Pirelli Pneumatici S.p.a.

Syed Khawja Mowdood

Alessandro Volpi

Gurdev Orjela

Guido Riva

Claudio Villani

Aubert Y Coran

Stephane Schaal

Ping Zhang

Cristiano Bette

A method of mounting a tire on a rim includes selecting a tire comprising bead cores, stretching the bead cores, sliding the bead cores over a balcony portion of the rim, allowing the bead cores to elastically return to lengths corresponding to diameters of respective seats of the rim, and inflating the tire. The bead cores include one or more portions of material with characteristics of superelasticity and shape memory. Stretching the bead cores may include applying constant load to the bead cores at ambient temperature and/or causing the bead cores to undergo structural change at ambient temperature. The structural change may include complete or partial change from austenitic structure to martensitic structure. The one or more portions of material are deformable at ambient temperature in response to a constant force and recover to original shape upon removal of the constant force.

Method of mounting a tire on a rim

The disclosure relates to a process for improving the processability, storage stability and/or cure rate of an uncured silica reinforced rubber composition where silica comprises the major filler in the reinforced rubber composition, which comprises combining a mixture comprising, rubber, silica and at least one organic compound having a low molecular weight and a functional group wherein said functional group is at least an epoxy group, such as an epoxy/ether, epoxy/hydroxyl, epoxy/ester, epoxy/amine, ether/amine, episulfide, episulfide/ether, episulfide/hydroxyl, episulfide/ester functional group located in a terminal or sterically unhindered position in the molecule of said organic compound where the molecular weight of said organic compound having a low molecular weight is less than 7,000, or the organic compound comprises an abietyl, styrenated resorcinol formaldehyde, or ester hydroxyl organic compound having a hydroxyl, ester, and optionally, an ether group, such as an ester diol.

Silica reinforced rubber compositions of improved processability and storage stability

A bead core for locking a tire to a seat of a wheel rim includes a plurality of annular reinforcement elements having an inner transverse dimension smaller than a maximum diameter of the wheel rim, and being sufficiently deformable at ambient temperature to facilitate mounting the tire onto the wheel rim. The plurality of annular reinforcement elements includes at least one tightening element made of a shape-memory alloy responsive to temperature increases by increasing a tightening force on the wheel rim at a predetermined temperature. A tire including the bead core and a method for securing a tire to a rim using the bead core are also disclosed.

Tire bead core assembly and tire using the same

A tire includes a carcass, a tread band, at least a reinforcing belt between the tread band and the carcass, a pair of bead cores disposed one at each end of the carcass with ends of the carcass wrapped around the pair of bead cores to form a pair of beads, and at least one clamp disposed around each bead core, wherein the at least one clamp is made of a shape-memory material. A bead core including at least one clamp made of a shape-memory material, a method for manufacturing a tire including at least one clamp made of a strip of shape-memory material, and a method for manufacturing a bead core including at least one clamp made of a strip of shape-memory material are also disclosed.

Bead core with a clamp, tire incorporating same, and method of making same

A tire includes a toroidal carcass and a tread band. The toroidal carcass includes a central crown and two sidewalls terminating in a pair of annular beads. Each annular bead includes a metallic bead core for anchoring to corresponding bead seats of a wheel rim. The metallic bead cores include at least one annular portion made of a material having characteristics of superelasticity and shape memory. The material having characteristics of superelasticity and shape memory is deformable at ambient temperature in response to a constant force and recovers to an original shape upon removal of the constant force to facilitate mounting the tire on the wheel rim. The wheel rim includes a central cylindrical channel from which branches off, axially and outwardly, from opposite sides, diverging surfaces each terminating in a peripheral flange. The diverging surfaces form the bead seats for respective annular beads of the tire.

Tire comprising bead core material having characteristics of superelasticity and shape memory

Compositions of triazoles, such as benzotriazole or tolyltriazole, in silica reinforced rubber compositions for tire components and tires made of such compounds are provided exhibiting high cure rate, cure efficiency, hardness, static and dynamic moduli without deleteriously effecting hysteresis. Methods for optimizing silica reinforced tire properties utilizing triazoles, brass powder and carbon black are also provided. Typical tire compositions employ from about 2 to about 35 parts triazoles, and preferably from about 2 to about 6 parts triazoles, per hundred parts of rubber. In some compositions, brass powder and conductive carbon black are used in combination with the triazole in the rubber composition.

Growing community of inventors

Hudson, OH, United States of America

Syed Khawja Mowdood