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
  • B60C1/00—Tyres characterised by the chemical composition or the physical arrangement or mixture of the composition
• • 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
  • B60C9/00—Reinforcements or ply arrangement of pneumatic tyres
  • B60C9/02—Carcasses
  • B60C9/10—Carcasses the reinforcing cords within each carcass ply arranged in a crossing relationship
  • B60C9/11—Woven, braided, or knitted plies
• • 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
  • B60C5/00—Inflatable pneumatic tyres or inner tubes
  • B60C5/12—Inflatable pneumatic tyres or inner tubes without separate inflatable inserts, e.g. tubeless tyres with transverse section open to the rim
  • B60C5/14—Inflatable pneumatic tyres or inner tubes without separate inflatable inserts, e.g. tubeless tyres with transverse section open to the rim with impervious liner or coating on the inner wall of the tyre
• • 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
  • B60C9/00—Reinforcements or ply arrangement of pneumatic tyres
• • 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
  • B60C5/00—Inflatable pneumatic tyres or inner tubes
  • B60C5/12—Inflatable pneumatic tyres or inner tubes without separate inflatable inserts, e.g. tubeless tyres with transverse section open to the rim
  • B60C5/14—Inflatable pneumatic tyres or inner tubes without separate inflatable inserts, e.g. tubeless tyres with transverse section open to the rim with impervious liner or coating on the inner wall of the tyre
  • B60C2005/145—Inflatable pneumatic tyres or inner tubes without separate inflatable inserts, e.g. tubeless tyres with transverse section open to the rim with impervious liner or coating on the inner wall of the tyre made of laminated layers

Definitions

• the present disclosure relates generally to pneumatic tires and particular to the construction of ply tires with a fiber-reinforced carcass.
• the fiber-reinforced carcass may contain a pattern coated fabric.
• tires are manufactured from a single or multi-ply carcass of substantially U-shaped cross section having metal beads at the inner perimeters of the walls.
• Support can be provided to a tire carcass by steel cord belt plies extending around the outer periphery of the carcass and across the width of the tread.
• the carcass is formed from segments of rubberized woven fabric having relatively inextensible reinforcing cords running
• the tire carcass which acts to hold pneumatic pressure when the tire is inflated is formed from one or more plies of fabric stabilizing material which is treated with an RFL (Resorcinol Formaldehyde Latex) adhesive or the like and calendered to a rubber layer.
• the stabilizing fabric provides dimensional stability while the rubber provides gas containment properties, in such prior constructions the rubber functions as a carrier which can be bonded to an inner liner of rubber or the like.
• the carrier rubber in the calendered ply may have a mass which is several times that of the fiber forming the fabric reinforcement.
• a tire carcass is required to have substantial strength in the radial direction running from bead to bead transverse to the direction rotation during use.
• the fabric stabilizing material also known as tire cord
• the fabric stabilizing material has typically been a woven fabric with substantially inextensible pre- stressed high tenacity yarns running in the warp direction (also known as the "machine direction") which are drawn and tensioned during the fabric formation and/or finishing process.
• This fabric is then cut in the cross-machine direction (i.e. transverse to the warp yarns).
• Individual pieces of the fabric are then rotated 90 degrees and are assembled to one another for placement in the carcass such that the high strength warp yarns are oriented in the desired radial direction between the beads.
• the weft yarns are oriented substantially circumferentially (i.e. in the direction of tire rotation.)
• the present invention provides advantages and alternative over the prior art by providing a tire including a pneumatic tire carcass having at least one piy of stabilizing fabric referred to herein as "carcass stabilizing fabric" or "body cloth".
• the carcass stabilizing fabric has a machine direction and a cross machine direction.
• a plurality of high tenacity reinforcing yarn elements is disposed in the cross- machine direction.
• the reinforcing yarn elements in the cross-machine direction may be pre-stretched to impart desired orientation and strength characteristics.
• the carcass stabilizing fabric also may be stretched In the cross-machine direction foliowing formation to impart desired strength characteristics. Of course, combinations of such stretching treatments may also be used if desired.
• the reinforcing yarn elements in the cross-machine direction may be pre-treated with an adhesion layer (such as an RFL or other chemical treatments) by dip coating or the like prior to fabric formation if desired.
• a pattern coating of a tackifing material may optionally be then applied to the fabric over the adhesion layer.
• a plurality of machine direction yarn elements of relatively lower tenacity and decitex rating than the reinforcing yarn elements are disposed in the machine direction.
• a segment of the carcass stabilizing fabric is disposed within the carcass with the machine direction yarn elements being continuous along the carcass with the machine direction of the stabilizing fabric in alignment with the direction of tire rotation and with the cross-machine direction oriented radially relative to the direction of tire rotation,
• Figure 1 is a cut-away partial view of a pneumatic radial tire illustrating one exemplary embodiment with a weft insertion body cloth to provide stability in the carcass;
• Figure 2 is a face view of a segment of a first exemplary warp-knit weft inserted fabric construction for use as a stabilizing fabric in a tire carcass;
• Figure 3 is a face view of a segment of a second exemplary warp- knit weft inserted fabric construction for use as a stabilizing fabric in a tire carcass;
• Figure 4 is a back view of the segment of warp-knit, weft inserted fabric construction of Figure 3;
• Figure 5 is a schematic pattern view illustrating a pattern for placement of machine direction yarns in a warp-knit, weft inserted fabric construction incorporating stabilizing yarns for placement in bead zones of the tire carcass;
• Figure 6 is a schematic of a top view of stabilizing fabric having a discontinuous dot pattern of a tackifing material on surface of the stabilizing fabric over the adhesion layer;
• Figure 7 is a schematic of a top view of the stabilizing fabric having a discontinuous pattern of random areas of a tackifing material on surface of the stabilizing fabric over the adhesion layer;
• Figure 8 is a schematic of a top view of the stabilizing fabric having a grid pattern of a tackifing material on surface of the stabilizing fabric over the adhesion layer;
• Figure 9 a schematic of a top view of the stabilizing fabric having pattern of a series of parallel lines of a tackifing material on surface of the stabilizing fabric over the adhesion layer;
• Figure 10A is a schematic of a side view of a stabilizing fabric showing the discontinuous pattern of a tackifing material on surface of the stabilizing fabric over the adhesion layer;
• Figure 10B is a schematic of a side view of a stabilizing fabric showing the discontinuous pattern of a tackifing material on surface of the stabilizing fabric over the adhesion Iayer;
• Figure 1 1 is a schematic of a side view of a pattern coated stabilizing fabric showing the discontinuous pattern of tackifing material on surface of the fabric over the adhesion layer, where the pattern coated stabilizing fabric is embedded into rubber;
• Figure 12 is a schematic of a top view of the stabilizing fabric having pattern of dots of varying density across the stabilizing fabric of a tackifing material on surface of the stabilizing fabric over the adhesion layer,
• FIG. 1 there is shown a tire 100, comprising side walls 102 joined to a tread 104 by shoulders 108.
• the tire 100 includes a carcass 1 10 covered by the tread 104, in Figure 1 , the tire 100 is a radial tire.
• the carcass 1 10 is formed from one or more plies of carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 extending between metal beads 120 disposed along the inner periphery of the tire 100.
• the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 is disposed in overlying relation to an inner liner of rubber or the like either with or without intermediate layers of rubber or other material compatible with the inner Iiner.
• the inner liner may desirably be formed from a gas-blocking material.
• the inner liner may be formed from a gas-blocking or non-gas-blocking material.
• One or more belt plies 122 may be positioned circumferentially around the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 in sandwiched relation between the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 and the tread.
• the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 is a tackified warp knit, weft inserted fabric having weft insertion yarns formed from relatively inextensible reinforcing cords 124.
• the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 may be a woven fabric having weft yarns formed from relatively inextensible reinforcing cords or a laid scrim.
• the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 is embedded in or otherwise adjoined to an inner iiner of rubber or other material either with or without an intermediate layer.
• the inner liner may be a gas-blocking matrix material if desired.
• exemplary materials forming the inner iiner may include halobutyl rubber (chlorinated or brominated), NBR, SBR.
• the carcass 1 10 is constructed such that that the weft inserted reinforcing cords 124 run substantially radially of the intended direction of rotation "R" of the tire 100.
• the belt plies 122 are formed with relatively inextensible warp materials 128 such as steel cord reinforcing warps, which run in the intended direction of rotation of the tire or, more usually, at a slight angle thereto.
• the angle of the inextensible warp materials 128 can vary with the method of construction of application.
• a cap piy layer 130 is located between the belt plies 122 and the tread 104.
• the cap piy layer 130 is formed from a weft inserted warp knit fabric tape 132 wound around the carcass stabilizing 1 12 in the roiling direction of the tire.
• the fabric tape 132 extends over the edges 134 of the belt plies 132.
• the fabric tape 132 in Figure 1 can be wound around the carcass stabilizing 1 12 a plurality of times to reduce the unbalancing effect in the tire 100 caused by the overlap splice.
• the fabric tape also may be wound circumferentially around the carcass of the fire 100 in a flat helical pattern if desired.
• exemplary materials for formation of the cap ply layer 130 as well as other details of construction of a tire are set forth in US patent 7,614,436 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
• an exemplary carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 of warp knit, weft inserted construction generally comprises a set of weft inserted reinforcing cords 124 and a set of high-stretch machine direction yam elements 142 forming a repeating wale stitch pattern.
• high-stretch yarn elements yarn elements characterized by an elongation at break of greater than about 30%.
• the high- stretch machine direction yarn elements define a stretchable fabric zone 144 for disposition across the central portion of the carcass inboard from the beads 120.
• an optional set of low-stretch machine direction yarn elements 150 of lower stretch character relative to the first machine direction yarn elements 142 form a repeating wale stitch pattern to define a low stretch reinforcement zone 156 to provide additional support at locations adjacent to the beads 120.
• low-stretch yarn elements is meant yarn elements characterized by an elongation at break of not greater than about 30%.
• both the high-stretch yarn elements 142 and the low-stretch yarn elements 150 are formed in a so cailed "pillar stitch" although other stitching arrangements may be used if desired including chain stitches, tricot stitches leno weaves or the like.
• Figure 5 schematically illustrates one pattern for placement of the high-stretch yarn elements 142 defining stretchable fabric zones 144 and the low-stretch yarn elements 150 defining a reinforcement zone 156.
• the illustrated pattern may be repeated across the fabric multiple times such that each of the stretchable fabric zones 144 is bordered on either side by a low-stretch reinforcement zone 156.
• multiple panels may be produced with each panel including an interior stretchable fabric zone 144 with a reinforcement zone on either lateral edge.
• the spacing between reinforcement zones 156 may be set to accommodate a given tire size such that the reinforcement zones 156 are in the desired position adjacent the beads 120 or in such other locations as may be desired.
• the reinforcement zone 156 is made up of a pair of edge reinforcement segments 164 on either side of a core reinforcement segment 166.
• each of the edge reinforcement segments 164 may have a width of about 1 cm and the core reinforcement segment 166 may have a width of about 1 centimeter. However, these widths may be adjusted as desired.
• the packing density (ends per centimeter) of the machine-direction yarns elements may be adjusted to provide desired character across the fabric.
• the low-stretch yarn elements 150 are 235 decitex standard nylon 6,6 yarns which are present at a packing density of about 4.3 ends per centimeter in the core reinforcement segment 166 and at a packing density of about 2.16 ends per centimeter in the edge reinforcement segments 164.
• the high-stretch yarn elements 142 are 78 decstex/3 (234 decitex total) partially oriented nylon 6,6 present at a packing density of about 0.86 ends per centimeter in the stretchabie fabric zones 144.
• the concentration of yarns in the machine direction is greater along the edges than at the interior.
• the machine direction yarn elements at the edges are low-stretch yarns thereby providing additional stability at the edges.
• the high-stretch machine direction yam elements 142 are characterized by an elongation at break of about 30% to about 200% and more preferably about 60% to 1 50% and most preferably about 60% to 100% such that they can stretch a controlled amount during tire formation.
• the optional low-stretch machine direction yarn elements 150 are characterized by an elongation at break of about 5% - 25% and more preferably about 10% to about 22% and most preferably about 15% to 20% such that the reinforcement zones 156 exhibit very limited stretch during tire formation and use.
• the percentage elongation at break of the high-stretch machine direction yarn elements 142 is preferably about 1 .5 to 6 times greater than the percentage elongation at break of the low-stretch yarn elements 150 and more preferably about 2 to 5 times greater than the percentage elongation at break of the low-stretch machine direction yarn elements 150 and most preferably about 3 to 5 times greater than the percentage elongation at break of the low-stretch machine direction yarn elements 150.
• the wales formed by the high-stretch yarn elements 142 and the iow-stretch yarn elements 150 extend along the so-called warp or "machine direction" of the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12.
• the weft inserted reinforcing cords 124 run in the so-called weft or "cross-machine direction" of the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12.
• the machine direction of a fabric is the direction substantially aligned with the output of the formation machine used to produce the fabric.
• the cross-machine direction is the direction extending across the width of the formation machine.
• the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 can be produced in a weft inserted warp knit machine which is wider and faster than a traditional weaving machine.
• the weft inserted warp knit machine further stabilizes the fabric with the reinforcing cords 124 inserted in chosen loops of the machine direction yarn elements 142, 150. Slitting between the wales in the machine direction can be done with limited de-knitting or fraying.
• a fabric segment of virtually any length may be obtained.
• the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 may extend circumferentially about the carcass as a unitary structure without intermediate breaks along the length resulting from splices of the stabilizing fabric, other than those used in the tire building process itself, and with the machine direction of the fabric generally aligned with the direction of rotation.
• the reinforcing cords 124 in the cross-machine direction are oriented in the radial direction transverse to the direction of rotation.
• the construction material, size, and spacing of the reinforcing cords 124 and machine direction yarn elements 142, 150 are selected such that they provide the desired strength to the carcass 110.
• FIG. 3 shows the front face (on the knitting machine) of the carcass stabilizing fabric 212
• Figure 4 shows the back face (on the knitting machine) of the same carcass stabilizing fabric 212.
• this exemplary embodiment includes high-stretch machine direction yarn elements 242 disposed in a tricot stitch pattern or other suitable stitch pattern throughout the fabric with a plurality of stabilizing in-lay warp yarns 254 running in the machine direction at localized reinforcement zones 256 across the fabric.
• the in-lay warp yarns 254 are arranged within reinforcement zone 256 where added strength and stretch resistance may be desired.
• such in-lay warp yarns 254 may be arranged in a reinforcement zone 256 which will be adjacent to the beads 120 in the final tire construction.
• Exemplary in-lay warp yarns include spun staple yarns, multifilament yarns, and/or monofilament yarns and are formed of a material which will restrain the carcass in the warp direction.
• in-lay warp yarns include polyamide, aramides (including meta and para forms), rayon, PVA (polyvinyl alcohol), polyester, polyolefin, polyvinyl, nylon (including nylon 6, nylon 6,6 and nylon 4,6), polyethylene napthalate (PEN), polyethylene terephalate (PET), cotton, polyacrylic or other known artificial or natural fibers.
• PVA polyvinyl alcohol
• polyester polyolefin
• polyvinyl nylon (including nylon 6, nylon 6,6 and nylon 4,6)
• PEN polyethylene napthalate
• PET polyethylene terephalate
• cotton polyacrylic or other known artificial or natural fibers.
• One exemplary material for such in-lay warp yarns is a 235 detx partially oriented Nylon 6,6 although other materials may also be used.
• the reinforcing cords 124, 224 may be inserted in each stitch.
• Figure 2 and 3 show the front faces (on the knitting machine) of carcass stabilizing weft inserted fabrics 1 12, 212 with the reinforcing cords 124, 224 inserted at every stitch.
• the reinforcing cords 124, 224 may likewise be inserted in a repetitive construction, for example one weft in every 2 stitches, one weft in every 3 stitches, one weft in every 4 stitches, etc.
• the reinforcing cords 124, 224 also may be inserted in a pattern, for example one weft in every stitch for 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. stitches followed by 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. stitches with no weft inserted
• the reinforcing cords 124, 224 can be a spun staple yarn, a multifilament yarn, and/or a monofilament yarn and are formed of a material which will restrain the carcass in the radial direction.
• suitable materials for reinforcing cords include polyesters (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate,
• polypropylene terephthalate polybutylene terephthalate, polylactic acid, and polyethylene napthalate (PEN)
• polyoiefins e.g., polyethylene and
• the reinforcing cords 124, 224 may be multifilament twisted and/or cabled cords of two or more plies made with any of the prior listed materials or combinations thereof.
• the reinforcing cords 124, 224 may be between 100 decitex (90 denier) up to 23,500 decitex (21 ,000 denier) and more preferably about 230 to 5000 decitex made with single or multiple yarns.
• the reinforcing cords 124, 224 preferably are characterized by low stretch of not greater than 30% elongation at break and more preferably about 0 to 20% elongation at break.
• reinforcing cords 124, 224 may be standard HMLS polyester with two cabled plies having constructions of 1670/2 (3340 decitex); 1440/2 (2880 decitex); or 1 100/2 (2200 decitex).
• the fibers forming the reinforcing cords 124, 224 may be pre-treated by drawing to substantially eliminate stretch in the final yarn and are treated with an adhesion promoter such as RFL or the iike prior to fabric formation.
• the reinforcing cords 124, 224 may also be subjected to stretching to impart added strength after fabric formation. Such post-formation stretch treatment may be conducted alone or in combination with stretching prior to fabric formation.
• the high-stretch yarn elements 142, 242 can be made of natural and manmade fibers including polyesters (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, and polylactic acid), polyo!efins (e.g., polyethylene and polypropylene), polyamides (e.g., nylon 6, nylon 6, 6, nylon 4, 6, and nylon 12), and any combination thereof or any other known synthetic technical raw material or artificial or natural fibers.
• polyesters e.g., polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, and polylactic acid
• polyo!efins e.g., polyethylene and polypropylene
• polyamides e.g., nylon 6, nylon 6, 6, nylon 4, 6, and nylon 12
• the high-stretch yarn elements 142, 242 may be made with any single monofilament or multifilaments yam as well as any multi-ply twisted yarns made with any of the prior listed materials, in accordance with one embodiment, the high-stretch yarn elements 142 may have a linear density between 22 decitex (20 deniers) up to 470 decitex (420 deniers) also in single yarn or multi-ply yarns. Such yarns may have a twist level of about 150 to about 1200
• turns/meter (preferably 400-800 turns/meter).
• One such yarn that may be desirable is a 78 decitex/3 (234 decitex total) partially oriented nylon 6,6 with a twist of about 600 turns/meter and an elongation at break of about 78%.
• the optional low-stretch machine direction yarn elements 150 forming the reinforcement zones 156 can be a spun staple yarn, a multifilament yarn, and/or a monofilament yarn and are formed of a material which will restrain the carcass in the circumferential direction.
• Some suitable materials for the low- stretch machine direction yarn elements 150 include polyesters (e.g.,
• polyethylene terephthalate polypropylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, and polylactic acid
• polyolefins e.g., polyethylene and
• the low-stretch machine direction yarn elements 150 may be multifilament twisted and/or cabled cords of two or more plies made with any of the prior listed materials or combinations thereof, in accordance with one embodiment, the low-stretch machine direction yarn elements 150 may be between 1 1 1 decitex (100 deniers) up to 700 decitex (630 deniers) also in single yarn or multiple yarns.
• Such yarns may have a twist level of about 150 to about 1200 turns/meter (preferably 400-800 turns/meter).
• One such yarn that may be desirable is a three ply 235 decitex partially oriented nylon 6,6 yarn with elongation at break of about 19%.
• other materials may likewise be used if desired.
• any of the yarn elements may also be hybrid yarns.
• These hybrid yarns are made of up of at least 2 fibers of different fiber material (for example, cotton and nylon). These different fiber materials can produce hybrid yarns with different chemical and physical properties.
• Hybrid yarns are able to change the physical properties of the final product they are used in.
• Some preferred hybrid yarns include an aramide fiber with a nylon fiber, an aramide fiber with a rayon fiber, and an aramide fiber with a polyester fiber.
• the reinforcing cords 124, 224 are formed from one or more plies of suitable polymeric fiber such as HMLS polyester twisted to about 1 00 to about 800 turns per meter, more preferably about 200 to about 600 turns per meter, most preferably about 250 to about 500 turns per meter to form a cohesive yarn structure.
• suitable polymeric fiber such as HMLS polyester twisted to about 1 00 to about 800 turns per meter, more preferably about 200 to about 600 turns per meter, most preferably about 250 to about 500 turns per meter to form a cohesive yarn structure.
• the linear density of the reinforcing cords 124, 224 is in the range of about 230 decitex to about 5000 decitex, more preferably about 1500 decitex to about 4000 decitex, and most preferably about 2000 to about 3500 decitex.
• the fibers forming the reinforcing cords 124, 224 may be pre-treated by drawing to substantially eliminate stretch in the final yarn and are treated with an adhesion promoter such as VP latex based RFL or the like prior to fabric formation.
• the reinforcing cords 124, 224 are inserted as the weft component in a warp knit, weft insertion fabric.
• the packing density of the reinforcing cords 124, 224 is in the range of about 80 to about 140 ends per decimeter, more preferably about 95 to about 120 ends per decimeter, most preferably about 105 to about 1 15 ends per decimeter.
• the reinforcing cords 124, 224 extend through loops formed by warp-knit, high-stretch yarn elements 142 having a linear density of between 122 decitex and about 470 decitex with a twist level of about 150 to about 1200 turns/meter and an elongation at break of at least 30%.
• the resultant fabric is characterized by a braking strength in the weft direction of at least 170 Newtons (e.g. greater than 173 Newtons, greater than 181 Newtons, greater than 186 Newtons). At 45 Newtons, the resultant fabric is characterized by an eiongation in the weft direction of less than 5% (e.g.
• the resultant fabric is characterized by an elongation in the weft direction of less than 7% (e.g. less than 6.5%, less than 5%).
• the resultant fabric is characterized by an eiongation in the weft direction of less than 7% (e.g. less than 6.5%, less than 5%).
• the resultant fabric exhibited adhesion peel strength of greater than 100 Newtons per 25mm (e.g. greater than 120 Newtons per 25mm) relative to underlying rubber.
• the resultant fabric was characterized by hot air shrinkage of less than 3% (e.g. not greater than 2.8%, not greater than 2.5%, not greater than 1 .8%),
• the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 is illustrated as being a warp knit, weft insertion fabric, it is also contemplated that the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 may be a woven fabric if desired. Such fabrics may be formed by techniques such as air jet weaving, water-jet weaving, or rapier weaving as will be known to those of skill in the art. In this regard, rapier weaving may be desirable for use with high decitex reinforcing cords.
• an exemplary woven fabric may be a so called "plain weave” or "twill weave” fabric in which reinforcing cords 124 as previously described are disposed along the weft direction.
• the warp yarns may be formed from materials simitar to the stitching yarns 142 in the warp knit weft insertion construction. It is also contemplated that the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 may be in the form of a laid scrim or the like if desired.
• a frequent problem in making a rubber composite is maintaining good adhesion between the rubber and the stabilizing fabric.
• a conventional method in promoting the adhesion between the rubber and the reinforcement is to pretreat the reinforcing yarn with an adhesion layer of a mixture of rubber latex and a phenol-formaldehyde condensation product wherein the phenol is almost always resorcinol. This is the so called “RFL" (resorcinol-formaldehyde-latex) method.
• the reinforcing cords 124, 224 or the stabilizing fabric 1 12, 212 may be dip coated or otherwise treated with an adhesion promoter to form an adhesion layer prior to fabric formation to improve the adhesion with any other material to be reinforced (as for example, without any limitation: rubber material, PVC coating material, etc).
• adhesion promoters included Resorcinol Formaldehyde Latex (RFL) as well as formaldehyde free materials such as isocyanate based material, epoxy based material, and materials based on melamine formaldehyde resin.
• the adhesion promoter is formaldehyde-free.
• the adhesion promoter may be applied prior to or subsequent to fabric formation (to form the adhesion layer), such as by dtp coating or other application method.
• the adhesion layer is applied by dipping the fabric or yarns in a RFL solution.
• the coated fabric or yarns then pass through squeeze rolls and a drier to remove excess liquid.
• the adhesion layer usually is cured at a temperature in the range of 150° to 200°C.
• the resorcinol-formaldehyde latex (RFL) can contain vinyl pyridine latexes, styrene butadiene latexes, waxes, fillers and other additives.
• the adhesion layer is typically located on both sides of the stabilizing fabric 112 and may partially or fully penetrate the fabric and its interstices.
• the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12, 212 may also have a tackified material applied for facilitating adhesion, or green tack, during the building process of the green tire on top of the adhesion layer. This may eliminate the need for calendering the stabilizing fabric to a rubber carrier during the tire- building process. However, calendering to a carrier of rubber or other material may be used if desired.
• Tackified finishes can be achieved by various methods such as coating the fabric in an aqueous blend of rosin or crude oil residue and rubber lattices, or with a solvent solution of an un-vulcanized rubber compound.
• Typical examples of tackifing materials include mixtures containing resorcinol formaldehyde latex (RFL), isocyanate based material, epoxy based material, rubber, PVC, and materials based on melamine formaldehyde resin.
• the practice of calendering the stabilizing fabric to a rubber carrier for subsequent connection to an underlying inner layer may tend to add a fairly significant additional mass of rubber to the final construction.
• calendering a stabilizing fabric to a rubber carrier typically yields a reinforced ply having a mass which is at least 300% of the mass of fiber in the reinforced ply.
• the stabilizing fabrics may be operatively connected to the inner liner either with or without calendering to a carrier as a preliminary step, in the event that calendering to a carrier is not utilized, the tackifing materials and other materials applied to the stabilizing fabric may be present at relatively low add-on levels.
• the mass of the stabilizing fabric ply including any applied materials may be less than about 170% of the mass of fiber constituents in the stabilizing fabric ply.
• the overall mass of rubber in the tire is reduced. Such a reduction may be desirable in some circumstances.
• the elimination of calendering to a carrier layer may also provide the further advantage of permitting the stabilizing fabric to stretch independently of any constraining material, such as with a layer of calendered rubber.
• the stretch characteristics of the stabilizing fabric may be controlled with greater precision through the selection of materials and construction techniques without influence from an applied carrier layer.
• the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12, 212 contains a patterned coating of a tackifing materia! over the adhesion layer.
• Figure 6 there is shown one embodiment for the coated stabilizing fabric 1 12 where an adhesion layer 325 is on both the first and second sides of the fabric 1 12, and a patterned coating 327 of a tackifing materia! is on at least one side of the fabric 1 12 overlaying at least a portion of the adhesion layer 325.
• the patterned coating 327 may be on one or both sides (first and/or second) of the fabric 1 12 over the adhesion layer 325.
• the two sides may have the same pattern or different pattems and the patterns may or may not be registration with one another.
• the tackifing material is placed on one side of the fabric over the adhesion layer in a patterned coating and on the other side, the tackifing material may be placed as a continuous non- patterned coating.
• the patterned coating 327 provides for optimum greentack while minimizing the amount of the adhesion layer that is covered up and minimizes the amount of rubber or other adhesion promoters in the tire. While the patterned coating 327 is shown as applied to the fabric, a patterned coating of tackifing material may also be applied to the yarns before fabric formation.
• the patterned coating 327 may be continuous or discontinuous, regular and repeating or random.
• Continuous in this application means that from one edge of the fabric to the other edge there is a continuous path that contains the patterned coating and that at least some of the patterned coating areas are connected. Examples of continuous coatings include Figures 8 and 9.
• discontinuous in this application means that the pattern coated areas are discontinuous and not touching one another, in a discontinuous patterned coating, there is no path from one edge of the fabric to the other that contains the patterned coating.
• Examples of discontinuous coatings include Figures 6, 7, and 12. Regular or repeating patterns mean that the pattern has a repeating structure to it. Figures 6, 8, 9, and 12 illustrate repeating or regular patterns.
• Figure 7 illustrates a random pattern where there is no repeat to the patterned coating. In a random pattern, it is preferred that the random pattern is also discontinuous, not continuous.
• Figure 6 illustrates the embodiment where the patterned coating 327 is in a dot pattern. This pattern is discontinuous and repeating. The dots may be equally spaced on the fabric, or may have differing densities of dots or sizing of dots across the surface of the fabric.
• Figure 7 illustrates the
• patterned coating 327 is in random, discontinuous spotting pattern.
• Figure 8 illustrates the embodiment where the patterned coating 327 is in a grid. This pattern is regular and continuous.
• Figure 9 illustrates the embodiment where the patterned coating 327 is in a series of parallel lines. This pattern is also regular and continuous.
• the patterned coating 327 may take any other patterned form including but not limited to indicia, geometric shapes or patterns, and text.
• Figures 10A and 10B illustrate side views of the coated stabilizing fabric illustrating the patterned coating 327 on one side of the fabric 1 12 over the adhesion layer 325 (7A) and both sides of the fabric 1 12 over the adhesion layer 325 (7B).
• the patterned coatings may be the same or different patterns and coverage on both sides of the cap ply.
• the patterned coating 327 on one side of the fabric may have a regular repeating grid pattern covering 10% of the surface area while the patterned coating 327 on the opposite side of the fabric 1 12 may have a discontinuous repeating dot pattern covering 25% of the surface.
• Each surface pattern may be chosen to optimize the tire production process and article as well as desired adhesion properties between the stabilizing fabric and the layer in the tire adjacent the stabilizing fabric.
• Figure 1 1 illustrates the pattern coated stabilizing fabric 1 12 embedded into rubber 329. Preferably, the rubber 329 migrates or impregnates partially or fully the stabilizing fabric 1 12.
• the patterned coating 327 of the tackifing material is on the cross-over points in the fabric, for example where the weft and warp yarns cross in a woven fabric, in another embodiment, the patterned coating . 327 of tackifing material is substantially only on the cross-over points in the fabric and not on the rest of the fabric 1 12.
• the patterned coating 327 may be formed by any known method of forming a patterned coating including but not limited to Inkjet printing, gravure printing, patterned printing, thermal transfer, spray coating, and siik printing.
• the thickness and/or physical composition of the patterned coating 327 may vary over the length and/or width of the cap ply tape 310. For example, it may be preferred in some embodiments to have a thicker coating or more densely packed pattern in some areas of the cap ply. This can be seen, for example, in Figure 12 where the dot pattern of the patterned coating layer varies over the width of the fabric to have a higher amount of patterned coating covering the surface of the fabric towards the edges.
• the patterned coating 327 covers between about 5 and 95% of the surface area of the fabric 1 12 (over the adhesion layer 325). in other embodiments, the patterned coating may cover between about 5 and 70%, 10 and 60%, 45 and 75%, greater than 15%, greater than 20% and greater than 30% of the surface area of the fabric 1 12. In another embodiment, the patterned coating 327 has a weight of between about 5 and 60%wt of the fabric 1 12. In other embodiments, the patterned coating has a weight of between about 5 and 50%, 10 and 50%, 10 and 45%, 15 and 35%, greater than 15%, greater than 20% and greater than 30% of the weight of the fabric 1 12.
• the formation of the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12, 212 begins with selection of the desired yarn characteristics.
• the fibers for formation of the yarns are subjected to drawing to impart desired levels of strength and elongation.
• the fibers are then formed into yarns and may be twisted to provide additional mechanical resilience.
• the yarn is then treated with adhesive promoter, such as an RFL treatment to form the adhesion iayer before fabric formation (the adhesion Iayer may also be applied to the fully formed fabric).
• the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12 is formed in large widths, such as 61 .4 inches and is then treated with the patterned coating of the tackifing material.
• the final fabric is slit along the machine direction into the specific widths for placement on a spool.
• the fabric then may be used directly or be calendered with a rubber coating for use in a tire carcass in overlying relation to an inner liner.
• the tire carcass 1 10 is formed with the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12, 212, metal beads, 120, and belt plies 122.
• the stabilizing fabric 1 12, 212 may be arranged in direct contact with a halo-rubber or other inner liner material as may be utilized.
• one or more intermediate layers may be disposed between the carcass stabilizing fabric 1 12, 212 and the inner liner material if desired.
• the cap ply layer 130 is wound around the belt plies 122.
• the tread 104 is molded onto the subassembly, and the tire 100 is completed.
• a process according to the invention would involve forming a fabric having a machine (e.g. warp) direction, and a cross machine (e.g. weft) direction, such as by a weaving, warp-knit, weft insertion or laid, scrim
• a machine e.g. warp
• a cross machine e.g. weft
• the warp direction being the direction in which the fabric is manufactured and taken up from the fabric production process
• at least a first plurality of yarns in the machine direction have an elongation at break of 30% to 200%.
• the weft yarns cross-machine direction
• the fabric is then desirably slit to the width desired for the particular tire to be manufactured, and optionally treated with a tacky finish or other treatment.
• the fabric can then be cut to the length needed to cover the full diameter of the tire drum on which the tire is being made, or it can be provided as a continuous roil which is cut to length as the carcass is being built.
• An inner liner is provided on a tire building drum, and the stabilizing fabric is provided on the drum such that the machine direction yarns from the fabric formation process extend around the drum such that they will be oriented in the tire in substantial alignment with the direction of tire rotation and the cross- machine direction yarns are oriented radially relative to the direction of tire rotation.
• the stabilizing fabric is provided as a continuous roll of material, a continuous series of tires can be built having no splices in the tires other than those formed during the tire building process itself. Also, because the fabric does not require the layer of calendered rubber required in other conventional processes, a source of manufacturing variation can be reduced or eliminated.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Tires In General (AREA)
• Treatments For Attaching Organic Compounds To Fibrous Goods (AREA)
• Woven Fabrics (AREA)
• Ropes Or Cables (AREA)

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• 2011
  • 2011-03-10 WO PCT/EP2011/053601 patent/WO2011110622A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2011-03-10 CN CN201180023634.3A patent/CN102892592B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2011-03-10 BR BR112012022872A patent/BR112012022872A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2011-03-10 KR KR1020127026459A patent/KR101435733B1/ko not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2011-03-10 EP EP11708027A patent/EP2544904A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2011-03-10 RU RU2012143407/11A patent/RU2505420C1/ru not_active IP Right Cessation

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