Self-sealing pneumatic tire and method of manufacturing the same
AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
InventorWilliam E. Egan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This invention relates to a pneumatic tire with puncture sealing properties and a method for manufacturing such a tire. In this method of manufacturing such a self-sealing pneumatic rubber tire a polymer composition layer is built into the tire in a relatively conventional manner. Under the conditions of heat and pressure used to cure the tire this polymer composition is both crosslinked and depolymerized to form a tacky material which has puncture sealant properties (the sealant layer). Ordinary tire manufacturing techniques can be employed since the sealant layer has the physical properties of ordinary butyl rubber used in tire building at the time it is assembled into the tire.
Claims7
A method of preparing a pneumatic rubber tire having a puncture sealing feature which comprises:
- (a) building an unvulcanized tire comprised of a circumferential rubber tread, a supporting carcass therefor, two spaced beads, two rubber sidewalls connecting said beads, an inner liner and a layer of polymer composition disposed inwardly from said supporting carcass and outwardly from said inner liner wherein said polymer composition consists of based on its polymer content, 100 parts by weight butyl rubber having a number average molecular weight of 200,000 to 500,000, and a Mooney vicosity ranging from about 40 to 58, about 10 to 40 parts by weight of carbon black, about 5 to 35 parts by weight of polyisobutylene having a number average molecular weight of about 7,500 to 15,000, about 5 to 35 parts by weight of an oil extender, about 0 to 1 parts by weight sulfur, and about 1.0 to 8 parts by weight of a perioxide vulcanizing agent;
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- (b) shaping and vulcanizing said tire under conditions of heat and pressure and simultaneously forming in situ a puncture sealant layer in said tire by both crosslinking and partially depolymerizing said butyl rubber in said polymer composition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.