JP4555673B2 - PNEUMATIC TIRE WITH ELECTRONIC COMPONENT STORAGE AND METHOD - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire including a storage device for electronic components such as a transponder for RFID (non-contact automatic identification technology using radio frequency), and a manufacturing method thereof.

  In recent years, various data such as tire internal pressure, temperature, rotation speed, etc. are monitored, and in order to improve safety and maintainability while the vehicle is running, electronic data such as an RFID transponder that records the data is tired. It has been proposed to be attached to. A transponder is a small and lightweight electronic component consisting of a semiconductor with a chip that includes a transceiver circuit, control circuit, memory, etc., and an antenna. When a query radio wave is received, it is used as electrical energy and stored in the memory. Battery-less ones that can transmit various data as response radio waves are widely used.

  And as a method of attaching such an electronic component to a tire, for example, as represented by Patent Documents 1 and 2, etc., the tire is embedded in a raw (unvulcanized) tire and bonded to the tire by vulcanization adhesion accompanying vulcanization molding. For example, a method of attaching an electronic component to the surface of a vulcanized tire by bonding or the like is disclosed, as represented by, for example, Patent Document 3 and the like.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-123404 JP 2002-137609 A JP 2001-30369 A

  However, the former is added to an electronic component in which vulcanization heat (for example, 180 ° C.) and vulcanization pressure (for example, 20 atmospheres) are embedded at the time of tire vulcanization molding, resulting in failure or damage to the electronic component itself. There is a problem that it becomes easy. On the other hand, in the latter case, for example, the adhesive side on the tire side is sealed and protected from the release agent during vulcanization molding, or a specific adhesive is used, but as long as the adhesive is used, There is a problem that it is difficult to sufficiently secure the reliability of the adhesion, for example, the adhesive strength varies, and the productivity is also impaired, for example, it takes time and labor for the sealing work and the bonding / drying work.

  Therefore, the present invention is based on attaching a bag-like storage device provided with an opening to a tire by vulcanization adhesion, and can store electronic components from the opening after vulcanization molding. Electronic components that can reliably prevent failure of electronic components due to vulcanization pressure, and can sufficiently and stably secure the bonding strength between the storage device and the tire, increasing the reliability of the bonding and improving the productivity. It aims at providing the pneumatic tire which provides the storage device.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 of the present application comprises a storage device having a storage space for storing an electronic component inside the tire lumen,
The storage device has a bag shape in which an opening for storing electronic components is provided at one end portion of the storage space, and a back sheet and a front sheet on the tire lumen surface side are coupled to each other at the periphery. And formed by
The back sheet and the front sheet are made of rubber sheets, and the storage tool is attached to an attachment site on the tire cavity surface by vulcanization.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the attachment portion on the tire lumen surface is a bead portion of a tire, and the storage device is attached with the opening portion directed toward a tire rotation center line. .

  In the invention of claim 3, the storage tool includes a bonding region in a region that does not overlap with the rear surface of the back sheet and the formation range of the storage space, and only the bonding region is attached to the attachment site. It is a feature.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the joining region is formed on the side of the storage tool that faces the tire rotation center line.

The invention of claim 5 is a method of manufacturing a pneumatic tire comprising a storage device for an electronic component, wherein a back sheet made of a raw rubber sheet material and having a peripheral portion that can protrude from the electronic component is provided on the periphery of the raw tire. A step of disposing the inner surface of the tire and the bead portion;
A step of forming an overlapping body by placing an electronic component dummy having a peeling process on the surface, placing the peripheral part on the back sheet on the periphery, and
It is made of raw rubber sheet material, and one side of the electronic component dummy is positioned so as to be positioned inside one end of the electronic component dummy, and a part of the electronic component dummy is exposed, and the other side is overlapped with the back sheet. Placing a front sheet having a peripheral portion on the overlapping body,
In addition, the electronic component dummy is taken out after the back sheet and the front sheet are vulcanized together with the green tire.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the release sheet is preliminarily pasted between the back sheet and the tire cavity surface, leaving a joining region to which the back sheet is attached.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, the electronic component can be stored in the storage tool from the opening after the vulcanization molding. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent failure of electronic components due to heat and pressure during vulcanization molding, and to freely replace electronic components even when failure occurs due to impacts during traveling, etc. Is possible. Further, since the storage tool and the tire are joined by vulcanization, the joining strength can be secured sufficiently and stably. Moreover, since the storage device is formed of two thin rubber sheets, deformation of the storage portion due to the vulcanization pressure at the time of vulcanization molding can be suppressed, and in combination with the aforementioned vulcanization joining, accuracy, quality, and Productivity can be improved.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a meridional sectional view showing a pneumatic tire provided with a storage device for electronic parts according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing the storage device together with a bead portion, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the storage device.

  In FIG. 1, a pneumatic tire 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as a tire 1) having a storage device for electronic parts includes a tread portion 2 that contacts the road surface and a pair of sides extending radially inward from both ends thereof. It includes a wall portion 3 and a bead portion 4 that is located at the radially inner end of each sidewall portion 3 and is fitted to the rim R. In this example, the case where the tire 1 is a radial tire for a passenger car is illustrated.

  The tire 1 includes a toroidal carcass 6 extending from the tread portion 2 through the sidewall portion 3 to the bead core 5 of the bead portion 4, and in this example, on the inner side of the tread portion 2 and on the radially outer side of the carcass 6. Reinforced by a cord reinforcing layer including the belt layer 7 disposed, the necessary rigidity and strength are ensured.

  The carcass 6 is formed of one or more, in this example, one carcass ply 6A in which carcass cords are arranged at an angle of, for example, 70 to 90 ° with respect to the tire circumferential direction. The carcass ply 6A includes a series of ply turn-up portions 6b that are turned back from the inside in the tire axial direction around the bead core 5 on both sides of the ply main body portion 6a straddling the bead cores 5 and 5. A bead apex rubber 8 having a triangular cross section extending from the bead core 5 to the outer side in the tire radial direction is disposed between the ply body portion 6a and the ply turn-up portion 6b, and is reinforced from the bead portion 4 to the sidewall portion 3. ing.

  The belt layer 7 is formed of two or more belt plies 7A and 7B in which belt cords are arranged at an angle of, for example, 10 to 35 with respect to the tire circumferential direction. By crossing each other, the belt rigidity is increased, and the substantially entire width of the tread portion 2 is strongly reinforced with a tagging effect. On the outer side in the radial direction of the belt layer 7, a band layer (not shown) in which band cords are arranged at an angle of 5 degrees or less with respect to the circumferential direction for the purpose of improving handling stability and durability during high-speed driving. Can be provided.

  Further, the tire lumen surface HS of the tire 1 is formed of a known low air permeable rubber such as butyl rubber, for example, so that the tire lumen is kept airtight. A storage tool 11 having a storage space 10 for storing the electronic component W therein is attached to the tire lumen surface HS.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the storage 11 is a bag-like body in which an opening 12 for storing an electronic component is provided in one end portion 10 a of the storage space 10, and is on the tire lumen surface HS side. The peripheral portions 13E and 14E of the back sheet 13 and the front sheet 14 are formed by being joined to each other leaving a part thereof. The back sheet 13 and the front sheet 14 are made of thin rubber sheets having thicknesses t1 and t2 of 2.0 mm or less, respectively, and in this example, have a quadrilateral shape with substantially the same width, and the peripheral portions 13E and 14E. The case where the other three sides are connected to each other is shown as an example.

  At this time, in the storage device 11, the back sheet 13 is longer than the front sheet 14, and the opening 12 is formed with a distance L 1 of 3 mm or more inward from the one side edge 13 a of the back sheet 13. It is preferable to do this. Thereby, the electronic component W can be easily stored in the storage space 10. Further, the storage tool 11 is formed so that the entire electronic component W is completely accommodated in the storage space 10 so that the stored electronic component W does not jump out during running.

  And this storage tool 11 is attached to the attachment site | part HS1 in the said tire cavity surface HS by vulcanization adhesion. As the attachment part HS1, the bead part 4 is suitable. This is because the bead portion 4 is the portion where the deformation during running of the tire is the least, and by attaching the storage device 11 to this portion, the deformation of the storage device 11 and further the stored electronic component W is reduced. There is an effect of suppressing the peeling damage of the storage tool 11 and the damage of the electronic component W. In this example, in order to further prevent the electronic component W from jumping out of the opening 12 due to the centrifugal force accompanying the tire rotation, the opening 12 is directed toward the tire rotation center line, that is, inward in the tire radial direction. The storage tool 11 is attached toward the head. In order to prevent the popping out more reliably, it is also preferable to close the opening 12 with an adhesive such as an acrylic, rubber, or silicone adhesive after storage.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the bead portion 4 refers to a carcass from a separation point P at which the bead portion 4 is separated from the rim flange Rf in a normal internal pressure state in which the tire is assembled on the normal rim R and filled with the normal internal pressure. 6 is a region on the inner side in the radial direction from the reference line X orthogonal to the ply main body portion 6a. The “regular rim” is a rim determined for each tire in the standard system including the standard on which the tire is based, for example, a standard rim for JATMA, “Design Rim” for TRA, or ETRTO means "Measuring Rim". The “regular internal pressure” is the air pressure specified by the tire for each tire. The maximum air pressure in the case of JATMA, the maximum value described in the table “TIRE LOAD LIMITS AT VARIOUS COLD INFLATION PRESSURES” in the case of TRA, In the case of ETRTO, it means “INFLATION PRESSURE”, but in the case of passenger tires, it is 180 kPa.

  Here, the bead portion 4 is deformed to some extent and generates heat even though it is the least deformed portion. Therefore, when the entire back surface 13S of the back sheet 13 is joined to the attachment portion HS1 of the bead portion 4, deformation, impact, and heat generation during traveling are transmitted to the electronic component W, and the electronic component W tends to be damaged. is there. Therefore, in this example, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, in the back surface 13S of the back sheet 13, a bonding region 13Sb is provided in a region that does not overlap with the formation range 13Sa of the storage space 10, and only the bonding region 13Sb is provided. Is attached to the attachment part HS1. Thereby, the storage tool 11 can be freely separated from the tire 1 in the non-joining region, and the deformation, impact, and heat of the tire can be prevented from being directly transmitted to the electronic component W. In addition, it is preferable to form the joining region 13Sb in a region where the back sheet 13 and the front sheet 14 do not overlap, and further at a position separating a distance L2 of 1.0 mm or more from the forming range 13Sa.

  Further, in the storage tool 11, as long as only the joining region 13Sb is attached to the attachment part HS1, even when the electronic component W is located on the side of the sidewall portion 3 beyond the reference line X, deformation or impact of the tire is caused. , And heat transfer can be suppressed. Therefore, as in this example, when the joint region 13Sb is formed on the side of the storage tool 11 facing the tire rotation center line, that is, on the side of the end edge 13a, the relatively large electronic component W is stored. It is possible to improve versatility.

Next, the pneumatic tire 1 including the storage device 11 can be easily formed by a manufacturing method described below. In particular,
(1) Step K1 (FIG. 6) of disposing the raw back sheet 13N on the tire lumen surface HS and the bead part 4 of the raw tire 1N;
(2) Step K2 (FIG. 5 (A)) of placing the electronic component dummy 20 on the raw back sheet 13N to form the overlapping body 21;
(3) Step K3 (FIG. 5B) of placing the raw front sheet 14N on the overlapping body 21;
In this example, the steps K2 and K3 are first performed to form the raw storage device 11N in advance, and then the raw back sheet 13N is converted into the state of the raw storage device 11N by the step K1. The case where it arrange | positions to tire luminal surface HS is illustrated.

  The back sheet 13N has a quadrilateral shape in the present example made of a raw rubber sheet material having a thickness t1 of 0.4 to 2.0 mm, and includes a peripheral portion 13E that can protrude from the electronic component W around the back sheet 13N. In the step K2, the electronic component dummy 20 is placed on the back sheet 13N leaving the peripheral portion 13E around it. The electronic component dummy 20 is a substitute having a larger size than the electronic component W. In this example, the electronic component dummy 20 has a quadrilateral shape of 20 mm (width) × 30 mm (length) × 0.3 mm (thickness). An electronic component dummy 20 of 30 mm (horizontal) × 40 mm (vertical) × 0.5 mm (thickness) is used for the component W. The electronic component dummy 20 is subjected to a peeling process on the surface in order to facilitate removal from the storage tool 11 after vulcanization molding. As the peeling treatment, the electronic component dummy 20 itself is coated with a release resin such as a polyfluoroethylene resin or a silicone resin having a release property with respect to rubber. Or a liquid release agent such as silicone oil is applied to the surface.

  In step K3, a raw front sheet 14N made of a raw rubber sheet material having a thickness t2 of 0.4 to 2.0 mm is placed on the overlapping body 21. At this time, one side 14a of the peripheral portion 14E of the front sheet 14N is positioned so as to be within the one end 20a of the electronic component dummy 20, thereby exposing a part of the electronic component dummy 20 and The sides are stacked and adhered to the back sheet 13N. Thereby, the raw storage tool 11N which provided the opening part 12 in the one end part 10a of the storage space 10 can be formed easily.

  Next, in the process K1, as shown in FIG. 6, in the state of the raw storage 11N, the back sheet 13N is disposed and adhered to the tire lumen surface HS and the bead part 4 of the raw tire 1N. At this time, a release sheet 23 is pasted in advance on the back surface 13S of the raw back sheet 13N so as to leave the bonding area 13Sb on the raw back sheet 13N so that the areas other than the bonding area 13Sb are not vulcanized and bonded to the tire lumen surface HS. . The release sheet 23 sticks out from the back surface 11S except for the bonding region 11Sb side. As the release sheet 23, for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyetherimide (PEI), polyphenylene ether (PPS), polyimide (PI), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), etc. The surface of a sheet body made of a resin material that does not melt even when heated can be suitably employed. In addition, as a peeling process, the process similar to the case of the said electronic component dummy 20 can be employ | adopted. The release sheet 23 is preferably removed when the electronic component dummy 20 is extracted after vulcanization of the tire.

  In the manufacturing method, the above steps are performed in the order of K1 → K2 → K3, that is, first, the back sheet 13N is attached to the tire cavity surface HS of the raw tire 1N, and then the electronic component dummy 20 and the front sheet 14N are formed thereon. May be placed sequentially.

  And this raw tire 1N is thrown into a vulcanization mold like the conventional tire and vulcanized. At this time, due to the expansion of the bladder, the raw storage 11N can be pressed against the raw tire 1N, and both can be vulcanized and bonded together. Thereafter, the electronic component dummy 20 is taken out from the storage tool 11.

  If the raw storage tool 11N is too thick, the pressure by the bladder is concentrated, and the tire 1 and the storage tool 11 are deformed. Therefore, the thicknesses t1 and t2 of the back sheet 13N and the front sheet 14N are as thin as 2.0 mm or less, and the pressure by the bladder is dispersed. However, if the thicknesses t1 and t2 are less than 0.4 mm, it is too thin and it is difficult to ensure sufficient strength to withstand tire rotation. Therefore, preferably, a cord-like array member or a cloth-like reinforcing member such as a canvas cloth is embedded in the back sheet 13N to increase the strength. The back sheet 13N and the front sheet 14N include, as rubber components, natural rubber (NR), polyisoprene rubber (IR), styrene / butadiene rubber (SBR), butadiene rubber (BR), butyl rubber (IIR), etc. Various rubbers that can be vulcanized and bonded to the inner liner rubber can be used.

  As mentioned above, although especially preferable embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited to embodiment of illustration, For example, tire 1 is used for passenger vehicles, for example, for merchants, for heavy loads, automatically. It can be formed as tires of various categories such as for motorcycles. In addition to the quadrilateral shape, the storage space 10 may adopt various shapes according to the electronic component W. The storage space 10 can be used to store various electronic components W such as a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and an acceleration sensor other than the RFID transponder.

  In accordance with the manufacturing method of the present invention, a pneumatic tire (195 / 65R15) including the storage device 11 is prototyped according to the specifications shown in Table 1, and an electronic component W (RFID transponder) is inserted into the storage device 11 of the sample tire. A reception confirmation test was performed in the running state. The electronic components are electromagnetic induction type RFID tags (V720S) manufactured by OMRON Corporation, and a communication frequency of 13.56 MHz.

(1) Reception confirmation test:
A sample tire with an electronic component inserted in a storage device is run on a drum for 60 hours at a speed (80 km / h) under the conditions of a rim (15 × 6JJ), internal pressure (190 kPa), and longitudinal load (6.96 kN). The reception performance of the electronic components after running was confirmed with a reader (HS03 manufactured by OMRON Corporation). The data reading distance to the electronic component was 130 mm and the data writing distance was 130 mm, and it was confirmed that the memory function was operating normally without data loss.

It is sectional drawing which shows one Example of the pneumatic tire of this invention. It is sectional drawing which expands and shows a storage tool with a bead part. It is a perspective view of a storage tool. It is a back view which shows the back surface of a back sheet. (A) is a diagram which shows the process of forming an overlapping body, (B) is a diagram which shows the process of mounting a front sheet | seat on an overlapping body. It is a diagram which shows the process of arrange | positioning a back sheet | seat on a green tire.

Explanation of symbols

4 Bead part 10 Storage space 10a One end part 11 Storage tool 12 Opening part 13 Back sheet 13E Peripheral part 13S Rear surface 13Sa Formation range 13Sb Joining area 14 Front sheet 14E Peripheral part 20 Electronic component dummy 21 Overlapping body 23 Release sheet H Tire lumen HS Tire bore surface HS1 Mounting part W Electronic component

Claims (6)

A storage device having a storage space for storing electronic components inside the tire lumen;
The storage device has a bag shape in which an opening for storing electronic components is provided at one end portion of the storage space, and a back sheet and a front sheet on the tire lumen surface side are coupled to each other at the periphery. And formed by
The pneumatic tire having an electronic component storage device, wherein the back sheet and the front sheet are made of rubber sheets, and the storage device is attached to an attachment portion of the tire cavity surface by vulcanization .   2. The electronic component according to claim 1, wherein the attachment portion on the tire lumen surface is a bead portion of a tire, and the storage device is attached with the opening portion directed toward a tire rotation center line. Pneumatic tire with storage.   The said storage tool is provided with a joining area | region in the area | region which does not overlap with the back surface of the said back sheet | seat, and the formation range of the said storage space, Only this joining area | region is attached to the said attachment site | part. A pneumatic tire comprising the electronic component storage device described.   4. The pneumatic tire having an electronic component storage device according to claim 3, wherein the joining region is formed on a side of the storage device that faces the tire rotation center line. A step of arranging a back sheet made of a raw rubber sheet material and having a peripheral part that can protrude from an electronic component on the tire lumen surface and bead part of the raw tire;
A step of forming an overlapping body by placing an electronic component dummy having a peeling process on the surface, placing the peripheral part on the back sheet on the periphery, and
It is made of raw rubber sheet material, and one side of the electronic component dummy is positioned so as to be positioned inside one end of the electronic component dummy, and a part of the electronic component dummy is exposed, and the other side is overlapped with the back sheet. Placing a front sheet having a peripheral portion on the overlapping body,
Moreover, after the back sheet and the front sheet are vulcanized together with the green tire, the electronic component dummy is taken out. A method for manufacturing a pneumatic tire comprising an electronic component storage device.   6. The electronic component storage device according to claim 5, wherein a release sheet is previously pasted between the back sheet and the tire cavity surface, leaving a joining region to which the back sheet is attached. A method of manufacturing a pneumatic tire.

Images