A rubber composition of the present invention contains 100 parts by mass of a rubber component (A) containing 45 to 75% by mass of natural rubber and 25 to 55% by mass of a conjugated diene-based polymer, in which a bonded styrene amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is 25% or less, 1 to 40 parts by mass of a non-modified conjugated diene-based polymer (B) which has a weight average molecular weight of 5,000 or more but less than 40,000 in terms of polystyrene as measured by GPC and in which a bonded styrene amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is less than 10% and a bonded vinyl amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is 20% or more, and a filler (C), in which at least one of the conjugated diene-based polymers contained in the rubber component (A) is a modified conjugated diene-based polymer. With the rubber composition, a tire having further enhanced on-ice performance and having both excellent on-ice performance and excellent abrasion resistance is obtained.

The tire (10B) comprises a tread (12) including a running layer (14) which is intended to come into contact with the ground when the tire (10B) rolls on the ground, and a sublayer (16) located radially inwards from the running layer (14). The tread (12) comprises at least one fluid passage (22) between the sublayer (16) and the air surrounding the tire (10B). The sublayer (16) comprises a cellular material. The fluid passage (22) comprises an element chosen from a groove (20) and a cut (26), formed in the running layer (14) and extended by at least one well (28) acting as a radial extension of the element, formed between the groove (20) and/or the cut (26) and the sublayer (16). Each well (28) forms a localized part of the fluid passage (22).

Provided is a tire capable of maintaining excellent appearance over a long time. A tire comprises a polyurethane foam layer laminated on an outer layer of the tire, wherein, in the polyurethane foam layer, a binder layer is provided on a surface of a polyurethane foam.

A coated garnet particle product may include garnet particles and at least one coating that coats the garnet particles and that includes a bonding agent. The combination of the garnet particles and the at least one coating defines a plurality of coated garnet particles. The coated garnet particles may be suitable for mixing with tire rubber formulations for incorporation into a tire tread of a tire with at least some of the coated garnet particles partially protruding from the tire tread for engaging road surfaces when the tire is in use on the road surfaces, thereby increasing wear and gripping capabilities of the tire on dry, wet, icy, or snowy road conditions. The bonding agent may reduce loss of coated garnet particles due to road friction when in use on various road surfaces and increase wear and traction relative to a tire with uncoated garnet particles or no garnet particles.

A rubber composition of the present invention contains 100 parts by mass of a rubber component (A) containing 45 to 75% by mass of natural rubber and 25 to 55% by mass of a conjugated diene-based polymer, in which a bonded styrene amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is 25% or less, 1 to 40 parts by mass of a non-modified conjugated diene-based polymer (B) which has a weight average molecular weight of 5,000 or more but less than 40,000 in terms of polystyrene as measured by GPC and in which a bonded styrene amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is less than 10% and a bonded vinyl amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is 20% or more, and a filler (C), in which at least one of the conjugated diene-based polymers contained in the rubber component (A) is a modified conjugated diene-based polymer. With the rubber composition, a tire having further enhanced on-ice performance and having both excellent on-ice performance and excellent abrasion resistance is obtained.

There are provided a tire that combines a low elastic modulus at low temperatures with a high hysteresis loss at low temperatures and has excellent on-ice brake performance, and a vulcanized rubber and a rubber composition from which the tire is obtained. A rubber composition comprising a rubber component comprising a natural rubber, a polybutadiene rubber, and a styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber, and 50 to 90 parts by mass of a filler comprising silica relative to 100 parts by mass of the rubber component, wherein the mass n of the natural rubber in the rubber component is 40% by mass or more, the mass n, the mass b of the polybutadiene rubber, and the mass s of the styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber satisfy the relation: sbn, provided that when n=b, s<b, and 50% by mass or more of the silica is comprised in a phase comprising the polybutadiene rubber and the styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber.

In the present technology, a thermally expandable microcapsule complex is blended in a rubber component, the thermally expandable microcapsule complex being obtained by preparing an aqueous solution of a water-soluble polymer having a concentration of 1 to 30 mass %, adding from 5 to 60 parts by mass of cellulose fibers to 100 parts by mass of the aqueous solution to prepare a liquid dispersion (1), adding from 10 to 200 parts by mass of thermally expandable microcapsules to the liquid dispersion (1) to prepare a liquid dispersion 2), and evaporating the moisture content of the liquid dispersion (2).

A pneumatic tire, having in a ground contact surface of a tread a plurality of main grooves extending in the tread circumferential direction and a plurality of land portions demarcated by the main grooves and tread ends, wherein, provided that two land portions adjacent to the central land portion on the respective sides in the tread width direction of the central land portion each represent an adjacent land portion, rigidity in the tread circumferential direction of the central land portion is lower than rigidity in the tread circumferential direction of the adjacent land portion.

Tire combining low elastic modulus at low temperatures with high hysteresis loss at low temperatures having excellent on-ice brake performance, and vulcanized rubber and a rubber composition from which the tire is obtained. A rubber composition comprising rubber component comprising a natural rubber, a polybutadiene rubber, and a styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber, and 50 to 90 parts by mass of a filler comprising silica relative to 100 parts by mass of the rubber component, wherein the mass n of the natural rubber in the rubber component is 40% by mass or more, the mass n, the mass b of the polybutadiene rubber, and the mass s of the styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber satisfy the relation: sbn, provided that when n=b, s<b, and 50% by mass or more of the silica is comprised in a phase comprising the polybutadiene rubber and the styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber.

A tire can deliver improved on-ice performance with a reduced rolling resistance. The tire includes a foam rubber layer in a tread that comes into contact with a road surface, wherein a foaming ratio of the foam rubber layer is in a range from 3% to 50%, a rubber composition forming the foam rubber layer includes ethylene-vinylalcohol copolymer fiber coated with a resin having affinity for a rubber component, and the rubber composition forming the foam rubber layer includes 5 to 30 parts by mass at least one type of inorganic compound powder with respect to 100 parts by mass the rubber component, the inorganic compound powder having an average particle diameter greater than or equal to 10 m and expressed by the following general formula (I).
M.xSiO.sub.2.yH.sub.2O(I)