The present disclosure relates to a pneumatic tire having a rubber member formed from wound ribbon rubber, and to a method for manufacture thereof.
What is referred to as a ribbon winding process has conventionally been proposed in which a rubber member (e.g., cap rubber) making up a tire is formed by causing unvulcanized ribbon rubber to be wound about the rotational axis of the tire so as to wrap around the outside circumferential surface of a more or less cylindrical rotating support body such that the side edges thereof form multiple layers. Known among ribbon winding processes are those which are said to employ the inclined winding technique and those which are said to employ the pitch-fed winding technique.
The inclined winding technique is disclosed at FIG. 4 of Japanese Patent Application Publication Kokai No. 2002-178415 and at FIG. 8 of Japanese Patent Application Publication Kokai No. 2006-69130. When ribbon rubber is wound from a start point to a finish point at such orientation as to cause it to be inclined with respect to the tire circumferential direction, this results in production of blank regions where no ribbon rubber is wound at either end in the tire width direction. Presence of regions where no rubber is present is not preferred, because it will produce differences in the cross-sectional structure of the tire. Production of blank regions where no rubber is present is therefore avoided by causing the ribbon rubber to be wound so as to be parallel to the tire circumferential direction for one full revolution at portions corresponding to the ends in the tire width direction. However, as shown in
The pitch-fed winding technique is disclosed at FIGS. 1 through 4 and 6 of Japanese Patent Application Publication Kokai No. 2006-69130 and at Japanese Patent Application Publication Kokai No. 2013-111864. In this technique, the ribbon rubber is maintained in such orientation as will cause it to be parallel to the tire circumferential direction, and following winding of one full revolution, the ribbon rubber is shifted in position in the tire width direction with each additional revolution that is wound thereafter. With the pitch-fed winding technique, because the ribbon rubber is wound at such orientation as to cause it to be parallel to the tire circumnferential direction for one full revolution, the foregoing couple unbalance problem does not occur. Instead, because the amount of rubber is greater at only those locations at which the ribbon rubber is shifted in position, only the locations in the tire circumferential direction at which shifting takes place will be heavy. This type of mass unbalance, which is referred to as static unbalance, can lead to poor uniformity. At the foregoing inclined winding technique, note that while couple unbalance occurs, static unbalance does not.
Static unbalance can be easily adjusted by arranging mass(es) at location(s) 180° on the opposite side therefrom in the tire circumferential direction, but adjustment of couple unbalance is difficult.
The present disclosure was conceived in view of such problem, it being an object thereof to provide a pneumatic tire having reduced mass unbalance in the context of a tire having a structure in accordance with what is referred to as the inclined winding technique, and a method for manufacture thereof.
To solve the foregoing problem, the present disclosure employs means as described below.
In other words, according to the present disclosure, there is provided a pneumatic tire having:
a rubber member formed by winding a ribbon rubber in uninterrupted fashion about a rotational axis of the tire;
wherein the rubber member has a parallel portion at which the ribbon rubber is parallel to a tire circumferential direction at an end toward an exterior in a tire width direction, and an inclined portion at which the ribbon rubber is inclined with respect to the tire circumferential direction in such fashion as to cause the ribbon rubber to be directed from the parallel portion toward an interior in the tire width direction; and
wherein the ribbon rubber from which the parallel portion is formed is wound in the tire circumferential direction for a wrap angle of not 360° but N ° (N=210 to 300).
In forming parallel portion, by thus causing ribbon rubber to be wound for a wrap angle of not 360° but N ° (N=210 to 300) in the tire circumferential direction, it is possible to reduce circumferential mass unbalance as compared with the conventional situation in which the wrap angle of the ribbon rubber thereat is 360°.
Below, embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to the drawings. Description will first be given with respect to the constitution of a pneumatic tire in accordance with the present disclosure, followed by description of a method for manufacturing a pneumatic tire associated with the present disclosure.
Pneumatic tire T shown in
Arranged between the pair of bead regions 1 is a toroidal carcass layer 7, the ends of which are routed by way of bead cores 1a to be retained in upturned fashion. Carcass layer 7 is made up of at least one (two in the present embodiment) carcass ply, said carcass ply or plies being formed from cord(s) that extend at angle(s) of approximately 90° with respect to the tire circumferential direction and that are coated with topping rubber. Arranged at the inside circumferential surface of carcass layer 7 is—inner liner rubber 5 for retention of air pressure.
At bead region 1, provided at a location toward the exterior from carcass layer 7 is rim strip rubber 4 which comes in contact with the rim when the tire is mounted on a rim (not shown). Furthermore, at sidewall region 2, provided at a location toward the exterior from carcass layer 7 is sidewall rubber 9.
At tread region 3, arranged at a location toward the exterior from carcass layer 7 is belt layer 6 which is made up of a plurality of (two in the present embodiment) belt plies. The respective belt plies are formed from cord(s) that extend in inclined fashion with respect to the tire circumferential direction and that are coated with topping rubber, these being laminated together in such fashion that said cords of neighboring plies intersect with mutually opposite inclinations.
At tread region 3, tread rubber 10 is provided at a location toward the outside circumferential surface from belt layer 6. Tread rubber 10 has cap rubber 12 which makes up the contact patch, and base rubber 11 which is provided at a location toward the interior in the tire radial direction from cap rubber 12. Base rubber 11 comprises rubber of a different type than that at cap rubber 12.
As examples of the aforementioned rubber raw material, natural rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), butadiene rubber (BR), isoprene rubber (IR), butyl rubber (HR), and so forth may be cited, it being possible for any one of these to be used alone, or for any two or more of these to be used in combination. Such rubber raw material may have vulcanizing agent(s) and/or vulcanization accelerator(s), plasticizer(s), antioxidant(s), and/or the like blended thereinto as appropriate.
At least one of the plurality of rubber members which make up the tire is formed by means of what is called the ribbon winding process. The ribbon winding process is a process in which the small-width unvulcanized ribbon rubber 20 shown in
Here, for convenience of description, description will be given in terms of an example in which the ribbon winding process is employed for inner liner rubber 5 and cap rubber 12. As shown in
Furthermore, at the surface of tread rubber 10, major groove 15 extending in the tire circumferential direction is formed as a result of vulcanization. The tire mold used to carry out vulcanization is provided with protrusion(s), major groove(s) 15 being formed as a result of the fact that said protrusion(s) are pressed into tread rubber 10. While not shown in the drawings, lateral groove(s) and so forth which extend in direction(s) intersecting major groove(s) 15 may be provided as appropriate at tread rubber 10.
Next described is a method for manufacturing a pneumatic tire T.
At least one of the plurality of rubber members which make up the tire (e.g., cap rubber 12 and/or inner liner rubber 5) is formed by means of the foregoing ribbon winding process. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Here, for convenience of description, as seen in a tire meridional section, a first side in the tire width direction WD (the left side in the drawing) will be referred to as WD1, and a second side (the right side in the drawing) which is opposite the first side will be referred to as WD2.
As shown in
As shown in
While a wrap angle of N=270° was employed in the present embodiment, this may be varied as appropriate within the range N=210 to 300. The reason for saying that N should be within the range 210 to 300 is as follows.
As shown in
From TABLE 1, it can be understood that whereas the difference in area was 18 for conventional manufacturing in which the wrap angle of parallel portion 20a was 360°, the difference in area was less than 18, producing a reduction in circumferential mass unbalance, in the range N=210 to 300. It is more preferred that this be within the range N=210 to 270, and most preferred that this be within the range N=240-10. The reason for this is that the point at which the difference in area reaches a minimum is believed to be within these ranges.
The foregoing numeric ranges are preferred because they permit reduction in the circumferential mass unbalance. Moreover, it is preferred that parallel portion 20a at first side WD1 in the tire width direction extend from 0° to N ° in terms of its location on the tire circumference, and that parallel portion 20a at second side WD2 in the tire width direction extend from (360−N °) to 360° in terms of its location on the tire circumference. Maintenance of such a positional relationship will make it possible to reduce couple unbalance.
Methods in which winding is carried out so as to cause parallel portion 20a to have a wrap angle of N ° (N=210 to 300) as described above may also be suitably used as methods for winding cap rubber 12 shown in
Whereas in the present embodiment, to reduce couple unbalance, parallel portion 20a at first side WD1 in the tire width direction was made to extend from 0° to N ° in terms of its location on the tire circumference, and parallel portion 20a at second side WD2 in the tire width direction was made to extend from (360−N °) to 360° in terms of its location on the tire circumference, it is possible to deviate somewhat therefrom if some couple unbalance can be tolerated.
As described above, a pneumatic tire in accordance with the present embodiment having a rubber member 12 formed by winding a ribbon rubber 20 in uninterrupted fashion about a rotational axis of the tire. The robber member 12 has a parallel portion 20a at which the ribbon rubber 20 is parallel to a tire circumferential direction CD at an end toward an exterior in a tire width direction, and an inclined portion 20b at which the ribbon rubber 20 is inclined with respect to the tire circumferential direction CD in such fashion as to cause the ribbon rubber 20 to be directed from the parallel portion 20a toward an interior in the tire width direction. The ribbon rubber 20 from which the parallel portion 20a is formed is wound in the tire circumferential direction CD for a wrap angle of not 360° but N ° (N=210 to 300).
A method for manufacturing a pneumatic tire in accordance with the present embodiment, the method having an operation in which a rubber member 12 is formed by winding a ribbon rubber 20 in uninterrupted fashion about a rotational axis of the tire. At the operation in which the rubber member 12 is formed, a parallel portion 20a at which the ribbon rubber 20 is parallel to a tire circumferential direction CD at an end toward an exterior in a tire width direction, and an inclined portion 20b at which the ribbon rubber 20 is inclined with respect to the tire circumferential direction CD in such fashion as to cause the ribbon rubber 20 to be directed from the parallel portion 20a toward an interior in the tire width direction, are formed. The ribbon rubber 20 from which the parallel portion 20a is formed is wound in the tire circumferential direction CD for a wrap angle of not 360° but N ° (N=210 to 300).
In forming parallel portion 20a, by thus causing ribbon rubber 20 to be wound for a wrap angle of not 360° but N ° (N=210 to 300) in the tire circumferential direction, it is possible to reduce circumferential mass unbalance as compared with the conventional situation in which the wrap angle of the ribbon rubber thereat is 360°.
In accordance with the present embodiment, the parallel portion 20a is one of two parallel portions 20a, and the inclined portion 20b is one of two inclined portions 20b, one of each of which is respectively provided at either end at both a first side WD1 in the tire width direction and a second side WD2 in the tire width direction of the rubber member 12. The parallel portion 20a at the first side WD1 in the tire width direction extends from 0° to N ° in terms of the location thereof on the tire circumference. The parallel portion 20a at the second side WD2 in the tire width direction extends from (360−N °) to 360° in terms of the location thereof on the tire circumference.
Such an arrangement will make it possible to reduce couple unbalance.
In accordance with the present embodiment, the ribbon rubber 20 is wound from a start point S1 located at an end 5a at a first side WD1 in the tire width direction, toward a second side WD2 in the tire width direction, to reach a finish point E1 located at an end 5b at a second side WD2 in the tire width direction.
With such a locus of winding as well, it will be possible to reduce mass imbalance.
In accordance with the present embodiment, the ribbon rubber 20 is wound from a start point S1 located at a central location CL in the tire width direction until it arrives at an end 12a at a first side WD1 in the tire width direction, and then reverses direction at the end 12a at the first side WD1 in the tire width direction until it arrives at an end 12b at a second side WD2 in the tire width direction, and then reverses direction at the end 12b at the second side WD2 in the tire width direction until it arrives at a finish point E1 located at the central location CL in the tire width direction.
With such a locus of winding as well, it will be possible to reduce mass unbalance.
Structure employed at any of the foregoing embodiment(s) may be employed as desired at any other embodiment(s). The specific constitution of the various components is not limited only to the foregoing embodiment(s) but admits of any number of variations without departing from the gist of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2017-183681 | Sep 2017 | JP | national |