Hooping Reinforcement for Heavy Duty Tire
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacturing of radial tires for heavy-duty civil engineering vehicles results in material waste due to the discontinuity of metal reinforcer plies, leading to increased costs and reduced productivity, while existing solutions like butt welding compromise the uniformity and endurance of the tire.
Innovation Solution
The use of a contiguous helical winding of a strip made from elastic metal reinforcers, coated in an elastomeric compound, replaces traditional plies for the hooping reinforcement, allowing for a wider and more flexible hooping layer that minimizes stress and deformation, and is optimized for industrial production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If traditional metal reinforcer plies are used for hooping reinforcement, then the tire structure provides necessary strength, but material waste increases and manufacturing costs rise due to ply discontinuity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the continuity principle by transitioning from discrete, discontinuous metal reinforcer plies to a continuous helical winding of metal reinforcers. This continuous winding eliminates the gaps and discontinuities inherent in traditional ply construction, thereby reducing material waste while maintaining structural integrity. The continuous action of the helical winding ensures uniform stress distribution without the need for overlapping or butting joints.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs curvature by using a helical winding path instead of straight or planar ply arrangements. The helical configuration follows a curved, three-dimensional path around the tire crown, allowing the metal reinforcers to conform to the tire's geometry while providing continuous reinforcement. This curved arrangement optimizes stress distribution and eliminates the discontinuities associated with flat ply construction.
2Stability of the object's composition
If butt welding is used to join metal reinforcer plies, then continuity is achieved, but uniformity and endurance of the tire are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous helical winding eliminates the need for welding joints entirely. By maintaining an unbroken sequence of metal reinforcers in a helical path, the structure achieves both continuity and uniformity without introducing potential weak points at joint locations. This continuous construction ensures consistent mechanical properties throughout the reinforcement layer.
3Productivity
If traditional discontinuous plies are used, then manufacturing is simpler, but productivity decreases due to increased material waste and handling
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous helical winding process eliminates the need to handle, position, and join multiple discrete plies. Instead, a single continuous operation winds the metal reinforcers in an unbroken sequence, significantly reducing manufacturing steps and improving productivity. The system complexity is offset by the elimination of material waste and the simplification of the overall manufacturing flow.
4Strength
If the hooping reinforcement is made wider and more flexible, then stress distribution improves and impact resistance increases, but the structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The helical winding configuration provides both flexibility and strength by following a curved path that allows the reinforcement to accommodate tire deformation while maintaining structural integrity. The three-dimensional helical arrangement enables the reinforcement to flex with tire expansion and contraction while distributing stresses uniformly along the winding path.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite construction by combining metal reinforcers with an elastomeric coating compound. This composite structure provides the metal's strength and stiffness while the elastomeric material adds flexibility and allows for deformation. The combination achieves both structural strength and adaptability to tire movement and impact forces.
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
This approach reduces material waste, lowers manufacturing costs, and enhances the tire's endurance and impact resistance by distributing stress more evenly, while maintaining the performance level of the crown reinforcement.
Implementation Method 1
a second layer of coating compound radially outermost in the strip, the second layer of coating compound bonding the parallel metal reinforcers to one another
Data Source
AI summary
A hooping reinforcement of a tire for a heavy duty civil engineering type vehicle is disclosed. The crown reinforcement (3) of the tire (1), radially on the inside of a tread (2), comprises a protective reinforcement (6), a working reinforcement (5) and a hooping reinforcement (7). Said hooping reinforcement (7) has an axial width at most equal to the smallest axial width (L61, L62) of the two working layers (61, 62), and comprises at least two hooping layers (71, 72) that are formed from strips each made up of elastic metal reinforcers. Each hooping layer (71, 72) is made up of an axial juxtaposition of contiguous turns of the strip (8), which are circumferentially wound around the working layer (51). Each strip (8) is at least 35 mm and at most 250 mm thick, and its distributed breaking tension is at least equal to 100 daN/mm.