A tyre cavity noise absorber comprising a body 1 of sound absorbing material with an outer protective cover 3. The body of sound absorbing material is intended to be mounted to a wheel 2 of a wheel and tyre 6 assembly so that a surface of the body is exposed in a tyre cavity of the wheel and tyre assembly. The outer protective cover only partially covers said surface of the body of sound absorbing material such that the cover protects the body of sound absorbing material from a bead 7 of a tyre as a tyre is fitted to, or removed from, the wheel and the uncovered parts of the body of sound absorbing material are free to absorb sound.

There is provided a pneumatic tire with a reinforcing part which is mounted on a tire wheel, the pneumatic tire including: a tread having a groove that is formed in a circumferential direction of the tire wheel as being recessed toward a central axis of the tire wheel, a kerf that is formed to intersect the groove as being recessed toward the central axis of the tire wheel, and one or more blocks that are formed between the groove and the kerf and come into contact with a road surface; a shoulder formed at a side of the tread; and a reinforcing part inserted into the groove formed between the one or more blocks. The reinforcing part reduces noise produced due to contact with the road surface by being bent one or more times.

A process for applying noise-reducing elements to a tyre for vehicle wheels. A plurality of noise-reducing elements are arranged on a feeding belt movable along a predetermined feeding direction. The noise-reducing elements are subsequently aligned along the feeding direction and brought into mutual contact, to then be transferred onto a service plane arranged downstream of the feeding belt along the feeding direction and having, on an upper surface thereof, a continuous film which supports a layer of adhesive material. The layer of adhesive material is applied onto a lower surface of each of the noise-reducing elements taking it from the continuous film. The noise-reducing elements are then transferred one by one onto a conveyor belt arranged downstream of the service plane along the feeding direction. The noise-reducing elements are finally positioned one by one on a radially inner surface of a tyre.

A noise damper, annulus for reducing tire noise, and tire and noise damper assembly are disclosed. The noise damper, annulus for reducing tire noise, and tire and noise damper assembly mitigate sound produced by a moving tire. The noise damper and annulus for reducing tire noise may move within a tire cavity.

A device configured for coupling a resonator to a vehicle wheel, may include an annular first strap assembled with an external circumferential surface of the wheel rim and fixing positions of resonators disposed on the external circumferential surface of the wheel rim; and an annular second strap surrounding second flanges formed at second edge portions of the resonators based on an axial direction of the wheel rim and pressurizing the second flange toward the external circumferential surface of the wheel rim after first flanges, which are formed on second edge portions of the resonators based on an axial direction of the wheel rim, are inserted between the first strap and the external circumferential surface of the wheel rim.

A tire with in-situ generated intrinsic puncture sealant layers and intrinsic noise damper comprising a supporting tire carcass having one or more layers of ply, an outer circumferential tread, and a radially inner layer, a pair of beads, sidewalls extending radially inward from the axial outer edges of a tread portion to join the respective beads, a sealant comprising at least one layer of sealant, disposed radially inwardly from said radially inner layer of said tire carcass, an intrinsic cellular noise damper as the innermost layer adjacent to the sealant, wherein said noise damper has a density less than 1.3 g/cm.sup.3; and wherein said sealant provides self-sealing properties to the tire.

Apparatus for applying noise reducing elements to tyres for vehicle wheels. The apparatus includes a loading station of stacks of noise reducing elements, an extraction station of noise reducing elements from each stack placed downstream of the loading station, and a conveyor placed downstream of the extraction station and extending along a predefined path. The conveyor is configured for supporting and advancing in a row the noise reducing elements extracted from the stacks which are then applied to a radially inner surface of the tyres. The extraction of each of the noise reducing elements contemplates: retaining a first noise reducing element placed at the base of a stack; raising the remaining noise reducing elements of the stack from the first noise reducing element; moving away the first noise reducing element according to a set path; and lowering the remaining noise reducing elements of the stack.

The invention relates to a pneumatic vehicle tire (L) having at least one acoustic element (8), wherein the tire (L), fitted on a wheel rim (16), encloses with the rim (16) a space inside the tire (17), wherein the acoustic element (8) comprising a body (12) and a layer (13) is arranged on an inner tire surface (10) involved in delimiting the space inside the tire (17), wherein the body (12) is arranged on the inner tire surface (10) and wherein the layer (13) is arranged on a surface region of the body (12) that is facing the space inside the tire (17). The object is to provide a tire which has improved acoustic properties with less use of porous noise-reducing material and the acoustic element of which is more resistant to pressure changes. This is achieved in that the layer (13) is arranged on at least 15% of that surface of the body (12) which faces toward the space inside the tire (17), in that the layer (13) has a first surface region (9) which is arranged at a distance from the inner tire surface (10), in that the first surface region (9) is connectable pneumatically to a surface region (11) lying opposite it and in that the layer (13) has a sound reflectance of at least 80% for a sound wave striking the first surface region (9). The invention also relates to a wheel rim (16) and to a wheel having such an acoustic element (8).

A tire noise reduction device includes a sound absorbing member made of a porous material; and a band member disposed between the sound absorbing member and the tire inner surface and provided for attaching the sound absorbing member to a tire inner surface, the band member including chamfered portions on both surface sides at both ends in a width direction of the band member.

Apparatus for applying noise reducing elements to tyres for vehicle wheels. The apparatus includes a loading station of stacks of noise reducing elements, an extraction station of noise reducing elements from each stack placed downstream of the loading station, and a conveyor placed downstream of the extraction station and extending along a predefined path. The conveyor is configured for supporting and advancing in a row the noise reducing elements extracted from the stacks which are then applied to a radially inner surface of the tyres. The extraction of each of the noise reducing elements contemplates: retaining a first noise reducing element placed at the base of a stack; raising the remaining noise reducing elements of the stack from the first noise reducing element; moving away the first noise reducing element according to a set path; and lowering the remaining noise reducing elements of the stack.