JP2010126004A - Motorcycle pneumatic tire - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a motorcycle pneumatic tire having higher steering stabilizing performance during high-speed traveling, and particularly, having improved traction performance during acceleration from tight cornering wherein a vehicle (motorcycle) is largely tiled and improved stability during body tilting. <P>SOLUTION: The motorcycle pneumatic tire includes a tread part annularly formed. A spiral belt layer 3 wherein an angle to a tire equator is 0-5° and an arrangement width is 0.5-0.8 times of the width of a tread is arranged on the tire-radial-direction inside of a crown porion of the tread part 11 so that the cross center of the spiral belt layer 3 corresponds to the equator center, and a reinforcing rubber layer 4 whose thickness is gradually increased from the end of the spiral belt layer 3 toward the end of the tread part 11, is arranged at least on a portion of the tread part 11 where the spiral belt layer 3 is not arranged. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire for a motorcycle (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “tire”), and more specifically, improves the steering stability performance at high speed, and particularly when accelerating from deep cornering that greatly depresses a vehicle (motorcycle). The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire for a motorcycle that can improve traction performance and stability when the vehicle body is collapsed.

  In high-performance two-wheeled vehicle tires, the rotational speed of the tires is high, and therefore the influence of centrifugal force is large, and the tread portion of the tires expands outward, which may impair steering stability performance. Therefore, a tire structure has been developed in which a reinforcing member (spiral member) made of organic fiber or steel is wound around the tread portion of the tire so as to be substantially parallel to the tire equatorial plane.

  Examples of the spiral member used for the spiral belt layer include nylon fiber, aromatic polyamide (trade name: Kevlar), and steel. Among them, aromatic polyamide and steel have recently been attracting attention because they can suppress expansion of the tread portion without stretching even at high temperatures. When such a spiral member is wound around the crown portion of the tire, a so-called “tangle” effect (the tire crown portion is restrained by the spiral member so that the tire is inflated by centrifugal force even when the tire rotates at a high speed. A number of techniques for improving these spiral members have been proposed so far (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 5).

It is known that a tire around which these spiral members are wound has excellent steering stability performance at high speed and extremely high traction. However, with regard to the turning performance when the vehicle (motorcycle) is largely tilted, the steering stability performance is not dramatically improved even when the spiral member is wound. For this reason, consumers and riders who are racing may request an improvement in grip performance when the motorcycle is greatly defeated.
JP 2004-067059 A JP 2004-067058 A JP 2003-011614 A JP 2002-316512 A JP 09-226319 A

  In a pneumatic tire for a two-wheeled vehicle, since the two-wheeled vehicle turns while tilting the vehicle body, the place where the tire tread portion is in contact with the ground is different between when going straight and when turning. That is, the center portion of the tread portion is used when going straight, and the end portion of the tread portion is used when turning. Therefore, the shape of the tire is very round compared to the tire for passenger cars. This round crown shape (the shape of the tread portion of the tire is called a crown shape) has the following unique characteristics, particularly during turning.

  In a tire for a motorcycle, particularly with respect to turning performance when the vehicle body is largely tilted, one end of the tread of the tire is grounded to generate a grip. When the vehicle is turned with a large tilt, the grounding state as shown in FIG. 6 is obtained. Considering the ground contact shape at this time, as shown in the drawing, the deformation state of the tread differs between the ground shape near the center and the ground shape near the tread end. Looking at the deformation of the tread in the tire rotation direction (also referred to as the tire equator direction or the tire front-rear direction), it is in a driving state near the tire center and in a braking state near the tire tread end.

  Here, the driving state means that when the wheel is cut along the tire equator direction, the deformation of the tread is caused by the lower surface of the tread (the surface in contact with the skeleton member inside the tire) being sheared rearward in the tire traveling direction. This is a shearing state in which the tread surface that is in contact with the ground is deformed forward in the tire traveling direction, which is a deformation that occurs when a driving force is applied to the tire. On the other hand, the braking state is the reverse of the driving state, and the deformation of the tread is a sheared state in which the tire inner side (belt) is sheared forward, and the tread surface that is in contact with the road surface is deformed rearward, This is the movement of the tire when braking.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when turning with a large camber angle (CA) such as 40 degrees, the ground contact area near the tread center even when the tire does not apply driving force or braking force. The driving state appears at the front and the braking state appears near the tread edge. This is due to the difference in the radius of the belt portion of the tire (diameter difference). In a motorcycle tire, since the tire crown portion is rounded, the distance from the rotating shaft to the belt is greatly different between the tread center portion and the tread end portion. In the case of FIG. 6, the radius R1 near the center of the ground contact shape is clearly larger than the radius R2 near the tread edge of the ground shape. Since the angular speed at which the tire rotates is the same, the speed of the belt (when the tire is in contact with the road surface, it means the speed in the tire equator direction along the road surface; the belt radius multiplied by the tire angular speed) is The portion of R1 having a larger radius is faster. The tread surface of the tire is not sheared in the front-rear direction at the moment of contact with the road surface, but proceeds with the rotation of the tire while in contact with the road surface, and undergoes shear deformation in the front-rear direction when leaving the road surface. At this time, the tread near the tire center where the belt speed is fast becomes a shearing deformation in the driving state, and the braking state occurs at the end portion of the tire tread because the belt speed is slow. This is a modification of the tread in the front-rear direction.

  Due to such extra deformation during turning, the tread causes reverse shear deformation in the forward and backward directions, which includes useless behavior and wasteful tire grip force during turning. Ideally, if all the deformations of the tread that are in contact with the ground are the same, the gripping force will be maximum, but the excessive deformation as described above will occur, and depending on the grounding location, the gripping force may be It may not occur. For example, when considering acceleration when the tire is tilted, the driving force is applied to the tire, but the tread near the center already in the driving state exhibits the driving grip as soon as the driving force is applied to the tire. On the other hand, the tread at the tread end already in the braking state cannot easily contribute to the driving force because the braking deformation once returns to neutral and then shifts to the deformation on the driving side. A large traction force is required to bring the tread end into the driving state. When the accelerator is opened and a driving force is applied to the tire to apply such a traction force, the tire center side in the driving state is originally The tread slips easily and falls into an idle state.

  With respect to such a problem, it is considered that if the tread deformation of the tire shoulder portion (tread end portion) originally on the braking side is set to the driving side as much as possible, the traction force can be exerted greatly at the tread end portion. One solution is to increase the belt speed at the tread edge. However, the belt speed is determined by the belt radius as described above, and if the belt radius is increased, the belt cannot be used as a tire for a motorcycle. Therefore, it is conceivable to increase the belt speed by making the belt easily extend in the equator direction at the end of the tread after being grounded. In other words, when turning at a large CA, if the center half of the grounding shape has a structure in which the belt does not extend in the equator direction, and if the belt is extended in the equator direction for the half on the tread end side, then the tread after grounding. By extending the belt on the side, the belt speed on the tread end side is increased, and braking deformation on the tread end side can be reduced. As a result, the traction (acceleration from a turn with a large tilt of the motorcycle) at the time of large CA is improved.

  In conventional motorcycle tires, the spiral belt layer is usually wound around the entire tread region. With such a tire, the belt of the shoulder portion of the tread cannot be extended in the equator direction. Therefore, if the spiral belt layer is arranged only on the center side without being wound around the tread edge, the belt speed at the tread edge increases at the time of large CA, that is, at the time of turning with a large camber angle. Thus, the traction grip can be improved. In addition, when the belt speed of the tread shoulder portion increases at the time of large CA, it means that the belt speed of the tread shoulder portion approaches the belt speed on the tread center side, and this causes an extra movement of the tread that is grounded. It is suppressed. That is, the tread that has been sheared in the reverse direction until now has the shear in the same direction, and unnecessary movement is eliminated, and the occurrence of uneven wear can be suppressed. In addition, since the spiral belt layer is disposed in the tread center portion, it is possible to suppress the expansion due to the centrifugal force of the tire during high speed running (high speed = the motorcycle is upright). Steering stability at high speeds can be maintained at the same level as a tire with a full width spiral belt layer.

  However, if the spiral belt layer is not wound around the end of the tread, the point where the spiral belt layer does not suddenly come to ground when the vehicle body is tilted is a cause of a sudden grip change (change in rigidity step). Also, there may be a problem that the rider feels the difference in level of the tires and cannot defeat the car body.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to improve the steering stability performance at high speed, and at the same time, improve the traction performance especially when accelerating from deep cornering that greatly defeats the vehicle (bike) and the stability when the vehicle body is collapsed. The object is to provide a pneumatic tire for a motorcycle.

  From the above viewpoint, as a result of further examination, the present inventor has found that the above problem can be solved by disposing at least one reinforcing rubber layer in a portion where the spiral belt layer of the tread portion is not disposed. The present invention has been completed.

That is, the pneumatic tire for a motorcycle of the present invention is a pneumatic tire for a motorcycle including a tread portion formed in an annular shape.
A spiral belt layer having an angle with respect to the tire equator direction of 0 to 5 degrees and an arrangement width of 0.5 to 0.8 times the tread width is provided on the inner side in the tire radial direction of the tread portion. Arranged so that the center of the belt layer in the width direction coincides with the tire equator, and
At least in a portion where the spiral belt layer of the tread portion is not provided, a reinforcing rubber layer whose thickness gradually increases from the end portion of the spiral belt layer toward the end portion of the tread portion is provided. It is characterized by this.

  In the present invention, when the width of the portion of the tread where the spiral belt layer is not disposed is W, and the width of the reinforcing rubber layer is 0.5 W or more and 1.0 W or less, the reinforcing rubber Preferably, the layer is disposed adjacent to the carcass from the end of the spiral belt layer toward the end of the tread portion, and the portion of the tread portion where the spiral belt layer is not disposed. When the width of the reinforcing rubber layer is 1.0 W and not more than 2.0 W when the width is W, the reinforcing rubber layer is carcass from the end of the tread portion toward the spiral belt layer. It is also preferable that they are arranged adjacent to each other. Further, in the present invention, a belt intersection layer made of organic fibers adjacent to the spiral belt layer and wider than the spiral belt layer and having an angle with respect to the tire circumferential direction of 30 degrees or more and less than 85 degrees. Is disposed between the tread layer and the spiral belt layer, and a belt made of an organic fiber cord in contact with the tread layer and having an angle of 85 degrees to 90 degrees with respect to the tire circumferential direction. The reinforcing layer is preferably disposed with a width of 90% or more and 110% or less of the tread width. Further, a thickness of 0.3% is formed on the inner side in the tire radial direction of the belt reinforcing layer and adjacent to the belt reinforcing layer. It is preferable that a buffer rubber of ˜1.5 mm is disposed.

  According to the present invention, the above configuration enhances the steering stability performance at high speeds, and particularly improves the traction performance when accelerating from the deep cornering that greatly defeats the vehicle (bike) and the stability when the vehicle body is collapsed. It becomes possible to provide a pneumatic tire for a motorcycle that can be improved.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction of a pneumatic tire for a motorcycle according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the pneumatic tire for a motorcycle of the present invention includes a tread portion 11 formed in an annular shape, a pair of sidewall portions 12 disposed on the inner side in the tire radial direction from both sides thereof, and the sidewall portions 12. At least 1 that extends between a pair of bead cores 1 (consisting of bead wires 1 in the illustrated example) embedded in the bead portions 13 respectively. One carcass 2 is provided in the illustrated example.

  In the tire of the present invention, as shown in the drawing, the angle with respect to the tire equator direction is 0 ° to 5 ° inside the crown portion tire radial direction of the tread portion 11 and the arrangement width is 0.5 to 0.5 of the tread width. A spiral belt layer 3 that is 0.8 times is disposed. Here, the tread width is the distance of the curved surface from the tread end on one side to the tread end on the opposite side along the surface of the tire. The grounds for setting the width are based on the ground contact portion in the vicinity of 50 degrees CA where the motorcycle falls most, and the ground contact portion at the position where the motorcycle is slightly raised.

  When turning at a CA of 50 degrees, only the tread shoulder portion having a width 0.2 to 0.25 times the entire width of the tread is grounded (see FIG. 6). This is about 1/4 of the total width. As described above, a spiral belt is wound around the tread center portion at the time of large CA to prevent the skeletal member from extending in the equator direction in the ground contact range, and conversely, the skeleton is not wound around the tread end side. There is a demand for positively extending the member in the equator direction. Half of the grounding part at the time of large CA is 0.1 times the width of the tread, and if the spiral belt is not wound around this width, there is no spiral belt in the 0.1 times the width of both ends. The spiral belt layer width is 0.8 times the tread width.

  The above upper limit is an ideal value for ground contact when the motorcycle is most collapsed. However, when the motorcycle accelerates, it has the feature that it starts accelerating from the most collapsed position and gradually raises the vehicle body, that is, the ground contact portion of the tire gradually moves from the center. Further, the motorcycle accelerates most in the range of CA 30 to 45 degrees than in the case of CA 50 degrees when the motorcycle fell most. In consideration of maximizing the traction performance at this time, the spiral belt width is preferably narrower than the 0.8-fold width. Therefore, 0.5 times is set as the lower limit of the spiral belt width. When the spiral belt layer width is 0.5 times the tread width, the end portion of the spiral belt layer is positioned at the center in the width direction of the ground contact portion at CA 30 to 40 degrees. If the spiral belt layer width is less than 0.5 times, the position is shifted from the center in the width direction of the grounding shape of CA 30 to 40 degrees, which is not preferable. That is, the spiral belt layer is too narrow.

  From the above, when the width of the spiral belt layer 3 is 0.8 times the upper limit of the tread width, the end portion of the spy label layer is positioned at the center of the ground contact shape near the CA of 50 degrees where the motorcycle falls most. The grip improvement effect becomes high in the early stage of acceleration. In addition, the effect is high at a low-speed corner where a motorcycle is greatly defeated (it is possible to greatly defeat a motorcycle at a low-speed corner). On the other hand, when the arrangement width of the spiral belt layer 3 is 0.5 times the tread width which is the lower limit, the end of the spiral belt layer can be arranged at the center of the ground shape when the motorcycle is slightly raised (CA30). From ~ 40 degrees), the grip improvement effect can be exhibited in the middle of acceleration when the vehicle body is slightly raised. In addition, it demonstrates the effect of increasing the grip at high-speed corners where the bike is not overwhelmed. In the present invention, the spiral belt layer is arranged so that the center in the width direction coincides with the tire equator. This makes it possible to match the left and right reinforcement directions when the vehicle body is folded down.

  The cord constituting the spiral belt layer may be an organic fiber cord or a steel cord. In the case of organic fiber cords, for example, twisted cords such as aromatic polyamide (trade name: Kevlar), nylon, and aromatic polyketone can be used. In the case of a steel cord, for example, five steel single wires having a wire diameter of 0.2 mm or five steel single wires having a wire diameter of 0.4 mm can be used without being twisted.

  In the tire of the present invention, the thickness gradually increases from the end of the spiral belt layer 3 toward the end of the tread portion 11 at least in a portion where the spiral belt layer 3 of the tread portion 11 is not disposed. It is important that the reinforcing rubber layer 4 is disposed. As a preferred example of the tire of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the width of the portion of the tread portion 11 where the spiral belt layer 3 is not disposed is W (W = (tread width−spiral belt width) / 2. ), When the reinforcing rubber layer 4 whose thickness gradually increases from the end of the spiral belt layer 3 toward the end of the tread portion 11 is 0.5 W or more and 1.0 W or less, the spiral belt layer 3 toward the end of the tread portion 11 from the end of 3 is disposed adjacent to the carcass.

  FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing the distribution of rigidity in the tread portion, where the solid line indicates the change in rigidity after the reinforcement rubber layer is disposed, and the dotted line indicates the change in rigidity before the reinforcement rubber layer is disposed. Before the reinforcing rubber layer is disposed, the portion where the spiral belt layer is disposed (region from CL to L1) maintains a certain rigidity, but from L1 to L2 where the spiral belt layer is not disposed. In this region, the rigidity decreases. That is, when the spiral belt layer 3 is narrowed, compared to the case where the spiral belt layer 3 has the full width of the tread, the spiral belt layer 3 suddenly does not exist when the vehicle body is tilted (the in-plane shear rigidity is reduced). The location L1 is grounded. Therefore, here, a sudden change in grip occurs when the vehicle body is overturned, and there is a problem that the rider feels the level difference of the tire and cannot stop the vehicle body. In order to solve this problem, a reinforcing rubber layer is disposed in the region from L1 to L2. Thereby, the rigidity of the area | region of L1 to L2 improves, and the average rigidity in the same ground plane improves. As a result, the steep rigidity step is alleviated, the change of the grip becomes gentle, and the rider can incline the vehicle body without feeling uncomfortable. Further, since the shearing strain applied to the end portion of the spiral belt can be reduced by relaxing the rigidity step, it is possible to prevent a crack failure that tends to occur at the end portion. Since the reinforcing rubber layer 4 is arranged for the purpose of relaxing the rigidity step, the effect cannot be obtained if the reinforcing rubber layer 4 is arranged with a very narrow width. Therefore, the width of the reinforcing rubber layer 4 needs to be 0.5 W or more. 0.5 W is a lower limit value at which an effect is obtained.

  As another preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the arrangement width of the reinforcing rubber layer 4 is more than 1.0 W and not more than 2.0 W (not shown), the spiral belt layer is formed from the end of the tread portion 11. A reinforcing rubber layer 4 is disposed adjacent to the carcass 3. As described above, when the reinforcing rubber layer 4 is disposed from the end portion of the spiral belt layer 3 to the end portion of the tread portion 11, an abrupt rigidity step is mitigated. When the width of the reinforcing rubber layer 4 exceeds 1.0 W, the reinforcing rubber layer is disposed in the region of the spiral belt layer 3 and the effect becomes small. Therefore, the arrangement width of 2.0 W was set as the upper limit. From the above, in the present invention, when the reinforcing rubber layer 4 whose thickness gradually increases from the end of the spiral belt layer 3 to the end of the tread portion 11 has an arrangement width of 0.5 W or more and 1.0 W or less. Is adjacent to the end of the spiral belt layer 3 and is preferably disposed from the end of the tread portion 11 toward the spiral belt layer 3 when the disposition width exceeds 1.0 W and is equal to or less than 2.0 W. . A preferable range of the width of the reinforcing rubber layer is 0.6 W to 1.2 W.

  The reinforcing rubber layer 4 is intended to alleviate the rigidity step, and therefore when the reinforcing rubber layer 4 is arranged without changing the total gauge of the shoulder portion where the reinforcing rubber layer 4 is arranged, the reinforcing rubber layer 4 is more than the rubber of the tread portion 11. High hardness is desirable. In the case of a combination with the belt reinforcing layer 6, the belt reinforcing layer 6 jumps up toward the tread end by arranging the reinforcing rubber layer 4. Therefore, the belt reinforcing layer 6 having high rigidity is disposed on the tread surface layer side, and the effect of reducing the rigidity step can be obtained. Therefore, in the case of a combination with the belt reinforcing layer 6, the rubber of the reinforcing rubber layer 4 may have a hardness equal to or less than that of the rubber of the tread portion 11. Moreover, there is no restriction | limiting in particular about the material of the reinforcement rubber layer 4 used for this invention based on the said reason, What is necessary is just to select the material according to embodiment.

  FIG. 2 shows a pneumatic tire for a motorcycle according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the present invention, as shown in the figure, adjacent to the spiral belt layer 3, it is wider than the spiral belt layer 3, and is made of an organic fiber having an angle with respect to the tire equator direction of 30 degrees or more and less than 85 degrees. The belt crossing layer 5 is preferably disposed. This is because if the belt crossing layer 5 is not present at the left and right shoulder portions where the spiral belt is not wound, the shear rigidity of the belt is lowered, the belt is too weak, and the grip force during turning is low. It is because it falls.

  When the angle of the belt crossing layer 5 arranged in the tread shoulder portion with respect to the equator direction is less than 30 degrees, this is a direction approaching the angle of the spiral belt layer 3, and the belt is difficult to extend in the tire equator direction. Come. This would be contrary to the spirit of the present invention in which the shoulder belt extends in the equator direction in the installation area. Therefore, when the belt is less than 30 degrees, the skeleton member is less likely to extend in the equator direction at the shoulder portion, the belt speed of the shoulder portion does not increase, and the tread of the shoulder portion remains in a braking deformation, thereby obtaining a traction grip. I can't. On the other hand, when the angle is 85 degrees or more, the belt surface of the shoulder portion cannot be sufficiently obtained as a belt crossing layer (the effect of increasing the in-plane shear rigidity of the belt by overlapping the belts in opposite directions to each other). The internal rigidity is insufficient and sufficient turning grip cannot be obtained. In addition, about an angle, Preferably 45 degree | times or more is good because a frame member tends to extend in an equatorial direction. Moreover, it is preferably 80 degrees or less in order to exhibit shear rigidity. Therefore, it is preferably 45 degrees or more and 80 degrees or less.

  An organic fiber cord is used as the material of the belt crossing layer 5. This is because if a cord having rigidity in the compression direction of the cord as in the case of a steel cord is arranged as a skeleton member, the skeleton member has a characteristic that it is difficult to bend out of the plane, the ground contact area is reduced, and the gripping force is reduced. If it is an organic fiber cord, it does not have a great rigidity for compression in the cord direction, it can reduce the out-of-plane rigidity of the skeleton member and increase the ground contact area, and it is very strong in the tension direction of the cord This is because the rigidity can be effectively increased due to the rigidity. In the present invention, the belt crossing layer 5 may be arranged inside the spiral belt layer 3 in the radial direction of the tire as shown in FIG. 2, or may be arranged outside the spiral belt layer 3 in the radial direction. As long as it is arranged (not shown) adjacent to the spiral belt layer 3, there is no particular limitation on the arrangement order.

  Further, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, an angle with respect to the tire equator direction is 85 degrees to 90 degrees between the tread layer of the tread portion 11 and the spiral belt layer 3 and adjacent to the tread layer. It is also preferable to dispose a belt reinforcing layer 6 made of an organic fiber cord. In the tread portion, the rigidity step at the boundary between the portion where the spiral belt layer 3 exists and the portion where the spiral belt layer 3 does not exist is large. In order to alleviate the level difference, the belt reinforcement layer is arranged continuously from the tire center to the tire shoulder as a belt adjacent to the tread layer, that is, as the outermost layer. it can. The belt reinforcing layer 6 can be arranged in combination with the reinforcing rubber 4 and has the effect of further reducing the rigidity step as described above.

  The reason why the angle of the belt reinforcing layer 6 is set to 90 degrees with respect to the tire equator direction is that the step is most effectively prevented from being felt by arranging the cords along the width direction. Here, the reason why the angle is given a width of 85 degrees to 90 degrees includes a manufacturing error. Further, the arrangement width of the belt reinforcing layer 6 is 90% to 110% of the entire width of the tread. The purpose of the belt reinforcing layer 6 is to prevent the step from being felt, that is, the end of the spiral belt is covered with a member so that the outermost belt is not divided. Therefore, it is preferable to widen the arrangement width and cover the entire area of the tread. If the arrangement width is 90% or more of the total tread width, the step of the spiral belt can be sufficiently covered. In addition, about an upper limit, you may reach a sidewall part exceeding a tread width. However, if it exceeds 110%, there will also be a 90-degree belt in the sidewall portion of the tire, the sidewall will be difficult to bend and the tire will be hard (that is, the tire will be difficult to bend and ride comfort) There is a risk that performance will deteriorate. Therefore, the upper limit was made 110%.

  The belt reinforcing layer 6 is made of organic fibers because the motorcycle tire has a very round cross section, and if steel with rigidity is used on the compression side of the cord in the tire width direction, the tire will not bend easily. This is because the ground contact area is reduced. Organic fibers have low rigidity on the compression side of the cord, and there is no risk of reducing the ground contact area.

  In addition, since the reason for providing the belt reinforcing layer 6 is to eliminate the step at the end of the spiral belt, the effect cannot be obtained satisfactorily if the diameter of the cord is too thin. On the other hand, if the diameter of the cord is too large, the cord has rigidity on the compression side of the cord even though it is an organic fiber. Therefore, the diameter of the cord of the belt reinforcing layer 6 is preferably 0.5 mm or greater and 1.2 mm or less.

  Here, as described above, since the belt crossing layer 5 may be provided inside or outside the spiral belt layer 3, the belt crossing layer 5 is spiral as the arrangement order of these and the belt reinforcing layer 6. In the case where the belt reinforcement layer 6 is present on the inner side in the tire radial direction than the belt layer 3, the belt reinforcing layer 6 is disposed immediately outside the spiral belt layer 3 in the tire radial direction (see FIG. 3). On the other hand, when the belt crossing layer 5 exists outside the spiral belt layer 3 in the tire radial direction, the belt reinforcing layer 6 is disposed immediately outside the outer belt in the tire radial direction of the two belt crossing layers 5 ( Not shown). In any case, it is necessary to dispose the belt reinforcing layer 6 immediately inside the tread portion 11 in the tire radial direction and adjacent to the tread portion 11.

  FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a pneumatic tire for motorcycles according to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the present invention, when the belt reinforcing layer 6 is disposed, as shown in the drawing, a buffer having a thickness of 0.3 to 1.5 mm is provided on the inner side in the tire radial direction of the belt reinforcing layer 6 and adjacent to the belt reinforcing layer 6. It is also preferable to dispose the rubber layer 7. The buffer rubber layer 7 has an effect of suppressing wear of the tread of the shoulder portion.

  FIG. 6 shows the behavior in the tread width direction when the tire turns at a CA of 50 degrees. On the other hand, deformation of the tread in the equator direction also shows the end of the tread in FIG. 6 in the region where the tread is in contact with the road surface. And the tread center area are different. This is because the belt speed is different between the area near the center of the ground contact shape and the area near the tread end of the ground contact shape. The tire of a motorcycle has a large roundness in the cross section in the width direction. Therefore, the belt radius, which is the distance from the rotating shaft to the belt, is larger in the region near the tread center. Therefore, the speed of the belt, that is, the belt speed until the tread moves away from the road surface after the tread comes into contact with the road surface, and the region near the tread center becomes faster. This is because the belt speed is obtained by multiplying the belt radius by the rotational angular velocity of the tire. Due to the speed difference in the equator direction of the belt, the tread is in the driving state near the center of the tire, and the braking state is in the region near the tread end of the tire (described above).

  In the present invention, by reducing the width of the spiral belt layer, the portion of the belt where the spiral belt layer is not disposed extends along the ground in the equator direction, and the belt speed is improved. As described above, the deformation is alleviated. However, reducing the width of the spiral belt layer to alleviate it does not completely eliminate the unnecessary deformation.

  When the shock absorbing rubber layer 7 is provided on the inner side in the tire radial direction of the belt reinforcing layer 6, the shock absorbing rubber layer 7 shears and deforms in the equator direction. The deformation of is further eased. On the other hand, since the shock absorbing rubber layer 7 has the belt reinforcing layer 6 along the tire width direction on the upper surface thereof, it is not easily sheared and deformed in the tire width direction. Therefore, the deformation of the tread is not replaced with respect to the tire width direction, and the transverse shear deformation of the tread remains large even when the buffer rubber layer 7 is disposed. That is, the shock absorbing rubber layer 7 shoulders the deformation only in the tire equator direction and further reduces the tread equator direction deformation to further improve the grip force. On the other hand, the deformation in the tire width direction does not replace the shoulder, The deformation is kept large and the lateral force can be kept high. As in the present invention, when the spiral belt layer width is narrowed and the buffer rubber layer 7 is provided, the tread is further prevented from being deformed in the tire equator direction. preferable. The belt reinforcing layer 6 and the shock absorbing rubber layer 7 are preferably arranged widely, particularly in the range of 90% or more (particularly 110% or less) of the tread width.

  In the tire of the present invention, it is important only to satisfy the above-mentioned conditions relating to the reinforcing rubber layer, whereby the desired effect of the present invention can be obtained, and other conditions such as tire structure and material Is not particularly limited.

  For example, the carcass 2 that forms the skeleton of the tire of the present invention includes at least one carcass ply formed by arranging relatively highly elastic textile cords in parallel with each other. The number of carcass plies may be one or two, or three or more. Further, both ends of the carcass 2 may be sandwiched and locked by bead wires from both sides as shown in FIG. 1 or the like, or may be folded around the bead core 1 from the inside of the tire to the outside (not shown). Any fixing method may be used. Further, an inner liner is disposed on the innermost layer of the tire (not shown), and a tread pattern is appropriately formed on the surface of the tread portion 11 (not shown). The present invention is applicable not only to radial tires but also to bias tires.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to examples.
Example 1
A pneumatic tire for a motorcycle having a cross-sectional structure as shown in FIG. 1 was manufactured with a tire size of 190 / 50ZR17 in accordance with the following conditions. The test tire includes a carcass made of two carcass plies (body plies) extending across a toroid between a pair of bead cores. Here, nylon fiber was used for the carcass ply. The angle of the carcass was the radial direction (the angle with respect to the equator direction was 90 degrees). Further, as shown in the drawing, the end portions of each carcass ply were sandwiched by bead wires from both sides and locked at the bead portions.

  A spiral belt layer was disposed outside the carcass in the radial direction of the tire. The spiral belt layer was formed by spirally winding a steel cord in which a steel single wire having a diameter of 0.18 mm was twisted in a 1 × 5 type in the equator direction, that is, spirally wound. The spiral belt layer is a method in which a belt-like body in which a single parallel cord is embedded in a coated rubber is wound in a spiral direction along the tire equator direction in the tire rotation axis direction. Formed with. The total width of the spiral belt layer is 170 mm, which corresponds to 0.71 times the total tread width of 240 mm.

  In addition, a reinforcing rubber layer that gradually increases in thickness from the spiral belt end side to the tread end is disposed outside the carcass in the tire radial direction. The reinforcing rubber layer is disposed at a width of 1.0 W (= 35 mm) (position to the end of the spiral belt) where W is the width of the portion where the spiral belt layer is not disposed in the tread portion. In the present example, in order to make the total gauge of the reinforcing rubber arrangement portion the same gauge including the conventional example and the comparative example, the reinforcing rubber layer was made of a rubber that is five times higher than the tread rubber.

  A belt reinforcing layer made of aromatic polyamide fibers having an angle of 90 degrees with respect to the equator direction (the “outermost reinforcing layer” in Table 1) is disposed outside the spiral belt layer in the tire radial direction. As a cord with a diameter of 0.7 mm, 50 cords / 50 mm were driven and arranged at 90 degrees with respect to the equator direction.The width is the same as the tread width. A tread layer having a thickness of 7 mm is disposed, and no groove is disposed in the tread layer in this embodiment.

(Example 2)
A tire of Example 2 was produced in the same manner as Example 1 except that the spiral belt width was 120 mm (0.5 times the total tread width).

(Example 3)
A pneumatic tire for a motorcycle having a cross-sectional structure as shown in FIG. 2 was produced according to the following conditions. One carcass ply was arranged in the radial direction (90 degrees with respect to the equator direction). In addition, a spiral belt layer exists outside the carcass ply in the radial direction. The material and driving of the spiral belt layer are the same as in the first embodiment. Two belt crossing layers (abbreviated as “crossing layer” in Table 1) are arranged on the outer side in the radial direction of the spiral belt layer. The belt crossing layer was formed by twisting aromatic polyamide into a cord having a diameter of 0.5 mm and placing the cords at 50 pieces / 50 mm. The angle of the belt crossing layer is 60 degrees with respect to the equator direction, and crosses each other. The width of the belt crossing layer was 250 mm on the first sheet (inner side) and 230 mm on the second sheet (outer side). A belt reinforcing layer of 90 degrees with respect to the equator direction is not provided outside the belt crossing layer in the radial direction. A tire of Example 3 was manufactured in the same manner as Example 1 except for the above-described configuration.

Example 4
A pneumatic tire for a motorcycle having a cross-sectional structure as shown in FIG. 3 was produced according to the following conditions. One carcass ply was placed in the radial direction. In addition, two belt crossing layers similar to those in Example 3 were disposed on the inner side in the tire radial direction of the spiral belt layer. Therefore, in this case, the belt crossing layer exists immediately outside the carcass in the tire radial direction, and the spiral belt layer exists outside the belt crossing layer in the tire radial direction. The configuration of the spiral belt layer is the same as that of Example 3. A belt reinforcing layer having an angle of 90 degrees with respect to the equator direction exists outside the spiral belt layer in the tire radial direction. The outermost belt reinforcing layer has the same configuration as in the first embodiment. A tread exists on the outer side in the tire radial direction of the outermost belt reinforcing layer. A 1.0 W reinforcing rubber layer was disposed on the inner side in the tire radial direction of the two belt crossing layers. The reinforcing rubber layer was made of rubber five times as high as the tread rubber, and the total gauge of the reinforcing rubber arrangement portion was the same as that in Example 1.

(Example 5)
A tire of Example 5 was produced in the same manner as in Example 4 except that the belt reinforcing layer on the outer side in the radial direction of the spiral belt layer of Example 4 was removed.

(Example 6)
A pneumatic tire for a motorcycle having a cross-sectional structure as shown in FIG. 4 was produced according to the following conditions. A buffer rubber layer ("rubber layer" in Table 1) having a thickness of 0.6 mm is disposed on the inner side in the tire radial direction of the outermost belt reinforcing layer. The material of the buffer rubber layer was used for the belt reinforcing layer. The tire of Example 6 was manufactured in the same manner as Example 4 except that the width of the buffer rubber layer was the same as the width of the belt reinforcing layer of 240 mm.

(Examples 7 and 8)
Examples 7 and 8 have the same configuration as Example 4, and only the type of the reinforcing rubber layer is changed as shown in Table 1 below.

(Conventional example 1)
A pneumatic tire for a motorcycle having a cross-sectional structure as shown in FIG. 5 was produced according to the following conditions. One carcass ply was placed in the radial direction. A belt crossing layer was disposed outside the carcass in the radial direction of the tire. The material of the belt crossing layer is the same as in Example 3. One spiral belt layer is disposed outside the belt crossing layer in the tire radial direction. The spiral belt is a steel belt, and driving is 50 pieces / 50 mm.

(Conventional example 2)
The crossing belt is removed from Conventional Example 1. Two carcass plies were arranged in the radial direction.

(Comparative Example 1)
A tire of Comparative Example 1 was produced in the same manner as Example 4 except that there was no reinforcing rubber layer.

(Comparative Example 2)
A tire of Comparative Example 2 was produced in the same manner as Comparative Example 1 except that the spiral belt layer width was 100 mm.

(Comparative Example 3)
A tire of Comparative Example 3 was produced in the same manner as Example 4 except that the reinforcing rubber layer was disposed with a width W of 0.49W.

  Each of the obtained test tires was subjected to the test specified below. Table 1 summarizes the tire structures of Examples 1 to 8, Comparative Examples 1 to 3, and Conventional Examples 1 and 2.

<Drum test>
First, it was measured using a drum whether the traction when the vehicle body was tilted, which is the main object of the present invention, was improved. The method for measuring traction using a drum is as follows.

  As a testing machine, sandpaper was affixed to a drum having a diameter of 3 m, and the surface of the sandpaper was regarded as a road surface. The drum was rolled at a speed of 80 km / h, and a tire was pressed onto the drum at a CA of 35 degrees and a CA of 50 degrees. Each test tire was filled with an internal pressure of 240 kPa and pressed with a load of 150 kgf. The tire has a chain that transmits power to the rotating shaft, and a driving force can be applied. The driving force was applied using a motor. The tire was rotated at 80 km / h, and driving force was applied to accelerate the tire linearly to 120 km / h in a time of 3 seconds. At this time, since the drum rolls at 80 km / h, the driving force is applied to the tire, and the traction can be measured with the vehicle body tilted.

  The force acting in the direction parallel to the tire rotation axis (that is, the tire width direction) and the force acting in the direction perpendicular to the tire rotation axis are measured by a force sensor installed at the center of the tire wheel, and these forces are measured by the camber. The force in the drum width direction and the drum rotation direction are decomposed according to the angle, the force in the drum width direction is Fy, and the force in the drum rotation direction is Fx (Fx and Fy are coordinates with respect to the ground). That is, Fy indicates a lateral force for turning the motorcycle, and Fx indicates a driving force for accelerating the motorcycle. By drawing these as Fx on the horizontal axis and Fy on the vertical axis, a waveform as shown in FIG. 8 is obtained. Although this is called a friction ellipse, the intercept of Fy at Fx0 indicates a pure lateral force at a driving force of 0, and this is a force called camber thrust. In this test, the grip performance of a tire in a traction state can be evaluated by applying a driving force to the tire to accelerate the rotation of the tire. With time, the waveform of the graph moves in the positive direction of Fx. The maximum value of Fx can be said to be an index of traction grip.

  The maximum value of Fx at CA 35 degrees in Example 1 was set to 102, and the maximum value of Fx at CA 50 degrees was set to 103, and the performance of other examples was evaluated by an index. The obtained results are shown in Table 2 below.

<Driving test>
Next, in order to confirm the performance improvement effect of the two-wheeled vehicle tire of the present invention, a result of a steering performance comparison test using an actual vehicle will be described. Since each test tire was a rear tire, an actual vehicle test was performed by exchanging the rear tire alone. The front tire was always fixed with a conventional one. The evaluation method is as follows.

  Each test tire was mounted on a 1000cc sports-type motorcycle, and the vehicle was run on a test course. The steering stability (cornering performance) was comprehensively evaluated by a 10-point method based on the feeling of the test rider. On the course, the motorcycle ran intensely in consideration of motorcycle racing, and the maximum speed reached 180 km / h. The test items are low-speed corner traction performance (acceleration performance from a state where the vehicle body is largely defeated at a speed of 50 km / h), high-speed corner traction performance (acceleration performance from a state where the vehicle body is slightly defeated at a speed of 120 km / h), There are three types of grip stability (discontinuity) when the vehicle body is tilted down. The test results obtained are also shown in Table 2.

＊１ カッコ内の数値はトレッド幅に対するスパイラルベルト層の幅の割合である。
＊２ カッコ内の数値はＷに対する補強ゴム層の幅の割合である。

* 1 The value in parentheses is the ratio of the width of the spiral belt layer to the tread width.
* 2 The value in parentheses is the ratio of the width of the reinforcing rubber layer to W.

  In all of the examples, it is clear that the stability when collapsed is significantly improved compared to Comparative Example 1 in which there is no reinforcing rubber layer and the spiral belt layer width is narrowed. It was confirmed that the effect of alleviating the rigidity step by adding the rubber layer was very large.

  In Example 1, there is no crossing belt. Therefore, manufacturing costs can be saved. Compared with the conventional example 2, in the comparison of the ones without the cross belt, the Fx index of the CA 35 degree and the CA 50 degree is improved in the example 1, and the traction performance is improved in the actual vehicle test in both the low speed corner and the high speed corner. I understand that.

  Examples 3 and 5 have two crossing belts. Compared with the prior art examples 1 and 2, the traction performance is significantly improved.

Comparing Example 4 and Example 6, it can be seen that the traction performance is improved by the buffer rubber layer.

  From the relationship between Examples 4, 5, and 6, the effect of the outermost reinforcing rubber layer / buffer rubber layer on the stability when collapsed can be seen. By combining the reinforcing rubber layer and the belt reinforcing layer, the folding property is greatly improved. This is a combined effect with the shape effect in which the belt reinforcing layer jumps toward the end of the tread. By arranging the buffer rubber layer, there is no further rigidity step and the stability is greatly increased.

  From Examples 1 and 2, the influence of the spiral belt layer width can be seen. When the spiral belt layer width is widened, the Fx index at the time of large CA is improved, that is, a large effect is obtained for a low-speed corner at the time of large CA that greatly tilts the vehicle body. However, when the full width of the tread is used as in Conventional Examples 1 and 2, there is no effect of improving the traction performance. When the spiral belt layer width is narrowed, a great effect can be obtained when the CA is small, that is, at a high-speed corner of about 35 degrees CA. However, if it is too narrow as in Comparative Example 2, the effect cannot be obtained.

  From the relationship between Examples 4, 7, and 8 and Comparative Example 3, the influence of the arrangement width of the reinforcing rubber layer can be seen. For the stability at the time of collapse, the reinforcing rubber layer is effectively disposed if the reinforcing rubber layer is reinforced by about 0.6 W with respect to the width W of the portion where the spiral belt is not disposed. If less than 0.5 W, almost no effect is obtained. In the case of 2.0 W, the effect is larger than 1.0 W, but the effect is greater than 1.0 W. Therefore, a wider arrangement is effective in reducing the rigidity step. From this result, it can be said that the arrangement width of the reinforcing rubber layer is preferably about 0.5 W to 2.0 W.

  In Example 6, the outermost belt reinforcing layer and the buffer rubber layer are added to the reinforcing rubber layer of the present invention. In this evaluation, both the traction performance and the stability performance when collapsed are good, and it can be seen that the performance improvement at a much higher level can be achieved compared to the conventional example. Moreover, about the fall stability performance of a vehicle body, it has become a result exceeding the prior art example which has arrange | positioned the spiral belt layer to the edge part, and it can ask the effect of combining this invention.

  From the above results, it has been found that according to the present invention, the steering stability performance (traction performance) during turning when the vehicle body is largely tilted and the stability when the vehicle body is collapsed can be achieved at a high level.

1 is a cross-sectional view in a width direction showing a pneumatic tire for a motorcycle according to a preferred example of the present invention. It is a width direction sectional view showing a pneumatic tire for two-wheeled vehicles concerning other suitable examples of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction showing a pneumatic tire for a motorcycle according to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction showing a pneumatic tire for a motorcycle according to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the width direction which shows the pneumatic tire for two-wheeled vehicles which concerns on a prior art example. It is sectional drawing which shows the tire just under a load when a two-wheeled vehicle is turning by big CA (CA50 degree | times). It is a conceptual diagram which shows distribution of the rigidity of the tread part of the pneumatic tire for two-wheeled vehicles. It is a graph which shows the friction ellipse which shows the relationship between Fx and Fy.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bead core 2 Carcass 3 Spiral belt layer 4 Reinforcement rubber layer 5 Belt crossing layer 6 Belt reinforcement layer 7 Buffer rubber layer 11 Tread part 12 Side wall part 13 Bead part

Claims (6)

In a pneumatic tire for a motorcycle including a tread portion formed in an annular shape,
A spiral belt layer having an angle with respect to the tire equator direction of 0 to 5 degrees and an arrangement width of 0.5 to 0.8 times the tread width is provided on the inner side in the tire radial direction of the tread portion. Arranged so that the center of the belt layer in the width direction coincides with the tire equator, and
At least in a portion where the spiral belt layer of the tread portion is not provided, a reinforcing rubber layer whose thickness gradually increases from the end portion of the spiral belt layer toward the end portion of the tread portion is provided. This is a pneumatic tire for motorcycles.   When the width of the portion of the tread where the spiral belt layer is not disposed is W, and the disposed width of the reinforcing rubber layer is 0.5 W or more and 1.0 W or less, the reinforcing rubber layer is the spiral belt. The pneumatic tire for a motorcycle according to claim 1, wherein the pneumatic tire is disposed adjacent to the carcass from an end portion of the layer toward an end portion of the tread portion.   When the width of the portion of the tread portion where the spiral belt layer is not disposed is W, and the disposed width of the reinforcing rubber layer is more than 1.0 W and not more than 2.0 W, the reinforcing rubber layer is The pneumatic tire for a motorcycle according to claim 1, wherein the pneumatic tire is disposed adjacent to the carcass from an end portion of the tread portion toward the spiral belt layer.   Adjacent to the spiral belt layer, a belt crossing layer made of organic fibers having a width wider than the spiral belt layer and an angle with respect to the tire circumferential direction of 30 degrees or more and less than 85 degrees is disposed. The pneumatic tire for a motorcycle according to any one of Items 1 to 3.   Between the tread layer and the spiral belt layer, a belt reinforcing layer made of an organic fiber cord in contact with the tread layer and having an angle of 85 degrees to 90 degrees with respect to the tire circumferential direction is 90% to 110% of the tread width. The pneumatic tire for a motorcycle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the tire is disposed with the following width.   The pneumatic tire for a motorcycle according to claim 5, wherein a cushioning rubber having a thickness of 0.3 to 1.5 mm is disposed on the inner side in the tire radial direction of the belt reinforcing layer and adjacent to the belt reinforcing layer.

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