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:
Feb. 29, 2000
Filed:
Jun. 25, 1998
Applicant:
Inventor:
Neel K Mani, Stow, OH (US);
Assignee:
Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., Akron, OH (US);
Attorneys:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B60C / ; B60C / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
152197 ; 152199 ; 152526 ;
Abstract
The present invention is an improved tire design including a continuous annular band or a belt formed of a plurality of relatively flat rigid plates embedded in the rubber between the tread and body plies. The plates are curved to conform to the radius of the tire and are pivotally linked or otherwise pivotally connected together thereby creating a flexible annular belt that is extremely stiff in the in-plane or steering torsional direction due to the engagement of the side edges of the adjacent plates when experiencing an in-plane or steering torsional force but flexible in the radial direction due to the pivotal connection between the adjacent plates.