ArticlesPatents

Patents for August

Patents as compile for the August issue


Rubber composition comprising a specific crumb rubber
U.S. patent: 11,041,065
Issued: June 22, 2021
Inventors: Damien Thomasson and Olivia Cuscito
Assigned: Michelin
Key statement: A rubber composition is based on at least an elastomer, a reinforcing filler, a crosslinking system and a crumb rubber, in which the crumb exhibits a content of sulfur and a content of accelerator such that their sum is less than or equal to 5 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of elastomer (phr), the said crumb exhibiting a total sulfur content of less than or equal to 4 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of elastomer (phr) in the composition of the crumb.

Rubber composition for tire tread
U.S. patent: 11,041,066
Issued: June 22, 2021
Inventor: Miyuki Nakajima
Assigned: Yokohama Rubber
Key statement: A rubber composition for a tire tread is a rubber composition containing from 66 to 110 parts by weight of a filler containing not less than 50 wt. % of a silica per 100 parts by weight of a diene rubber containing not less than 40 wt. % of a terminal-modified styrene butadiene rubber, from 8 to 35 wt. % of a natural rubber and from 15 to 40 wt. % of a butadiene rubber; the terminal-modified styrene butadiene rubber having a terminal functional group derived from a compound reacting with silanol groups; a styrene unit content thereof being from 38 to 48 wt. %; an oil-extended oil content thereof being less than 30 wt. %; a ratio (BR/NR) of a compounded amount of the butadiene rubber (BR) to the natural rubber (NR) being more than 1.0 and not more than 2.5; and an embrittlement temperature of the rubber composition being not more than -45°C.

Tire containing an RFID tag
U.S. patent: 11,046,125
Issued: June 29, 2021
Inventos: Guilherme Petry Breier, Ismael Trindade Fraga, Eric Ericson Fabris, Marcos Tadeu de Lorenzi, Guilherme Berzagui, Roberto Falkenstein, Roberto Tadayuki Yamada, Adiel Moura Nunes Bittencourt, Davi Menezes Lopes and Mendes Paulo de Tarso Luna
Assigned: Ceitec
Key statement: The present invention describes a tire, which shows the insertion of a passive UHF RFID tag at its moment of manufacture, in which said tag is affixed on top of the metallic part of the referred tire, more specifically on the bead rim, with the purpose of reducing the mechanical stress of the tire in question and allowing its tracking in the manufacturing chain since its first manufacturing stages.

Method for reclaiming rubber and renewed rubber compositions obtainable thereby
U.S. patent: 11,041,059
Issued: June 22, 2021
Inventors: Francesco Picchioni and Antonius Augustinus Broekhuis
Assigned: Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Key statement: A method for reclaiming rubber comprises the steps of: (i) providing a starting material comprising a vulcanized rubber polymer; (ii) subjecting the starting material to mechanical stress and at a temperature of at least 200°C to achieve at least a partial destruction of the crosslinks and the backbone structure of the rubber polymer into fragments; and (iii) reconstituting at least part of the fragments in the presence of a branching/ grafting agent to obtain a renewed rubber composition.

Method for preparing conjugated diene-based copolymer, conjugated diene-based copolymer prepared therefrom, rubber composition comprising the same
U.S. patent: 11,041,032
Issued: June 22, 2021
Inventors: In Sung Jo, Byoung Yun Kim, Hyung Woon Yoon, Jae Min Lee
and Woo Seok Choi
Assigned: LG Chem
Key statement: Provided is a method for preparing a conjugated diene-based copolymer, a conjugated diene-based copolymer prepared therefrom and a rubber composition including the same.

Rubber composition and pneumatic tire
U.S. patent: 11,041,062
Issued: June 22, 2021
Inventors: Hirokazu Kageyama and Kazushi Kimura
Assigned: Yokohama Rubber
Key statement: A rubber composition of the present technology includes: a diene rubber; silica; and a heterocyclic compound (the heterocyclic compound does not have a silicon atom) which includes a hydrocarbon group having from 3 to 30 carbons and at least one type of heterocycle selected from the group consisting of a piperazine ring, a morpholine ring and a thiomorpholine ring and a content of the silica being from 50 to 200 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of the diene rubber and a content of the heterocyclic compound being from 0.5 to 20% by mass with respect to the content of the silica.

Rubber composition for tire and pneumatic tire
U.S. patent: 11,040,572
Issued: June 22, 2021
Inventors: Kazushi Kimura, Hirokazu Kageyama and Satoshi Mihara
Assigned: Yokohama Rubber
Key statement: A rubber composition for a tire contains 100 parts by mass of a diene rubber (A) and from 1 to 60 parts by mass of an organic microparticle (B); an average particle size of the organic microparticle (B) being from 0.001 to 100 ????m, the organic microparticle (B) having a complex structure composed of a compatible component that is compatible with the diene rubber (A) and an incompatible component that is not compatible with the diene rubber (A), the complex structure having an inner part in which an amount of the incompatible component is greater than an amount of compatible component and an outer part which covers at least a part of the inner part and in which the amount of the compatible component is greater than an amount of the incompatible component. A pneumatic tire including such rubber composition has a desirable elongation, rigidity, durability and wear resistance.

Method for producing recycled thermoplastic rubber masterbatch with improved green strength and tack
U.S. patent: 11,034,822
Issued: June 15, 2021
Inventor: Moshe Rakhman
Assigned: Tyrec
Key statement: The embodiments of the invention relate to recycled rubber masterbatch which exhibits a sufficient level of green strength and tack. The devulcanization of thermoset rubber is provided by reactive mixing of pulverized rubber, thermoplastic matrix, main-chain backbone antidegradant and green strength enhancer in the presence of a devulcanizing promoter. The embodiments of the invention also provide a thermoplastic dynamically postvulcanized rubber which comprises at least one devulcanized rubber masterbatch and a polymer, wherein the rubber component is dispersed as a domain in a continuous resin phase and is selectively crosslinked during melt mixing with a molten thermoplastic.

Rubber compositions containing carbon black and whey protein
U.S. patent: 11,046,824
Issued: June 29, 2021
Inventors: Benjamin C. Galizio, Amy M. Randall and Melissa M. Clark
Assigned: Bridgestone Americas Tire
Key statement: The present disclosure is directed to rubber compositions comprising at least one rubber, at least one reinforcing carbon black filler and a whey protein component. The whey protein component is in an amount sufficient to provide about 0.1 to about 5 phr whey protein. The present disclosure is also directed to methods of preparing such rubber compositions and to tire components containing the directed to methods of preparing such rubber compositions and to tire components containing the rubber compositions disclosed herein.

Rubber composition comprising a specific crumb rubber
U.S. patent: 11,046,838
Issued: June 29, 2021
Inventors: Damien Thomasson and Olivia Cuscito
Assigned: Michelin
Key statement: A rubber composition is based on at least an elastomer, a reinforcing filler, a crosslinking system and a crumb rubber, the said crumb exhibiting a content of isoprene elastomer of greater than 80 phr in the composition of the crumb and the crumb rubber exhibiting a fraction by weight of carbon black ranging from 31% to 35%.

Methods of making an elastomer composite reinforced with silica and carbon black and products containing same
U.S. patent: 11,053,360
Issued: July 6, 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 and carbon black elastomer composite with a destabilized dispersion that includes silica are described, along with particle reinforced elastomer composites made from the methods. The advantages achieved with the methods are further described.

Rubber compositions
U.S. patent: 11,034,821
Issued: June 15, 2021
Inventors: Hiromi Maeda, Daisuke Koda, Hiroshi Kanbara and Satomi Ohta
Assigned: Kuraray
Key statement: A rubber composition includes 100 parts by mass of a solid rubber (A), 0.1 to 50 parts by mass of a modified liquid diene rubber (B) having a functional group derived from a silane compound represented by the formula (1) and 20 to 200 parts by mass of a filler (C), the modified liquid diene rubber (B) satisfying (i) to (iii) below: (i) the weight average molecular weight (Mw) is 15,000 to 120,000; (ii) the vinyl content is not more than 70 mol. %; (iii) the average number of functional groups per molecule of the modified liquid diene rubber (B) is 1 to 30.