle between 10 and 45 degrees with the equatorial plane.

Symmetrical and directional pneumatic tire tread

An improved tire/vehicle system for an automotive vehicle has two pneumatic front tires and two pneumatic rear tires. The rear tire treads are wider than the front tire treads and are divided circumferentially into first and second portions. The first portion of each rear tire tread has a width between 50% and 90% of the rear tire's tread width and is arranged to longitudinally track at least a majority of one of the front tire treads. The second portion of the rear tire tread does not longitudinally track any portion of such front tire tread. Each rear tire tread has a tread groove pattern that is asymmetric in character, the respective net-to-gross ratios in each of the first portions of the rear tire treads being at least 27% different from the net-to-gross ratios of their second portions.

Front and rear tire tread patterns in a four-wheeled tire/vehicle system

A tread for a unidirectional pneumatic tire has first, second and third circumferentially extending zones. The edges of the zones are parallel to the equatorial plane of the tire. The width of the first zone is between 25% and 50% of the tread width, the width of the second zone is between 15% and 35%, and the width of the third zone is between 25% and 50%. The first zone has substantially aligned lateral wide groove segments extending across the width of the first zone. The segments form an angle between 70 and 90 degrees with a plane in the first zone parallel to the equatorial plane. The second zone has substantially aligned lateral wide groove segments extending across the width of the second zone. The segments form an angle between 10 and 45 degrees with a plane in the second zone parallel to the equatorial plane. The third zone has substantially aligned lateral wide groove segments extending across the width of the third zone which are generally perpendicular to the lateral wide groove segments of the second zone. The segments form an angle between 45 and 70 degrees with a plane in the third zone parallel to the equatorial plane.

Tread for a unidirectional pneumatic tire

A belt structure of a pneumatic tire with plies (13, 15) consisting of alternating S and Z twist cords and the edges of at least one ply folded.

Belt structure having alternating S and Z twist cords

Growing community of inventors

Uniontown, OH, United States of America

James Earl Koerner