The Goodyear & Tire Rubber Company

René Louis Bormann

Paul Harry Sandstrom

Karl Eric Sundkvist

Giorgio Agostini

Bruce Raymond Hahn

Ramendra Nath Majumdar

Daniel Paul Luc Marie Hinque

Thomas Reed Oare

David Andrew Benko

Jean Joseph Victor Collette

Gilles Bonnet

Massimo Di Giacomo Russo

Klaus Beer

Jason Mark Middelberg

Antonnis G Maathuis

Jurgen Spielmann

Eddy Dong-Rong Pan

Rebecca Lee Dando

Theo Meijer

Xianwei Meng

Jean Joseph Collette

The present application is directed to a method for applying a flexible annular strip to a radially inward oriented surface of a tire. Moreover, the present invention is directed to a corresponding apparatus for carrying out the above method.

Method of applying an annular strip to a tire

A diaphragm pump for use in a self-inflating tire assembly is disclosed. The assembly includes a tire mounted to a rim tire mounting surface. The tire has an internal cavity. The invention further includes a pump device mounted to the rim, and the pump device has a first end and a second end, the first end being mounted within the tire cavity and the second end located outside the rim and in fluid communication with the outside air. The first end of the pump device has a flexible member having an outer rim and an inner rim, wherein the outer rim is connected to a backing plate and an inner rim is connected to a piston, wherein the piston is slidably mounted within a chamber of the backing plate. The piston has an inner passageway for fluid communication with the tire cavity and the chamber, and the second end of the pump device has an internal bore in fluid communication with the outside air and the chamber.

Diaphragm pump for self-inflating tire

A self-inflating tire system includes a compression actuator assembly mounted to a tire carcass for compressing air for delivery to a tire cavity. The compression actuator assembly includes a hollow containment body formed from a resilient deformable material composition and containing a quantity of a non-compressible medium. The containment body is affixed to a relatively high flex-deformation region of the tire carcass and reciprocally transforms between a deformed state and a non-deformed state responsive to deformation and recovery of the tire high flex-deformation region in a rolling tire. Accordingly, the containment body in the deformed state displaces a pressurized displaced quantity of the non-compressible medium which generates a compression force for application to a volume of air delivered to the tire cavity. A pump assembly affixes to the tire carcass and includes valves for reciprocally opening and closing the inlet opening and the outlet opening of a compressor body synchronously with the cyclic transformation of the containment body.

Pump and actuator assembly for a self-inflating tire

A pneumatic radial tire includes a carcass, opposing bead portions, a carcass reinforcing ply extending between the bead portions, and opposing bead cores situated within respective opposing bead portions. An annular hollow tube member is situated within a bead portion, the tube member containing within a tube internal passageway a viscous fluid and a plurality of spherical balls within the viscous fluid. The spherical balls are dimensioned and sized to freely move circumferentially about the tube passageway. The balancing bodies operationally reposition within the tube passageway to cancel imbalance effects within a running wheel assembly including the tire. The tube member may be located in a tire apex member or form a tire bead core within the tire bead portion with carcass reinforcing ply endings surrounding the tube member.

Auto-balancing tire

A method of constructing a self-inflating tire includes: forming a pre-cure green tire body; positioning an air passageway body within the green tire body to extend between an outward facing green tire body surface and the tire cavity, the air passageway body having an enclosed air passageway extending between a hollow body outlet end facing the tire cavity and a hollow inlet end facing outward from the outward facing green tire body surface; curing the green tire body into a finished cured tire body; affixing one or more tapping device(s) over one or both ends of the air passageway body; and establishing through a hollow protrusion member of the tapping device an air flow path extending between the air passageway within the air passageway body and a vent opening within the tapping device. The method includes a routing of the air passageway body through the green tire body along a non-linear path between an outward tire body surface and the inward tire body surface; wherein the non-linear path to at least partially surround a first tire body bead core; and wherein the air passageway body is positioned between overlapping green tire components such as first and second tire turn-up chafer components.

Method of constructing a self-inflating tire

A tire assembly includes a tire carcass body and an air tube body extending between an outward facing tire body surface and an inward tire body surface. The air tube body has an enclosed hollow enclosed outlet end at a first end and an enclosed hollow inlet end at an opposite second end. An air passageway extends through the air tube body from the inlet end to the outlet end. The outlet end is positioned to face exposed from the outward tire body surface and the inlet end is positioned to face exposed from the inward tire body surface. The air tube body is integrally formed of resilient flexible material composition and includes a hollow outer casing and one or more hollow air cables positioned within the casing for regulating the rate of air flow from the inlet end to the outlet end. The air tube body may follow a non-linear U-shaped path that surrounds a tire body bead core between the outward tire body surface and the inward tire body surface and be incorporated into the green tire build without disrupting the tire building and curing process or compromising the structural integrity or form of any of the green tire building components.

Self-inflating tire assembly

An air passageway body resides within a tire body and extends between an outward facing tire body surface and the tire cavity, the air passageway body having an enclosed air passageway extending between a hollow body outlet end facing the tire cavity and a hollow inlet end facing outward from the outward facing tire body surface. A tapping device is affixed over one or both of the ends of the air passageway body, the tapping device having an external vent opening and a protrusion member penetrating through a sidewall of the air passageway body to operatively establish an air flow path extending between the air passageway of the air passageway body through the protrusion member and the tapping device vent opening. The air passageway body is installed pre-cure within a green tire carcass build of the tire body and the tapping device(s) are attached post-cure to the air passageway body.

Tire and self-inflation apparatus assembly

A pneumatic tire (1) comprises a radial carcass (2), a tread portion (7) and a belt reinforcing structure (8) extending circumferentially around the carcass (2). Disposed radially outwardly of the belt reinforcing structure (8) is a textile reinforced overlay structure (9) having substantially circumferentially extending cords (10). The overlay structure (9) is composed of a series of helical convolutions of a textile ribbon (11) whereby adjacent helical convolutions of the textile ribbon (11) overlap. There is further disclosed a method of applying multiple layers of a single continuous helically wound textile ribbon (11) in a single continuous operation from one axial side to the other axial side of the belt reinforcing structure (8).

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Moesdorf, Luxembourg

René Louis Bormann