Patents for February 2021

Patent from United States Patent Office

RFID tire plug and method of installing the same in a manufactured tire
U.S. patent: 10,882,264
Issued: January 5, 2021
Inventor: Jos Uijlenbroek
Assigned: FineLine Technologies
Key statement: RFID plugs and methods of installing the same within a rubber article. When
included in the rubber article, the RFID plugs maintain operability pre-vulcanization, during
vulcanization and post-vulcanization to identify, track and/or sense conditions of the rubber article.
The RFID plugs are adapted to be affixed to the rubber article and include, for example, an elongate
stem; a head disposed at a first end of the stem, the head containing an RFID device; and a
retention feature disposed at a second end of the stem opposite the first end, the retention feature
configured to resist pulling forces on the head and the stem.
Methods of making an elastomer composite reinforced with silica and products containing same
U.S. patent: 10,882,964
Issued: January 5, 2021
Inventors: Jincheng Xiong, Martin C. Green, William R. Williams, Dmitry Fomitchev, Gerald D. Adler,
Duane G. McDonald, Ron Grosz and Michael D. Morris
Assigned: Cabot
Key statement: Methods to make a silica elastomer composite with a destabilized dispersion of a
never-dried, or as-produced, precipitated silica are described, along with silica elastomer
composites made from the methods. The advantages achieved with the methods are further
described.

Method for sorting tires
U.S. patent: 10,882,076
Issued: January 5, 2021
Inventors: Dion Wirokarso and Marvin Geraerts
Assigned: Black Bear Carbon
Key statement: The present invention relates to a method for sorting tires (15) on the basis of its
components, as well as to an apparatus for carrying out such a method. The present invention also
relates to the use of scrap rubber in a pyrolysis process to obtain a char material. The method for
sorting tires (15) on the basis of silica content (7)

Functionalized rubber composition
U.S. patent: 10,875,990
Issued: December 29, 2020
Inventors: Constantine Khripin, Etienne Munch, Anne-Freder que Salit, Jessica McDowell and Xavier
Saintigny
Assigned: Michelin
Key statement: Rubber compositions having a modified rubber component selected from a
modified polybutadiene rubber, a modified styrene-butadiene rubber, or combinations thereof, the
modification being with a functional group having a hydrogen bond acceptor atom. Such functional
group may be selected from a pyridine, a pyrrolidone, an ether, a ketone or an epoxide, the rubber
composition having a Tg of between -80°C and -110°C. The rubber composition may include an
efficient plasticizing resin, which, when included in a mixture consisting of the modified rubber
component and 67 phr of the efficient plasticizing resin, causes a Tg of the mixture to be at least
14°C higher than the Tg of the modified rubber component. The rubber composition may be
described as having the hydrogen bond acceptor atom located at least two covalent bond lengths,
or alternatively three covalent bond lengths, from a backbone of the modified rubber component.

Cured guayule rubber containing compositions and method for preparing same
U.S. patent: 10,875,989
Issued: December 29, 2020
Inventors: Sheel P. Agarwal and Yingyi Huang
Assigned: Bridgestone
Key statement: Provided herein are cured rubber compositions containing guayule natural rubber
with 2.5-4 weight % resin and fillers. By the use of a specified cure package that contains increased
amounts of sulfur and accelerator, the cured rubber compositions are found to exhibit strain
induced crystallization (as can be observed by x-ray diffraction). Also provided are related methods
for preparing the rubber compositions.

Reinforcing material for rubber comprising aluminosilicate particles and rubber composition for
tires comprising the same
U.S. patent: 10,875,980
Issued: December 29, 2020
Inventors: Shin Hee Jun, Ha Na Lee, Kwon Il Choi, Woo Seok Kim, Han Nah Jeong and Myounghwan
Oh
Assigned: LG Chem
Key statement: The present disclosure relates to a reinforcing material for rubber including
aluminosilicate particles and a rubber composition for tires including the same. The reinforcing
material for rubber according to the present disclosure exhibits excellent dispersibility in the rubber
composition and reinforcing effect, and thus can be suitably used for eco-friendly tires requiring
high efficiency and high fuel efficiency characteristics.

Multi-component copolymer, rubber composition, cross-linked rubber composition, rubber product
and tire
U.S. patent: 10,875,952
Issued: December 29, 2020
Inventors: Kyohei Kotani, Shigenaga Takano, Shigeki Oishi and Shojiro Kaita
Assigned: Bridgestone
Key statement: An object of the present invention is to provide a multicomponent copolymer for
use for producing a rubber composition and a rubber product having high abrasion resistance and
wet performance. Further, the invention is to provide a rubber composition containing the
multicomponent copolymer, a crosslinked rubber composition produced by crosslinking the rubber
composition and a tire and a rubber product using the rubber composition or the crosslinked
rubber composition. The multicomponent copolymer of the invention contains a conjugated diene
unit, a non-conjugated olefin unit and an aromatic vinyl unit, wherein the content of the aromatic
vinyl unit is 5 mol % or more and less than 50 mol % of the whole multicomponent copolymer, and
the content of the non-conjugated olefin unit is more than 0 mol % and 50 mol % or less of the
whole multicomponent copolymer.

Terminal-modified conjugated diene polymer, rubber composition and rubber article
U.S. patent: 10,875,937
Issued: December 29, 2020
Inventors: Yusuke Yamagata, Shojiro Kaita and Shigenaga Takano
Assigned: Bridgestone
Key statement: An object of the present disclosure is to provide a terminalmodified conjugated
diene polymer capable of improving fracture resistance of a rubber article. Specifically, a terminalmodified conjugated diene polymer is characterized in that a content of catalyst residue therein
derived from a catalyst used in polymerization is less than 60 ppm.

Sulfur-crosslinkable rubber mixture, vulcanizate of the rubber mixture and vehicle tire
U.S. patent: 10,870,744
Issued: December 22, 2020
Inventors: Julia Schoeffel, Norbert Mueller and Carla Recker
Assigned: Continental Reifen
Key statement: The invention relates to a sulfur-crosslinkable rubber mixture, to a vulcanizate
thereof and to a vehicle tire. The sulfur-crosslinkable rubber mixture contains at least the following
constituents: at least one diene rubber; and 10 to 300 phr of at least one silica; and 1 to 22 phf of at
least one silane A having general empirical formula A-I)
(R1)oSi–R2–(S–R3)q–Sx–(R3–S)q–R2–Si (R1)o; and A-I)
0.5 to 30 phf of at least one silane B having general empirical formula B-I) (R1)oSi–R2–(S–R3)u–S–
R2–Si(R1)o B-I)
wherein x is an integer from 2 to 10, q is 0, 1, 2 or 3, and u is 1, 2 or 3.

Modifier, modified and conjugated diene-based polymer and rubber composition including the
same
U.S. patent: 10,870,717
Issued: December 22, 2020
Inventors: Kyoung Hwan Oh, Hee Jung Jeon, Jeong Heon Ahn, Suk Joon Yoo, Hyo Jin Bae, Su Hwa
Kim, Dong Hui Kim and Suk Youn Kang
Assigned: LG Chem
Key statement: The present invention provides a modifier, a modified conjugated diene-based
polymer which is modified using the same and a rubber composition including the modified
conjugated diene-based polymer, and more particularly, a modifier which includes a compound
represented by Formula 1 and is capable of improving the mixing properties between a conjugated
diene-based polymer and a filler, a modified conjugated diene-based polymer which is modified
using the same and a rubber composition including the modified conjugated diene-based polymer.

Pneumatic tire with improved bead filler
U.S. patent: 10,865,292
Issued: December 15, 2020
Inventors: Paul N. Hamilton, Amy M. Randall, Terrence E. Hogan, Benjamin C. Galizio and Steven R.
Reynolds
Assigned: Bridgestone
Key statement: A vulcanizable composition for preparing bead filler, the composition comprising a
vulcanized rubber; and a vinyl aromatic-containing block copolymer compound, where the vinyl
aromatic-containing copolymer is defined by the formula II
d-Vo-D-V’ω II where each V is independently a polyvinyl aromatic block, D is a polydiene block, ω is a hydrogen
atom, a functional group or a polymeric segment or block, and where d is a polydiene block and
where the overall vinyl content of the block copolymer is greater than 65%.