JP5793159B2 - Pneumatic tire - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire in which a decorative pattern is formed on the surface of a sidewall portion.

  Generally, the sidewall portion of a pneumatic tire is covered with, for example, a rubber having a small thickness. For this reason, local irregularities called bulges and dents are likely to appear on the surface of the sidewall portion due to the seam of the carcass that is the internal structural material of the tire, residual air, and the like.

  Conventionally, in order to make the unevenness inconspicuous, there has been proposed a pneumatic tire in which a band-shaped decorative pattern extending along the tire circumferential direction is formed on the surface of the sidewall portion (for example, Patent Document 1 below). The decorative pattern is also called a serration pattern, and is formed by repeatedly arranging a vertical line pattern extending in the tire radial direction in the tire circumferential direction.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 07-164831

  However, the conventional decorative pattern is a monotonous pattern, and there is a problem that the blinding effect that makes the unevenness inconspicuous cannot be sufficiently exhibited.

  In order to enhance the blinding effect, for example, it is conceivable to make the decorative pattern in a complicated shape and make the decorative pattern more conspicuous with respect to the unevenness. However, when a decorative pattern having a complicated shape is vulcanized and molded, for example, it is difficult to remove air from the surface of the sidewall portion, and the molding is difficult.

  The present invention has been devised in view of the above problems, and mainly provides a pneumatic tire having a decorative pattern having a blinding effect that makes the unevenness appearing on the surface of the sidewall portion inconspicuous with a simple shape. It is aimed.

The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is a pneumatic tire in which a strip-shaped decorative pattern extending along a tire circumferential direction is formed on a surface of a sidewall portion, and the decorative pattern is a plurality of units. A pattern is arranged in the tire circumferential direction, and each unit pattern has an inner contour extending along the tire circumferential direction inside the tire radial direction, an outer contour extending along the tire circumferential direction outside the tire radial direction, and a tire radius. A substantially segment shape having a visual effect divided by a pair of vertical contours extending along a direction, wherein the unit pattern includes a plurality of diagonal patterns arranged at an inclination on one side in a tire radial direction And a second unit pattern including a plurality of oblique patterns arranged at an inclination on the other side in the tire radial direction, wherein the first unit pattern and the second unit pattern are alternately arranged in the tire circumferential direction. Arrangement It is, the plurality of diagonal lines like pattern is in the center of the length direction, a pneumatic tire characterized by having a protrusion protruding on one side in the tire radial direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plurality of adjacent convex portions that visually recognize a diagonal line pattern that is inclined along a vertex angle on a different side of the tire radial direction from the diagonal line pattern. The pneumatic tire according to Item 1.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the decorative pattern includes a portion in which the oblique line pattern of the first unit pattern and the oblique line pattern of the second unit pattern are continuous. This is a pneumatic tire.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the first unit pattern and the second unit pattern are provided on a central pattern portion in the tire radial direction composed of the diagonal pattern, and on the outer side of the central pattern portion in the tire radial direction. The outer pattern portion and the inner pattern portion provided on the inner side of the central pattern portion in the tire radial direction, and the outer pattern portion and the inner pattern portion are connected to the diagonal pattern in the tire radial direction. The pneumatic tire according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein each of the pneumatic tires includes a vertical line pattern extending along the line.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the pneumatic tire according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the oblique line pattern is a ridge having a height of 0.1 to 1.0 mm.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the pneumatic tire according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an interval between the adjacent hatched patterns is 0.4 to 2.0 mm.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the pneumatic tire according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a width perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the oblique pattern is 0.4 to 1.5 mm.

  In the pneumatic tire of the present invention, the decorative pattern is composed of a plurality of unit patterns arranged in the tire circumferential direction. Each unit pattern is divided into an inner contour extending along the tire circumferential direction inside the tire radial direction, an outer contour extending along the tire circumferential direction outside the tire radial direction, and a pair of vertical contours extending along the tire radial direction. It is a segment shape with a good visual effect. The unit pattern includes a first unit pattern including a plurality of diagonal patterns arranged at one side in the tire radial direction and a second unit pattern including a plurality of diagonal patterns arranged at the other side in the tire radial direction. It consists of unit patterns, and the first unit patterns and the second unit patterns are alternately arranged in the tire circumferential direction.

  In the pneumatic tire of the present invention, the decorative pattern is composed of a unit pattern including a hatched pattern with a simple shape. Such a unit pattern is easily formed by vulcanization. Further, light is reflected in different directions by the diagonal pattern of the first unit pattern and the diagonal pattern of the second unit pattern that are alternately arranged in the tire circumferential direction. For this reason, the diagonal pattern of the first unit pattern and the diagonal pattern of the second unit pattern are easily visible as ridges having different heights, and overlap the contours of the bulges, dents, etc. Is difficult to see.

  Therefore, in the pneumatic tire of the present invention, it is possible to improve the blinding effect that makes the unevenness inconspicuous with a simple configuration.

  Furthermore, in the pneumatic tire of the present invention, light is reflected in different directions by each unit pattern, and the color of the surface of the sidewall portion is visually recognized as having different shades in the tire circumferential direction. Therefore, in the pneumatic tire of the present invention, the sensitivity quality of the tire is enhanced by the decorative pattern.

It is the partial side view which expanded the side of the pneumatic tire of this embodiment. It is AA sectional drawing of the side wall part of FIG. It is an enlarged plan view of the decorative pattern of FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the unit pattern of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a BB end view of FIG. 4. It is an enlarged plan view of a decorative pattern showing another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an enlarged partial side view of a pneumatic tire (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “tire”) 1 of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a tire meridian cross section including the tire rotation axis, and shows the AA cross section of FIG. 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1 or 2, a decorative pattern 3 is formed on the surface 2S of the sidewall portion 2 of the tire 1.

  In this specification, when there is no notice in particular, the dimension of each part of the tire 1 is a value in a normal state. The “normal state” is a state in which the tire 1 is assembled on a normal rim (not shown) and filled with a normal internal pressure and is not loaded.

  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, “Standard Rim” for JATMA and “Design Rim” for TRA. For ETRTO, "Measuring Rim".

  The “regular internal pressure” is the air pressure defined by each standard for each tire in the standard system including the standard on which the tire is based. For example, “maximum air pressure” for JATMA, “table pressure for TRA” The maximum value described in “TIRE LOAD LIMITS AT VARIOUS COLD INFLATION PRESSURES”, and “INFLATION PRESSURE” in the case of ETRTO.

  The sidewall portion 2 includes, for example, a carcass 5 and a sidewall rubber 2G disposed on the outer side of the carcass 5 in the tire axial direction. A surface 2S of the sidewall portion 2 is formed of a sidewall rubber 2G.

  The decorative pattern 3 extends in a band shape along the tire circumferential direction on the surface 2S of the sidewall portion 2. The “strip shape” includes both one that continuously extends in a ring shape in the tire circumferential direction and an arc shape that forms part of the tire circumferential direction. In the present embodiment, the decorative pattern 3 is formed in an annular shape that is continuous in the tire circumferential direction, for example.

  The decorative pattern 3 is a pattern formed on the sidewall rubber 2G by, for example, vulcanization molding or cutting. The decorative pattern 3 of the present embodiment is formed by, for example, vulcanization molding from the viewpoint of durability and productivity.

  For example, ribs 4 extending in the tire circumferential direction are formed on the inner side, the outer side, or both sides of the decorative pattern 3 in the tire radial direction. The rib 4 of this embodiment is formed with an outer rib 4A or an inner rib 4B in order to suppress the occurrence of cracks and the like starting from both ends of the decorative pattern 3 in the tire radial direction. The outer rib 4A and the inner rib 4B each protrude outward in the tire axial direction.

  FIG. 3 shows an enlarged plan view in which the main part of the decorative pattern 3 is enlarged. As shown in FIG. 3, the decorative pattern 3 includes a plurality of unit patterns 6 arranged in the tire circumferential direction.

  Each unit pattern 6 includes an inner contour 7A extending along the tire circumferential direction on the inner side in the tire radial direction, an outer contour 7B extending along the tire circumferential direction on the outer side in the tire radial direction, and a pair of vertical lines extending along the tire radial direction. It is a substantially segment shape having a visual effect divided by contours 7C and 7C.

  Here, the “contour” is a line that forms the outer shape of the unit pattern 6. In the present embodiment, for example, the inner contour 7A extends along the outer edge of the inner rib 4B on the outer side in the tire radial direction, and the outer contour 7B extends, for example, along the inner edge of the outer rib 4A in the tire radial direction. Each vertical contour 7C is not provided as a line extending in the tire radial direction, for example, as indicated by a virtual line in FIG. 3, but the switching positions of the adjacent shapes in the tire circumferential direction are on the same tire radial direction line. It is formed by being provided.

  The unit pattern 6 includes a first unit pattern 6A and a second unit pattern 6B. The first unit pattern 6A includes a plurality of diagonal patterns 8A arranged with an inclination on one side in the tire radial direction. The second unit pattern 6B includes a plurality of diagonal patterns 8B arranged with an inclination on the other side in the tire radial direction. Such a unit pattern 6 is easy to form.

  In the decorative pattern 3, the first unit pattern 6A and the second unit pattern 6B are alternately arranged in the tire circumferential direction. The diagonal pattern 8A of the first unit pattern 6A and the diagonal pattern 8B of the second unit pattern 6B, which are alternately arranged in the tire circumferential direction, reflect light in different directions. By this action, the oblique line pattern 8 of the first unit pattern 6A and the oblique line pattern 8 of the second unit pattern 6B are easily visually recognized as, for example, ridges having different heights. The diagonal pattern 8 and the contour of the concavo-convex portion such as a bulge or dent overlap, making it difficult for the user to visually recognize the concavo-convex portion. Therefore, in the tire 1 of the present embodiment, the blinding effect that makes the unevenness appearing on the surface 2S of the sidewall portion 2 inconspicuous can be improved.

  In the tire 1 of the present embodiment, the unit patterns 6A and 6B reflect light in different directions. For this reason, it is visually recognized that the color of the surface 2S of the sidewall portion 2 has different shades in the tire circumferential direction for each of the unit patterns 6A and 6B. Therefore, the sensitivity quality of the tire 1 is enhanced by the decorative pattern 3.

  In the decorative pattern 3, the diagonal line pattern 8A of the first unit pattern 6A and the diagonal line pattern 8B of the second unit pattern 6B are connected to each other at the position of the vertical outline 7C. In a preferred embodiment, the hatched pattern 8A and the hatched pattern 8B include a portion in which the zigzag continues in the tire circumferential direction.

  The first unit pattern 6A and the second unit pattern 6B of the present embodiment are provided on the center pattern portion Sc in the tire radial direction composed of the diagonal pattern 8A or 8B described above and on the outer side of the center pattern portion Sc in the tire radial direction. The outer pattern portion So and the inner pattern portion Si provided on the inner side of the central pattern portion Sc in the tire radial direction are included.

  The outer pattern portion So and the inner pattern portion Si each include a vertical line pattern 9 extending along the tire radial direction in tandem with the diagonal pattern 8A or 8B. Each vertical line pattern 9 continues to the end of the diagonal line pattern 8A or 8B, and guides the diagonal line pattern 8A or 8B to the outer rib 4A or the inner rib 4B. Thereby, the edge part of the diagonal pattern 8A or 8B is reinforced, and it is suppressed that a crack arises from the said edge part.

  FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view in which the unit pattern 6 is enlarged. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5, the diagonal patterns 8 </ b> A and 8 </ b> B of the present embodiment are formed, for example, as ridges extending in parallel with each other. The vertical line pattern 9 is formed as, for example, ridges extending in parallel with each other, similarly to the diagonal line patterns 8A and 8B.

  Although the height h of the diagonal pattern 8 is not specifically limited, For example, it is 0.1-1.0 mm. When the height h is less than 0.1 mm, it is difficult to visually recognize the oblique line pattern 8 on the surface 2S of the sidewall portion 2, and the blinding effect that makes the unevenness inconspicuous may not be sufficiently exhibited. On the contrary, when the height h is larger than 1.0 mm, the durability of the oblique pattern 8 is lowered, and there is a possibility that a crack may be generated starting from the oblique pattern 8.

  The width W perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the diagonal pattern 8 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 0.4 to 1.5 mm, for example. When the width W is less than 0.4 mm, it is difficult to form the decorative pattern 3 and the productivity may be reduced. Conversely, if the width W exceeds 1.5 mm, the blinding effect may be reduced.

  The interval P between the adjacent diagonal patterns 8 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 0.4 to 2.0 mm, for example. When the interval P is larger than 2.0 mm, the oblique pattern 8 and the contour of the unevenness are difficult to overlap, and the blinding effect that makes the unevenness inconspicuous may not be sufficiently exhibited. On the contrary, when the interval P is less than 0.4 mm, the interval between the adjacent diagonal patterns 8 is small, and in the decorative pattern 3, the adjacent diagonal patterns 8 are visually recognized as being the same, and the ridges having different heights. May not be visible.

  When the decorative pattern 3 is molded by a vulcanization mold, the diagonal pattern 8 of the unit pattern 6 is formed by a groove-shaped molding portion of the vulcanization mold. Such a molded part functions as a vent line for discharging air in the mold. Therefore, it is useful for suppressing unevenness of the surface 2S of the sidewall portion 2.

FIG. 6 shows a decorative pattern 3 according to another embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 6, in this embodiment, each diagonal pattern 8A or 8B of the decorative pattern 3 has a convex portion 10A or 10B protruding at one side in the tire radial direction at the central portion in the length direction. doing. In order to effectively exhibit the effect of the oblique line pattern 8A or 8B as the vent line, it is desirable that the convex part 10A or 10B has a triangular shape and its apex angle is an obtuse angle in plan view, for example.

  In each unit pattern 6, a plurality of adjacent convex portions 10 </ b> A and 10 </ b> B can visually recognize a diagonal pattern along the apex angle. Such a unit pattern 6 further improves the blinding effect of making the unevenness inconspicuous. Moreover, the diagonal line can complicate the pattern shape of the unit pattern 6 without impairing the regularity of the diagonal pattern 8A or 8B. For this reason, even if the pattern shape of the unit pattern 6 is complicated by forming the convex portion 10A or 10B on the diagonal pattern 8A or 8B, the residual between the surface 2S of the sidewall portion 2 and the vulcanization mold Unevenness appearing on the surface 2S of the sidewall portion 2 can be suppressed without increasing air.

  For example, the protrusions 10A and 10B may be arranged in a triangular shape with the apex angle protruding along either the inward or outward direction in the tire radial direction. 10B has a triangular shape that protrudes inward in the tire radial direction.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, It can deform | transform and implement in a various aspect.

Based on the specifications of Table 1, a pneumatic tire having a decorative pattern including a diagonal pattern was prototyped and its performance was tested. A pneumatic tire (Comparative Example 1) having a decorative pattern in which vertical line patterns extending in the tire radial direction are repeatedly arranged in the tire circumferential direction was prototyped and tested in the same manner. In the sidewall portions of these pneumatic tires, a concave portion of about 0.5 mm was intentionally formed as a dent during vulcanization molding.
The common specifications are as follows.

Tire size: 195 / 65R15
Diagonal pattern (projection) height h: 0.5 mm
Diagonal pattern (projection) width W: 0.8mm
Adjacent diagonal pattern (protrusions) spacing P: 1.0 mm
Each test method is as follows.

<Blindfold performance>
In the side wall portion of each test tire, the concave portion was confirmed with the naked eye, and the distinguishability of the concave portion was evaluated by a five-point method based on the tester's sensuality. The evaluation shows that the larger the score, the more difficult it is to identify the recesses and the better the blinding performance.

<Molding performance>
Concavities and convexities formed during vulcanization molding were confirmed in the sidewall portion of each test tire, and evaluated by a five-point method based on the sensory function of the tester. In the evaluation, as the score is larger, the unevenness is not formed and the molding performance is excellent.

<Sensitivity quality>
The decorative pattern formed on the sidewall portion of each test tire was confirmed with the naked eye, and the visual performance was evaluated by a five-point method based on the aesthetic sense of the tester. The evaluation shows that the larger the score, the better the visual performance and the better the sensitivity quality.

  As a result of the test, it was confirmed that the tires of the examples were excellent in blindfolding performance, molding performance and sensitivity quality.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pneumatic tire 2 Side wall part 2S surface 3 Decoration pattern 6 Unit pattern 8 Diagonal pattern

Claims (7)

A pneumatic tire in which a band-shaped decorative pattern extending along the tire circumferential direction is formed on the surface of the sidewall portion,
The decorative pattern has a plurality of unit patterns arranged in the tire circumferential direction,
Each unit pattern is divided into an inner contour extending along the tire circumferential direction inside the tire radial direction, an outer contour extending along the tire circumferential direction outside the tire radial direction, and a pair of vertical contours extending along the tire radial direction. Segment shape with a visual effect,
The unit pattern includes a first unit pattern including a plurality of diagonal patterns arranged at an inclination on one side in the tire radial direction and a plurality of diagonal patterns arranged at an inclination on the other side in the tire radial direction. It consists of two unit patterns,
The first unit pattern and the second unit pattern are alternately arranged in the tire circumferential direction ,
The plurality of oblique patterns have a convex portion protruding at one side in a tire radial direction at a central portion in a length direction .
2. The pneumatic tire according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of adjacent convex portions visually recognize a diagonal pattern inclined to a different side in the tire radial direction from the diagonal pattern along an apex angle thereof .
  The pneumatic tire according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the decorative pattern includes a portion in which the oblique line pattern of the first unit pattern and the oblique line pattern of the second unit pattern are continuous. The first unit pattern and the second unit pattern are a central pattern portion in the tire radial direction composed of the diagonal pattern, an outer pattern portion provided outside the central pattern portion in the tire radial direction, and the central pattern. Including an inner pattern portion provided on the inner side of the tire in the radial direction of the tire,
The pneumatic tire according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the outer pattern portion and the inner pattern portion each include a vertical line pattern extending along the tire radial direction in a row with the oblique line pattern.   The pneumatic tire according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the oblique line pattern is a ridge having a height of 0.1 to 1.0 mm.   The pneumatic tire according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an interval between adjacent hatched patterns is 0.4 to 2.0 mm.   The pneumatic tire according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a width perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the oblique pattern is 0.4 to 1.5 mm.

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