Abstract:
A pneumatic tire having a rubber component comprised of (A) 100 parts by weight (phr) of a rubber containing olefinic unsaturation; (B) from 0 to 100 phr of a filler selected from carbon black and silica; and (C) from 5 to 50 phr of a starch/plasticizer composite and a rubber gel selected from the group consisting of polybutadiene gel, styrene butadiene gel, acrylonitrile-butadiene gel, chloroprene gel, natural rubber gel, and mixtures thereof, wherein the weight ratio of starch/composite to rubber gel is from about 10:1 to about 1:10.
Abstract:
The invention relates to the preparation of a rubber composition containing starch/plasticizer composite reinforcement, together with at least one additional reinforcing filler, through the utilization of a combination of an organosilane disulfide compound mixed with a rubber composition in a preparatory, non-productive, mixing stage(s) followed by adding an organosilane polysulfide compound in a subsequent, productive, mixing stage. The invention further relates to the resulting rubber composition and use thereof in rubber products, including tires.
Abstract:
A pneumatic radial ply runflat tire 1000 for a vehicle has a tread 1012, a carcass 1022 comprising at least one radial ply 1030 and two sidewalls 1016 each reinforced by a circumferentially disposed crescent-shaped wedge insert. Each insert has an elastomeric porous section 1042 embedded in an elastomeric stiffer layer 1044 of the insert 1040. When the tire is normally inflated, the porous section 1042, and hence the insert as a whole, is flexible, thereby providing comfortable driving characteristics. Under runflat (deflated tire) conditions, the pores in the porous section 1042 collapse, and the porous section 1042 stiffens, and hence the insert as a whole becomes stiff enough to support the load of the vehicle.
Abstract:
The invention relates to a tire with a rubber tread of a cap/base construction wherein the tread cap is designed to be ground-contacting, wherein the tread base underlies said tread cap, is not intended to be ground-contacting, and is a matrix composition composed of at least one elastomer where the matrix composition contains a dispersed micro inclusion made of a particulate, high molecular weight thermoplastic polymer and wherein the tread cap is composed of a blend of elastomers without such micro inclusion.