Pneumatic tire and innerliner and method for manufacture

Abstract

A pneumatic tire and an innerliner for use in a pneumatic tire are provided by the invention. The innerliner comprises a multilayer structure including a barrier layer and an adhesive layer. The barrier is a blend of high chlorine content chlorinated polyethylene elastomer and low chlorine-content chlorinated polyethylene elastomer. The adhesive can include a nitrile rubber composition or an ultra high molecular weight elastomer. The present invention more specifically discloses a pneumatic tire comprising a carcass and an innerliner, said innerliner comprising a multilayer structure including a barrier layer and an adhesive layer, the barrier layer comprising a blend of high chlorine content chlorinated polyethylene elastomer and low chlorine content chlorinated polyethylene elastomer, the high chlorine content chlorinated polyethylene elastomer having a chlorine content of between about 35 percent to about 45 percent and the low chlorine content chlorinated polyethylene polymer having a chlorine content of between about 25 percent to about 35 percent, wherein the high chlorine content polyethylene has a chlorine content which is at least 5 percentage points higher that the chlorine content of the low chlorine content polyethylene; the adhesive layer comprising a polymer composition for adhering the barrier layer to said rubber carcass; and wherein the innerliner provides an oxygen permeability of less than 250 cc-mil/100 in2-atm-day at 65° C. and good cold flexibility at −40° C.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.