JP7069781B2 - Tires with IC tags - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a tire with an IC tag.

Conventionally, as in Patent Document 1, a tire having an IC tag having an RFID chip and an antenna or the like is known.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-06325

However, the IC tag attached to the inside of the tire requires hole processing for embedding the IC tag in the tire, and it is necessary to calculate the strength of the tire by the hole, perform a strength test, etc., which makes it difficult to design the tire. ..

Further, since the IC tag is attached to the inside of the tire, there is a problem that the distance that the IC tag can communicate with the reader / writer of the external device fluctuates greatly due to the influence of the tire depending on the thickness and type of the tire.

In addition, in the UHF band IC tag that uses an elongated dipole antenna specialized for mounting on tires, the length of the IC tag increases from several centimeters to a dozen centimeters, which affects the tire to which the IC tag is attached. There was a problem that became large.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem and to provide a tire with an IC tag on which an IC tag having excellent durability is installed while ensuring a sufficient communication distance.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a tire in which an IC tag is adhered to a surface, the IC tag is electrically connected to a loop antenna on an inlay film, and an RFID chip is electrically connected to the upper and lower surfaces of the inlay film. Is covered with a polyimide film, and a vulture layer larger than the inlay film is installed on the upper surface of the polyimide film. The lower surface of the tire is adhered to the tire by an adhesive layer, the IC tag is installed on a bead portion made of a steel wire of the tire at a position 5 mm or more and 20 mm or less away from the rim, and the loop antenna of the IC tag is installed. The RFID chip is a tire with an IC tag characterized in that it is installed toward the rim side and toward the side far from the rim .

The present invention has the effect of improving the durability of the IC tag because the bending stress at the time of deformation of the tire is relaxed by the polyimide film and the vulcanization layer by the above configuration.

Further, the present invention is the above-mentioned tire with an IC tag, wherein a plurality of the IC tags are installed, and the IC tags have IC tag-to-IC tag communication control means in which the IC tags communicate with each other via a bead core. It is a tire with an IC tag, characterized in that an IC tag that communicates with a reader / writer of an external device is determined and communicated by using a communication control means between IC tags.

In the present invention, the upper and lower surfaces of the inlay film are covered with a polyimide film, a vulcanization layer larger than the inlay film is installed on the upper surface of the polyimide film, and the polyimide film and the vulcanization layer exert bending stress at the time of deformation of the tire. Since it is relaxed, it has the effect of improving the durability of the IC tag.

Further, in the present invention, the IC tag is installed on the bead portion of the tire at a position 5 mm or more and 20 mm or less away from the rim, and the loop antenna of the IC tag is arranged toward the rim side, so that the IC tag is external. There is an effect that the ideal communication distance that can communicate with the reader / writer of the device is large.

It is sectional drawing which shows the tire with IC tag which concerns on embodiment of this invention. (A) It is a top view of the IC tag according to the embodiment of this invention. (B) The same is a side sectional view. It is sectional drawing which shows the manufacturing method of the tire with IC tag by embodiment of this invention. (A) It is a perspective view which shows the tire with IC tag which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. (B) The same is a side view.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

(Tire 10)
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view in the radial direction of the tire 10 with an IC tag according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the tire 10 is composed of a tread 11, a belt 12, a carcass 13, an inner covering rubber 14, a bead portion 15, and a sidewall portion 16.

The tread 11 is the outer skin of the tire in which the tire 10 is in contact with the road surface, is composed of a thick rubber layer, and protects the carcass 13. A tread pattern is formed on the surface of the rubber layer of the tread 11.

The belt 12 is a reinforcing band stretched in the circumferential direction between the tread 11 and the carcass 12 having a radial structure, and is a plurality of layers in which the cord is covered with a rubber member to maintain the rigidity in the tire circumferential direction. I have it.

The carcass 13 is a member forming a skeleton of a tire formed by covering a carcass cord of a fiber or a steel wire with a coated rubber 7b, and is arranged so as to straddle the bead portions 15 between a pair of bead portions 15. The carcass 13 withstands a load, impact, and filling air pressure to maintain the tire structure.

The inner covering rubber 14 has a rubber layer corresponding to a tube attached to the inside of the tire.

The bead portion 15 includes a bead core 15a and a bead filler 15b, and is arranged symmetrically with respect to a plane perpendicular to the tire center axis passing through the center of the tire 10 to support both ends of the carcass cord and bring the tire to the rim 1. Fix it. The bead core 15a is a bundle of steel wires formed in a ring shape and coated with a rubber member. The bead filler 15b is a rubber member having a triangular cross section, which is filled between the rubber layer of the sidewall portion 16 and the bead core 15a and the carcass 13 in order to give rigidity to the bead portion 6.

The sidewall portion 16 is a rubber layer provided between the tread portion 11 and the bead portion 15.

(IC tag 20)
As shown in FIG. 2, the IC tag 20 has an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification: wireless tag) chip 21 electrically connected to a loop antenna 22 formed on an inlay film 23, and two polyimides are formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the entire upper and lower surfaces thereof. Cover with films 24a and 24b. The RFID chip 21 includes a storage unit for storing data and a control unit for executing a control operation.

The structure in which the vulcanization layer 25 is provided on the polyimide film 24a of the IC tag 20 forms a flexible and bendable thin film. Then, a rubber adhesive layer 26 is provided on the surface of the polyimide film 24b on the opposite side of the vulcanization layer 25 and the back surface of the vulcanization layer 25 protruding around the surface, and the IC tag 20 is attached to the tire 10 by the adhesive layer 26. Adhere to.

The dimensions of the entire IC tag 20 are the inlay film 23 and the polyimide films 24a and 24b covering the upper and lower surfaces of the inlay film 23, for example, a1 = 6 mm in length, a2 = 17 mm in width, and t = 0 in thickness. . Formed into a 1 mm film.

By covering the upper and lower surfaces of the inlay film 23 with the polyimide films 24a and 24b, bending stress is less likely to be applied to the inlay film 23, and the durability of the IC tag 20 can be improved.

(Vulcanization layer 25)
On the surface of the polyimide film 24a of the IC tag 20, a rubber member of the same quality as SBR, which is the material of the tire 10, is 0.1 mm thick and has a surface size that is one size larger than the surface size of the IC tag 20. The sheet-shaped vulcanization layer 25 is laminated via a rubber-based adhesive previously applied to the vulcanization layer 25.

By using the same material as the tire 10 for the vulcanization layer 25, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of cracks around the IC tag 20 and the peeling of the IC tag 20 caused by the difference in the amount of deformation when the tire 10 is used.

(Adhesive layer 26)
An adhesive layer 26 is provided on the lower surface of the lower polyimide film 24b on the opposite side of the vulcanization layer 25 and the back surface of the vulcanization layer 25 protruding from the surface of the polyimide film 24b, and the adhesive layer 26 is used as an IC. The tag 20 is adhered to the surface of the sidewall portion 16 of the tire 10.

Here, the surface of the sidewall portion 16 of the tire 10 is formed by vulcanizing, for example, natural rubber, isoprene rubber, butadiene rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, butyl rubber, or a rubber composition obtained by blending these. ing.

The adhesive layer 26 uses a chloroprene rubber-based adhesive having a high adhesive strength, or an adhesive containing a urethane prepolymer having a plurality of isocyanate group ends in the molecule as a main component.

Since the adhesive layer 26 made of these adhesives maintains the flexibility of the cured adhesive composition even when the IC tag 20 is adhered to the surface of the tire sidewall portion which is repeatedly subjected to large deformation during tire running. The IC tag 20 does not peel off when the tire is running, and has excellent dynamic durability.

By adhering the IC tag 20 having the polyimide films 24a and 24b and the vulcanization layer 25 formed on the surface to the tire 10 with the adhesive layer 26 in this way, the IC tag 20 adheres to the surface of the tire 10 without fear of damage. The tire 10 with the IC tag can be formed.

(Modification 1)
As a modification 1, the IC tag 20 can be attached to the tire 10 by the vulcanization treatment of the tire 10 according to the following procedure. That is, the vulcanization layer 25 is provided by performing a vulcanization process in which the surface of the polyimide film 24b of the IC tag 20 is covered with a plastic rubber member.

(Step 1)
First, as shown in the side sectional view of FIG. 3A, the material of the tire is placed on the polyimide film 24b on the surface opposite to the surface on which the RFID chip 21 of the inlay film 23 of the IC tag 20 is mounted. A sheet-like vulcanization layer 25 having a thickness of 0.1 mm and a surface size slightly larger than the surface size of the IC tag 20, which is a rubber member of the same quality as SBR, is applied to the vulcanization layer 25 in advance. Laminate via a rubber-based adhesive.

(Step 2)
Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, the IC tag 20 is adhered to the surface of the sidewall portion 16 of the unvulcanized tire 10 with the surface of the polyimide film 24a of the IC tag 20 facing the surface of the tire 10.

For this adhesion, an adhesive layer 26 of a rubber-based adhesive is formed on the surface of the polyimide film 24a of the IC tag 20 and the back surface of the vulcanization layer 25 whose periphery protrudes from the surface, and the adhesive layer 26 is used. The IC tag 20 is adhered to the surface of the sidewall portion 16 of the tire 10.

(Step 3)
Next, the entire unvulcanized tire 10 is inserted into the mold 30, the IC tag 20 is sandwiched between the mold 30 and the sidewall portion 16 of the tire 10, and the inside of the tire is heated to a high temperature of about 180 ° C. A pressure of about 25 atm is applied to the outside to vulcanize the tire 10 to complete the tire 10.

At this time, the vulcanization layer 25 comes into contact with the surface of the hard mold 30 to uniformly disperse the pressure, and the rubber member of the sidewall portion 16 of the tire 10 uniformly disperses the pressure, so that the RFID chip 21 and the inlay are uniformly distributed. By equalizing the pressure applied to the film 23, it is possible to prevent the inlay film 23 on which the RFID chip 21 is mounted from being deformed. Further, the adhesive layer 26 of the IC tag 20 and the rubber member on the surface of the sidewall portion 16 of the tire 10 are joined by high temperature and high pressure application during vulcanization.

By adhering the IC tag 20 to the tire 10 in this way, it is possible to form a tire 10 with an IC tag in which the IC tag 20 is adhered to the surface of the tire without fear of damage.

(Placement position of IC tag 20)
The IC tag 20 is installed on the bead portion 15, on the sidewall portion 16 at a position 10 mm away from the rim 1, the loop antenna 22 is directed toward the rim 1 side of the tire wheel, and the RFID chip 21 is installed toward the side far from the rim 1. do.

According to the result of the experiment, when the IC tag 20 is arranged with the loop antenna 22 facing the rim 1 side, the IC tag 20 is an external device as compared with the case where the loop antenna 22 is arranged toward the side far from the rim 1. We obtained the knowledge that the limit distance (ideal communication distance) that can communicate with the reader / writer doubles.

Further, when the IC tag 20 is installed at a position 10 mm from the rim 1, the ideal communication distance is larger than when the IC tag 20 is installed close to the rim side or at a position 20 mm from the rim 1. I got the knowledge.

That is, the ideal communication distance when the IC tag 20 is installed close to the rim 1 side is reduced to one-third of the case where the IC tag 20 is installed at a position 10 mm from the rim 1, and is located at a position 20 mm from the rim 1. The ideal communication distance when installing has been reduced to about 2/3.

Therefore, it is desirable to install the IC tag 20 at a position 5 mm to 20 mm away from the rim 1.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the RFID chip 21 of the IC tag 20 and the loop antenna 22 are coated with the polyimide films 24a and 24b and adhered to the tire 10, and the surface of the IC tag 20 is covered with the vulcanization layer 25. Covered. By doing so, the polyimide films 24a and 24b and the vulcanization layer 25 alleviate the bending stress at the time of deformation of the tire 10, so that the durability of the IC tag 20 is improved.

Further, in the tire 10 with an IC tag of the present embodiment, the IC tag 20 is installed on the sidewall portion 16 near the bead portion 15 at a position 5 mm to 20 mm away from the rim 1 to form a loop antenna of the IC tag 20. Since the 22 is electromagnetically coupled to the bead core 15a that functions as an antenna, there is an effect that a long communication distance can be secured.

<Second embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of IC tags 20 are arranged so as to be adhered to the surface of the bead portion 15 of the tire 10.

The IC tag 20 is arranged at a position 5 mm to 20 mm away from the rim 1 of the tire 10 as in the first embodiment. Further, the IC tag 20 is arranged with the loop antenna 22 side of the IC tag 20 facing the rim 1.

In the present embodiment, by providing a plurality of IC tags 20 on one tire 10, even if the tire 10 is damaged due to use in a harsh environment or the IC tag 20 is peeled off from the tire 10, the remaining IC tags 20 remain. IC tag 20 can communicate with the reader / writer of the external device and transmit necessary information to the reader / writer.

When a reader / writer of an external device electromagnetically couples to the bead core 15a of the tire 10 to supply electric power, these plurality of IC tags 20 receive electric power from the bead core 15a and operate. Then, the plurality of IC tags 20 communicate with each other via the bead core 15a and consult with each other to determine the priority of the IC tags 20 communicating with the reader / writer of the external device. Then, the IC tag 20 having the highest priority communicates with the reader / writer of the external device.

The IC tag 20 is provided with an IC tag-to-IC tag communication control means that performs a process of communicating with another IC tag in order to determine the priority.

In this way, the IC tags communicate with each other via the bead core 15a, so that the IC tag 20 that communicates with the reader / writer of the external device is defined as one and communicates with each other. It has the effect of maintaining the order of communication with the IC tag.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It is clear from the claims that embodiments with such modifications or improvements may also be included in the technical scope of the invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the passive type IC tag 20 that wirelessly communicates with the reader / writer that reads the tire data has been described, but the present invention transmits / receives data to / from the reader / writer. It can also be applied to active IC tags.

1 ... Rim 10 ... Tire 11 ... Tread 12 ... Belt 13 ... Carcass 14 ... Inner coating rubber 15 ... Bead part 15a ... Bead core 15b ... Bead filler 16・ ・ ・ Sidewall part 20 ・ ・ ・ IC tag 21 ・ ・ ・ RFID chip 22 ・ ・ ・ loop antenna 23 ・ ・ ・ inlay film 24a, 24b ・ ・ ・ polyimide film 25 ・ ・ ・ vulcanized layer 26 ・ ・ ・ adhesive Layer 30 ... Mold a1 ... Vertical width of inlay film a2 ... Width of inlay film

Claims (2)

A tire having an IC tag bonded to the surface, the IC tag has an RFID chip electrically connected to a loop antenna on the inlay film, the upper and lower surfaces of the inlay film are covered with a polyimide film, and the upper surface of the polyimide film is covered. A vulture layer larger than the inlay film is installed on the tire, and the lower surface of the vulture layer protruding from the polyimide film and the lower surface of the polyimide film on the lower surface side are adhered to the tire by the adhesive layer. The IC tag is installed at a position 5 mm or more and 20 mm or less away from the rim on the bead portion made of the steel wire of the tire, the loop antenna of the IC tag faces the rim side , and the RFID chip is A tire with an IC tag that is characterized by being installed toward the side far from the rim . The tire with an IC tag according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the IC tags are installed, and the IC tags have IC tag-to-IC tag communication control means in which the IC tags communicate with each other via a bead core. A tire with an IC tag, which is characterized in that an IC tag that communicates with a reader / writer of an external device is determined and communicated by using a communication control means.

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