Patents for May 2024

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

Rubber composition and a tire
U.S. patent: 11,802,195 Issued: October 31, 2023
Inventors: Claude Schweitzer, Cecilia Aguiar Da Silva, Marc-André Robert
Paulus, Marc Antoine Norbert Hédo, Serge Guillaume Feltes and Stefano Picchiotti
Assigned: Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Key statement: In a first aspect, the present invention is directed to a rubber
composition comprising, based on 100 parts by weight of elastomer (phr),
70 phr to 95 phr of diene based elastomer, wherein said diene based
elastomer comprises 25 phr to 60 phr of a first diene based elastomer
having a glass transition temperature within a range of -49°C to -15°C and
10 phr to 45 phr of a second diene based elastomer having a glass transition
temperature within a range of -50°C to -110° C, 5 phr to 30 phr of one or
more of natural rubber and synthetic polyisoprene rubber, 40 phr to 70 phr
of silica and 10 phr to 40 phr of at least one terpene resin having a weight
average molecular weight (Mw) of at least 900 g/mol. In another aspect, the
present invention is directed to a tire comprising a tire tread with the
aforementioned rubber composition.

Modified thermoplastic polyester elastomer
U.S. patent: 11,802,202 Issued: October 31, 2023
Inventors: Te-Chao Liao, Ching-Yao Yuan and Wei-Tang Liao
Assigned: Nan Ya Plastics
Key statement: A modified thermoplastic polyester elastomer and a
breathable and waterproof membrane are provided. The modified
thermoplastic polyester elastomer is formed from a thermoplastic polyester
elastomer, a regenerated polyethylene terephthalate and a compatibilizer.
Based on a total weight of the modified thermoplastic polyester elastomer
being 100 phr, a content of the regenerated polyethylene terephthalate is
greater than 0 phr and up to 50 phr. Based on a total weight of the
thermoplastic polyester elastomer being 100 weight %, the thermoplastic
polyester elastomer includes 25 weight % to 75 weight % of hard segments
and 25 weight % to 75 weight % of soft segments.

Tire wear measuring apparatus using irregularity of tire acceleration signal and tire wear measuring method using same
U.S. patent: 11,813,895
Issued: November 14, 2023 Inventors: Min Tae Kim, Ho Jong Lee, Sei Bum Choi, Da
Sol Jeong and Jong Hyup Lee
Assigned: Hankook Tire & Technology and Korea Advanced Institute of
Science and Technology
Key statement: Provided is a technique of quantifying a change in
irregularity appearing in an acceleration signal of a tire and measuring a
tread wear amount of the tire using the quantified change. A tire wear
measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure
includes: a signal receiver configured to measure an acceleration inside a
tire with respect to an axial direction, which is a radial direction of the tire, at
a plurality of points inside the tire; a broad pass filter configured to receive a
measured acceleration signal from the signal receiver and perform filtering
as a preprocessing on the acceleration signal to generate a processed
signal; a signal analyzer configured to estimate a tread wear rate of the tire
by quantifying an irregularity of the acceleration signal using the processed
signal that is a signal filtered through the broad pass filter; a transmitter
configured to receive analysis information, which is information on the
tread wear rate of the tire, from the signal analyzer and transmit the
analysis information; and a control module configured to receive the
analysis information from the transmitter and generate a control signal for a
vehicle on which the tire is installed.

Process for preparing graft rubber compositions with improved dewatering
U.S. patent: 11,807,752
Issued: November 7, 2023
Inventors: Tobias Schulz and Wolfgang Fischer
Assigned: Ineos Styrolution Group
Key statement: A process for the production of a graft copolymer
composition is presented, which is based on acrylonitrile- styrene-acrylate
(ASA) or acrylonitrile- butadiene-styrene (ABS) graft copolymers. The graft
copolymers obtained by emulsion polymerization and precipitation show
improved dewatering behavior after precipitation. Based on this method,
ASA and ABS graft copolymers with low residual humidity can be obtained.
Furthermore, the invention relates to a process for the production of a
thermoplastic molding composition comprising at least one thermoplastic
styrene copolymer, in particular a styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer, the graft
copolymer obtained by the process and optional further components.

Tools for manufacturing non-pneumatic tires
U.S. patent: 11,806,959
Issued: November 7, 2023 Inventors: Janice Lisa Tardiff, Adam Wirth, Wesley Grant
Morris and Cindy Sofia Barrera-Martinez
Assigned: Ford Global Technologies
Key statement: A molding tool for forming a non-pneumatic tire includes a
wheel portion cavity, a tread ring portion cavity and a plurality of spoke
cavities extending between the wheel portion cavity and the tread ring
portion cavity. At least a subset spoke cavities within the plurality of spoke
cavities include at least one of a nonuniform thickness, a non-uniform width
and a non-uniform surface. Also, the molding tool can include a conformal
thermal control channel, e.g., a conformal cooling channel and/ or a
conformal heating channel, proximate to at least one mold cavity.

Application of lignin in preparing radial tire
U.S. patent: 11,814,516
Issued: November 14, 2023 Inventors: Chenjie Zhu, Hanjie Ying, Ming Li, Pingkai
Ouyang, Jiannong Shen, Xinjian Xu, Wei Zhuang and Tao Shen
Assigned: Nanjing Tech University
Key statement: The invention belongs to the field of rubber tire processing
and particularly discloses an application of a lignin in preparing a radial tire,
wherein the lignin is capable of completely or partially replacing resorcinol
and meanwhile, the lignin is also capable of completely or partially replacing
an anti-aging agent. Compared with the prior art, the resorcinol is replaced
or partially replaced by a biomass-derived lignin or a modified lignin in the
invention, so that requirements of cost reduction, environmental protection
and no toxicity are satisfied. Especially, the lignin modified by demethylation
according to the invention is capable of effectively enhancing various
properties of rubber.

Tire textile cord
U.S. patent: 11,802,353
Issued: October 31, 2023
Inventors: Bartosz Zielinski, Raphael Beck, Dirk Lothar Maria van Eck, Björn
Springer and John Woods
Assigned: Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Key statement: The present invention relates to a textile cord comprising at
least two yarns, each yarn comprising multiple filaments, wherein each
filament comprises polyethylene furanoate reinforced by carbon nano
material and/or boron nitride nano material. These textile cords are
particularly useful as tire reinforcements. Moreover, the present invention is
directed to a polymeric composition comprising (1) polyethylene-2,5-furan
dicarboxylate and (2) a carbon nano material or a boron nitride nano
material. This polymeric composition can optionally be further comprised of
one or more additional polyesters, such as polyethylene terephthalate or
polyethylene naphthalate. This invention is further directed to a rubber
component comprising said cords coated with rubber and to tires and other
rubber products comprising such cords.

Pneumatic tire
U.S. patent: 11,820,172
Issued: November 21, 2023
Inventor: Hiroki Sugiura
Assigned: Yokohama Rubber
Key statement: A pneumatic tire comprises a tread rubber with a groove
depth at a shoulder portion that comes into contact with a road surface of
10 mm or greater. A rubber composition of the tread rubber contains: 60 to
70 parts by mass of carbon black having a nitrogen adsorption specific
surface area of 70 to 130 m2/g, 0.5 parts or greater by mass of sulfur, and a
vulcanization accelerator per 100 parts by mass of diene rubber including
50 to 70 mass % of styrene butadiene rubber, 20 to 30 mass % of butadiene
rubber and 10 to 30 mass % of natural rubber. The diene rubber has an
average glass transition temperature of -65°C or lower. A ratio of a
compounded amount of the vulcanization accelerator to a compounded
amount of the sulfur is 1.0 to 1.3. The tread rubber has a rubber hardness
of 65 to 70 at 20°C.