Resilient tires and wheels – Tires – resilient – Pneumatic tire or inner tube
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-19
2002-02-05
Johnstone, Adrienne C. (Department: 1733)
Resilient tires and wheels
Tires, resilient
Pneumatic tire or inner tube
C152S526000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06343637
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This intention pertains to the art of pneumatic tires, and more specifically to tires of the type having a breaker assembly comprising layers of cord fabric positioned beneath the tread. The breaker assembly includes wear strips to reduce wear in the crown region of the tire.
BACKGROUND ART
Pneumatic tires which are used in aircraft landing applications tend to wear along the centerline faster than the shoulder regions. When the tire wears through the breaker assembly, it must be removed and replaced.
In the art, various breaker assembly constructions have been set forth for use in pneumatic tires in efforts to enhance certain features of the tire. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,191 to Harrington et al. discloses a strip of rubber compound interposed between adjacent layers of cord fabric in a breaker assembly in order to change the stiffness of the tread between the crown and shoulder regions.
The arrangement of the bias angle of cords within a breaker ply with respect to the bias angle of cords within an additional breaker ply, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3, 131,744 to Boussu et al., seeks to improve the roadability and riding comfort of a pneumatic tire.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,458 to Yoshida et al., a pneumatic tire having a breaker layer of rubber coated glass cords sandwiched between two layers of short cut fiber reinforced rubber is disclosed. The pneumatic tire purportedly has improved abrasion resistance, cornering power and plunger resistance.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a pneumatic tire having an improved breaker assembly in order to resist wear in the crown region of the tire. The tire is particularly useful in aircraft applications in order to increase the number of landings the tire can achieve before replacement is necessary.
Generally, the pneumatic tire
10
includes a pair of beads (not shown), a carcass
18
extending from one bead to the other through a crown region of the tire, a tread
14
covering the outer side of the carcass
18
, and a breaker assembly
20
,
20
A,
20
B disposed between the tread
14
and the carcass
18
in the crown region of the tire. The breaker assembly
20
,
20
A,
20
B includes wear strips. The construction of the wear strips and placement in the breaker assembly are set forth in the following preferred embodiments.
In one embodiment, the breaker assembly
20
comprises a first circrumferentially extending breaker layer
24
which includes a central portion
26
located between a pair of extensions
30
. Preferably, the central portion
26
comprises rubber material and the extensions
30
comprise cord fabric. The central portion
26
acts as a wear strip to improve performance of the tire in aircraft landing applications.
A second circumferentially extending breaker layer
34
is positioned radially inwardly of the first layer
24
. In a preferred embodiment, the second layer
34
is formed of cord fabric.
A third circumferentially extending breaker layer
40
, located radially inwardly of the second layer
34
, also includes a central portion
44
between a pair of extensions
48
. The construction of the third layer
40
is similar to that of the first layer
24
in that the central portion
44
comprises rubber while the extensions
48
comprise cord fabric.
A fourth circumferentially extending breaker layer
52
is located radially inwardly of the third layer
40
. The construction of the fourth layer
52
is similar to that of the second layer
34
and comprises cord fabric.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes at least three, and preferably four, circumferentially extending breaker layers
56
,
60
,
64
,
68
comprising cord fabric. Interposed between adjacent layers in the central region of the breaker assembly
20
A are narrow, relatively thin strips
72
of rubber.
In yet another embodiment, first, second, and third circumferentially extending breaker layers
80
,
84
,
88
comprises cord fabric. Interposed between adjacent layers in the central region of the breaker assembly
20
B are circumferentially extending strips of cord fabric having a transverse width substantially less than that of the adjacent breaker layers such as narrow wear strips
92
of cord fabric whose transverse widths are essentially equal.
Definitions
For ease of understanding this disclosure the following terms are disclosed:
“Axial” and “axially” means the lines or directions that are parallel to the axis of rotation of the tire.
“Circumferential” means lines or directions extending along the perimeter of the surface of the annular tire parallel to the equatorial plane EP and perpendicular to the axial direction.
“Equatorial Plane (EP)” means the plane perpendicular to the tire's axis of rotation and passing through the center of its tread.
“Inner” means toward the inside of the tire and “outer” means toward its exterior.
“Radial” and “radially” mean directions radially toward or away from the axis of rotation of the tire.
“Rubber” means both natural and synthetic rubber compounds or a combination thereof.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1842353 (1932-01-01), Lorentz
patent: 2541506 (1951-02-01), Cuthbertson et al.
patent: 2811998 (1957-11-01), Bourdon
patent: 3131744 (1964-05-01), Boussu et al.
patent: 3261388 (1966-07-01), Kovac et al.
patent: 3310094 (1967-03-01), Prevost
patent: 3386487 (1968-06-01), Massoubre
patent: 3426825 (1969-02-01), Leibee
patent: 3513898 (1970-05-01), Lugli et al.
patent: 3674078 (1972-07-01), Sasaki et al.
patent: 3717191 (1973-02-01), Harrington et al.
patent: 3735790 (1973-05-01), Bertrand
patent: 3762458 (1973-10-01), Yoshida et al.
patent: 3842885 (1974-10-01), Alban
patent: 3853164 (1974-12-01), Mirtain
patent: 3874436 (1975-04-01), Hashida et al.
patent: 3916968 (1975-11-01), Masson
patent: 3931844 (1976-01-01), Mirtain
patent: 3990493 (1976-11-01), Caretta
patent: 4092196 (1978-05-01), Miller et al.
patent: 4687037 (1987-08-01), Pfeiffer et al.
patent: 5111864 (1992-05-01), Nakano et al.
patent: 2046262 (1971-03-01), None
patent: 4032166 (1991-06-01), None
patent: 280674 (1988-08-01), None
patent: 2358998 (1978-02-01), None
patent: 2 171 067 (1986-08-01), None
Patent Abstracts of Japan vol. 011, No. 025(M-566), Jan. 23, 1987 & JP 61-196805A (Bridgestone Corp.), Sep. 1, 1986.
Emerson Roger D.
Johnstone Adrienne C.
Skeriotis John M.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
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