Air maintenance tire and integral pump assembly

US8955567B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignees

• Richard B. O'Planick · US
• The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company · US

Inventors

• Daniel Paul Luc Marie Hinque · Arlon, BE
• Gilles Bonnet · Diekirch, LU
• Olivier Di Prizio · Yutz, FR
• Michel Meunier · Gouvy, BE
• Germain Dehez · Gouvy, BE

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 21, 2011
• Grant date: Feb 17, 2015
• Expiry date: Apr 16, 2033

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T152/10855
• WIPO field: Transport
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

An air maintenance tire includes a tire carcass; a flexible tire component strip such as a chafer component forming a portion of the tire carcass, the tire component strip having a channel formed within an upper surface defined by opposed strip lip portions and a channel bottom wall; an air passageway within the flexible tire component extending between air inlet and air outlet cavities in the flexible tire component, the air passageway extending at least a partial circumferential path around the tire carcass; and an elongate passageway-shaping strip assembly occupying and enclosed within the air passageway of the flexible tire component, the passageway-shaping strip assembly operative forming and maintaining the air passageway to a cross-sectional configuration replicating a cross-sectional configuration of the passageway-shaping strip assembly. The passageway-shaping strip is removable from the air passageway in a post-cure procedure to make the air passageway unobstructed and in a preferred cross-sectional configuration.