A vehicle wheel includes a rim and a sub-air chamber member attached to the rim and serving as a Helmholtz resonator that cancels air column resonance noise in a tire air chamber. The sub-air chamber member includes: a main body portion including a top plate, a bottom plate, and a side plate connecting between the top plate and the bottom plate, the main body portion defining an inner space surrounded by the top plate, the bottom plate, and the side plate and serving as a sub-air chamber; and a communication through-hole that allows communication between the tire air chamber and the sub-air chamber. The main body portion further includes a substantially cone-shaped portion formed integrally with the bottom plate and the side plate.

The present disclosure relates to self-sealing tires, a process for making said self-sealing tires and the use of a silicone composition cured via a condensation cure chemistry to form a self-sealing layer designed to function as both (i) a self-sealing tire puncture material, i.e., to seal puncture holes in the tread region of tires if/when punctured by a foreign body and (ii) as an adhesive for sound-absorbing foams adapted to reduce the noise generated by tires during travel.

The pneumatic tires of this invention are of the tubeless type, are capable of self-sealing punctures made therein, and generate a low level of noise during use on a vehicle. These tires have a sealant/noise reduction layer which is disposed inwardly from the supporting carcass and which is typically the innermost layer of the tire. The sealant/noise reduction layer is comprised of a dispersed phase and a continuous phase, wherein the dispersed phase is comprised of a sealant material, and wherein the continuous phase is comprised of a foamed polymeric material.

A pneumatic tire is proposed. The pneumatic tire may include an inner liner configured to maintain a pressure of air filled inside the pneumatic tire, a sealant layer disposed on an inner peripheral surface of the inner liner, and a sound absorbing material disposed adjacent to the sealant layer. The sealant layer may include a first sealant layer formed by a first sealant string adjacent to at least a portion of an inner peripheral surface of the inner liner. The sealant layer may also include a second sealant layer formed by a second sealant string adjacent to at least a portion of the first sealant layer. The second sealant layer may be equal to or smaller, in width, than the first sealant layer in an axial direction of the pneumatic tire. The sound absorbing material may be smaller in width than the first sealant layer in the axial direction.

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.

The present disclosure relates to a tire including a sealant layer and a sound-absorbing material layer, and the tire includes a sound-absorbing material layer which is adhered to an inner surface of the tire and a sealant layer which is disposed between the inner surface of the tire and the sound-absorbing material layer and includes a sealant for adhering the sound-absorbing material layer to the inner surface of the tire. The tire has noise reduction performance while enabling a self-sealing operation to be carried out when a tire puncture occurs by adhering a sound-absorbing material layer to a sealant layer applied to an inner surface of the tire, improves flowability of the sealant by increasing average pore size of a sound-absorbing material, thereby reducing specific surface area between the sealant and the sound-absorbing material, and prevents fine pieces of the sound-absorbing material from deteriorating function of the sealant and can also maintain noise reduction performance by decreasing adhesion specific surface area between the surface of the nail and the sound-absorbing material even when a nail reaches the sound-absorbing material by penetrating the tire and the sealant.

A wheel structure for a vehicle includes: a rim, and a resonator including a plurality of resonance tubes attached along an outer peripheral surface of the rim. The plurality of resonance tubes are spaced apart from each other and connected along the outer peripheral surface of the rim by a plurality of strips, and an end of each of the strips is coupled to a corresponding end of each of the resonance tubes.

The process for producing tyres comprises arranging no more than four sets of noise-reducing elements, each set being associated with a respective dimension L.sub.x different from each other; feeding in succession a set of tyres for vehicle wheels, having different values C of the inner circumferential extension; for each inner circumferential extension value, determining a respective number n.sub.x of noise-reducing elements for each set of noise-reducing elements, with x ranging from 1 to N, wherein for at least one value of the inner circumferential extension at least two respective numbers n.sub.x differ from 0; for each tyre, collecting from each set of noise-reducing elements the respective number n.sub.x of noise-reducing elements and applying the collected noise-reducing elements in circumferential sequence along an inner surface of the tyre, with dimension L.sub.x oriented circumferentially.

Methods for treating the surface of a cured inner liner are disclosed. By use of these methods a treated, cured inner liner is produced which has a lower surface with increased adherability to other materials (e.g., adhesives). Treated, cured inner liners resulting from such methods as well as tires containing the treated inner liners.

A pneumatic tyre comprising an inner surface of the tyre, wherein a sound absorbing device component is connected to the inner surface of the tyre. The sound absorbing device component comprises a panel with a plurality of perforations and two sidewall sections, the sidewall sections being distinct from the panel, wherein the sidewall sections are connected to the inner surface of the tyre and arranged opposite of each other and wherein the panel is borne by the sidewall sections, thereby positioning the panel at a distance from the inner surface of the tyre and defining an inner volume enclosed by the panel, the sidewall sections and the inner surface. Furthermore, ≥95 area-% of all perforations which permit access to the inner volume are located on the panel.