Fiber-Reinforced Tire Ring Structure for Lighter Reinforcement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle tires face challenges with reinforcement layers that increase weight, manufacturing complexity, and difficulty in achieving asymmetrical properties, leading to inefficiencies in production and performance.
Innovation Solution
The use of a circumferential reinforcing ring made of reinforcing fibers embedded in a thermoplastic or thermosetting plastic matrix, which replaces traditional reinforcement layers, with a width sufficient to cover the tire carcass and tread, allowing for reduced components and manufacturing steps while enabling precise adjustment of asymmetrical properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If reinforcement layers are used in tire construction, then driving safety and structural stability are improved, but tire weight increases leading to higher fuel consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining reinforcing fibers (such as steel, glass, or organic fibers) with a thermoplastic or thermosetting plastic matrix to create the reinforcing ring. This composite structure provides the necessary strength and stiffness for driving safety while being lighter than traditional rubber-based reinforcement layers, thus reducing tire weight and fuel consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameters by transitioning from traditional rubber compounds to plastic matrices with specific mechanical properties. The reinforcing ring uses plastics with controlled tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and density parameters that optimize the balance between safety performance and weight reduction, allowing precise adjustment of tire characteristics.
2Reliability
If multiple reinforcement layers are used, then penetration resistance and structural stability are improved, but manufacturing complexity and production time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple reinforcement layers into a single integrated reinforcing ring structure. This ring combines the functions of multiple separate layers (such as belt plies and cap plies) into one monolithic component made of fiber-reinforced plastic, eliminating the need for separate manufacturing and assembly steps for each layer, thus reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining penetration resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The reinforcing ring can be manufactured using segmented fiber placement followed by matrix impregnation and curing, allowing complex three-dimensional reinforcement patterns to be created in a single integrated structure rather than assembling multiple separate layers, simplifying the manufacturing process.
3Stability of the object's composition
If traditional reinforcement layers are used, then structural stability is improved, but the ability to create asymmetrical stiffness profiles is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the reinforcement fiber distribution, orientation, and density at different locations around the tire circumference and along the axial direction. This allows creation of asymmetrical stiffness profiles with different mechanical properties in different regions of the reinforcing ring, enabling optimized performance for specific driving conditions while maintaining overall structural stability.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a vehicle tire (10) comprising: i) a tire base structure (12), ii) a tread (14) located radially outside the tire base structure (12), and iii) a circumferential reinforcing ring (16) arranged between the tread (14) and the tire base structure (12), wherein the reinforcing ring (16) comprises a plurality of reinforcing fibers (20) embedded in a plastic matrix (18), wherein the plastic matrix (18) consists of a matrix plastic selected from the group consisting of thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics by mass of 80% or more, based on the mass of the plastic matrix (18), wherein the reinforcing ring (16) consists of the reinforcing fibers (20) and the matrix plastic (18) by mass of 90% or more, based on the mass of the reinforcing ring (16), and wherein the reinforcing ring (16) has a width BR in the axial direction. exhibitswhich is 0.5*BL or more, where BL is the width of the tread (14) in the axial direction.