By Business Wire, February 28, 2013, 08:00:00 AM EDT
FINDLAY, Ohio & MEXICO CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cooper Tire and the Industrias Negromex S.A. de C.V. (INSA) subsidiary
of Grupo KUO, announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
has granted a patent to the two organizations for a process to produce
silane, hydrophobated silica, silica masterbatch and rubber products.
The outcome of this process is a silica masterbatch with a broader
processing window to enhance manufacturing efficiencies for the end user.
Close collaboration between the two companies under a long-term joint
development agreement led to the successful development of this new
technology, which is an outgrowth of their combined focus on developing
cost-effective, leading-edge polymer and silica technology to achieve
maximum tire performance.
"Collaborative efforts between manufacturing companies like Cooper and
key suppliers like INSA can lead to the development of breakthrough
technology," said Chuck Yurkovich, Vice President of Global Research and
Development for Cooper. "We expect the relationship between Cooper and
INSA to ultimately benefit both companies and the industry as a whole,"
Yurkovich added.
"We have continuously invested in new technologies for our synthetic
rubber business for many years," said Felipe Varela Hernandez, General
Director of Industrias Negromex. "We believe the opportunity to
co-develop important pioneering technology with a long-time customer
could have a big impact on the tire business in the future as we focus
together on breakthrough technologies."
About Cooper Tire & Rubber Company
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE:CTB)is the parent
company of a global family of companies that specialize in the design,
manufacture, marketing, and sales of passenger car and light truck
tires. Cooper has joint ventures, affiliates and subsidiaries that also
specialize in medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires. Cooper's
headquarters is in Findlay, Ohio, with manufacturing, sales,
distribution, technical and design facilities within its family of
companies located in 11 countries around the world. For more information
on Cooper Tire, visit www.coopertire.com,
www.facebook.com/coopertire
or www.twitter.com/coopertire.
About INSA
INSA belongs to Grupo KUO, a leading industrial conglomerate. It is the
sole producer of Synthetic Rubber in Emulsion in México. INSA's
facilities are strategically located in the city of Altamira Tamaulipas
in one of the most important industrial corridors of Mexico. The
facility has nominal capacity of 140,000 MT/y and exports to more than
40 countries. For further information visit: www.negromex.com
and www.kuo.com.mx.
Source: Cooper Tire & Rubber Company