Patent Application
20200131700
The present invention relates to a rubber article-reinforcing steel cord (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “steel cord”) and a method of producing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a rubber article-reinforcing steel cord having excellent corrosion resistance, and a method of producing the same with excellent productivity.
Steel cords for conveyor belts are usually plated with zinc such that rainwater and the like do not reach steel filaments (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “filaments”) through a cut damage. This allows the plated zinc to corrode preferentially to the filaments, and corrosion of the filaments can thereby be delayed. A variety of proposals have been made on such zinc-plated steel cords.
For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a steel cord having a multi-twisted structure in which outermost layer filaments of outermost layer strands constituting the outer circumference of the steel cord are plated with brass, and at least one filament positioned on the inner side than the outermost layer strands is plated with zinc. Further, Patent Document 2 proposes to perform plating with a metal having a higher ionization tendency than iron on at least one filament other than outermost layer filaments of outermost layer strands constituting a steel cord having a multi-twisted structure and to control the amount of the plated metal to be 0.0015 to 0.45 mol per 1 kg of all filaments. Moreover, Patent Document 3 proposes an electrode wire for wire electric discharge machining, which includes a copper wire that has a wire diameter of 0.02 to 0.20 mm as a core material and a plating layer that has a bilayer structure composed of a brass plating lower layer and a zinc plating upper layer on the surface of the core wire, the electrode wire having a prescribed tensile strength Ts.
[Patent Document 1] JP 2011-202291 A
[Patent Document 2] JP 2015-196937 A
[Patent Document 3] JP 2003-311544 A
However, in the steel cords proposed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a production method thereof is not examined although the adhesion with rubber and the corrosion resistance are examined. In addition, in Patent Document 3, the use for rubber article reinforcement is not examined. Therefore, at present, there is room for further investigation with regard to producing a rubber article-reinforcing steel cord having excellent corrosion resistance with good productivity.
In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a rubber article-reinforcing steel cord having excellent corrosion resistance, and a method of producing the same with excellent productivity.
The present inventors intensively studied to solve the above-described problems and obtained the following finding as a result. That is, it was found that, when a zinc-plated steel wire material is drawn, for example, detachment of the plated zinc and abrasion of a die occur, and the productivity is thereby deteriorated. Based on this finding, the present inventors further intensively studied to discover that the above-described problems can be solved by adopting the following structure and production steps for the steel cord to be obtained, thereby completing the present invention.
That is, the rubber article-reinforcing steel cord according to the present invention is a rubber article-reinforcing steel cord in which plural sheath strands each formed by twisting together plural steel filaments are twisted together around at least one core strand formed by twisting together plural steel filaments,
the rubber article-reinforcing steel cord being characterized in that brass plating is performed on the steel filaments, and zinc plating is further performed on at least the outer circumference of the brass plating of outermost-layer steel filaments of the sheath strands.
In the steel cord of the present invention, it is preferred that the zinc plating be performed on the outer circumference of the brass plating of all of the outermost-layer steel filaments of the core strand and the sheath strands. In the steel cord of the present invention, it is also preferred that a gauge of the brass plating be smaller than that of the zinc plating. Further, in the steel cord of the present invention, it is preferred that, when a diameter of the steel filaments is defined as d, an amount (g/m2) of the brass plating adhered to the steel filaments be 6d to 10d, and an amount (g/m2) of the zinc plating adhered to the steel filaments be 25d to 95d. Still further, in the steel cord of the present invention, it is preferred that the steel filaments have a tensile strength Ts (MPa) satisfying a relationship represented by the following formula:
(−2,000×d+3,825)≤Ts<(−2,000×d+4,525).
The steel cord of the present invention can be suitably used for reinforcing a conveyor.
A method of producing a rubber article-reinforcing steel cord according to the present invention, the method including: a brass plating step of plating a steel wire material with brass; a drawing step of drawing the resulting steel wire material; a steel filament twisting step of twisting together the thus obtained steel filaments to form strands; and a strand twisting step of twisting together the thus obtained strands,
the method being characterized by including a zinc plating step of performing zinc plating before or after the strand twisting step.
Further, a method of producing a rubber article-reinforcing steel cord according to the present invention, the method including: a brass plating step of plating a steel wire material with brass; a drawing step of drawing the resulting steel wire material; a steel filament twisting step of twisting together the thus obtained steel filaments to form strands; and a strand twisting step of twisting together the thus obtained strands,
the method being characterized by including a zinc plating step of performing zinc plating after the drawing step.
In the method of producing a rubber article-reinforcing steel cord according to the present invention, it is preferred that the zinc plating step be performed by electroplating.
According to the present invention, a rubber article-reinforcing steel cord having excellent corrosion resistance, and a method of producing the same with excellent productivity can be provided.
The rubber article-reinforcing steel cord of the present invention will now be described in detail referring to the drawings.
In the steel cord 1 of the present invention, brass plating is performed on the steel filaments, and zinc plating is further performed at least on the outer circumference of the brass plating of the outermost-layer sheath filaments 3s of the sheath strands 3. In this steel cord, the zinc plating performed on the outermost-layer sheath filaments 3s of the sheath strands 3 corrodes preferentially to the filaments and, therefore, corrosion of the filaments can be delayed. In addition, the zinc plating does not hinder the adhesion with a rubber. Further, as described below, the steel cord 1 having such a structure has excellent productivity.
In the steel cord 1 of the present invention, it is preferred that zinc plating be performed on the outer circumference of the brass plating of all of the outermost-layer steel filaments of the core strand 2 and the sheath strands 3. By performing zinc plating on all of the outermost-layer sheath filaments 2s and 3s of all strands in this manner, the above-described effects can be more favorably attained. In the steel cord 1 of the present invention, zinc plating may be performed on all of the steel filaments constituting the steel cord 1.
In the steel cord 1 of the present invention, when a zinc electroplating treatment is performed for the zinc plating of the steel filaments, it is more advantageous in terms of the overall processing speed, the productivity and the cost to perform a zinc electroplating treatment separately on individual steel filaments than to perform the zinc electroplating treatment after twisting together the steel filaments and thereby forming the steel cord. Moreover, for example, in terms of the adhesion with rubber, it is more preferred to perform a zinc plating treatment on the steel filaments one by one than to perform the zinc electroplating treatment after the formation of the steel cord, since this leads to a greater amount of adhered zinc plating.
In the steel cord 1 of the present invention, it is preferred that the gauge of the brass plating be smaller than that of the zinc plating. In order to favorably obtain the effects of the present invention, it is necessary to ensure a certain level of the zinc plating gauze. In addition, in the below-described method of producing the steel cord 1 of the present invention, since it is required to perform a drawing process on a steel wire material obtained after the brass plating, the brass plating gauge is usually smaller than the zinc plating gauge.
Specifically, when a diameter of the steel filaments is defined as d, it is preferred that an amount (g/m2) of the brass plating adhered to the steel filaments be 6d to 10d, and an amount (g/m2) of the zinc plating adhered to the steel filaments be 25d to 95d. When the amount of the adhered brass plating is less than 6d, the drawability is deteriorated, which is not preferred. Meanwhile, when this amount is greater than 10d, the productivity is reduced, which is disadvantageous and thus not preferred from the standpoint of economic efficiency. Further, when the amount of the adhered zinc plating is less than 25d, the corrosion resistance may be deteriorated, which is not preferred, while an amount of greater than 95d is also not preferred since the productivity is reduced, which is disadvantageous from the standpoint of economic efficiency.
In the steel cord 1 of the present invention, it is preferred that the filaments have a tensile strength Ts (MPa) satisfying a relationship represented by the following formula:
(−2,000×d+3,825)≤Ts<(−2,000×d+4,525).
By controlling the Ts to be (−2,000×d+3,825) or higher, a weight reduction effect is obtained since a tensile strength can be ensured even when the filaments have a small wire diameter, and the resistance to repeated bending fatigue is improved since such a tensile strength Ts allows the use of fine filaments. On the other hand, a tensile strength Ts of (−2,000×d+4,525) or higher may impair the drawability in brass plating as well and thus present a problem in terms of the productivity.
In the steel cord 1 of the present invention, as long as the above-described constitutions are satisfied, other constitutions are not particularly restricted. For example, plural core strands may be used, and two core strands may be parallelly arranged with or without being twisted together. The number of the sheath strands may be 6 to 10. Moreover, in the steel cord 1 of the present invention, the structures of the core strand 2 and the sheath strands 3 are also not particularly restricted, and these strands may have a single-twist structure or a layer-twisted structure, preferably a (2+m) structure or a (2+m+n) structure, wherein m is 5 to 10 and n is 10 to 15. Such a structure does not deteriorate the productivity of the steel cord 1 and can provide a sufficient strength.
A steel cord 11 illustrated in
In the steel cord of the present invention, the core filaments and the sheath filaments that constitute the respective strands may have the same diameter or different diameters, and the twist pitch and the twist direction of the core filaments and the sheath filaments that constitute the respective strands can be selected as appropriate in accordance with a conventional method. Further, the twist direction, the twist pitch and the like of the strands are also not particularly restricted and can be selected as appropriate in accordance with a conventional method.
As the filaments used in the steel cord 1 of the present invention, any conventionally used filaments can be selected; however, the filaments are preferably made of a high-carbon steel containing not less than 0.80% by mass of a carbon component. By using a high-hardness and high-carbon steel containing not less than 0.80% by mass of a carbon component as the material of the filaments, an effect of reinforcing a rubber article, such as a tire or a belt, can be sufficiently obtained. Meanwhile, a carbon component content of higher than 1.5% is not preferred since it reduces the ductility and the fatigue resistance is thereby deteriorated.
In the steel cord 1 of the present invention, the filaments preferably have a diameter (d) in a range of 0.3 to 0.80 mm. As long as the diameter (d) of the filaments is in this range, the productivity of the steel cord 1 is not deteriorated.
The use of the steel cord 1 of the present invention is not particularly restricted, and the steel cord 1 of the present invention can be widely used in a variety of rubber products and components, for example, automobile tires and industrial belts such as dynamic transmission belts and conveyor belts, as well as rubber crawlers, hoses, and seismic isolation rubber bearings. Thereamong, the steel cord 1 of the present invention can be particularly suitably used as a reinforcing material of a conveyor belt.
Next, a method of producing a steel cord according to the present invention will be described. The method of producing a steel cord according to the present invention (hereinafter, also referred to as “production method”) includes: a brass plating step of plating a steel wire material with brass; a drawing step of drawing the resulting steel wire material; a steel filament twisting step of twisting together the thus obtained steel filaments to form strands; and a strand twisting step of twisting together the thus obtained strands. One preferred embodiment of the production method of the present invention includes a zinc plating step of performing zinc plating before or after the strand twisting step. Another embodiment of the method of producing a steel cord according to the present invention includes the zinc plating step of performing zinc plating after the drawing step. A drawing process may be further added before the brass plating step.
In the steel cord 1 of the present invention, zinc plating is further performed at least on the outer circumference of the brass plating of the outermost-layer sheath steel filaments of the sheath strands 3. Accordingly, as a production method thereof, it is considered performing brass plating and zinc plating on a steel wire material, subsequently drawing the thus plated steel wire material to obtain filaments, and then twisting together the filaments. However, as compared to drawing of a brass-plated filament, drawing of a zinc-plated steel wire material has problems in that it leads to a large amount of plating detachment and major abrasion of a die. In order to solve these problems, it is necessary to lower the drawing rate; however, this deteriorates the productivity.
Therefore, in the production method of the present invention, filaments are prepared by drawing a brass-plated steel wire material, and zinc plating is subsequently performed on the filaments. By performing zinc plating after the drawing step in this manner, a reduction in the drawing rate of the steel wire material is inhibited, whereby problems such as detachment of plating and abrasion of a die can be avoided. Particularly, by incorporating the zinc plating step of performing zinc plating before or after the strand twisting step, plural filaments can be simultaneously plated with zinc; therefore, the steel cord 1 of the present invention can be produced with good productivity.
Moreover, in the production method of the present invention, the zinc plating step is preferably performed by electroplating. In molten zinc plating that is common zinc plating, since a plating treatment is performed by immersing filaments in molten zinc at 450° C. or higher, the strength of the filaments is greatly reduced when the filaments have a strength of 2,500 MPa or higher. Therefore, in the production method of the present invention, this problem can be avoided by performing the zinc plating step by electroplating.
In the production method of the present invention, means for performing brass plating on a steel wire material is not particularly restricted, and a brass-plated layer may be formed by sequentially plating copper and zinc and subsequently performing a thermal diffusion treatment, or by simultaneously plating copper and zinc.
In the production method of the present invention, what is important is only that a brass-plated steel wire material is drawn and zinc plating is subsequently performed on the resulting steel filaments, and other steps are not particularly restricted. For example, the steel wire material unwinding step, the steel wire material drawing step, the steel filament twisting step, the steel cord rolling-up step and the like can be performed in the same order as in a conventional method. For example, the drawing method used in the drawing step performed after the brass plating step may be dry drawing or wet drawing; however, when a brass-plated steel wire is used for a steel cord, since the filament diameter thereof after final drawing is 0.8 mm or less, it is preferred to employ wet drawing.
The present invention will now be described in more detail by way of Examples thereof. The examples, comparative examples, and conventional examples include measured values and prophetic values. The values of Corrosion Resistance Test of Conventional Examples 1,2, and the value of Corrosion Resistance Test and Resistance to Repeated Bending Fatigue of Examples 1-4 are actually measured values. Corrosion Resistance Test of Comparative Example, Resistance to Repeated Bending Fatigue of Conventional Examples 1,2 and Comparative Example, Corrosion Resistance Test and Resistance to Repeated Bending Fatigue of Examples 5-14, and Cord Weight and Productivity of Examples 1-4, Comparative Example, and Conventional Example 1, 2 are prophetic examples.
Steel cords having the respective structures shown in Tables 1 to 5 are/were produced by plating at the timings shown in the same tables. As a steel wire material, one having a wire diameter of 2.62 mm that is/was obtained by drawing and patenting a piano wire rod having a diameter of 5.5 mm and a carbon content of 0.82% by mass is/was used. This steel wire material is/was brass-plated by performing thereon copper and zinc plating and then a thermal diffusion treatment, and the thus brass-plated steel wire material is/was drawn again to obtain filaments having various diameters. Thereafter, the filaments are/were twisted together to prepare strands, which are/were further twisted together to obtain each steel cord. It is noted here that the timing of plating was C to G as shown below. The zinc plating is/was performed by electroplating.
A: Drawing is/was performed after brass plating.
B: Drawing is/was performed after zinc plating.
C: Drawing is/was performed after zinc plating, and brass plating was performed after the formation of strands.
D: Drawing is/was performed after brass plating, and zinc plating was performed after the formation of strands.
E: Drawing is/was performed after brass plating, and zinc plating was performed after the formation of a steel cord.
F: Drawing is/was performed after brass plating, and zinc plating was performed before the formation of strands.
G: Zinc plating is/was performed after brass plating, followed by drawing and then twisting.
A: Only brass plating
B: Only zinc plating
C: Zinc plating on the inside, brass plating on the outside
D: Brass plating on the inside, zinc plating on the outside
For each of the thus obtained steel cords, the productivity, the corrosion resistance, the cord weight, and the resistance to repeated bending fatigue are/were evaluated. Each evaluation is/was indicated as an index, taking that of Conventional Example 1 as 100. The corrosion resistance and the resistance to repeated bending fatigue are/were tested by the below-described methods.
With regard to the productivity, the weight of each cord produced per unit time is indicated as an index, taking that of the steel cord of Conventional Example 1 as 100. The obtained values thereof are also shown in Tables 1 to 5.
The steel cords are/were each arranged in parallel to one another at intervals of 2.0 mm and subsequently coated with a rubber sheet from both above and below, and the resultant is/was vulcanized at 145° C. for 40 minutes to prepare an evaluation sample. From the thus obtained sample, a steel cord cut at a length of 200 mm is/was taken out and then immersed in a neutral aqueous solution containing nitrate ions and sulfate ions in small amounts. A bending stress of 300 N/mm2 is/was repeatedly applied to the steel cord at a rate of 1,000 rotations/minute, and the number of rotations required for breaking the steel cord is/was measured. The number of rotations is/was measured up to 1,000,000. The thus obtained results are/were converted into indices, taking the value measured for the steel cord of Conventional Example 1 as 100, and the corrosion-fatigue resistance is/was evaluated. The results thereof are also shown in Tables 1 to 5.
The steel cords are/were each arranged in parallel to one another at intervals of 2.0 mm and subsequently coated with a rubber sheet from both above and below, and the resultant is/was vulcanized at 145° C. for 40 minutes. For a sample prepared by cutting out a bundle of three cords after the vulcanization, a fatigue test where the sample is/was passed through a pulley of 50 mm in diameter and driven vertically with a tension of 8.0% of the cord strength being applied is/was conducted, and the number of the repeated vertical movements required for breaking the sample is/was measured. The thus obtained results are/were indicated as indices, taking the value measured for the steel cord of Conventional Example 1 as 100. The results thereof are also shown in Tables 1 to 5.
The weight of each steel cord is calculated and indicated as an index, taking that of the steel cord of Conventional Example 1 as 100. The obtained values thereof are also shown in Tables 1 to 5.
From Tables 1 to 5, it is seen that the steel cords according to the present invention are/were produced with good productivity since the brass-plated steel wire material is/was drawn and then plated with zinc.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-129980 | Jun 2017 | JP | national |
The present application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/JP2018/024701 filed Jun. 28, 2018, and claims priority to Japanese Application No. JP2017-129980 filed Jun. 30, 2017, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2018/024701 | Jun 2018 | US |
| Child | 16728096 | US |
