MXPA06001975A - Method of producing solid flexible inner tubes for tyres and resulting products. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of producing solid flexible inner tubes for tyres, which are made from polyurethane elastomer material and which are characterised in that they can recover the original shape thereof, with the self-sealing of punctures, and to inner tubes thus obtained. The inventive method comprises the following steps consisting in: 1) heating a polymer resin having a viscosity varying between 1000 and 25000 centipoises to a temperature varying between 25 and 120 DEG C; 2) placing the hot resin in a vacuum chamber with a vacuum of between 1 and 32 inches of mercury for between 5 and 390 minutes; 3) mixing the hot resin with another mixture of isocyanate- and amine-type catalysts at a concentration of between 10 and 60 wt.- % of any mixture selected from said type of catalysts for between 5 and 20 minutes at a velocity of between 60 and 6500 revolutions per minute; 4) producing the inner tube in two separate parts which are subsequently joined, by emptying the mixtur e into two moulds which have been prepared with a mould release agent and which have been pre-heated to a temperature of between 25 and 120 DEG C, each mould being made from a metal material or different suitable resins, with a counter mould which is made from the same material or a similar material to that of the mould, the thickness of the walls of the inner tube varying between 4 and 25 millimetres; 5) producing the inner tube in a single part, using polystyrene foam as a counter mould which is fixed to the mould using strips of polypropylene, cotton or any synthetic fibre with a width of between 1 and 4 centimetres; 6) leaving the part to cure at ambient temperature or heating same to a maximum temperature of 120 DEG C for a period of 6 to 24 hours; 7) following said period, stripping the part and leaving same to rest for 24 hours; 8) joining the two halves using the same resin or any epoxide- or cyanacrylate-type adhesive; 9) removing the polystyrene foam from the finished part u sing any suitable solvent, such as methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, methylene chloride, etc., which is poured into the part through holes which are formed by the fixing of the above-mentioned strips; 10) sealing the perforations in the finished part that are provided to support the polypropylene strips, using pieces of the same material or any other elastomer material, which are inserted and affixed using the urethane elastomer material or the epoxide- or cyanacrylate-type adhesive; 11) inserting the inner tube into a normal vehicle tyre and, subsequently, inserting the tyre into the rim of the vehicle and filling same with pressurised air in accordance with that specified for the tyre of the vehicle. The tyre inner tubes thus produced have the following properties: any section of the inner tubes can be repeatedly extended or compressed, such as to return to the original shape and dimensions thereof, with the self-sealing of perforations caused by impacts from bullets, sharp metal parts or sharp rigid parts, thereby preventing air from being released from the tyre and enabling the continued use of said tyre.

Description

PROCEDURE FOR MANUFACTURING SOLID FLEXIBLE CHAMBERS FOR TIRES, AND RESULTING PRODUCTS.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to processes for manufacturing chambers and, more particularly, to a process for manufacturing a flexible solid chamber for a rim, of polyurethane elastomeric material, which when pierced by either bullet impact, sharp pieces or sharp, etc. , has the peculiarity of recovering its shape, self-sealing said perforations and thus preventing the release of air and allowing its running to continue.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various types of processes are known for the manufacture of chambers and tires for vehicles, whose chambers and tires are manufactured by different processes with materials of different chemical formulations, which do not have the peculiarity of recovering their original shape, when they suffer punctures by bullets. or sharp object. Also, there are pasty flowing compounds, not rigid or liquid, that are encapsulated between two layers that are inside a rim, the compounds being pasty of different physical structures and having chemical formulations, providing a sealing mechanism. Examples of these pasty compounds are those of Mexican patent 183,487 entitled "Sealant formulation of Perforations"; US Patent Application 9022001992/06/22 in which high molecular weight low molecular weight liquid elastomer polymers and a crosslinking agent are claimed; European application 0191 7627 entitled "Anti-perforation sealing agent, pneumatic tire without air chamber and pneumatic air chamber" 7 Chinese patents 1350493, 1350494 and 1425051; North American application series 10 / 239,872; North American patent 6,868,881 B1; European patents 1 18058A1, 1065042A1; 0816, 132A, 1281741 A1, and European application 99901959 entitled "Method for manufacturing tires with sealing agents and tires with sealing oil", etc. Summarizing in these patents and applications encapsulated sealants covering only the bottom of the rim are claimed. that is, viscous pastes that flow into the holes, sealing the punctures of a rim There are puncture sealers which are some emulsions of liquid mixtures and solids of chemical formulation and different physical structures, such as those of the US patent applications 200300674 and European 00948709 and 991 18293, application P2000302719, pa Tente LP 1001 7051; Japanese patents 2000104042, 57063374, 54008307, 2003193030; U.S. Patent Nos. 5,705,604, 5,124,395, 6,063,837, 6,283, 172B1, 5,856,376 and 6,454,892; U.S. Patent Application 2004 / 0048962A1 European Patent 1270188A1; international applications PCT / US92 / 00405, PCT / US00 / 19401, PCT / EP98 / 05807; British Patent 2370574; Japanese patent 2001301050, French patents 2735486 and 2727978; and applications PCT / US01 / 19548 and PCT / AU95 / 00487 etc. These patents and applications claim emulsions of mixtures of solids and liquids that are placed inside the tire, which serve to fill the punctures of the tire. Other puncture sealers are sticky materials that do not flow and are made with a different physical structure and chemical compositions, such as those of European application 90001 124, Chinese patents 1569501, North American 6864.305B2; European 1291 156 and 0867494A2, etc. In these patents and applications, sticky coatings are described which do not flow in the inner layer of the tire, to seal punctures of the tire. Still more other sealants are made from solid powder mixtures having different chemical compositions and physical structures, such as those of the North American patents 6,506,730B1 and Taiwanese 472004, which describe mixtures of powders that are placed inside the tire, to seal the punctures of it. There are sealants that are manufactured with layers of coatings of mixtures of butyl rubber, isoprene and various varieties of rubber with chemical composition and physical structure different, for sealing punctures in tires; such as those of the North American patents 2004/0159386 and 2003/3230376 and European 1457308A1. OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide a process for manufacturing flexible solid chambers for rims, made of polyurethane or simulated elastomeric material, which when pierced by bullet impact, metallic sharps, such as screws, nails, etc, and sharp pieces such as glass, sharp points, etc. , have the peculiarity of recovering their original form. Another objective is to provide a process for making flexible chambers that cover the entire interior of the tires. Still another objective is to provide a procedure for manufacturing flexible chambers for tires, which is simple, easy to carry out, and of minimum duration of time and cost. DESCRI PCIÓN A procedure is described for the manufacture of a flexible solid chamber for tires, said chamber is made with polyurethane elastomer that has the peculiarity of recovering its shape, self-sealing perforations. This camera is inserted inside the normal rim of a vehicle, to avoid the leakage of air caused by punctures allowing the filming to continue. This procedure consists of the following steps: 1) heating a polymer resin that is a mixture of the type that is used for the manufacture of flexible polyurethane elastomers, with an appropriate viscosity and temperature; 2) place the hot resin in a desired vacuum chamber; 3) mixing the hot resin with another mixture of isocyanate and amine type catalysts, in a specific amount of any selected mixture of catalysts of this type, for a desired speed; 4) to manufacture the chamber in two separate pieces to be joined later, empty the mixture in two molds previously prepared with a release agent and preheated to a specific temperature, each mold is made of any type of metallic material or of various resins suitable for the manufacture of molds for the emptying of plastic resins, with a countermold of the same material or similar to the material of the mold, leaving a variable thickness of the walls of the chamber. 5) to manufacture the chamber in one piece, use as polystyrene foam backing that is fixed to the mold by means of polypropylene tapes, cotton or any synthetic fiber with a desired width; 6) Let the piece cure at room temperature or heating up a maximum temperature, during a desired period; 7) After this period, unmold the piece and let it rest for an appropriate period; 8) join the two halves using the same resin used in the manufacture of the piece or by means of some glue; 9) empty the complete piece, polystyrene foam, using some suitable solvent, which is emptied into the interior of the piece by the remaining holes due to the fixing of the tapes; 10) seal in the complete piece, the perforations that were left to hold the polypropylene tapes, by pieces of the same material or any other elastomeric material that is inserted and glued, using the elastomeric material of urethane or glue of the epoxy or cyanoacrylate type; 1 1) Insert the camera inside a normal vehicle tire, then insert the tire into the vehicle's wheel and fill it with pressurized air, as specified on the vehicle rim. PREFERRED MODALITIES OF THE I NVENTION In these modalities a procedure is described for manufacturing tire chambers, made of elastomeric polyurethane material, and chambers obtained by said procedure. He procedure for manufacturing said flexible solid chambers for rims of the elastomeric material that have the peculiarity of recovering their shape by self-puncturing, in this embodiment it is constituted by the steps of: 1) heating a polymeric resin which is a mixture of the type used for the manufacture of flexible polyurethane elastomers, with a viscosity ranging from 1000 to 25,000 centipoise, and at a temperature ranging from 25 to 120 ° Celsius; 2) place the hot resin in a vacuum chamber, with a vacuum ranging from 1 to 32 inches of mercury, for a time ranging from 5 to 390 minutes; 3) mixing the hot resin with another mixture of isocyanate and amine type catalysts, in an amount of 10 to 60% by weight of any selected mixture of catalysts of this type, for 5 to 20 minutes, at a rate of 60 to 6500 revolutions per minute; 4) to manufacture the chamber in two separate pieces that will be joined later, empty the mixture in two molds previously prepared with a release agent and preheated to a temperature of 25 to 120 degrees centigrade, each mold is made of any type of metallic material or various resins suitable for the manufacture of molds for the emptying of plastic resins, with a counter-mold of the same material or similar to the material of the mold, leaving a thickness of the walls of the chamber, which can vary from 4 to 25 millimeters; 5) to manufacture the chamber in one piece, use as a counter-mold polystyrene foam that is fixed to the mold by means of polypropylene tapes, cotton or any synthetic fiber with a width of 1 to 4 centimeters; 6) let the piece cure at room temperature or heating up to a maximum of 120 degrees centigrade, for a period of 6 to 24 hours; 7) After this period, unmold the piece and let it stand to rest for a period of 24 hours; 8) join the two halves by means of the same resin used in the manufacture of the piece or by means of some glue of the epoxide or cyanoacrylate type; 9) empty the entire piece, polystyrene foam, using some suitable solvent, such as methylethyl ketone, toluene, methylene chloride, etc. , which is emptied into the interior of the piece by the holes that remain due to the fixing of the tapes; 10) seal in the complete piece, the perforations that were left to hold the polypropylene tapes, by pieces of the same material or any other elastomeric material? which are inserted and stuck, using the elastomeric urethane material or epoxy or cyanoacrylate type glue; 1 1) Insert the camera inside a normal vehicle tire, then insert the tire into the vehicle's wheel and fill it with pressurized air, as specified on the vehicle's rim; With this procedure, tire chambers are obtained, made of polyurethane elastomeric material, with the properties following: any section of the cameras can be extended or compressed repeatedly, returning to its original shape and size, self-sealing perforations caused by bullet impacts, metal sharp pieces and sharp pieces of rigid materials, preventing air from escaping from inside of said rim, and allowing the running of these rims to continue. In other words, these cameras have the peculiarity of recovering their shape, self-sealing punctures caused by sharp or sharp objects in said cameras. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to this invention, without deviating from or departing from the scope of the following claims:

Claims (10)

R E I V I N D I C A C I O N S

1 .- Procedure for the manufacture of a chamber for a rim, which is made of elastomeric polyurethane material, where any section of the chamber can be extended or compressed repeatedly returning to its original shape and measurements, self-sealing perforations in the same caused by bullet impacts, metal sharp pieces and sharp pieces of rigid materials, preventing air from escaping from inside said rim; the process being characterized by the following steps: 1) heating the polymer resin, which is a mixture of the type used for the manufacture of flexible polyurethane elastomers, and having a viscosity ranging from 1000 to 25,000 centipoise, at a temperature which varies from 25 to 120 ° C; 2) placing the hot polymeric resin in a vacuum chamber, which has a vacuum ranging from 1 to 32 inches of mercury, for a time ranging from 5 to 390 minutes; 3) mixing the hot polymer resin with another mixture of isocyanate and amine type catalysts, in an amount of 10 to 60% by weight of any selected mixture of catalysts of this type, for a period of 5 to 20 minutes, at a time speed from 60 to 6500 revolutions per minute; 4) to manufacture the chamber in two separate pieces that will be joined later, empty the mixture in two molds previously prepared with a release agent and preheated to a temperature from 25 to 120 ° C, each mold is made of any type of metal material or various resins suitable for the manufacture of molds for the emptying of plastic resins, with a countermold of the same material or similar to the material of the mold, leaving the thickness of the walls of the chamber that can vary from 4 to 25 millimeters; 5) to manufacture the chamber in a single piece, use as a counter-mold polystyrene foam that is fixed to the mold by means of polypropylene tapes, cotton or any synthetic fiber with a width of 1 to 4 cm; 6) allow the piece to cure at room temperature or by heating up to a maximum temperature of 120 ° C, for a period of 6 to 224 hours; 7) After this period, unmold the piece and let it rest for a period of 24 hours; 8) join the two halves by means of the same resin used in the manufacture of the piece or by means of some glue of the epoxide or cyanoacrylate type; 9) empty the complete polystyrene foam piece, using some suitable solvent to dissolve it, such as methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, methylene chloride, etc. that is emptied into the interior of the piece by the holes that remain due to the fixing of the tapes; 10) seal in the complete piece the perforations that were left to hold the polypropylene tapes, by pieces of the same material or any other elastomeric material that is inserted and glued, using the elastomeric material of urethane or pigment of the epoxide or cyanoacrylate type; Y 1 1) Insert the camera inside a normal vehicle tire, and then insert the tire into the vehicle's wheel and fill it with air pressure, as specified on the vehicle rim.

2. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the polymer resin is a mixture of the type of resins used in the manufacture of flexible polyurethane elastomers, with a viscosity ranging from 100 to 25,000 centipoises.

3. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the resin is heated to a temperature ranging from 25 to 120 ° C.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the resin is placed in a vacuum chamber having a vacuum ranging from 1 to 32 inches of mercury, for a time ranging from 5 to 390 minutes.

5.- The procedure in accordance with the claim 1, characterized in that the isocyanate is any of the socianates used in the manufacture of flexible polyurethane elastomers.

6.- The procedure in accordance with the claim 1, characterized in that the isocyanate is diphenylmethane-4,4-diisocyanate.

7. The procedure according to the claim 1, characterized in that the amine is of the type of amines used in the manufacture of flexible polyurethane elastomers.

8. The procedure according to the claim 1, characterized in that the resin mixture and the catalyst mixture are stirred for a period of 5 to 20 minutes, at a speed from 60 to 6500 revolutions per minute.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, in order to manufacture the chamber in two separate pieces that will be subsequently joined, the mixture is emptied into two molds previously prepared with a release agent and preheated to a temperature of 25 to 120. ° C, each mold is made of any type of metallic material or diverse resins suitable for the manufacture of molds for the emptying of plastic resins, with a countermold of the same material or similar to the material of the mold, leaving the thickness of the walls of the camera that can vary from 4 to 25 millimeters.

10. The procedure according to the claim 1, characterized in that, in order to manufacture the chamber in a single piece, polystyrene foam is used as a counter-mold, which is fixed to the mold by means of polypropylene, cotton or any synthetic fiber tapes, with a width of 1 to 4 cm. 1 .- The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the piece is allowed to cure at room temperature or heating up to a maximum temperature of 120 ° C, for a period of 6 to 24 hours. 12. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that, after curing the piece, it is demoulded and left to rest for a period of 24 hours. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the two halves are joined by the same resin used in the manufacture of the piece or by means of some glue of the epoxide or cyanoacrylate type. 14. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the polystyrene foam is emptied of the complete piece using some suitable solvent to dissolve it, such as methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, methylene chloride, etc. that is emptied into the interior of the piece by the holes that remain due to the fixing of the tapes. 15. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that in the complete piece the perforations that were left to hold the polypropylene tapes are sealed by pieces of the same material or any other elastomeric material that is inserted and pasted using the urethane elastomeric material or epoxy or cyanoacrylate type glue. 16. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the chamber is inserted in a normal vehicle rim and subsequently the rim is inserted in the wheel of the vehicle and filled with air under pressure, as specified in the vehicle's rim. 1 7.- A chamber for an elastomeric polyurethane tire that self-pierces the perforations caused by sharp objects, which is inserted inside the normal rim of a vehicle, to avoid air leakage caused by punctures, characterized in that this chamber is get by the procedure of claim 1 heating up to a maximum of 120 ° C, for a period of 6 to 24 hours; 7) After this period, unmold the piece and let it rest for a period of 24 hours; 8) join the two halves by the same resin or some glue of the epoxide or cyanoacrylate type; 9) empty the entire piece, polystyrene foam, using some suitable solvent, such as methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, methylene chloride, etc. , which is emptied into the interior of the piece by the holes that remain due to the fixing of the tapes; 10) seal in the complete piece, the perforations that were left to hold the polypropylene tapes, using pieces of the same material or any other elastomeric material that are inserted and glued, using the elastomeric material of urethane or glue of the epoxide or cyanoacrylate type; 1 1) Insert the camera inside a normal vehicle tire, then insert the tire into the vehicle's wheel and fill it with pressurized air, as specified on the vehicle rim. Tire chambers, manufactured with this procedure, have the following properties: any section of the chambers can be extended or compressed repeatedly, returning to their original shape and dimensions, self-sealing perforations caused by bullet impacts, metal sharps and parts sharp of rigid materials, avoiding that the air escapes of the interior of said rim, and allowing that the running of these tires continues.