Patent Application
20230191842
The invention relates in general to pneumatic tires, and more particularly for vehicles such as trucks.
The commercial truck market is moving towards an increase in overall vehicle weight, which is due in part to the increase in weight of the motor and equipment. The increase in overall vehicle weight requires a tire capable of handling the additional loading. Thus, a tire with improved crown durability and increased load carrying capacity is desired.
The invention provides in a pneumatic tire for use on trucks, the tire having a tread, sidewalls, and a pair of beads, and a belt reinforcement structure located radially inward of the tread, the belt structure wherein the first working belt is located radially inward of the second working belt, wherein the angle of the first and second working belts range from about 10 degrees to about 50 degrees from the circumferential direction, wherein a zigzag belt is located radially inward of the first working belt, and wherein a rubber spacer layer is located between the zigzag belt and a carcass of the tire.
“Aspect Ratio” means the ratio of a tire's section height to its section width.
“Axial” and “axially” mean the lines or directions that are parallel to the axis of rotation of the tire.
“Bead” or “Bead Core” mean generally that part of the tire comprising an annular tensile member, the radially inner beads are associated with holding the tire to the rim being wrapped by ply cords and shaped, with or without other reinforcement elements such as flippers, chippers, apexes or fillers, toe guards and chafers.
“Belt Structure” or “Reinforcing Belts” means at least two annular layers or plies of parallel cords, woven or unwoven, underlying the tread, unanchored to the bead, and having both left and right cord angles in the range from 17° to 27° with respect to the equatorial plane of the tire.
“Bias Ply Tire” means that the reinforcing cords in the carcass ply extend diagonally across the tire from bead-to-bead at about 25-65° angle with respect to the equatorial plane of the tire, the ply cords running at opposite angles in alternate layers
“Block element” means a tread element defined by a circumferential groove or shoulder and a pair of laterally extending grooves.
“Breakers” or “Tire Breakers” means the same as belt or belt structure or reinforcement belts.
“Carcass” means a laminate of tire ply material and other tire components cut to length suitable for splicing, or already spliced, into a cylindrical or toroidal shape. Additional components may be added to the carcass prior to its being vulcanized to create the molded tire.
“Circumferential” means lines or directions perpendicular to the axial direction within + or −5 degrees.
“Cord” means one of the reinforcement strands, including fibers, which are used to reinforce the plies.
“Extensible” means a cable having a relative elongation at break of greater than 0.2% at 10% of the breaking load, when measured from a cord extracted from a cured tire. The tensile measurements such as the load at break (maximum load in N), strength at break (in MPa) and elongation at break (total elongation in %) are performed in tension in accordance with ISO 6892-1B (2019) at a pre-load no more than 25 MPa tested on a cable or wire when taken from a cured tire
“Inner Liner” means the layer or layers of elastomer or other material that form the inside surface of a tubeless tire and that contain the inflating fluid within the tire.
“Inserts” means the reinforcement typically used to reinforce the side edges of runflat-type tires; it also refers to the elastomeric insert that underlies the tread.
“Ply” means a cord-reinforced layer of elastomer-coated, radially deployed or otherwise parallel cords.
“Radial” and “radially” mean directions radially toward or away from the axis of rotation of the tire.
“Radial Ply Structure” means the one or more carcass plies or which at least one ply has reinforcing cords oriented at an angle of between 65° and 90° with respect to the equatorial plane of the tire.
“Rib” means a circumferentially extending strip of rubber of the tread which is defined by at least one circumferential groove and either a second circumferential groove or a lateral edge, wherein the strip is not divided by full depth grooves.
“Radial Ply Tire” means a belted or circumferentially-restricted pneumatic tire in which the ply cords which extend from bead to bead are laid at cord angles between 65° and 90° with respect to the equatorial plane of the tire.
“Side edge” means a portion of a tire between the tread and the bead.
“Sipe” means small slots or elongated void areas typically formed by thin steel blades, and which tend to remain closed, and function to increase traction.
“Laminate structure” means an unvulcanized structure made of one or more layers of tire or elastomer components such as the innerliner, side edges, and optional ply layer.
The invention will be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
The tire 10 further includes a belt package 50 which is located between the tread and the one or more plies 18. The ply 18 and the belt reinforcing structure 50 are made from cord reinforced elastomeric material, wherein the cords are typically steel wire or polyamide filaments and the elastomer preferably being rubber.
The belt reinforcing package 50 includes a pair of extensible working belts, 54, 56. Belt 54 is located radially inwards of belt 56. Belt 54 has a width which is about equal to the tread arc width. Preferably, belt 54 has a belt width substantially equal to the tread arc width. The breaker angle of belt 54 is between about 10 and 50 degrees, preferably with a right orientation.
Belt 56 is the second member of the working belt pair. Belt 56 has a width less than the width of belt 54 (the other working belt), and is preferably radially outward of belt 54. Preferably, the belt 56 has a width less than the width of belt 54 by a step off, which may range from about 10 to about 20 mm. Belt 56 has a breaker angle between about 10 and 50 degrees, preferably with a left orientation. Belt 56 has the same angle but opposite angular orientation as belt 54.
As shown in
As shown in
The belt package includes a rubber layer 80 located between the carcass ply and the first working belt. The rubber layer 80 has a width less than the width of the first working belt. The rubber layer 80 preferably has a variable gauge, which ranges from 1.5 mm to 4 mm. Preferably, the maximum gauge occurs in the center of the tread and decreases to the lateral belt edge.
The belt structure man include an optional overlay belt 90, which is the radially outermost belt.
The aspect ratio of the tire described above may vary. The aspect ratio is preferably in the range of about 50 to about 90. The tire may have a net to gross ratio in the range of about 70 to about 90, more preferably in the ratio of about 74 to about 86, more preferably about 78 to 84.
Variations in the present invention are possible in light of the description of it provided herein. While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the subject invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the subject invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that changes can be made in the particular embodiments described which will be within the full intended scope of the invention as defined by the following appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63265534 | Dec 2021 | US |
