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.

The present invention provides a pneumatic tire including a sealant layer that has excellent tear resistance despite its being formed of a generally string-shaped sealant provided continuously and spirally along an inner periphery of the tire. Included is a pneumatic tire including an innerliner and a sealant layer located radially inside the innerliner, the sealant layer including a first sealant layer and a second sealant layer stacked in that order from the innerliner, the first sealant layer including a generally string-shaped sealant provided continuously and spirally along an inner periphery of the tire, the second sealant layer including a generally string-shaped sealant provided continuously and spirally along the first sealant layer, the sealant of the first sealant layer and the sealant of the second sealant layer extending in directions crossing each other.

A method for making a compartmentalized sealant strip and barrier assembly 10 has the steps of co-extruding a barrier strip 9 of non-sealant elastomeric material with a plurality of projecting linear extending walls 9c and a sealant strip 11 wherein the sealant strip 11 is formed on one side of the barrier strip 9 filling the space between the plurality of projecting walls 9c to form a plurality of linearly extending rows of sealant 11 across the transverse width of the co-extrusion to form the compartmentalized sealant strip and barrier assembly 10. The step of co-extruding may further include the step of: forming the projecting walls 9c on an inclined angle relative to a plane perpendicular to the width of the assembly 10. The step of co-extruding further has the step of forming the barrier strip 9 with lateral edges 9a and 9c that extend beyond the lateral outermost sealant strips 11 on each side of the assembly 10, the lateral edges 9a, 9b being bonding surfaces to seal the sealant strip and barrier assembly 10 into an uncured rubber layer when assembled into an unvulcanized tire 2.

The invention presents a device and a method for placing and attaching a strip inside a tire. Specifically, the tire is positioned on a mounting in relation to a centering means, and an adhesive device is placed inside the tire. While the tire is rotated, the strip is moved inside the tire, wherein a pressure force is applied to said strip. The strip is driven at a linear speed greater than the rotation speed of the tire, thus producing an effect of compressing said strip, the length of which becomes less than the nominal length thereof, thus creating a space between both ends of the strip such that, after release, the strip scrapes the adhesive device, which is repositioned on said ends, thus simultaneously causing said ends to be attached end to end.

A method and a system for applying a sealing agent to the inner surface (2) of a pneumatic tire (4) comprising a supply circuit (10) having a sealing agent collection device (11) comprising a tank (14); a sealing agent heating device (12);

and a sealing agent supply device (13) implemented by means of a pumping device (17) that supplies the sealing agent to an applicator device (7), a piston (26), an extractor element (28) intended to withdraw the sealing agent and to supply it to the pumping device (17); a piston (26) position control device (30); and a level sensor (29) for detecting the quantity of sealing agent within the tank (14); wherein the passage of the control device (30) at the position of the level sensor (29) determines the beginning of depletion position of the tank (14) and a completely empty position of the tank (14) as a function whereof the extractor element (28) and heating element (12) are actuated.

This invention is based upon the unexpected finding that the reaction product of polyisobutylene and a silane can be incorporated into tire sealant formulations to greatly reduce the level of hysteresis exhibited by such sealant formulations which decreases the rolling resistance of the tire to improve fuel economy. This is made possible by the further unexpected fining that silanes will react with polyisobutylene by a reaction which is initiated with a peroxide. This invention more specifically discloses a sealant composition which is particularly useful in manufacturing self-sealing tires and which is comprised of (a) the reaction product of polyisobutylene and a silane; and (b) a reinforcing filler. The sealant compositions also contain a peroxide to facilitate partial degradation of the polyisobutylene rubber during the curing of the tire.

A method of preparing a tire with self-sealing properties, the method including the steps of providing a cured tire, the tire including a first bead, a second bead, a carcass layer extending from the first bead to the second bead, and an optional innerliner layer disposed interior to the carcass layer; directly or indirectly applying a sealant composition to at least a portion of the carcass layer or to at least a portion of the optional innerliner; and directly applying an air barrier composition to at least a portion of the carcass layer or to at least a portion of the optional innerliner.

A method is provided for forming an impermeable barrier layer on an inner tire surface of a tire. An assembly is also provided along with a kit for forming an impermeable barrier layer on an inner tire surface of a tire accordingly.