The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 30, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 17, 1996
Andrew K Reinhardt, Akron, OH (US);
Stephen M Vossberg, Uniontown, OH (US);
David O Stalnaker, Hartville, OH (US);
John L Turner, Akron, OH (US);
Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., Akron, OH (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for determining lateral tire tread stiffness includes a holding fixture that is coupled to a loading fixture. The holding fixture includes a frame on which is mounted a rotary table that carries the tire tread specimen to be tested. The loading fixture includes a loading plate that can apply a normal loading force and a lateral loading force to the tire tread specimen. A processor receives data from a monitoring device which provides an indication of the deformation of the tire tread specimen as a lateral load is applied thereto. The processor also receives data from a load cell which monitors the amount of force applied to the tread specimen and correlates this data with the displacement data to determine stiffness properties of the tread specimen. The processor also controls the angular position of the rotary table to further analyze the tread stiffness of particular tire tread geometry.