Patents for March 2023
USPTO patents as compiled by the editors of Rubber World for March.
Construction materials, compositions and methods of making same
U.S. patent: 11,572,309
Issued: February 7, 2023
Inventor: Salvatore J. Monte
Assigned: S&E Innovative Technologies
Key statement: A composition comprising at least one binder coated with at least one metallate additive according to formula 1: (RO)m-M-(Oa~Xb~R’c~Yd)n (formula 1), wherein M is one of titanium and zirconium. The composition is particularly useful in producing treaded binders and construction materials have advantageous properties, such as increased strength. Also disclosed are methods of preparing the inventive composition, treated binders and construction materials.
Rubber composition and pneumatic tire using the same
U.S. patent: 11,530,319
Issued: December 20, 2022
Inventor: Takuya Kimura
Assigned: Toyo Tire
Key statement: There is provided a rubber composition which can provide a tire having an excellent balance of the breaking properties, the rolling resistance performance (low fuel consumption) and the wet grip performance. The rubber composition includes 100 parts by mass of a diene rubber, and 1 to 100 parts by mass of fine particles (A) having a glass transition point of -70°C to 0°C and composed of a polymer comprising constituent units of at least one monofunctional monomer. The fine particles (A) have a crosslinked structure crosslinked by at least one polyfunctional monomer having a polysulfide bond in which at least two successive sulfur atoms are bonded together.
Pneumatic tire and tire mold
U.S. patent: 11,529,829
Issued: December 20, 2022
Inventor: Hokuto Kubo
Assigned: Sumitomo Rubber Industries
Key statement: A tire (22) includes a pair of bead portions (66) to be fitted to a rim (R). Each bead portion (66) includes a bead (30) having a core (52) and an apex (54). An outer surface (68) of the bead portion (66) includes a seat face (70) and a flange face (72) disposed radially inward and axially outward, respectively, of the bead (30), a heel face (74) disposed between the seat face (70) and the flange face (72) and a plurality of vent lines (78) projecting from the heel face (74) and extending in the circumferential direction. A contour of the heel face (74) is represented by an arc on a cross-section, of the tire (22), taken along a plane including a rotation axis of the tire (22) and a radius (Rh) of the arc is not less than 8 mm and not greater than 15 mm.
Rubber composition and pneumatic tire
U.S. patent:11,530,318
Issued: December 20, 2022
Inventor: Shunsuke Tsuda
Assigned: Bridgestone
Key statement: A rubber composition of the present invention contains 100 parts by mass of a rubber component (A) containing 45% to 75% by mass of natural rubber and 25% to 55% by mass of a conjugated diene based polymer, in which a bonded styrene amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is 25% or less, 1 to 40 parts by mass of a non-modified conjugated diene based polymer (B) which has a weight average molecular weight of 5,000 or more, but less than 40,000 in terms of polystyrene as measured by GPC, and in which a bonded styrene amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is less than 10% and a bonded vinyl amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is 20% or more, and a filler (C), in which at least one of the conjugated diene based polymers contained in the rubber component (A) is a modified conjugated diene based polymer. With the rubber composition, a tire having further enhanced on-ice performance and having both excellent on-ice performance and excellent abrasion resistance is obtained.
Conjugated diene based rubber
U.S. patent: 11,530,287
Issued: December 20, 2022
Inventors: Takuro Sakurai, Takashi
Iizuka, Mana Fujii and Hisakatsu Hama
Assigned: Zeon, Sumitomo Chemical and ZS Elastomers
Key statement: A conjugated diene based rubber including a polymer block (A) containing isoprene monomer unit as the main component and a polymer block (B) containing 1,3-butadiene monomer unit as the main component, wherein at least one of the polymer block (A) and the polymer block (B) contains a unit of a vinyl compound having a functional group interactive with silica, the polymer block (A) has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) in the range of 1,000 to 30,000 and the entire conjugated diene based rubber has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) in the range of 50,000 to 5,000,000.
Polymer composition comprising a branched thermoplastic elastomer and a thermoplastic styrene polymer
U.S. patent: 11.535.742
Issued: December 27, 2022
Inventor: Benjamin Gornard
Assigned: Michelin
Key statement: A polymer composition comprises (a) 50 to 100 phr of one or more branched thermoplastic elastomers each comprising an unsaturated elastomer block and at least three thermoplastic styrene blocks, the thermoplastic styrene blocks of each branched thermoplastic elastomer representing from 15% to 75%, preferably from 15% to 50%, by weight of the weight of each branched thermoplastic elastomer and (b) 10 to 100 phr of one or more thermoplastic styrene polymers having a molecular mass of between 25,000 and 300,000 g/mol, preferably between 50,000 and 200,000 g/mol.
Silica-filled rubber composition and method for making the same
U.S. patent: 11,535,687
Issued: December 27, 2022
Inventor: Maryangel G. Dunlavy
Assigned: Bridgestone
Key statement: Disclosed is a method of preparing a rubber composition comprising the steps of (a) blending in at least one preparatory mixing step at least one natural or synthetic rubbery polymer, a silica filler, a silica coupling agent and at least one vulcanization accelerator; and (b) subsequently blending therewith in a final mixing step a sulfur curative, wherein the average glass transition temperature of the polymer(s) is -55°C or less.
Stud pin and studded tire
U.S. patent: 11,524,530
Issued: December 13, 2022
Inventor: Masakazu Mori
Assigned: Yokohama Rubber
Key statement: A stud pin includes a tip, a body portion and a lower flange. A flange profile shape of the lower flange is an anisotropic shape and includes short sides and long sides of different lengths, and includes four or more first flange protrusion portions that project in the longitudinal direction parallel with the long sides, and two second flange protrusion portions that project in the lateral direction parallel with the short sides. A body profile shape of the body portion is a shape including body linear portions extending in a linear manner. The body linear portions are disposed facing a portion of the flange profile shape between two adjacent protrusion portions of the first flange protrusion portion and the second flange protrusion portion along the outer circumference of the flange profile shape.
Heavy goods vehicle tire with improved endurance
U.S. patent: 11,548,322
Issued: January 10, 2023
Inventor: Eddy Baranger
Assigned: Michelin
Key statement: Heavy goods vehicle tire, having a crown portion covered radially on the outside by a tread, this tread having at least two cut-outs, the central portion of the tread having a width (Lc) of between 35% and 70%, the crown portion comprising a reinforcement having at least two working layers having reinforcing elements, these reinforcing elements consisting of UHT-grade threads, having a mechanical breaking strength (R) satisfying the following relation: R ≥ (4,180 – 2,130 x D), where D is the diameter of the thread expressed in millimeters, this tread being formed of at least two layers of superimposed material, the material forming the first layer with a breaking elongation of more than 600% at a temperature of 60°C, this tread being such that, in the central portion, the cavity ratio per unit volume is not more than 10% and the surface cavity ratio as new is not more than 10%.
Footwear and rubber sole containing dual silica moieties
U.S. patent: 11,547,174
Issued: January 10, 2023
Inventor: Paul Harry Sandstrom
Assigned: Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Key statement: The invention relates to footwear with a rubber sole and to such rubber sole where the sole is provided with a rubber composition which contains dual precipitated silica moieties. The dual precipitated silica moieties are provided in a sense of being comprised of hydrophilic precipitated silica and hydrophobic precipitated silica.
Copolymer, rubber composition and method of preparing the same
U.S. patent: 11,549,003
Issued: January 10, 2023
Inventors: Ji Hyun Heo, June Park, Cheolbeom Bae, Sung Hoon Han and Se-Hee Jung
Assigned: Korea Kumho Petrochemical
Key statement: Disclosed is a copolymer including a first part including an aromatic vinyl based monomer and a conjugated diene based monomer and a second part including an aromatic vinyl based monomer and a conjugated diene based monomer, wherein the content of the aromatic vinyl based monomer is 35% to 45% by weight based on a total weight of the copolymer, and the copolymer satisfies equation 1 below:
V1 > V2 (Equation 1)
wherein V1 is a vinyl content in the first part and V2 is a vinyl content in the second part.
Copolymer, rubber composition and tire
U.S. patent: 11,549,007
Issued: January 10, 2023
Inventor: Kensuke Washizu
Assigned: Sumitomo Rubber
Key statement: Provided are coploymers which provide improved overall performance in terms of fuel economy and wet grip performance, as well as rubber compositions and tires containing the copolymers. Included is a copolymer obtained by copolymerizing an aromatic vinyl compound, a conjugated diene compound and a compound represented by the formula (1) below or by copolymerizing a conjugated diene compound and a compound represented by the formula (1) below, the copolymer having a weight average molecular weight of 1.0 x 103 to 2.5 x 106,
wherein R1 and R2 may be the same or different and each represents a functional group containing at least teo selected from the group consisteing of carbon, hydrogen and silicon and R1 and R2 may be joined together to form a ring structure.