Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60C—VEHICLE TYRES; TYRE INFLATION; TYRE CHANGING; CONNECTING VALVES TO INFLATABLE ELASTIC BODIES IN GENERAL; DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS RELATED TO TYRES
  • B60C23/00—Devices for measuring, signalling, controlling, or distributing tyre pressure or temperature, specially adapted for mounting on vehicles; Arrangement of tyre inflating devices on vehicles, e.g. of pumps or of tanks; Tyre cooling arrangements
  • B60C23/02—Signalling devices actuated by tyre pressure
  • B60C23/04—Signalling devices actuated by tyre pressure mounted on the wheel or tyre
  • B60C23/0491—Constructional details of means for attaching the control device
  • B60C23/0493—Constructional details of means for attaching the control device for attachment on the tyre
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29D—PRODUCING PARTICULAR ARTICLES FROM PLASTICS OR FROM SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE
  • B29D30/00—Producing pneumatic or solid tyres or parts thereof
  • B29D30/0061—Accessories, details or auxiliary operations not otherwise provided for
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29D—PRODUCING PARTICULAR ARTICLES FROM PLASTICS OR FROM SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE
  • B29D30/00—Producing pneumatic or solid tyres or parts thereof
  • B29D30/0061—Accessories, details or auxiliary operations not otherwise provided for
  • B29D2030/0072—Attaching fasteners to tyres, e.g. patches, in order to connect devices to tyres
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T152/00—Resilient tires and wheels
  • Y10T152/10—Tires, resilient
  • Y10T152/10495—Pneumatic tire or inner tube

Definitions

• the present invention relates to tires for vehicle wheels. It relates particularly to the attachment to tires of associated functional objects.
• objects may be sensors, identification circuits, and / or bodies adapted to communicate with the tire environment, to monitor its operation and the evolution of its physical characteristics or to provide alarms, all functions more or less developed to offer the so-called smart tire market.
• One of the main problems to be solved is that of the installation and maintenance of the objects in the tire for sometimes very long periods, can even run during the entire life of the tire, and this in conditions that preserve the physical and functional integrity of the tire and these objects in a particularly severe environment, whether the periods of travel or rest of the tire vehicle thus equipped.
• WO 03/070496 discloses another solution in which the inner wall of the tire is coated before firing a tongue of material whose surface is lined with loops, forming a part of a self-gripping fastener of the type to loops and hooks.
• the other part of this fastener is furnished with hooks which are capable of engaging in the loops of the first piece when the two parts are brought together against each other, after the baking of the tire and before mounting it. on a wheel rim.
• On the opposite side to the hooks of this second piece is fixed the object to be installed inside the cavity of the tire.
• the object can be sandwiched between the coated faces of loops and hooks of the two parts to retain it in the chosen position of the inner wall.
• the foregoing solutions suffer from the fact that the first part of the fastener, adhesive or self gripping, integrated into the wall of the tire during manufacture, is likely to hinder the deformations of this wall under the action of the solicitations of which it is the object in two cases. It is in the first case the manufacture of the tire, especially when the latter comprises one or more steps involving a conformation of the envelope. The second case is that of the running tire. It will be remembered that the wall of the envelope is deformed cyclically at each turn of the wheel. In addition, it is subject to deformations that can be substantial to absorb all the forces and shocks resulting from the displacement of the wheel on uneven pavements, or even filled with obstacles, such as potholes, pebbles, curbs, etc.
• the invention aims to achieve the fixation of an object in a tire using a two-part fastener, one of which is secured to the wall of the tire, in a manner that disturbs as little as possible the tire intended to receive it, in its operation and, where appropriate, in its manufacture.
• a tire according to one aspect of the invention comprises an envelope whose wall is adapted to withstand an internal service pressure after the casing has been mounted on a vehicle wheel and a self gripping fastener. to fix an object to this wall, this fastener comprising a first portion integral with the wall and capable of deforming with it, a second part adapted to be mechanically coupled to the first part by connecting elements when it is applied against it; , so as to keep the object in the service position on the wall of the tire.
• This fastener comprising a first portion integral with the wall and capable of deforming with it, a second part adapted to be mechanically coupled to the first part by connecting elements when it is applied against it; , so as to keep the object in the service position on the wall of the tire.
• the characteristic of the own deformability of the first fastening part is such that the stresses developed in this fastener by the deformations it undergoes in contact with said wall are substantially less than the stresses which cause said deformations in the wall of the envelope; - so that the presence of this first attachment part does not substantially impede the deformations of the wall, and
• said connecting elements leave (or provide) an ability to move mechanically between the first and the second attachment part which limits the transmission of said stresses to the second part of the fastener and to the object; in his service position.
• the proposed fastening system preserves the sector of the envelope wall to which the object is attached, in particular allowing it to deform according to its normal mode of operation, and in particular to stretch, without In particular, when the wall of the tire is stressed in tension at the point where the fastener is fixed, it stretches by transmitting at its interface with said fastener shear which cause an extension thereof and accompany its return to the initial state when the stress of tension disappears.
• the deformability characteristics of said fastener are such that the elongation and withdrawal deformations imposed by the pneumatic wall (under the effect of stresses in the envelope which may be large) do not lead to reaction that weak stresses in this wall.
• this effect is achieved without affecting the strength of the fixation of the object because the deformations of the first part of the fastener are essentially absorbed by the connection made between the two parts.
• the quality of the attachment of the connecting elements is maintained throughout the use and the object itself is, at least for the most part, protected from mechanical stresses that affect the wall to which it is fixed.
• connection between the first and the second part can be advantageously performed according to the known mode of mechanical self gripping systems.
• the connecting members comprise wire or wire elements or flexible rods which connect one side of the thin support to a corresponding face of the second attachment portion.
• the physical or geometrical characteristics of these elements in particular their length, their inclination with respect to the surface of the attachment parts on which they depend, their distribution, their density, are determined to confer on the connection a tangential and / or radial displacement capacity. between said adequate faces to avoid or attenuate the transmission to the attached object deformations that affect the first part of the fastener under the effect of elongations, shears, torsions experienced by the rolling tire.
• each of the first and second attachment parts is lined with connecting elements adapted to hook to the connecting elements of the other part when the corresponding faces of these two parts are pressed. or applied against each other.
• These connecting elements may comprise in known manner male coupling elements, such as hooks, harpoons or mushrooms, protruding from the surface of one of said attachment parts and female coupling elements, such as loops or cavities. , integral in the corresponding face of the other attachment part.
• the connecting elements of the first part fasteners are loops of adjustable length and / or tilt emerging in one or more transverse directions relative to the surface of the envelope wall.
• the first part of the fastener comprises a thin support integral with the wall of the casing and having a structural elongation capacity at least equal to the maximum amplitude of the deformation of the casing. envelope of which it is solidary under the action of the solicitations of which it can be the object.
• the thin support may comprise a web, fabric or fabric, woven or not, or made using a knitted mesh structure or mesh size, or in another way.
• the son or filaments of this structure form a substrate to which are fixed flexible connecting elements which project on one of the faces of the support whose other face is intended to be fixed at the chosen location in the wall of the envelope of the pneumatic.
• the surface of the support may have gaps or cavities forming cavities inlets into which the ends of male connecting elements, in the form of hooks, harpoons or mushrooms originating from the second part of the tube, can be introduced. hook and loop fastener for hooking.
• the wire elements which form the fabric of the thin support may be elastic so as to confer on the thin support the required properties of deformability with the wall to which the first attachment part is associated. They can also be assembled in a loose structure for example as that of a knit or a hook work which gives them significant expansion possibilities with or without elastic deformation.
• a mesh-type structure consisting of rings, flexible or not, attached to each other in two dimensions to form a sheet, is also well suited to the needs.
• the support thus formed may be coated on at least one side with a substance, for example rubbery, which gives the sheet an elastic return capability if necessary.
• the structural elongation capacity of the thin support of the first self-gripping fastener portion must be at least equal to 10%; to absorb the cyclic deformations of the wall of the tire during operation of the rolling envelope; preferably she is at least 30%, to suitably absorb the substantial deformations of the casing encountered by the tire during operation as indicated above, in particular casing the foreseeable accidental deformations of the wall of the tire in contact with obstacles encountered while taxiing.
• the initial structural capacity of elongation of the thin support before the completion of the manufacturing process must make it possible to withstand the deformations, in particular the permanent elongations, inherent to the one or more conformation phases of the uncured blank in its manufacture (as well as during its vulcanization if necessary).
• the shaping operations are important, it may be necessary to select for the thin support a material having a structural capacity of initial elongation, that is to say before the final consolidation or stabilization operations such as vulcanization, at least 20% and can even reach 100% to accompany the elongations of the wall throughout its manufacture.
• the deformability characteristic of the material constituting the thin support (for example its elastic modulus) must be low enough that this support does not oppose, during operation, strong resistance to elongation efforts. which are transmitted to it by the wall of the tire to which it is attached and, as it does not substantially interfere with their interface deformation of the latter under the effect of the stresses it undergoes during operation. It is thus possible to select for the thin support a flexible material whose modulus of elasticity in the principal direction of the deformations of the wall of the envelope is less than 3.5 MPa at room temperature (23 ° C.), and 2, 5 MPa at 6O 0 C.
• a fastener whose first portion comprises connecting elements located directly in the wall of the tire and which project outwardly of the wall in the sector concerned .
• the ends of the connecting elements implanted in the wall are free to move apart or closer to each other during deformation of the wall without restricting the latter.
• the physical and / or geometric characteristics of the flexible wires that constitute these elements, in particular their length, are chosen according to the mechanical decoupling performance required to maintain the object at the chosen location while preserving it from the stresses that affect the wall of the pneumatic under the conditions of particularly severe environment prevailing in rolling, so as to best meet the conditions of durability required by the application.
• the invention also relates to a self gripping fastener for fixing an object in a tire characterized in that it performs a mechanical decoupling between a first portion of the fastener intended to be secured to the wall of the tire and a second part which can be applied against the first part to hold the object against the wall of the tire in a service position.
• the invention also relates to a tire blank in the course of manufacture comprising a thin support having the aforementioned deformability characteristics associated with raw components of the tire wall to form at the end of manufacture a first part self gripping fastener integral with this wall.
• Figure 1 very schematically shows an embodiment of a wall of a tire equipped according to the invention of a self gripping fastener.
• Figure 2a illustrates, in plan view, an embodiment of the looped portion of such a fastener according to the currently available models and Figure 2b is a sectional view along the plane A of Figure 2a.
• Figure 3a shows a preferred embodiment of the part of Figure 2a for the implementation of the invention in the example and Figure 3b is a sectional view along the plane B of Figure 3a .
• Figures 4A and 4B illustrate an operating mechanism of the invention when the tire wall undergoes deformations during operation.
• Figures 5a and 5b illustrate a detail for fixing without error an object to the wall of a tire with a fastener according to the invention.
• a self gripping fastener 10 is fixed on an inner face 23 of the wall 22 of a tire casing 20.
• this wall defines an inflatable cavity. It is coated with an inner layer of rubber 24, intended to optimize its sealing to the inflation gas.
• the rubber layer 24 is deposited on one or more layers of rubber 26 behind which is disposed a carcass ply 28 whose reinforcing cables 29 appear in section.
• the fastener 10 is a self gripping fastener consisting of two parts.
• a first part comprises a thin and flexible support, here in the form of a tongue 12 of an industrial fabric or knit having a capacity of elastic elongation dosed in the directions of its plane, as will be explained below.
• One side of this tongue 12 is here secured to the inner layer of rubber 24.
• fastened female fastening elements such as flexible loops 13 made of aramid flexible wire, polyamide, polyester or other.
• the loops 13 which form a kind of fur on the surface of the tongue 12 are directed towards the inside of the cavity 25 of the tire 20 to allow male fastening elements such as hooks to be fixed therein as explained below.
• the second part of the fastener 10 is formed by another thin support, or wafer 16 shown very schematically in Figure 1 in position coupled with the tongue 12 of the first part.
• a face 17 of the plate 16 facing the inner wall 22 of the tire, is lined with male hooking elements such as hooks 18, which project outwardly from the face 17 of the wafer 16 and of which at least a certain number are, in the coupling position shown, engaged in respective loops 13 of the fur lining the face 14 of the buckled tongue 12.
• a functional object for example an electronic circuit 27 encapsulated in a protective material.
• This circuit can fulfill one or more functions for intelligent tire, namely first an active communication function, or passive in response to an electrical, magnetic or wireless solicitation. It can also fulfill measurement functions in the environment, such as temperature and pressure, or more operational measurements concerning constraints that affect the tire, dynamic parameters such as accelerations. It can finally exercise, without this list is limiting, monitoring or alarm functions.
• the hooks 18 are made of steel and implanted in a web or knit aramid constituting the plate 16, these materials being adapted to withstand the severe environment prevailing in the pneumatic cavity, both in pressure and temperature for periods that may span several years.
• the tongue 12 supporting the loops 13, and forming the thin support of the first part of the fastener 10 has undergone a coating treatment to give it raw tack (tack) which holds it in a fixed position of the wall 22 during the manufacture of the tire and a suitable adhesion after firing.
• the tongue 12 is capable of deforming parallel to its plane and in particular to lengthen at the same time as the wall of the tire to which it is attached without opposing resistance important to the elongations of this wall during the operation of the tire.
• any zone of the wall 22 of the tire is deformed cyclically from the moment when the corresponding sector of the tread enters the contact area of the tire. with the running surface until it comes out of it, as well as to a lesser extent throughout the rest of the circular stroke of that area around the wheel axis, until the return of the corresponding sector of the tread in the contact area.
• the wall 22 is also subjected to the shocks transmitted by the unevenness of the roadway in contact with which the wheel moves. This is the case, in particular, when it encounters significant obstacles such as speed bumps, stones, potholes, various curbs, etc.
• a tongue 12 whose structural elongation capacity is at least equal to that of the wall of the tire envelope in the sectors considered.
• a material is chosen whose structural elongation capacity is at least 10% and preferably at least 30% to take account of the conditions of use of certain types of tires (civil engineering). for example), or if one wishes to have a sufficient safety margin in the case of severely damaged roadways.
• a thin support whose modulus of elasticity, or elastic modulus, in the direction of the forces transmitted by the pneumatic wall is such that the forces generated in the thin support in reaction to the deformations imposed on it at its interface with the wall of the casing are low compared to the forces that are the cause in this envelope wall.
• it may hold modulus of elasticity values in extension at 10% strain of 3.5 MPa at room temperature (23 0 C), and 2.5 MPa at 6O 0 C.
• the wall of the tire envelope may in particular deform during operation of the tire without the risk of being substantially clamped by the tongue 12 at the interface.
• the fabric or the constituent fabric of the thin support of the tongue loops can be made by weaving, knitting or other entanglement technique of fibers made of materials adapted to the severe endurance conditions prevailing in a tire and the characteristics of elasticity required. Structures knitted from flexible yarns can lend themselves favorably to the realization of structures possessing a strong capacity of elongation conferred by the deformation of the stitches. In this respect reference can be made to the teaching of the document on behalf of the applicants WO 2006/012942 A1 published on February 9, 2006. It is also possible to take advantage of the properties of the structures of the mesh size type as explained above.
• a method for fixing the first portion 12 of the fastener 10 to the wall of the tire is to deposit the tongue 12 on a laying drum before the inner liner and the carcass ply 28 during the assembly of the raw components of the tire.
• the blank of the green tire may undergo one or more operations which each involve a conformation of the assembly to result in the well-known toric shape.
• the green blank is then placed in a mold inside a vulcanization press. It is simultaneously subjected to a temperature and pressure to realize the vulcanization reaction of the gums which gives them their qualities of elasticity and resistance specific to vulcanized rubber. Frequently, this pressurization is accompanied by an additional conformation operation in which the gums are pushed into relief elements suitable for forming patterns (notably sculptures and markings) on the surface of the tire envelope and to give the sketch his definitive profile.
• patterns notably sculptures and markings
• the tongue 12 attached to the inner rubber layer which limits the tire cavity undergoes all the stresses resulting from the deformations of this rubber. It is important that it poses little resistance to these deformations and that the position of its interface with this eraser is preserved during manufacturing operations to avoid weakening the effectiveness of the attachment of the tongue to the intended location in the tire wall.
• the tab 12 for supporting the loops with the pneumatic envelope being manufactured just before vulcanization, for example in a baking press equipped with a membrane that is applied to the inside of the wall. of this envelope. In this case a very high structural strength of elongation raw tongue is not necessary.
• the constituent material of the loops is adapted to withstand the pressure and the temperature of the membrane during vulcanization so that they retain or acquire, at the end of the operation, the mechanical characteristics necessary for the attachment with the connecting elements of the second attachment part 10.
• FIG. 2a illustrates a tongue 12 made from a fastening support according to currently commercially available embodiments.
• This tongue is obtained by cutting to the appropriate length of a ribbon 30 which comprises a thin support 32 (made of a material formed by a fabric or other fabric coated with vegetable or synthetic technical yarn), coated on one of its faces 34 with a fur of Aramid 35 wire loops or other material as it has been said.
• the longitudinal edges 36-2 and 37-2 of the face 34 without fur are smooth and made relatively stiff by the coating of the fibers of the support or backrest 32. which makes these edges abrasive or sharp because of the risk of damaging the surrounding gum.
• the transverse ends 39-2 of the tongue 12, which result from cutting the ribbon 30, do not have a smooth rim. However, they also have the defect of being abrasive risk, as time passes, to cut the gum on which they are glued.
• Figure 3a illustrates the production of a tongue that overcomes these difficulties with the 39-3 transverse end edges of the tab without fur so as to provide a smooth edge all around the tongue 12. Also the edges profiles 36-3, 37-3 and 39-3 are bevelled to come "die” in contact with the underlying gum, all around the tongue 12, so as to give these edges an increasing flexibility from the area of the tongue lined with loops towards its periphery.
• the tire casing has been equipped during manufacture of a first self-gripping fastener part as it has been said, it is sufficient either before the tire is shipped from the place of manufacture or when it is mounted on a rim, associate the desired functional object according to the applications provided for this tire.
• the assembly is made by application and direct pressure of the plate 16 of the second attachment part 10, with its circuit 27, on the first part to cause the engagement of the hooks or harpoons 18 of the second part in the loops 13 thin support 12 of the first part.
• This operation can be carried out manually or mechanically, in particular in the latter case, if a high application pressure and / or suitably dosed is required for this purpose, for example with relatively rigid fastening elements.
• the attachment mentioned here can be performed directly in the top of the tire wall, under the tread.
• the centrifugal force acts in compression in the direction of a bringing together of the two parts 12 and 16 of the fastener 10 against each other.
• Other stresses that may be important in shearing or tearing results from the cyclic forces experienced by the crown of the rolling tire as well as the stresses transmitted by the unevenness of the roadway and the impact of obstacles, as explained above.
• the object 27 can also be fixed in the sidewall of the tire, outside or, more frequently, inside. In this position, the fastener must then withstand the shear forces resulting from the centrifugal force and other stresses that develop in the tire wall. The object can finally be located in or near the lower zone.
• the current industrial gripping fasteners achieve a very effective clamping and usually leave little mechanical play between the two parts of the fastener.
• the forces that affect the envelope are almost entirely transmitted to the object.
• the rigidity of the object could prevent the deformation of the thin support 12 constituting the first part of the fastener and thereby to curb the deformation capacity of the envelope wall. which it is attached, contrary to the objective explained above.
• the object itself should withstand much of the shear forces that are transmitted through the wall at the interface with the fastener, which should be considered in the construction and encapsulation of the object.
• FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate this decoupling mechanism by means of a section of the wall of the casing by a plane parallel to a main direction of deformation of this wall.
• the loops 13 of the fastener 10 have an end taken in the support tongue 12 fixed to the wall 22. On the side of their opposite ends they are engaged by the hooks 18 integral with the plate 16 carrying the object 27 whose length in the main deformation direction mentioned is designated L.
• L the wall 22 of the tire coated with the inner rubber layer 24 is in static equilibrium at a given instant between the inflation pressure and the reaction forces developed by the pneumatic envelope because of its structure.
• the loops 13 have a height H sufficient to provide between the tongue 12 and the wafer 16 a clearance (faculty of deflection) radial and tangential whose representation is deliberately exaggerated in Figure 4A.
• FIG. 4B represents the situation when the wall 22 undergoes a solicitation for one of the causes mentioned above, which results in a elongation, illustrated by the arrows F, transmitted to the tongue which also stretches without opposing high resistance for the reasons outlined above.
• the feet of the loops implanted there depart. Due to their sufficient height, the spacing of the feet is compensated by the inclination of the loops and a corresponding decrease in the distance between the tongue 12 and the plate 16, without the tensile forces affecting the tongue 12 being transmitted. via the hooks 18 to the plate 16 or to the object 27.
• the objectives stated above can therefore be achieved by adjusting the height of the loops (one could also act on the length of the hooks) depending on the length of the wafer 16 carrying the object 27.
• the wall of the tire can undergo an elongation of 10% without the plate 16 is affected with an inclination of 30 ° of the extreme loops of the tongue 12.
• the attachment provided by the self gripping fastener may be reversible. It is therefore possible to recover the functional object after it has been put in place, ie after a relatively short period of operation for the purpose of exploiting data recorded in the functional object, in particular if it is attached to the outside of the sidewall, either during the dismantling of the tire or at the end of its life if it is inside, for analysis or reuse if necessary. It is also possible to make the attachment of the object irremovable once in place in the tire. In this respect, it is possible to use self-gripping fasteners with non-reversible fasteners, that is to say in which the engagement of male elements such as hooks in female elements is irreversible by construction.
• fasteners whose loops or hooks are made of synthetic threads whose physical characteristics are modified after the fastening.
• the fastener then remains removable until the moment when, for example, a contribution is applied locally. heat to raise the temperature of the hooks to retract them in a way that no longer allows them to disengage loops without destroying the fastener.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Tires In General (AREA)
• Tyre Moulding (AREA)
• Connection Of Plates (AREA)
• Moulds For Moulding Plastics Or The Like (AREA)

Priority Applications (5)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (22)

• 2007
  • 2007-07-24 FR FR0705384A patent/FR2919225B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2008
  • 2008-07-21 JP JP2010517381A patent/JP2010534160A/ja active Pending
  • 2008-07-21 US US12/670,157 patent/US8439090B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2008-07-21 EP EP08775249.9A patent/EP2188138B1/fr not_active Not-in-force
  • 2008-07-21 WO PCT/EP2008/059523 patent/WO2009013267A1/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2008-07-21 BR BRPI0814632-2A patent/BRPI0814632B1/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2008-07-21 CN CN2008801079507A patent/CN101801694B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related

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