Bridgestone Corporation

The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company

Bridgestone/firestone, Inc.

Sunil B Sarkar

David F Lawson

William L Hergenrother

Daniel F Graves

Hideo Takeichi

William M Cole

Christine M Rademacher

James Oziomek

Georg G A Böhm

James D Ulmer

David J Dougherty

Anthony J Ramic

A method for forming a vulcanizable composition of matter, the method comprising providing a polymer cement or latex comprising at least one rubber, adding at least one processing aid to the cement or latex to form a modified rubber cement or latex, isolating the rubber and at least one processing aid to form a premix, and mixing the premix with carbon black.

Method of improving carbon black dispersion in rubber compositions

Diene polymers and copolymers incorporating partial coupling and terminals formed from hydrocarboxysilane compounds

Diene polymers or copolymers having improved balance between raw polymer viscosity and mixed compound viscosity, useful in tire tread compositions having highly balanced wet traction, rolling resistance, and traction in ice and snow, and fracture properties in the cured and white carbon reinforced states are provided. These diene polymers or copolymers comprise a mixture of diene polymer or copolymer chains containing carbon-tin bonds in the main polymer or copolymer chains and diene polymer or copolymer chains containing terminals derived from hydrocarboxysilane compounds. The diene polymer or copolymers are prepared by first coupling a portion of the living diene polymer or copolymer chains obtained by anionic polymerization using a tin polyhalide coupling agent and then terminating the remaining living diene polymer or copolymer chains using hydrocarboxysilane compounds. The resultant diene polymers or copolymers have improved balance between raw polymer viscosity and mixed compound viscosity when compounded with silica and/or carbon black and cured compositions are useful in tire tread having highly balanced wet traction, rolling resistance, and traction in ice and snow. The polymers can be utilized to form elastomer compositions for tire treads having balanced properties of reduced rolling resistance and wet traction and handling or balanced properties of wet traction and handling and traction in snow and ice.

Diene polymers and copolymers incorporating partial coupling and

A continuous process as disclosed which produces a clear, high impact block copolymer having a vinyl aryl monomer content of at least 70 percent of the block copolymer. This continuous process involves the continuous preparation of a multiblock copolymer which comprises the alternate feeding of monomer streams to a reaction zone wherein a product stream is withdrawn from the polymerization system at the same rate as the total rate of the feed streams.

Process for producing a block copolymer resin and product thereof

A method for preparing essentially color-free, stabilized polymers of conjugated dienes or vinyl aromatic hydrocarbons or copolymers of conjugated dienes and vinyl aromatic hydrocarbons involves a first stage in which a living polymer of a conjugated diene or vinyl aromatic hydrocarbon or copolymer of a conjugated diene and a vinyl aromatic hydrocarbon is prepared by anionically polymerizing the conjugated diene or vinyl aromatic hydrocarbon, or copolymerizing the conjugated diene and the vinyl aromatic hydrocarbon using a lithium-based catalyst and an inert hydrocarbon diluent. Then, the living polymer or copolymer is terminated by the addition of a suitable terminating agent. Following the termination procedure, boric acid is added to the polymer of copolymer in a sufficient amount to prevent or substantially reduce color formation. Then, stabilizing agents are added to the polymer or copolymer and the polymer or copolymer is recovered from the diluent.

Method for preparing color-free, stabilized polymers of conjugated

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Akron, OH, United States of America

Sunil B Sarkar