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.