WO2015101934A1

WO2015101934A1 - Armor for protection of tyre, tyre including the armor and method for realizing a tyre

Info

Publication number: WO2015101934A1
Application number: PCT/IB2014/067420
Authority: WO
Inventors: Antonino Rinella
Original assignee: Antonino Rinella
Priority date: 2013-12-31
Filing date: 2014-12-30
Publication date: 2015-07-09
Also published as: ITPA20130013A1

Abstract

An armor for protection of pneumatic tires comprises a multi-layer laminar structure (2) designed to be inserted inside of a tire (3) to protect it from punctures and having at least one inner flexible sheet (4) in a metallic material adapted to define a barrier against the entry of external bodies and having opposite transverse edges (5) adapted to be mutually coupled and substantially parallel longitudinal edges (6). The multi-layer laminar structure (2) comprises an outer covering (7) in a polymeric material placed on the inner sheet (4) for covering the longitudinal edges (6). A tire (3) for vehicles wheels, in particular cars and heavy vehicles, comprising the armor (1) and a method for realizing the tire.

Description

ARMOR FOR PROTECTION OF TYRE, TYRE INCLUDING THE ARMOR AND METHOD FOR REALIZING A TYRE

Description

Technical Field

The present invention finds application in the field of road vehicles and in particular relates to an armor for protection of tyres. The invention also relates to a tyre including the protection armor and a method for realizing a tyre provided with the armor integrated thereinside.

State of the art

As is known, one of the most common drawbacks for a motorist is represented by the puncture of a tyre, which may occur due to the penetration of a sharp or pointed body or to the impact of the tyre.

In fact, the polymer compound of the tyre, while having relatively high hardness and being generally reinforced with an armor made of a fiber or metal net or fabric, is not adapted to prevent the passage of pointed bodies that could reach its inside.

Therefore, in the case of "tube type" tyres, i.e. provided with an air tube thereinside, the puncture of the same air chamber may occur with consequent loss of pressure.

Similarly in "tubeless" tyres, in which the same tyre is used in function of air tube, the external body may cause the tearing of the cover with consequent loss of pressure and eventual not repairable rupture of the tyre.

US 1384243 discloses a protection for tires consisting of a metal sheet formed by a plurality of curved profile sections joined together by means of inserts which are inserted in corresponding grooves of adjacent sections so as to allow the curvature of the sheet needing to adapt it to the shape of tire.

However, this solution is not suitable for modern tires as the configuration of such armor does not allow the same to adapt effectively to the deformations undergone by the tire due to the weight of the vehicle.

Moreover, a similar armor does not guarantee adequate protection for the tire, in particular in correspondence of the sidewalls thereof and on the contrary the presence of sharp edges may cause shear ruptures.

Similar armors are also known for tires of light vehicles, in particular for bicycles, such as the armor disclosed in US6877537, which however are not suitable for tires of motor vehicles, even of heavy type.

FR682392 discloses a protection armor for bicycle tires formed by a leather or fabric band on which metal plates are fixed by riveting. This armor, in addition to not being suitable for tires of cars or trucks, has also complex implementation.

Scope of the invention

The object of the present invention is to overcome the above drawbacks, providing an armor for protection of pneumatic tires which is particularly efficient and cost-effective. A particular object is to provide an armor for protection of tires which is able to adapt to the size of the tire following the deformation due to the weight of the vehicle and which could compensate any dimensional tolerances of the tire.

A further object is to provide an armor for protection of tires which not damages the tire from the inside also after the deformations which occur during the running of the vehicle, both in the case of tubeless tires and tube type tires.

A further object is to provide an armor for protection of tires which ensures high protection against the penetration of external bodies on both the tread and the sidewalls. Still another object is to provide an armor for protection of tires which does not alter the dynamic behavior of the tire itself and not opposes resistance to natural deformation of the tire.

Still another object is to provide an armor for protection of tires which does not require special machines for its assembly into the tire, allowing the use of conventional methods and equipment.

Still another object is to provide a tire that incorporates the protection armor thereinside or in its structure.

Still another object is to provide a tubeless tire already provided with an armor that ensures both protection from penetration of external objects and the necessary pressure seal.

Not the last object is to provide a method for the regeneration of a tire that provides the integration of the armor in the structure of the tire itself.

These objects, and others which will appear more apparent hereinafter, are fulfilled by an armor for protection of tires which, according to claim 1, comprises a multi-layer laminar structure adapted to be inserted inside of a tire to protect it from punctures, said multilayer laminar structure comprising at least one inner flexible sheet in a metallic material adapted to define a barrier against the entry of external bodies and having opposite transverse edges adapted to be mutually coupled and substantially parallel longitudinal edges and an outer covering in a polymeric material placed on said at least one inner sheet to cover said longitudinal edges. In this way, the armor will protect the tire from punctures caused by external bodies that may pass through the material and at the same time will avoid to damage itself the tire. Conveniently, the outer covering may comprise a first and a second layer in a polymeric material which cover respective opposite faces of said inner sheet leaving free said transverse edges, so as to allow to ring-shape and close the sheet by means of mutual connection of the transverse edges.

Suitably, the multi-layer laminar structure may include male and female joining means of said transverse edges of said inner sheet so as to simplify the assembly of the armor and its locking in the ring-folded position.

Preferably, said male and female joining means may comprise a female joint element having a width not exceeding the width of said inner sheet and provided with a pair of front slots each adapted to house a respective transverse edge portion of said inner sheet without said covering.

Suitably, the slots may have height corresponding to the thickness of said inner sheet and length dimensioned to allow that in each of them there is always a transverse end lip of the sheet with a predetermined minimum length.

In this way, any possible dimensional tolerances in the construction of the tire will be taken into account during the sizing of the armor and in particular it will take account of the fact that international standards establish a deviation of nominal dimension of + 4% for the effective size of each tire.

Furthermore, the transverse lips may slide in a limited way in the respective slots so as to allow the armor to elastically deform in response to the deformation of the tire due to the motion, so as to follow its movements and not affect its performance or dynamic behavior.

Preferably, the metal sheet may be made of a spring steel C72 (UNI 3545) with a thickness between 5/ 10mm and 3/ 10mm and having the following chemical composition:

C% = 0,65 - 0,73;

Mn% = 0,6 - 0,9;

Si% = 0,15 - 0,35;

Cr% = 0,4 max;

Ni% = 0,4 max.

This material, in addition to being easily commercially available, has proved to be particularly advantageous for its excellent mechanical features, and in particular for the fact of having a very high elastic limit that allows it to adapt easily to the changes in shape that the tire undergoes during the running of the vehicle.

Preferably, the covering may be made of butyl firmly anchored to said inner sheet by vulcanization.

This material is characterized by excellent impermeability to air and by being able to operate in a temperature range between -40° C and +130° C. Moreover, it is chemically similar to the more common materials used for the tires on the market.

Advantageously, the multi-layer laminar structure may have an overall thickness of between 0.3mm and 1mm, and preferably close to 0,5 mm.

In this way the armor will oppose only a very limited flexural strength, because of its reduced thickness, that will not alter the dynamic behavior of the tire.

Suitably, the multi-layer laminar structure may be realized already with a cross section having a flat central portion and curved side portions having same radius of curvature, so as to adapt in a more easy way to the shape of the tire.

This will make it possible to mount the armor in the tire by hand or with the use of common equipment, and then assemble the tire provided with the armor to the metal rim of the wheel using methods and equipment that already exist on the market and commonly used in practice by professionals operators.

Advantageously, said laminar structure may have a longitudinal axis of symmetry and may present in correspondence of each of said longitudinal edges a series of through cuts parallel to each other and inclined with respect to said longitudinal axis of symmetry with an angle of inclination between 10° and 45°, for example about 20° to define a plurality of side fins which may rotate with respect to said longitudinal axis. The presence of the fins, which will be arranged during use in correspondence of the sidewalls of the tire, will further reduce the bending resistance of the armor, making it practically null.

Moreover, thanks to the presence of said cuts, the side fins may overlap partially on each other, protecting the air tube from possible external bodies in correspondence of the sidewalls, and at the same time may mutually slide one over the other, not putting up resistance against the natural deformation of the tire.

According to a variant, particularly advantageous for use with armor for retreaded tires, the covering may comprises a film of the cushion gum type applied by bonding to one face of said sheet and which will guarantee high stability in the coupling between the tire and the armor, allowing to perfectly integrate this latter in the compound of the tire to have an unitary product.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a tire for wheels of vehicles which, according to claim 13, comprises a peripheral wall with a central annular band defining the tread and lateral sidewalls connected by one side to said central band and from the opposite side to a respective inner annular edge or bead designed to be placed into contact with the wheel rim, said peripheral wall having an outer surface designed for contact with the ground and an inner surface, characterized by comprising an armor according to the invention arranged on said inner surface of said peripheral wall.

In particular, the tire may comprise an armor having a flat central portion at said annular central band and curved lateral portions which extend on respective of said sidewalls and having respective longitudinal edges suitably spaced from the respective beads to avoid contact therewith also in presence of compression of the tire due to the weight of the vehicle.

In this way the sliding of the armor up to the bead, i.e. the area of the tire in contact with the metal rim of the wheel, will be prevented as this circumstance can damage both the armor and the tire.

In fact, due to the force generated by the weight of the vehicle, a crushing of the tire occurs on the area of contact with the ground with a consequent deformation of the sidewalls. Such crushing results in the sliding of the armor towards the bead and, in the absence of a space that absorbs this displacement, the armor would come inevitably into contact with the rim, causing over time wear of the parts into contact.

Furthermore, due to the different elasticity, i.e. different Young's modulus, between armor and tire, in the event of a contact between armor and metal rim, the rigidity of the tire-armor assembly would be altered, inevitably changing the stability of the vehicle.

According to yet another variant, the tire may comprise an armor having a flat central portion at said annular central band and curved lateral portions which extend on respective of said sidewalls and having respective U-shaped bent longitudinal edges adapted to at least partially wrap the respective bead.

This configuration has the advantage of protecting the tire from the penetration of external bodies and at the same time to achieve perfect air tightness, thus preventing the loss of internal pressure, so as to provide a tubeless tire already fitted with the armor. According to a further aspect of the invention a tire for vehicle wheels is provided according to claim 15, which tire comprises a peripheral wall made of a polymer compound and having an armor according to claim 5 embedded in the polymeric compound.

Not least, a method is provided for realizing a tire according to claim 15 starting from the regeneration of a used tire, according to claim 16, which allows to obtain a regenerated tire provided with the armor.

Advantageous forms of the invention are obtained according to the dependent claims.

Brief description of the drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent in light of a detailed description of some preferred but not limiting embodiments of a protection armor for tires according to the invention, shown in way of non limiting example with the aid of the attached drawing tables wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front view of an armor according to a first preferred embodiment shown in a planar extension;

FIG. 2 is a cross section of a detail of the armor of Fig. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross section view of a detail of the armor of Fig. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross section view of a tire provided with the armor of Fig. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a detail of Fig. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross section view of a tire provided with an armor in a second preferred embodiment;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a detail of Fig. 6.

Best modes of carrying out the invention

With reference to the figures, some preferred but not exclusive embodiments of an armor for protection of pneumatic tires are shown, which are particularly suitable to be used with tires for cars and heavy vehicles, both tubeless that tube type.

Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of the armor, generally referred with 1, which essentially comprises a multi-layer laminar structure 2 designed to be inserted inside of a tire 3 to protect it from punctures.

The multi-layer laminar structure 2 comprises a flexible inner sheet 4 of a metallic material adapted to define a barrier against the entry of external bodies and having opposite transverse edges 5 adapted to be mutually coupled and substantially parallel longitudinal edges 6, and an outer covering 7 in polymeric material arranged on the inner sheet 4 for covering both the faces 8 and the longitudinal edges 6, leaving free the transverse end lips 9.

In particular, the covering 7 is formed by a first layer 10 and a second layer 11 in a polymeric material which cover respective opposite faces 8 of the inner sheet 4, letting free the transverse edges 5.

The material of the covering 7 is preferably butyl submitted to vulcanization to facilitate anchoring to the inner sheet 4.

The latter will be made in a spring steel C72 (UNI 3545) with a thickness s between 5/10mm and 3/10mm and having the following chemical composition:

C% = 0,65 - 0,73;

Mn% = 0,6 - 0,9;

Si% = 0,15 - 0,35;

Cr% = 0,4 max;

Ni% = 0,4 max.

The overall thickness s_T of the multilayer laminar structure 2 will be between 0.3mm and 1mm and preferably close to 0,5mm.

As shown in Fig. 2, the metal sheet 4, and consequently also the flexible covering 7, will have a cross section with a flat central portion 12 and curved side portions 13 with the same radius of curvature.

From Fig. 1 it could be observed that the laminar structure 2 has a longitudinal axis of symmetry X and has, at each of the longitudinal edges 6, a series of through cuts 14 parallel to each other and inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of symmetry X with an angle of inclination a between 10° and 45°, for example approximately 20°, to define a plurality of side fins 15 which can rotate with respect to the longitudinal axis X following the bending imparted by the tire 3 during use.

The dimensions of the armature 1 will be selected as function of the tire 3 for which it is designed.

For example, for a 12:00 R20 type tire, used by heavy work veichles, the sheet 4 will have a length of 3249 mm and a width of 500mm.

The number of cuts 14 and their arrangement may also vary according to the size of the armor 1 and the intended use. For example, in the case described above, 65 fins having a width of about 50mm for each longitudinal edge 6 may be realized, with a tolerance which can vary according to the particular cutting technique.

Fig. 3 shows a particular of the armor 1, which highlights the male and female joining means 16 of the transverse edges 5 of the inner sheet 4, whose task will be to allow the armature 1 to be locked in the ring-shaped configuration after the same has been bent around the tire 3. In particular, the male and female junction means 16 comprise a female joint element 17 having a width not exceeding the width of the inner sheet 4 and provided with a pair of front slots 18 each adapted to receive a respective transverse end lip 9 of the inner sheet 4 having no covering 7.

The slots 18 have height h corresponding to the thickness s of the inner sheet 4 and length dimensioned to always allow the housing thereinsede of a transverse end lip 9 having predetermined minimum length.

The slots 18 should be sized to absorb the dimensional differences that inevitably exist between different tires of the same nominal size.

The joining element 17 may also have a multi-layer configuration with two external foils 19 having a thickness of 3/10mm and rectangular in shape, having the same length of the multilayer structure 2 and the largest side of about 10mm less than the width of the multilayer structure 2.

The two external plates 19 are mutually joined to an intermediate plate 20 with a thickness of 5/ 10mm having rectangular shape and the longer side with a width of about 10mm less than the width of the multilayer structure 2 and the smaller side equal to the above minimum value of the length of the transverse end lip 9 which must always be inserted in the slots 18.

The plates 19, 20 will be joined together by welding and two layers of covering in a polymeric material, for example still butyl, will be arranged on the external plates 19.

Even the joint element may be provided with cuts defining fins similar to those of the multilayer laminar structure 2.

Operatively, a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the armor 1 is realized starting from a raw plate with 5/10mm thickness subsequently cut by cutting discs into the form of a rectangle having the longer side equal to the length of the tire 3 increased by a predetermined mesasure, for example 20 mm, and a transverse dimension equal to the design width of the armor 1 reduced of predetermined measure, for example 10 mm. The surface of the just cut semi-finished sheet is prepared for the subsequent steps and, in particular, is defatted to remove any possible trace of oil, also deriving from the previous machining of metal sheet, sanded or abraded with the purpose of giving an appropriate structure for the adhesion of the subsequent covering and finally adhesion and dissolution agents are applied on both sides by brush or by vaporization for the realization of the fixing layers.

At the same time it is provided the cutting of rectangle- shaped butyl sheets, with the longer side equal to the greater side of the metal sheet, and the shorter side longer than the shorter side of the sheet, for example of 15 mm.

After appropriate treatment, the butyl sheets are laid down one at a time on both surfaces of the provided sheet taking care to center them and the vulcanisation is carried out by subsequent cooking, to promote chemical modifications that make the butyl to stick to the metal with which is in contact. The final result of this working step is a multi-layer laminar structure of metal and rubber, firmly joined together.

Subsequently, the multilayer structure is shaped by cutting machines, for example, operating with high pressure water jet, possibly mixed with abrasive material.

The semifinished product is laid down on the worktable of the machine and is shaped according to the desired geometry. The water jet also performs the slots.

Then the layer of polymeric covering is removed in correspondence of the transverse edges to have the two end lips having no covering.

The semifinished product is shaped to give it a prebending in the area of the fins just formed, with its axis parallel to the longitudinal axis in order to facilitate the following assembly.

The curvature may be obtained by plastic deformation, by means of suitable molds or by rolling, making assume the desired curvature.

Finally, the armor thus made is subjected to finishing for removing any burrs.

The making of the junction element 17 may be carried out in a similar way as disclosed above for the multilayer structure, possibly using a resistance welding for fixing each of the three metal plates.

Fig. 4 shows a first embodiment of a tire 3 comprising the armor 1 described above. In particular, the tire 3 is of the tube type, but the armor may also be used for tubeless tires without the need to make changes.

In particular it could be noted that the tire 3 is mounted on the rim R of a wheel W of a vehicle and comprises a peripheral wall 21 with a central annular band 22 defining the tread and the sidewalls 23 connected by one side to the central band 22 and the opposite side to a respective inner annular edge or bead 24 designed to be placed in contact with the rim R of the wheel W.

The peripheral wall 21 has an outer surface 25 designed to come into contact with the ground and an inner surface 26 on which the armor 1 is arranged.

In particular, the armor 1 has a flat central portion 12 in correspondence of the central annular band 22 and curved side portions 13 which extend on respective sidewalls 23 with respective longitudinal edges 6 suitably spaced from the corresponding beads 24 to avoid contact therewith even in the presence of crushing of the tire 3 due to the weight of the vehicle.

The distance G in the rest condition between the longitudinal edges 6 and the inner annular margin of the beads 24 is variable for the different types of vehicle and the different models of tires, but it may be assumed proportional to the height H of the sidewall of the tire according to the formula G = 3/5 H.

Fig. 5 shows an enlarged view of a detail of the tire 3 from which it is possible to observe the positioning of the armor 1 along the sides 23.

Operatively, it may proceed by lying down the armature 1 on the pre-curved inner surface 26 of the tire 3 and, with the aid of hands, will adhere thereto so that the side fins 15 are arranged at the sidewalls 23, thus passing from an area with larger radius R2 to an area with smaller radius R1<R2.

For this reason, since the circumference of radius Rl is smaller than the circumference of radius R2, there will be a partial overlapping of the fins 15, facilitated by the inclined slots 14.

At this point it is possible to mount the junction element, by placing it first on a lip 9 of the sheet 4, and then on the other.

It will also be possible to mount an additional rubber layer of protection, not shown, positioned on the armor 1 before the insertion of the air tube T to better safeguard the same or provide a greater thickness of the section of the air tube.

To keep in position the elements just mounted and facilitate the subsequent assembly steps, it will be appropriate to slightly inflate the tube T. After checking the proper positioning of the just mounted elements, another layer of protection is mounted on the air tube T.

When the assembly has been completed it is possible to inflate the air tube T to the working pressure so that during expansion it could push the armor 1 against the inner surface 26 of the tire 3.

Fig. 6 shows a particular embodiment of a tubeless tire 3 provided with an armor 1 substantially similar to that described above but with Ω-shaped toroidal section and curved side portions 27 extending on respective sidewalls 23 to cover also the beads 24. In particular, each curved portion has a longitudinal elastomeric band 28 which extends along a corresponding longitudinal edge 6, preferably but not necessarily for the entire length thereof, and that is U-folded to at least partially wrapping a corresponding bead 24, as more cleare from Fig. 7.

According to another variant, not shown, the tire 3 may be a regenerated tire with an armor 1 of the type described above embedded in the polymeric compound.

In this case the armor 1 will be preferably constituted by a metal sheet 4 and an outer cover 7 formed by a film of the cushion gum type applied by gluing it at least to the inner side of the inner sheet.

This tire may be realized starting from the regeneration of a used tire having a peripheral wall with an outer surface designed for contact with the ground, which will be partially removed to free up an inside surface layer.

Then, an adhesive polymerical solution will be applied on the inner free surface layer which will later be wrapped with the protective armor.

In particular the cushion gum cover will be positioned as first and then the flexible sheet in the metal material.

The coupling between the metal sheet and the cushion gum layer will be obtained by gluing and subsequent rolling of the armor to promote adhesion of the film with the compound of the tire.

The sheet will preferably have length greater than the circumference of the tire after removal of the surface layer to allow the overlap of the transverse edges.

The armor will be in turn wrapped with a rubber profile adapted to define the tread and a further step will also be provided for applying an adhesive rubber layer adapted to promote adhesion of the rubber profile.

From the above it is clear that the invention fulfills the intended objects.

The armor, the tire and the method according to the invention are susceptible to numerous modifications and variations all falling within the inventive concept expressed in the accompanying claims. All the details may be replaced with other technically equivalent elements, and the materials may be different according to requirements, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Although the armor, the tire and the method have been disclosed with particular reference to the accompanying figures, reference numbers used in the description and in the claims are used to improve the intelligence of the invention and do not constitute any limitation to the claimed scope of protection.

Claims

1. An armor for protection of pneumatic tires, comprising a multi-layer laminar structure (2) designed to be inserted inside of a tire (3) to protect it from punctures, said multi-layer laminar structure (2) comprising at least one inner flexible sheet (4) in a metallic material adapted to define a barrier against the entry of external bodies and having opposite transverse edges (5) adapted to be mutually coupled and substantially parallel longitudinal edges (6),

characterized in that said multi-layer laminar structure (2) comprises an outer covering (7) in a polymeric material placed on said at least one inner sheet (4) for covering said longitudinal edges (6).

2. Armor as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said outer covering (7) comprises a first layer (10) and a second layer (11) in a polymeric material which covers respective opposite faces (8) of said inner sheet (4 ) leaving free said transverse edges (5).

3. Armor as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said metal sheet (4) is made of a spring steel C72 (UNI 3545) with a thickness (s) of between 5/10 and 3/10mm and having the following chemical composition:

C% = 0,65 - 0,73;

Mn% = 0,6 - 0,9;

Si% = 0,15 - 0,35;

Cr% = 0,4 max;

Ni% = 0,4 max.

4. Armor as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that said covering (7) is made of butyl, and is firmly anchored to said inner sheet (4) by vulcanization.

5. Armor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said covering (7) comprises at least one film of the cushion gum type applied by gluing to at least one face (8) of said sheet (4).

6. Armor as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said multi-layer laminar structure (2) has a whole thickness (s_T) between 0.3mm and 1mm, and preferably close to 0,5mm.

7. Armor as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said multi-layer laminar structure (2) has a cross section with a flat central portion (12) and curved side portions (13) with the same radius of curvature.

8. Armor as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said multi-layer laminar structure (2) comprises male and female joining means (16) of said transverse edges (5) of said inner sheet (4).

9. Armor as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that said male and female joining means (16) comprise a female coupling element (17) having a width not exceeding the width of said inner sheet (4) and provided with a pair of front slots (18) each adapted to receive a respective transverse end lip (9) of said inner sheet (4) having no covering (7).

10. Armor as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that said slots (18) have a height (h) corresponding to the thickness (s) of said inner sheet (4) and length sized to always allow at least partial housing therein of a transverse end lip (9) with a predetermined minimum length.

11. Armor as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said laminar structure (2) has a longitudinal axis of symmetry (X) and has, at each of said longitudinal edges (6) a series of through cuts (14) mutually parallel and inclined with respect to said longitudinal axis of symmetry (X) with an angle of inclination (a) between 10° and 45° to define a plurality of side fins (15) which can rotate with respect to said longitudinal axis (X).

12. A tire (3) for vehicle wheels, in particular for cars and heavy vehicles, comprising a peripheral wall (21) with a central annular band (22) defining the tread and lateral sidewalls (23) connected by one side to said central band (21) and from the opposite side to a respective inner annular edge or bead (24) designed to be placed in contact with the rim (R) of the wheel (W), said peripheral wall (21) having an outer surface (25) designed to the contact with the ground and an inner surface (26), characterized by comprising an armor (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims positioned in contact with said inner surface (26) of said peripheral wall (21).

13. Tire (3) as claimed in claim 12, characterized by comprising an armor (1) according to one or more of claims 7 to 11 having a flat central portion (12) at said central annular band (22) and curved side portions (13) which extend on respective of said sidewalls (23) and having respective longitudinal edges (6) spaced from the respective beads (24) to avoid contact therewith even in the presence of crushing of the tire (3) due to the weight of the vehicle.

14. Tire as claimed in claim 12, characterized by comprising an armor (1) according to one or more of claims 1 to 11 having a flat central portion (12) at said central annular band (21) and curved side portions (13) which extend on respective of said sidewalls (23) and having a pair of elastomeric longitudinal bands (28) which extend along each of said longitudinal edges (6) and which are U-bent for at least partially wrap a corresponding one of said beads (24).

15. A tire (3) for vehicle wheels, in particular for cars and heavy vehicles, comprising a peripheral wall (21) made in a polymer compound, characterized by comprising an armor (1) according to claim 5 embedded in said polymeric compound.

16. A method for realizing a tire according to claim 15 starting from the regeneration of a used tire, comprising the following steps:

a) providing a used tire having a peripheral wall with an outer surface designed for contact with the ground;

b) partially removing said outer surface of said tire to free up an inner surface layer;

c) applying an adhesive polymeric solution on said inner surface layer;

d) wrapping said inner surface layer with a protection armor according to claim 5 having a multi-layer laminar structure with at least one flexible inner sheet in a metallic material and an outer covering comprising a film of the cushion gum type applied by gluing at least to the face of said sheet placed in contact with said inner surface layer, said armor having a length greater than the circumference of the tire after said removal step b) to allow the overlap of said transverse edges;

e) wrapping said armor with a rubber profile adapted to define the tread.

17. Method as claimed in claim 16, characterized in that said step d) of wrapping said surface layer provides the positioning of said armor with said film in contact with said surface layer and subsequent rolling of said armor to promote adhesion of said film with the compound of the tire, a further step being also provided for applying a layer of adhesive rubber adapted to promote adhesion of said rubber profile.