Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited

Masami Nishikawa

Naoki Yukawa

Chieko Aoki

Hideaki Sugihara

Tokuzo Nakajima

Hiroyuki Kobayashi

A tire noise damper to be disposed in an annular tire hollow formed between a wheel rim an a pneumatic tire mounted thereon, the damper made of a flexible material and comprising a base to be secured to the wheel rim and at least one flap extending from the base to be risen radially outwards from the wheel rim by centrifugal force during running to block the annular tire hollow. For example, the damper comprises at least one annular elastic band to be put around the wheel rim, the annular band provided with at least one U-cut for forming a flap, and the base is formed by the remaining annular portion of the band. In another example, the damper is made of a strip of the fixable material having a certain length, the base is formed by one end portion of the strip, and the flap is formed by the remaining portion of the strip.

Noise damper for pneumatic tire

A tire noise reducing system includes a pneumatic tire, a wheel rim and a noise damper disposed in a cavity formed between the rim and tire the noise damper is made of a porous material having a specific gravity of from 0.005 to 0.06 and secured on a surface facing the cavity, the volume S2 of the noise damper is in a range of from 0.4 to 20.0% of the volume S1 of the cavity. Preferably, the noise damper is provided with an uneven surface or an outer layer for less sound reflection, and the shape index E of the noise damper is more than 1, and the ratio T/W of the thickness T to the width W of the damper is not less than 1.

Tire noise reducing system

A tire noise reducing system comprises a wheel rim, a pneumatic tire to be mounted on the wheel rim and a noise damper to be disposed in an annular tire cavity enclosed by the wheel rim and the pneumatic tire mounted thereon, wherein the noise damper is made of a multi-cellular material whose volume S2 is in a range of not less than 0.4% of the volume S1 of said annular tire cavity. Preferably, the specific gravity of the damper is set in a range of from 0.005 to 0.06.

A tire noise reducing system comprises a pneumatic tire, a wheel rim and a noise damper disposed in a cavity formed between the rim and tire when mounted as being surrounded by the tire and rim, the noise damper is made of a porous material having a specific gravity of from 0.005 to 0.06 and secured on a surface facing the cavity, the volume S of the noise damper is in a range of from 0.4 to 20.0% of the volume S of the cavity. Preferably, the noise damper is provided with an uneven surface or an outer layer for less sound reflection, and the shape index E of the noise damper is more than 1, and the ratio T/W of the thickness T to the width W of the damper is not less than 1.

A tire noise reducing system includes a wheel rim, a pneumatic tire mounted on the wheel rim to form an annular tire hollow, and a resonance damper disposed in the annular tire hollow, wherein the damper is one of an annular elastic loose band disposed around the rim and a flexible slack strip having a certain length and fixed to the wheel rim at two points so that a portion between the fixed points slacks, whereby a loose portion of the loose band and the slack portion of the slack strip are risen by a centrifugal force during running to at least partially block the annular tire hollow.

A method for correcting dynamic unbalance of a pneumatic tire which comprises adhering a counter weight to an inner surface of the tire to reduce dynamic unbalance of the tire, wherein the counter weight is made of a material having a specific gravity in a range of from 0.016 to 0.21 such as a strip of a spongy material.

Method of correcting tire unbalance

A tire noise damper to be disposed in an annular tire hollow formed between a wheel rim and a pneumatic tire mounted thereon, the damper made of a flexible material and comprising a base to be secured to the wheel rim and at least one flap extending from the base to be risen radially outwards from the wheel rim by centrifugal force during running to block the annular tire hollow. For example, the damper comprises at least one annular elastic band to be put around the wheel rim, the annular band provided with at least one U-cut for forming a flap, and the base is formed by the remaining annular portion of the band. In another example, the damper is made of a strip of the fixable material having a certain length, the base is formed by one end portion of the strip, and the flap is formed by the remaining portion of the strip.

A pneumatic tire, a wheel rim, and an assembly of a pneumatic tire and a wheel rim, which are provided with lawn-like materials for damping air resonance of the tire cavity are disclosed. An assembly of a pneumatic tire and a wheel rim where a foaming agent is injected into the tire cavity is also disclosed.

Growing community of inventors

Kobe, Japan

Masami Nishikawa