| abstract |
This disclosure relates to a self-sealing pneumatic tire with puncture sealing properties and a method of manufacturing such a tire. The puncture sealant properties of the self-sealing tire are provided by a layer comprised of a blend of a crosslinked polymeric material and an irradiation degraded polymeric material. The method of this disclosure comprises providing a layer of rubber compound with a blend of polymeric materials, one of which degrades upon exposure to irradiation and another which crosslinks either on exposure to irradiation, by chemical reaction at vulcanization temperature, or both, assembling the layer into an unvulcanized tire in situ with the polymeric materials unaltered, vulcanizing the tire without altering the degradable polymeric material and irradiating the tire whereby the degradable polymeric material is degraded to a low viscosity to form a tacky material and the crosslinkable polymeric material is crosslinked to form an elastic matrix for the degraded polymeric material, whereby the layer has puncture sealing properties. |