Carbon Black Mixture Porosity Control via Two-Stage Heating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mixing processes for vehicle tire production result in inconsistent porosity in unheated tire profiles, leading to imprecise or inconsistent profile geometries and weights, which do not meet modern quality standards.
Innovation Solution
A method involving heating a carbon black mixture to a maximum of 140°C to expel volatile constituents and water, followed by heating to at least 150°C to improve porosity, combined with controlled temperature and mixing to ensure even expulsion and stabilization, and optionally incorporating crosslinking chemicals and extrusion to reduce porosity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional mixing processes are used for carbon black compounds, then production efficiency is maintained, but porosity in unheated tire profiles becomes too high leading to imprecise profile geometries and weights
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by heating the carbon black mixture to a maximum of 140°C before tire profile production to expel volatile constituents and water. This pre-treatment step removes harmful volatile components that would otherwise cause porosity issues during subsequent heating processes, thereby ensuring precise profile geometries and weights without compromising production efficiency.
2Manufacturing precision
If heating to high temperature is applied to expel volatiles, then porosity is reduced, but volatile constituents may be incompletely expelled if temperature exceeds 140°C before ejection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by precisely controlling the heating temperature to a maximum of 140°C before ejection. This specific temperature parameter is optimized to ensure complete expulsion of volatile constituents and water without causing adverse effects. The temperature parameter is then changed to at least 150°C at the ejection stage, demonstrating controlled parameter variation to achieve both complete volatile removal and desired porosity reduction.
3Manufacturing precision
If heating time is extended to ensure complete volatile expulsion, then porosity improves, but production time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the heating time parameter by heating the carbon black mixture for a specific duration sufficient to expel volatile constituents and water, then promptly proceeding to ejection at higher temperature. This controlled time parameter prevents excessive heating that would increase production time, while ensuring complete volatile removal for uniform porosity. The subsequent rapid heating to ejection temperature further reduces total processing time.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method significantly reduces porosity in carbon black mixtures, resulting in more consistent and improved tire profiles with reduced weight variation and enhanced quality, as demonstrated by porosity values below 3.0% by volume.
Implementation Method 1
heating the carbon black mixture to a maximum of 140 °C in a first step and to an ejection temperature of at least 150 °C in a second step, in particular immediately after the volatile constituents and/or water have been driven off
Implementation Method 2
heating the carbon black mixture to a maximum of 140 °C in a first step and to an ejection temperature of at least 150 °C in a second step
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for producing a carbon black mixture for vehicle tires, comprising at least the following steps: i) providing a carbon black mixture or mixing at least two components selected from the group consisting of polymers, fillers, plasticizers, and antioxidants to obtain a carbon black mixture, ii) heating the carbon black mixture to a maximum temperature of 140 °C, and iii) heating the carbon black mixture to an ejection temperature of at least 150 °C. The invention further relates to a carbon black mixture for a vehicle tire obtainable by the described method, a vehicle tire with such a carbon black mixture, and an apparatus for producing a carbon black mixture.