JP2000118365A - Method and device for filling nitrogen gas into tire - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To fill N2 gas efficiently and speedily into a tire by discharging air from the tire before the N2 gas is filled to lower the pressure in the tire below atmospheric pressure and then by filling the N2 gas into the tire. SOLUTION: For filling N2 gas into a rim combined tire, when the N2 gas is filled after air is discharged from the tire, the tip of a passage 8 is connected with a gas filling valve of the rim combined tire to close a switching valve 16 of the passage 8, and then a switching valve 18 of a discharge route 17 is opened to operate a vacuum pump to discharge the air from the tire. By instantly closing the switching valve 18 and opening the switching valve 16, the N2 gas fed through film modules m1, m2 is filled into the tire through he delivery side passage 8. An oxygen concentration meter 12 provided for the delivery side passage 8 performs an accurate concentration measurement through pressure adjustment with a regulator 13 and flow adjustment with a flow adjusting valve 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates, N ₂ gas (high concentration N ₂
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for efficiently filling a tire (including a rich gas) into a tire.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION N ₂ gas has a very strong feature to temperature changes, high speed or severe driving tire internal pressure change in the tire temperature is increased in such by filling with N ₂ gas in the tire of the vehicle It is possible to prevent a decrease in the running performance because it does not cause an increase in ride comfort, and it is necessary to use an aircraft or F1 that has been forced to run at high speed until now.
It was used for special things such as racing cars.

In recent years, it has become widely known that the filling of tires with N ₂ gas has an effect of preventing deterioration of rubber and wheels. N ₂ tends to be required to fill gas, in particular, to implement as part of the service in a car shops and gas stations, the cost of filling a relatively inexpensive, yet filling the N ₂ gas to efficiently tire There was a need for the development of means that could do this.

[0004] as a filling method of the N ₂ gas known up, in addition to the method of N ₂ gas is filled with N ₂ gas in the tire using a commercially available bomb filled, compressed by air compressor O ₂ method or by utilizing the difference in permeation rate out the kind of gas components from the air, the air is fed filling was separated and purified only N ₂ gas N ₂ gas at industrial activated carbon Gas separation membrane method for supplying high-concentration N ₂ gas by separating N ₂ and N ₂ has been known.

[0005]

However, in the method using a cylinder filled with N ₂ , it takes time to manage the stock of the cylinder, carry in and carry out the vessel, and it is necessary to secure a place for installing the cylinder. There are disadvantages in aspects, the method using industrial activated carbon, although bug free as described above, maintenance since reprocessing is in need to temporarily release the O ₂ adsorbed on the activated carbon in after some extent used There is a disadvantage that it is indispensable and cannot be used especially when N ₂ gas is required to be charged during reprocessing of activated carbon. Also, the method using activated carbon has the advantage that the concentration of N ₂ gas can be set arbitrarily, but 1000 kP
If compressed air exceeding a is used, high-pressure O ₂ gas (active gas) accumulates in the tank due to its structure, and it will be a high-pressure gas facility. There was a defect. On the other hand, the gas separation membrane method does not have the above-mentioned disadvantages, and can be filled with N ₂ gas relatively quickly as needed.
Although the use of compressed air exceeding the above does not require a tank for storing high-pressure O ₂ gas, there is an advantage that it can be used in a wide range of fields without the application of high-pressure gas production equipment. it is to Moieru, any method of O ₂ of about 7% remains even for example the N ₂ gas tires concentration is 100% passenger in the tire be filled as internal pressure is 200kPa (within the tire there are equivalent residual air and atmospheric pressure even pulled out simply air of the tire), the development of a method and apparatus effect filling of N ₂ gas can be more expected desired is not avoided I was

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to propose a novel method and an apparatus for efficiently and quickly filling a tire with N ₂ gas or N ₂ rich gas.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention, when held in the normal inner pressure was filled with N ₂ gas to the rim and tire, first, by discharging the air in the tire prior to filling the N ₂ gas inside the tire to lower than atmospheric pressure, characterized in that it subsequently filled with N ₂ gas into the tire N ₂
A method for filling a gas into the tire, the N ₂ gas is the original of which includes a high N ₂ rich gas concentration of N _2.

The present invention also provides a rim-assembled tire with N ₂
Filling the gas Upon holding the regular internal pressure, the filling gas at least once within the tire to be filled with N ₂ gas and performs an operation to release into the atmosphere in the tire during filling of N ₂ gas This is the method.

The present invention also provides a rim-assembled tire with N ₂
To fill the gas and maintain it at the normal internal pressure, first use N ₂
Prior to filling the gas to discharge the air in the tire to the inside the tire to lower than atmospheric pressure, followed by filling of the at least one in a tire with during its filling to fill the N ₂ gas into the tire the gas is a method for filling a N ₂ gas and performs an operation to release into the atmosphere in the tire, during filling of the N ₂ gas will be made a flow rate adjustment of the N ₂ gas.

Further, the present invention has an inlet passage and at least two outlet passages, and separates air introduced through the inlet passage into O ₂ gas (including O ₂ rich gas) and N ₂ gas. an apparatus having a feed Kyusuru membrane module from the outlet side passage respectively, N ₂ gas feed to Kyusuru outlet side passage of the outlet side passage of the device for pressure filling of the tire in which the tip is assembled rim are those leading to the valve, in the middle of the exit-side passage, filled with N ₂ gas, characterized in that additionally have a discharge path for discharging the air in the tire prior to filling of the N ₂ gas in the tire In the apparatus having the above configuration, at least two membrane modules are preferably arranged in parallel. In addition, the discharge path of the air is connected to the vacuum pump, and a holder for temporarily storing the N ₂ gas supplied from the membrane module may be provided on the output path upstream of the part connected to the discharge path of the air. It is more advantageously adapted according to the invention.

Further, in the apparatus having the above-described structure, the outlet passage for supplying the N ₂ gas has an opening valve for appropriately releasing the internal pressure of the tire, and the outlet passage for supplying the N ₂ gas. It is preferable to arrange a flow control valve for adjusting the flow rate of the gas in the side passage.

[0012]

In DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention, N ₂ gas or N ₂ rich gas (N ₂ gas and N ₂ rich gas hereinafter simply N ₂
It will be referred to as gas. ) Is filled into the tire, the air in the tire is discharged to a state lower than the atmospheric pressure, and the N ₂ gas is filled in this state. Therefore, the air remaining in the tire, particularly the O ₂ gas, is extremely low. Less,
Therefore, the effect of filling with N ₂ gas can be further expected.

In the case where the air in the tire cannot be discharged and maintained at a lower pressure than the atmospheric pressure, when the N ₂ gas is filled, the filling gas in the tire is temporarily released to the atmosphere during the filling. Thereafter, an operation of further filling the N ₂ gas is performed at least once, so that the remaining O ₂ and N ₂
Gas is replaced, this also makes it possible to increase the concentration of N ₂ gas in the tire, in this case, O ₂ in the tire by repeating the filling of the discharge and N ₂ gas-filled gas multiple times Can be extremely reduced.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an N ₂ gas filling apparatus according to the present invention provided with two membrane modules composed of hollow fiber membranes or the like in parallel. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes compressed air supplied by a compressor (not shown). ₁ , m ₂ , which is branched into two paths 1 a, 1 b in the vicinity of the inlet side of the membrane modules m ₁ , m ₂ . Also, 2
Is an on-off valve, 3 is a regulator equipped with a pressure gauge (pressure reducing valve), 4 is an air filter for removing dirt from the air, 5
Is a mist filter, and the on-off valve 2, the regulator 3, the air filter 4 and the mist filter 5 are all sequentially arranged in the inlet passage 1.

[0015] 6 inlet side passage of the membrane module m ₁ 1
Path 1b that branches off valve provided in a path 1a branched, 7 in the inlet side passage 1 of the membrane module m ₂ in
The on-off valve is provided with the function of supplying compressed air to the membrane modules m ₁ and m ₂ by opening and closing these on-off valves 6 and 7 and stopping the same. 8, 9
Is a passage on the outlet side of the membrane modules m ₁ and m _2, of which 8 is a passage for discharging N ₂ gas, the tip of which is connected to a gas filling valve of the rim-assembled tire. Is a passage for discharging O ₂ gas (O ₂ rich gas).

Reference numerals 10a and 10b denote on-off valves provided in the outlet passages 8 of the membrane modules m ₁ and m ₂ , 11 a pressure gauge for measuring the pressure in the passage 8, and 12 a O ₂ gas in the passage 8. An oxygen concentration measuring meter for measuring the concentration of the gas, the measuring device 12 includes a pressure reducing valve 13 having a pressure gauge and a flow regulating valve 14.
To the outlet passage 8.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a holder capable of storing the N ₂ gas supplied from the membrane modules m ₁ and m ₂ as necessary. Reference numeral 16 denotes an on-off valve.
Has the function of adjusting the flow rate of N ₂ gas in Reference numeral 17 denotes a discharge path connected to the outlet passage 8 downstream of the on-off valve 16. The discharge path 17 is provided with an on-off valve 18, has a vacuum pump at the end thereof, and is assembled with the rim through the outlet passage 8. The air in the tire can be discharged to make the inside of the tire lower than the atmospheric pressure. Further, reference numeral 19 denotes a release valve which allows the filling gas filled in the tire to be discharged from the tire as required.

Before filling the internal pressure in the rim-assembled tire, air is contained in the tire and N ₂ is about 8
0%, O ₂ is contained approximately 20%. Here, for example, when targeting a passenger car tire, the internal pressure of the tire is about 20
Since the pressure is 0 kPa, the concentration of the N ₂ gas in the tire is about 93% even when the N ₂ gas whose concentration is 100% is filled, that is, the O ₂ gas contains about 7%, ₍₂₎ It is necessary to expect further effects by filling gas
It is necessary to further reduce O ₂ .

[0019] To fill N ₂ gas in tires assembled rim using the above becomes a structure unit, according to the following procedure. 1. When the air in the tire is once discharged and filled with N ₂ gas First, the tip of the passage 8 is connected to the gas filling valve of the rim-assembled tire, and the on-off valves 16 and 19 of the passage 8 are closed. Then, the on-off valve 18 of the discharge path 17 is opened, and the vacuum pump is operated to discharge the air in the tire. Then, the on-off valve 18 is immediately closed and the on-off valve 16 is opened to fill the tire with the N ₂ gas supplied through the membrane modules m ₁ and m ₂ through the outlet passage 8.

2. When filling the N ₂ gas without exhausting the residual air in the tire and releasing the filling gas into the atmosphere at least once during the filling of the gas, first, the tip of the N ₂ gas outlet passage 8 is connected to the tire valve. connected to on-off valve 16 to open to, and supplies a N ₂ gas into the tire off valve 18 and 19 is closed. When the internal pressure of the tire reaches a predetermined pressure or when a predetermined injection time is reached, the on-off valve 16 is closed and N ₂
Further release valve 19 is then discharged gas charge within the tire by releasing the release valve 19 stops the supply of gas in the closed, N ₂ until normal inner pressure by opening and closing valve 16 in the open supply N ₂ gas Fill with gas. The filling of the N ₂ gas and the discharging of the filling gas should be repeated once or twice or more as necessary.

The supply of N ₂ gas follows the following procedure. Open the on-off valves 2, 6, 7, 10a, 10b, 15a, and
5b, 15c, 16 and the regulator 3 are closed. Compressed air is supplied from the compressor to the inlet passage 1
And adjust the regulator 3 to gradually increase the pressure to a predetermined pressure.

Here, for example, a separation membrane made of polyimide is used as a membrane module installed in this type of apparatus, and O ₂ is removed by utilizing the difference in permeation speed caused by passing compressed air through the separation membrane. On the other hand, it is intended to obtain a high concentration of N ₂ gas, and the pressure in the outlet passage of the membrane modules m ₁ and m ₂ shows a value about 50 to 100 kPa lower than the pressure in the regulator 3. From N ₂
The gas supply pressure is set in consideration of this point.

[0023] In the outgoing side oximeter 12 provided in the passage 8 leave it allows accurate density measurement at a flow rate adjusted at the pressure regulating and flow regulating valve 14 by the regulator 13, high N ₂ gas concentrations is while checking whether the supplied filling with N ₂ gas to the rim and within a tire.

If the supply pressure of the N ₂ gas is too low during operation of the apparatus, the on-off valve 6 and the on-off valve 10a or the on-off valve 7 and the on-off valve 10b are closed and one of the membrane modules is used. Simply closing the on-off valve 6 or the on-off valve 7 does not cause the gas to flow back through the module to increase the pressure, so it is important to always close the on-off valve 10a or 10b.

[0025] The air in the tire prior to filling, for example, N ₂ gas in accordance with the present invention to discharge half, O ₂ after the inner pressure filling when filling with N ₂ gas using here as constituted above device
The concentration is about 5%. Also, without exhausting the air in the tire, for example, the rim-assembled tire is filled with N ₂ gas to increase the internal pressure to 200 kPa, and thereafter the internal pressure of the tire becomes 100 kPa.
The O ₂ concentration after the internal pressure filling can be reduced to about 5% by discharging the filling gas into the atmosphere until the pressure becomes kPa and then filling with N ₂ gas.

When air in the tire is exhausted prior to filling with N ₂ gas, it is necessary to deaerate the air using a vacuum pump. However, depending on the degree to which the air in the tire is extracted, O ₂ hardly remains. It can be in a state where it does not. In addition, when N ₂ gas is filled after filling the internal pressure, this filling and releasing operation is performed, but by repeating this operation a plurality of times, it becomes possible to extremely reduce O ₂ remaining in the tire, and in any case, Can also increase the degree of filling with N ₂ gas.

In the N ₂ gas filling apparatus provided with the membrane module, the flow rate of N ₂ gas per unit time is adjusted by using the flow rate adjusting function of the on-off valve 16, for example, so that the compressed air in the inlet passage 1 per unit time is adjusted. When the flow rate is lower than the flow rate, the pressure in the membrane module increases as the flow rate of the N ₂ gas decreases, so that the concentration of the N ₂ gas increases (preferably, the pressure in the membrane module is set to 1000 kPa or more). In other words, it takes more time to separate the N ₂ gas and the O ₂ gas, so that it is more suitable as a gas for filling the internal pressure of the tire (the pressure and the flow rate of the N ₂ gas are the pressure and the flow rate of the compressed air). However, since the time required to fill the gas tends to be prolonged, to fill a higher concentration of N ₂ gas,
A high concentration of N ₂ gas may be stored in the holder 15 in advance, and the N ₂ gas may be supplied from the holder 15 according to a user's request. Open / close valve 1 to inject N ₂ gas into holder 15
What is necessary is just to close 5a and 15c, and to open the on-off valve 15b. The gas discharged from the outlet passage 9 has an O ₂ concentration of 3
Since the order of 5%, which is O ₂ rich gas over it is necessary to particularly select a ventilated place away from fire and flammable materials, and the like. In FIG. 1 above, the membrane modules m ₁ and m ₂ are 2
Although an example in which the modules are arranged in parallel is shown, the membrane modules may be arranged in series, or only one module may be used, and the number of membrane modules is not particularly limited.

The supply pressure of N ₂ gas is variously changed when the N ₂ gas filling apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 1 is used and the N ₂ gas is filled in the tire of 195 / 65R15 G03. (300 kPa, 400 kPa, 500 kPa), the transition of the gas concentration in the tire was investigated. Table 1 shows the results.

[0029]

[Table 1]

[0030] Table 1 "N ₂ infusion" In the case of filling with N ₂ gas without discharging the air remaining in the tire
Is (comparative example), "vacuum → N ₂ infusion" is a case filled with N ₂ gas to discharge air about 30% of the tire (adaptations 1), "A. N ₂ injection → discharge → N ₂ infusion "when filled with N ₂ gas and discharging the filled gas in the tire after injection of the N ₂ gas for 60 seconds without discharging air from the tire (adaptations 2), further" B . N ₂ injection → emissions → N ₂ infusion "
Is a case in which N ₂ gas is injected for 10 seconds without discharging the air in the tire, and then the filling gas in the tire is discharged to be filled with the N ₂ gas (Compliance Example 3).

FIG. 2 shows the data in Table 1 based on the tire pressure and N _2.
Although it is a graph in relation to concentration, in the comparative example in which the rim-assembled tire where the air remains (the inside of the tire is atmospheric pressure) is simply filled with N ₂ gas, the N ₂ concentration increases as the filling internal pressure increases consisting although, the concentration was well above the highest whereas a still about 93% when, N ₂ concentration in the comparative example in all cases in adaptation examples 1-3 according to the present invention.

[0032]

According to the present invention, the rim-assembled tire can be efficiently filled with N ₂ gas, and the ratio of air (O ₂ gas) remaining in the tire can be extremely reduced. The benefits of N ₂ gas filling can be maximized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of an N ₂ gas filling device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the internal pressure and the N ₂ concentration when a rim-assembled tire is filled with N ₂ gas.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inlet passage 2 On-off valve 3 Regulator 4 Air filter 5 Mist filter 6 On-off valve 7 On-off valve 8 Outlet passage 9 Outlet passage 10a On-off valve 10b on-off valve 11 Pressure gauge 12 Oxygen analyzer 13 Pressure reducing valve 14 Flow control valve 15 Holder 16 On-off valve 17 Discharge path

Claims (10)

[Claims] When filling a rim-assembled tire with N ₂ gas and maintaining the internal pressure at a regular internal pressure, first, before filling the N ₂ gas, the air in the tire is discharged to reduce the pressure in the tire to below atmospheric pressure. to a low state, a method for the N ₂ gas filled into the tire, characterized in that subsequently to fill the N ₂ gas within the tire. _2. Filling the rim-assembled tire with N ₂ gas and maintaining the internal pressure at a regular internal pressure, performing an operation of releasing the charged gas in the tire to the atmosphere at least once during the charging of the N ₂ gas. A method for filling a tire with a characteristic N ₂ gas. 3. Filling the rim-assembled tire with N ₂ gas and maintaining it at a normal internal pressure, first, before filling the N ₂ gas, exhaust air from the tire to reduce the pressure inside the tire to below atmospheric pressure. and a low state, then charged into the tire of the N ₂ gas filling gas at least once within the tire and performs an operation to release into the atmosphere during the filling to fill N ₂ gas in the tire Way to do. Upon wherein filling of N ₂ gas adjusts the flow rate of N ₂ gas, the method according to claim 1, 2 or 3. 5. A single inlet passage and at least two outlet passages, wherein the air introduced through the inlet passage is separated into O ₂ gas and N ₂ gas and supplied from the outlet passage respectively. a device having a membrane module for it, Kyusuru exit side passage feeding the N ₂ gas of the outlet side passage of the device is intended to lead to a valve for pressure filling of the tire in which the tip is assembled rim, An apparatus for charging a tire with N ₂ gas, characterized by having a separate discharge path for discharging air in the tire prior to charging the N ₂ gas in the middle of the outlet passage. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein at least two membrane modules are arranged in parallel. 7. The device according to claim 5, wherein the air discharge path is connected to a vacuum pump. 8. A holder for temporarily storing N ₂ gas supplied from a membrane module in an outlet passage upstream of a portion connected to an air discharge path.
An apparatus according to any one of the above. 9. The outlet passage for supplying N ₂ gas has an opening valve for appropriately releasing the internal pressure of the tire.
An apparatus according to any one of claims 7 and 8. 10. A flow control valve for adjusting a flow rate of the N ₂ gas in an outlet passage for feeding the N ₂ gas.
10. The device according to any one of 7, 8, and 9.