Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) is set to launch its ST series of low-friction elastic sliding bearings, which help to reduce the effects of earthquakes by slowing the shaking of buildings. The series is fit for use in a wide variety of applications, ranging from low-rise buildings to skyscrapers. Elastic sliding bearings are primarily composed of a multilayered rubber component and a...
Bridgestone Sports Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108), has announced that a line of spikeless golf shoes under its Tour B series achieved a major sales landmark over Sept. 10–16, becoming the week’s top-selling over-the-counter line of spikeless golf shoes in Japan. This comes as Bridgestone has applied technologies from its tires to the new line of shoes,...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) recently announced that it has acquired a 100 percent share in the ETB Group, which sells car tires and provides other automotive services across the southwest of the U.K. The share acquisition for this was completed by Bridgestone’s European arm on Sept. 6. The companies have not yet disclosed the amount paid. Looking toward a stronger European...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) recently announced that it has entered into a joint research project for plant-derived isoprene rubber and its high-performance derivatives, working here on production technologies and practical applications for these materials. Efforts under the project look to establish plant-derived isoprene rubber as a practical, industrialized alternative to the natural rubber and oil-derived synthetic rubber currently used as raw...
More than three-quarters of Japan’s top 100 rubber companies saw their sales rise year-on-year in fiscal 2017, an independent study by Japan Rubber Weekly has found. According to the results of this study, 79 of Japan’s top 100 firms operating in the industry reported year-on-year increases to sales, up from 48 in fiscal 2016. Double-digit sales growth was posted by...
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) has discovered a technique for monitoring and measuring strain-induced crystallization in natural and isoprene rubber at a record-high temporal resolution. The basic technology for this was developed using Spring-8, a large synchrotron radiation facility in western Japan. Natural rubber is less susceptible to cracking than typical isoprene rubber, with one suspected reason for this being the crystallization...
