Patents for November

Patent News as compiled by the editors of Rubber World Magazine for November 2024.

Adhesion of silicone rubber to thermoplastics
U.S. patent: 11,945,981
Issued: April 2, 2024
Inventors: Florian Geyer and Michael Backer
Assigned: Dow Silicones
Key statement: There is provided an adhesion mediator composition for
use in the adhesion of silicone elastomers made from hydrosilylation
curable silicone rubber compositions to thermoplastic substrates,
especially polyolefin substrates. There is also provided a process for
adhering silicone elastomers to thermoplastic substrates using the
adhesion mediator composition. The adhesion mediator composition
comprises: (i) a trialkoxysilane; (ii) a platinum group metal based
hydrosilylation reaction catalyst; (iii) an alkoxy titanium compound; (iv) a
tetraalkoxysilane; and (v) either (a′) a polyorganosiloxane containing at
least two unsaturated groups; or (b′) a mixture of two or more
polyorganosiloxanes containing at least two unsaturated groups. The
method comprises the steps of: (a) optionally activating a thermoplastic
substrate surface; (b) treating the optionally activated thermoplastic
substrate surface with the adhesion mediator composition; (c) applying
a hydrosilylation curable silicone rubber composition on to the treated
surface resulting from step (b); and (d) curing the hydrosilylation curable
silicone rubber composition.

Rubber composition comprising esters from renewable sources as
plasticizers
U.S. patent: 11,945,952
Issued: April 2, 2024
Inventors: Franco Cataldo, Louis Plancq, Francine Genin and Zubin Arora
Assigned: Total Marketing Services
Key statement: The present invention relates to a rubber composition
for tire applications comprising: rubber polymer(s) comprising at least
optionally functionalized styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and at least
one rubber selected from polybutadiene rubber (BR), natural rubber
(NR), polyisoprene rubber (IR) and mixtures thereof, and at least one
ester derived from renewable sources resulting from the esterification
of trimer and/or dimer acids having the formula A-(COOH)q, with q
being 2 or 3 and A being an acyclic, cyclic or polycyclic, saturated or
unsaturated, linear or branched hydrocarbon group having from 3 to 69
carbon atoms, with acyclic or cyclic, saturated or unsaturated, linear or
branched alcohols.

Rubber reinforcing cord and rubber product including same
U.S. patent: 11,945,948
Issued: April 2, 2024
Inventor: Shinya Katagiri
Assigned: Nippon Sheet Glass
Key statement: A rubber reinforcing cord (12) of the present invention
includes at least one strand. The strand includes at least one filament
bundle and a coating provided to cover at least a portion of the surface
of the filament bundle. The coating contains a polymer and cellulose
nanofibers and does not contain a resorcinol-formaldehyde
condensate. The polymer contains at least one selected from a
polyurethane and a rubber component. In the coating, the content of
the cellulose nanofibers is 0.1 to 10 parts by mass with respect to 100
parts by mass of the polymer. The proportion of the coating in the
rubber reinforcing cord is 18 volume % or more.

Germ repellent silicone rubber and preparation method and application
thereof
U.S. patent: 11,945,950
Issued: April 2, 2024
Inventors: Xiaonan Huang, Xianqiao Liu and Chun Kit Choi
Assigned: Hongrita Plastics
Key statement: The present invention provides a germ repellent silicone
rubber comprising: a silicone rubber substrate and a germ repellent
active ingredient incorporated therein; wherein, the silicone rubber
substrate includes polydimethylsiloxane; the germ repellent active
ingredients include poly(ethylene oxide) and silicone oil or their
derivatives. The disclosed germ repellent silicone rubber reduces the
bacterial growth by inhibiting their adherence to the surface instead of
killing them, does not contribute to super bacteria formation nor cause
skin irritation.

Processing method of natural rubber latex using creaming
U.S. patent: 11,952,437
Issued: April 9, 2024
Inventors: Xiaohui Tian and Dongqi Wang
Key statement: A processing method of natural rubber latex using
creaming includes the following steps: adding a surfactant, a pH
adjuster and deionized water to natural rubber latex, adding a
preservative and a creaming agent, mixing and standing a resulting
mixture until phase separation occurs and collecting an upper rubber
latex phase and a lower skim latex phase, separately; diluting the upper
rubber latex phase with deionized water, adding a preservative, a pH
adjuster, a surfactant and a creaming agent, mixing and standing a
resulting mixture until phase separation occurs and collecting an
obtained upper rubber latex phase; and adding a preservative, a pH
adjuster, a surfactant and a creaming agent to an obtained lower skim
latex phase, mixing and standing a resulting mixture until phase
separation occurs and collecting an obtained upper rubber latex phase.

Pneumatic tire
U.S. patent: 11,951,775
Issued: April 9, 2024
Inventor: Hikaru Kuriyama
Assigned: Toyo Tire
Key statement: A pneumatic tire includes a decorative area (11)
provided on a sidewall surface (10), in which three kinds of planes (21),
(22) and (23) with different inclinations with respect to a profile surface
(20) are tightly arranged in the decorative area (11), two kinds of planes
(21), (22) or (23) from the three kinds of planes (21), (22) and (23) are
aligned in a first direction to make a pair, plural kinds of pairs with
different combinations are aligned in a second direction and boundaries
(24) between each two planes (21), (22) or (23) aligned in the first
direction are shifted in the first direction between the pairs adjacent in
the second direction.

Thermoplastic elastomer compounds exhibiting retained clarity and
improved surface structure
U.S. patent: 11,952,486
Issued: April 9, 2024
Inventors: Liang Xu and Christopher Engel
Assigned: Avient
Key statement: Surface structure modification is achieved for an
acrylate block copolymer thermoplastic elastomer by the addition of an
organo-functional polydimethyl siloxane, but also without loss of clarity.

Modified conjugated diene based polymer and rubber composition
comprising same
U.S. patent: 11,970,616
Issued: April 30, 2024
Inventors: Kyoung Hwan Oh, Hyo Jin Bae, Hyun Woong Park, Jeong Heon
Ahn and Jae Hyeong Park
Assigned: LG Chem
Key statement: A modified conjugated diene based polymer having high
linearity and improved compounding properties is provided. The
modified conjugated diene based polymer includes phosphor, sulfur
and chlorine in specific amount ranges and the degree of branching is
controlled and accordingly, if applied to a rubber composition, tensile
strength and viscoelasticity may be excellent and processability may be
markedly improved.

Tire rubber composition using pyrazalone based compound
U.S. patent: 11,970,610
Issued: April 30, 2024
Inventors: Jeffery Hakim Hayat and Robert Vincent Dennis-Pelcher
Assigned: Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Key statement: The present invention is directed to a tire layer (e.g., tire
tread or carcass layer) having a rubber composition including a
pyrazolone based compound in combination with reinforcing filler
material and optionally a processing aid and tires using the same, that
provides desirable tire performance properties, such as improvements
in tear strength without negatively impacting stiffness or hysteresis. In
one embodiment, the tire layer includes a rubber composition having
an elastomer (e.g., natural or isoprene rubber), a pyrazolone based
compound, reinforcing filler selected from carbon black only, carbon
black/silica blends only, or graphene, functionalized graphene, carbon
nanotubes, functionalized carbon nanotubes or mixtures thereof
further optionally with carbon black and an optional processing aid,
such as a metal glycerolate, in desirable amounts to provide enhanced
tear strength without negatively impacting stiffness or hysteresis.