阅读说明：本技术 车辆轮胎 (Vehicle tyre ) 是由 F·霍特巴特 J-C·德罗贝尔-马聚尔 G·安德烈 A·莫热 E-A·菲利奥尔 于 2018-04-25 设计创作，主要内容包括：车辆轮胎,所述车辆轮胎具有至少等于135mm的公称宽度,并且包括两个薄而轻的工作层(41,42)和单一胎体层(6),所述工作层(41,42)包含由单丝制成的金属增强元件(411,421),并且具有至少等于300daN/cm且最多等于400daN/cm的线性断裂强度Rct,所述胎体层(6)沿径向位于工作层(41,42)的内部,该胎体层(6)包含织物增强元件,并且具有至少等于1.75J/cm<Sup>2</Sup>的比表面积断裂能Erc。(Vehicle tyre having a nominal width at least equal to 135mm and comprising two thin and light working layers (41, 42) and a single carcass layer (6), said working layers (41, 42) comprising metal reinforcing elements (411, 421) made of monofilament and having a linear breaking strength Rct at least equal to 300daN/cm and at most equal to 400daN/cm, said carcass layer (6) being radially internal to the working layers (41, 42), the carcass layer (6) comprising textile reinforcing elements and having a linear breaking strength Rct at least equal to 1.75J/cm 2 Specific surface area breaking energy Erc.)

1. Tyre (1) for vehicles, the tyre (1) having a nominal width at least equal to 135mm, preferably at least equal to 185mm and at most equal to 235mm, preferably at most equal to 225mm, the tyre (1) comprising:

a tread (2),

a crown reinforcement (3), the crown reinforcement (3) being radially internal to the tread (2) and comprising at least one working reinforcement (4),

-the working reinforcement (4) comprises at least two working layers (41, 42), each working layer (41, 42) having a linear breaking strength Rct, each working layer (41, 42) comprising a metal reinforcement element (411, 421),

the metal reinforcing elements of the working layer comprise individual metal wires or monofilaments,

-a single carcass layer (6), said carcass layer (6) being radially internal to the crown reinforcement (3) and connecting together two beads intended to be in contact with the wheel rim, said carcass layer (6) comprising textile reinforcing elements and having a linear breaking strength Rcc,

said carcass layer (6) having a surface energy to break Erc, said surface energy to break Erc being defined by Erc ═ Rcc Acc)/2, Rcc being the linear breaking strength of the carcass layer (6), Acc being the elongation to break of the textile reinforcing elements of the carcass layer (6),

the linear breaking strength Rc of the layer is defined by Rc ═ Fr × d, where Fr is the tensile breaking force of the reinforcing elements of the layer in question, d is the density of the reinforcing elements of the layer in question measured in the vicinity of the radially outermost point of each layer,

characterized in that each working layer (41, 42) has a linear rupture strength Rct at least equal to 300daN/cm and at most equal to 400daN/cm,

the surface energy to break Erc of the carcass layer (6) being at least equal to 1.75J/cm²。

2. Tyre according to claim 1, wherein said carcass layer (6) has a linear breaking strength Rcc at least equal to 190 daN/cm.

3. Tyre according to either of claims 1 and 2, wherein said carcass layer (6) has a linear breaking strength Rcc at least equal to 200daN/cm, preferably at least equal to 220 daN/cm.

4. Tyre according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the fabric reinforcing elements of the carcass layer (6) have an elongation at break Acc at least equal to 15%, preferably at least equal to 20%.

5. Tyre according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the textile reinforcing elements of the carcass layer being made of spun elementary filaments subjected to a twist, wherein the twist in the component spun elementary filaments of the textile reinforcing elements of the carcass layer (6) is at least equal to 185t/m and at most equal to 420 t/m.

6. Tyre according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the textile reinforcing elements (61) of the carcass layer (6) are made of polyethylene terephthalate, rayon, a combination of aliphatic polyamide and aromatic polyamide or a combination of polyethylene terephthalate and aromatic polyamide.

7. Tyre according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the metal reinforcing elements (411, 421) of at least one working layer (41, 42) consist of individual metal wires or monofilaments the smallest dimension of the cross section of which is at most equal to 0.40mm, preferably at most equal to 0.35 mm.

8. Tyre according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the carcass layer (6) has a linear breaking strength Rcc at least equal to 0.55 times the linear breaking strength Rct of each working layer.

9. Tyre according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein each working layer (41, 42) comprises metal reinforcing elements (411, 421), said metal reinforcing elements (411, 421) forming an angle (A1, A2) at least equal to 20 ° and at most equal to 45 ° with the circumferential direction (XX') of the tyre.

10. Tyre according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein each working layer (41, 42) comprises metal reinforcing elements (411, 421), said metal reinforcing elements (411, 421) forming an angle (a1, a2) at least equal to 23 ° and at most equal to 35 ° with the circumferential direction (XX') of the tyre.

11. Tyre according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the metal reinforcing elements (411, 421) of the working layers (41, 42) are preferably made of carbon steel.

12. Tyre according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the density of metal reinforcing elements (411, 412) in a single working layer (41, 42) is at least equal to 100 and at most equal to 200 filaments/dm, preferably at least equal to 115 and at most equal to 170 filaments/dm.

13. Tyre according to any one of claims 1 to 12, the density of textile reinforcing elements in the carcass layer (6), measured in the vicinity of the radially outermost point of the carcass layer, being at least equal to 40 reinforcing elements per decimeter, preferably at least equal to 50 reinforcing elements per decimeter.

14. Tyre according to any one of claims 1 to 13, comprising at least one hoop layer (5), wherein the reinforcing elements in at least one hoop layer (5) are made of fabric, preferably of the type polyethylene terephthalate, aliphatic polyamide, a combination of aliphatic polyamide and aromatic polyamide or a combination of polyethylene terephthalate and aromatic polyamide.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to passenger vehicle tires, and more particularly to the crown of such tires.

Background

As the geometry of a tyre exhibits rotational symmetry about the axis of rotation, it is usual to describe it in a meridian plane containing the axis of rotation of the tyre. For a given meridian plane, the radial, axial and circumferential directions respectively denote a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the tyre, a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the tyre and a direction perpendicular to the meridian plane.

In the following, the expressions "radially on the inside" and "radially on the outside" mean "closer to the axis of rotation of the tyre in the radial direction" and "further away from the axis of rotation of the tyre in the radial direction", respectively. The expressions "axially on the inside" and "axially on the outside" mean "closer to the equatorial plane in the axial direction" and "further from the equatorial plane in the axial direction", respectively. "radial distance" is the distance relative to the axis of rotation of the tire and "axial distance" is the distance relative to the equatorial plane of the tire. The "radial thickness" is measured in the radial direction and the "axial width" is measured in the axial direction.

The tire comprises a crown comprising a tread intended to be in contact with the ground through a tread surface, two beads intended to be in contact with a rim, and two sidewalls connecting the crown and the beads. Furthermore, the tire comprises a carcass reinforcement comprising at least one carcass layer radially internal to the crown and connecting the two beads.

The tread is also made of one or more rubber compounds. The expression "rubber compound" denotes a rubber composition comprising at least an elastomer and a filler.

The crown comprises at least one crown reinforcement, which is radially internal to the tread. The crown reinforcement comprises at least one working reinforcement comprising at least one working layer consisting of mutually parallel reinforcing elements forming an angle of between 15 ° and 50 ° with the circumferential direction. The crown reinforcement may also comprise a hooping reinforcement comprising at least one hooping layer made up of reinforcing elements forming an angle of between 0 ° and 10 ° with the circumferential direction, the hooping reinforcement being generally (but not necessarily) radially external to the working layer.

In the context of current sustainable development, saving energy and raw materials is one of the main objectives of industry. For passenger vehicle tires, one approach to this aim consists in lightening the mass and reducing the breaking strength of the metal cords of the reinforcing elements of the different layers usually used as crown reinforcements. As described in document EP 0043563, this method can lead to the replacement of these metal cords by individual threads or monofilaments, wherein the use of reinforcing elements of this type has the dual purpose of reducing the mass and of reducing the rolling resistance.

Similarly, a tire structure in which the carcass reinforcement consists of a single carcass layer is more advantageous from a material saving point of view than a structure in which the carcass reinforcement has at least two carcass layers.

Thus, the saving of raw materials has led to the design of tires with working layers composed of monofilaments having increasingly lower breaking strengths. Such a change of the crown layer does in principle not require any change to the carcass layer of the same size and pressure.

However, the use of reinforcing elements of this type in the crown layer has the disadvantage of reducing the puncture resistance of the crown to certain objects. Therefore, there are regulations based on the measurement of the energy required by the indenter to penetrate the crown of a tyre, in particular the american (ASTM WK20631) and chinese (GB 9743-. The reduced puncture resistance resulting from the use of these reinforcing elements in tires results in these tires no longer complying with these regulations. Therefore, these tires are not suitable for sale in these countries and also cannot be imported as separate components and in a state of being mounted on a vehicle. Thus, compliance with these regulations is an important commercial issue for all manufacturers, whether or not they are manufactured in these countries.

These puncture tests are commonly referred to as "fracture energy tests". Therefore, the energy to break of a tire under the test conditions stipulated by the regulations is referred to as "energy to break performance". In the rest of the application, the test and the relevant properties will be referred to in this way. For the same type of tire (i.e. tires from the same factory, having the same structure, having the same tread), the results differ by nearly 10%, so the expected minimum performance of the tire at design time is the value specified by the legislation plus 10%.

As shown in patent US8662128, for this property it is considered helpful to increase the breaking strength of the working layer reinforcing elements by increasing the density and diameter of the basic filaments of the working layer reinforcing elements. However, these solutions are contrary to the main objectives of the present inventors of reducing mass and saving raw materials. The size of the at least one carcass layer reinforcing element is generally set according to the burst pressure of the tyre.

Disclosure of Invention

The main object of the present invention is therefore to improve the performance in terms of puncture resistance of a tire with working layer reinforcing elements of lower quality, so as to satisfy the breaking energy test and improve the rolling resistance.

This object is achieved by a tyre having a nominal width at least equal to 135mm, preferably at least equal to 185mm and at most equal to 235mm, preferably at most equal to 225mm, comprising:

the tread of the tire is provided with a tread,

a crown reinforcement radially internal to the tread and comprising at least one working reinforcement,

the working reinforcement comprises at least two working layers, each working layer having a linear rupture strength Rct, each working layer comprising metal reinforcement elements,

the metal reinforcing elements of the working layer comprise individual metal wires or monofilaments,

a single carcass layer, radially internal to the crown reinforcement and connecting together the two beads intended to be in contact with the rim, comprising textile reinforcing elements and having a linear breaking strength Rcc,

said carcass layer having a surface energy to break Erc, said surface energy to break Erc being defined by Erc ═ r (Rcc Acc)/2, Rcc being the linear breaking strength of the carcass layer, Acc being the elongation to break of the fabric reinforcing elements of the carcass layer,

the linear breaking strength Rct of each working layer is at least equal to 300daN/cm and at most equal to 400daN/cm,

the surface energy to break Erc of the carcass layer being at least equal to 1.75J/cm²。

Tires having a working layer with a linear breaking strength at most equal to 400daN/cm (preferably at most equal to 360daN/cm) do not meet the breaking energy regulations without adjusting the crown. In view of the object of the invention, it is not conceivable to increase the linear rupture strength of the working layer by the density and diameter of the reinforcing elements. Furthermore, increasing the density of the reinforcing elements actually reduces the thickness of the rubber compound between two adjacent reinforcing elements, without reducing the shear deformation. This increases the risk of the rubber compound of the working layer breaking.

The linear breaking strength Rc of a layer is defined by Rc ═ Fr × d, where Fr is the tensile breaking force of the reinforcing elements of the considered layer and d is the density of the reinforcing elements of the considered layer measured in the vicinity of the radially outermost point of each layer.

In order to satisfy other performance aspects of the tyre, it is necessary for the working layer to have a linear breaking strength at least equal to 300 daN/cm.

According to the usual design rules for the performance of the fracture energy test of the prior art, the crown of the tire deforms around the head of the indenter and is subjected mainly to bending. According to these rules, the bending stress of the carcass layer is higher than that of the working layer, taking into account the respective positions of the working layer and the carcass layer (the working layer being closer to the indenter acting on the tread). Furthermore, considering the materials constituting the respective reinforcing elements (fabric of the carcass layer and metal of the working layer), the working layer breaks at a stress level much greater than that of the carcass layer.

Further, the elongation at break of the fabric carcass layer is about ten times the elongation at break of the working layer, and therefore, the working layer is considered to break first.

Thus, according to the prior art, the working layer appears to be an important element for the fracture energy performance, while the carcass layer is considered to be a parameter with only minor impact on the performance.

More in-depth analysis shows that bending is not a major parameter of fracture energy performance. The crown breaks due to the tension of the different layers under the tread pressed by the indenter. Due to the geometry of the tire, the working layer has a length value close to the outer circumference of the tire and much greater than its width, so that at the level of the indenter, the crown has a smaller radius of curvature in the transverse direction than in the circumferential direction. This can be confirmed by testing and simulation. The carcass, oriented in the transverse direction, is therefore subjected to greater stresses than the working layer.

This aspect is also enhanced by the present tread pattern, wherein the longitudinal grooves promote deformation in the transverse direction.

For a given stress, the compound constituting the tyre deforms to an equilibrium position. The working layer shear enables the reinforcing element to effectively withstand the applied force. For inflation and loads (the fundamental stresses acting on the tire), the equilibrium angle of the working layer reinforcing elements is close to 20 °. Under the deformation caused by the fracture energy test, the equilibrium angle of the working-layer reinforcing elements does not obtain an angle close to 25 °, but an angle at least equal to 30 ° and can reach 45 °. Considering the respective stiffness of the different layers, the carcass layer will deform under tension and the working layer will deform by the shear of the rubber plus the tension and rotation of the reinforcing elements until the working layer reinforcing elements form an angle close to the equilibrium angle with the circumferential direction.

For a tire tread having a working layer with a high linear breaking strength of greater than 400daN/cm, the carcass layer is the minor element that meets the minimum of the energy at break performance regulations. During the test, whether the carcass layer breaks before or after the working layer, the tire can reach the performance levels required by these regulations by complying with the above 10% safety margin.

Within the scope of the invention, the working layer itself cannot reach the level required by legislation. The idea of the invention is to establish a working relationship between the dimensions of the carcass layer and the working layer, thereby achieving this objective. Two conditions are required for this. The first condition is that the carcass layer can slow down the elongation when the working layer is sheared, so that its reinforcing elements are at an equilibrium angle of deformation caused by the test. The second condition is that the surface energy to break of the carcass layer is sufficiently high to enable regulatory thresholds plus 10% to be reached.

This working relationship is obtained by increasing the surface fracture energy of the carcass layer according to the surface fracture energy required to withstand the pressure. This involves increasing the mass of the carcass layer (contrary to the overall desired objective), but this increase is smaller than the mass that is mitigated by using monofilaments in the working layer.

For the reinforcing elements of the working layer according to the invention (i.e. with a linear breaking strength at most equal to 400daN/cm), it has been proposed and verified by calculation and tests that the carcass layer should have a linear breaking strength at least equal to 1.75J/cm²Has a surface energy of rupture Erc, preferably at least equal to 2.0J/cm²。

The invention is suitable for tyres having a nominal width at least equal to 135mm, preferably at least equal to 185mm and at most equal to 235 mm. The nominal width represents the width of the crown given by a dimensional indicator known to those skilled in the art. This is because the width of the tyre during testing affects the transverse radius of curvature applied to the carcass layer in particular during the application of the indenter and therefore the stresses applied to the carcass layer. For tires outside this size range, the layers of the individual reinforcing elements need to be set to different sizes.

The preferred solution is for the carcass layer to have a linear breaking strength Rcc at least equal to 190daN/cm, preferably equal to 200daN/cm, even more advantageously at least equal to 220 daN/cm.

The greater the linear breaking strength of the carcass layer, the more energy is added to the carcass layer and the tire therefore more readily meets the performance levels required by the regulations, provided that the carcass layer reinforcing elements break at a sufficient level of elongation to match the carcass layer with the working layer to meet the performance levels required by the regulations. The designer may choose between several types of reinforcing elements that satisfy these characteristics, among other possible selection criteria, according to the material, the diameter of the carcass ply reinforcing elements, the cost, the ease of supply.

Advantageously, the carcass layer reinforcing elements have an elongation at break Acc at least equal to 15%, even more advantageously at least equal to 20%, even more advantageously at least equal to 25%.

The level of elongation at break Acc required for a carcass layer reinforcing element to effectively cooperate with the working layer and the carcass layer depends, among other parameters, on the strength of the working layer reinforcing element, on the strength of the carcass layer reinforcing element, and to a lesser extent on the tyre size, tread pattern and angle formed by the working layer reinforcing element and the circumferential direction of the tyre in a new state of the tyre. Depending on the values of these parameters, the tire designer can select the most suitable material according to the required elongation at break Acc of the carcass layer to meet the performance levels required by legislation.

Advantageously, the textile reinforcing elements of the carcass layer are made of polyethylene terephthalate, rayon, a combination of aliphatic polyamide and aromatic polyamide, or a combination of polyethylene terephthalate and aromatic polyamide, each of these materials having different advantages in terms of strength at break and elongation at break, among other criteria.

Advantageously, the linear breaking strength Rcc of the carcass layer is at least equal to 0.55 times, preferably at least equal to 0.6 times the linear breaking strength Rct of the working layer. This makes the carcass layer a great contribution to the fracture energy performance.

For the reinforcing elements, measurements of the strength at break and of the elongation at break are carried out under tension using known procedures, for example according to standard ISO 6892 of steel reinforcing elements from 1984.

With the aim of reducing the mass of the tire, an optimization is achieved, in particular in terms of simplicity and manufacturing costs, when all the reinforcing elements of the working layer are individual wires or monofilaments. The monofilaments enable working layers of smaller radial thickness to be obtained compared to cords. Solutions are still conceivable in which reinforcing elements other than monofilaments are included in the working layer. Inserting the metal cord will incur additional material costs due to the extra thickness of the working layer after introducing the cord. Due to the manufacturing complexity resulting from this non-standardization of the reinforcing elements, inserting any other reinforcing element than the metal monofilament incurs significant manufacturing costs. The minimum dimension of the cross section of the monofilament is at most equal to 0.40mm, preferably at most equal to 0.35mm, for the type of target application. Furthermore, monofilaments with a minimum dimension greater than 0.40mm will cause problems in terms of deformability and durability.

Advantageously, each working layer comprises metal reinforcing elements forming an angle (a1, a2) with the circumferential direction (XX') of the tyre at least equal to 20 ° and at most equal to 45 °, preferably at least equal to 23 ° and at most equal to 35 °. These angles allow the tire to perform optimally in terms of crown durability, behavior and rolling resistance.

The working layer reinforcing elements may be linear or non-linear. It may be preformed in a sinusoidal, zig-zag, wavy or spiral shape. The metal reinforcing elements of the working layer are made of steel (preferably carbon steel, for example carbon steel for "steel cord" type cords), although of course other steels (for example stainless steel) or other alloys may be used.

When carbon steel is used, the carbon content thereof (% by weight of steel) is preferably in the range of 0.8% to 1.2%. The invention is particularly suitable for use with very High strength "SHT" ("Super High tension"), Ultra High strength "UHT" ("Ultra High tension") or "MT" ("Mega tension") steel cord type steels. The tensile break strength (Rm) of the carbon steel reinforcement is preferably greater than 3000MPa, more preferably greater than 3500 MPa. The total elongation At break (At) (sum of elastic and plastic elongation) of these carbon steel reinforcements is preferably greater than 1.6%.

The steel used, whether it is in particular carbon steel or stainless steel, may itself be covered with a metallic layer, improving for example the workability or reinforcement of the steel monofilament and/or the wear properties of the tyre itself, such as adhesion, corrosion resistance or ageing resistance properties. According to a preferred embodiment, the steel used is covered with a layer of brass (Zn-Cu alloy) or zinc; it should be borne in mind that the brass or zinc coating makes the wire easier to stretch and better adheres to the rubber during the process of manufacturing the wire. However, the reinforcement may be covered with a thin layer of a metal other than brass or zinc, having for example the function of improving the corrosion resistance of these wires and/or their adhesion to rubber, such as a thin layer of Co, Ni, Al and alloys of two or more Cu, Zn, Al, Ni, Co, Sn compounds.

The monofilaments can have any cross-sectional shape, and an elliptical cross-section is known to have advantages (even when the size is small) over a circular cross-section. For the same breaking strength, the working layer consisting of correctly positioned monofilaments with an elliptical cross-section can have a smaller thickness than a working layer with a reinforcing element with a circular cross-section. Furthermore, the bending inertia of a monofilament with an elliptical cross-section is greater than that of a monofilament with a circular cross-section, and therefore the buckling strength, which is an important criterion for setting the size of the monofilament, is greater. In the case of a circular cross-section, the smallest dimension corresponds to the diameter of the cross-section. In order to guarantee the fatigue fracture strength of the filaments and the shear resistance of the rubber compound located between the filaments, the density of the metal reinforcing elements of each working layer is at least equal to 100 filaments/dm and at most equal to 200 filaments/dm, preferably at least equal to 115 filaments/dm and at most equal to 170 filaments/dm. The density represents the average number of filaments on a working layer 10 cm wide, measured perpendicular to the direction of the filaments in the working layer in question. The distance between successive reinforcing elements may be fixed or variable. For different calculations of the linear breaking strength or the surface breaking energy of the layer, the density is expressed in suitable units (for example in units of reinforcing elements/cm) in order to guarantee the consistency of the calculation.

The reinforcing elements may be laid in layers, strips or individually during the manufacturing process.

A preferred solution is that the density of the textile reinforcing elements in the carcass layer, measured in the vicinity of the radially outermost point of the carcass layer, is at least equal to 40 reinforcing elements per decimeter and preferably at least equal to 50 reinforcing elements per decimeter. Since the performance in the fracture energy test is related to the density of the carcass layer reinforcing elements in the radially lower portion of the working layer, the density of the reinforcing elements in the carcass layer is measured in that portion of the carcass layer, rather than at the beads (although in some applications it may be possible to measure at the beads). The invention relates to the performance of crown quality, rolling resistance and fracture energy tests. The density of the carcass layer reinforcing elements is therefore also measured at the crown in a similar way to the working layer.

Preferably, the textile reinforcing elements of the carcass layer are made of spun elementary filaments subjected to a twist, the twist in the constituent spun elementary filaments of the textile reinforcing elements of the carcass layer being at least equal to 185t/m and at most equal to 420 t/m.

It should be remembered herein that these textile cords or plied yarns, traditionally having double twist (Ti, T2), are prepared by a twisting process, in which:

in a first step, each component spun yarn or multifilament fiber (or just "yarn") of the final cord is first twisted separately on itself (with an initial twist Ti) in a given direction DI (in the S or Z direction, respectively) to form a strand in which the elementary filaments themselves are deformed into a helix around the axis of the fiber (or axis of the strand);

then, in a second step, in the case of a cord called hybrid cord or composite cord, a plurality (generally two, three or four) of strands of the same or different type are twisted together (with a final twist T2, which may be the same as or different from Ti) in the opposite direction D2 (in the Z or S direction, respectively, using the accepted terminology to indicate the direction of the number of turns of the crossbar according to S or Z), so as to obtain a cord or a final assembly with a plurality of strands.

The purpose of the twist is to tailor the material properties so as to create lateral cohesion of the reinforcement, increase fatigue resistance and improve its adhesion to the reinforcement matrix. The structure and the manufacturing process of such textile cords are known to the person skilled in the art. They are described in detail in a large number of documents, to which reference is made only to a few examples in patent documents EP 021485, EP 220642, EP225391, EP 335588, EP 467585, US 3419060, US 3977172, US 4155394, US 5558144, WO97/06294 or EP 848767, or more recently in WO2012/104279, WO2012/146612, WO 2014/057082.

In order to be able to reinforce rubber articles, such as tires, the fatigue strength (tensile resistance, bending resistance, compression resistance) of these textile cords is of crucial importance. It is generally known that for a given material, the greater the twist used, the greater the fatigue strength, but, on the other hand, the breaking strength under tension (referred to as toughness when expressed per unit weight) inevitably decreases with increasing twist, naturally being disadvantageous from the standpoint of reinforcement and energy at break properties. Thus, as with tire manufacturers, textile cord designers are also constantly looking for textile cords that can improve mechanical properties (particularly breaking force and toughness) at a given material and a given twist. This balance is sought herein to satisfy all performance aspects of the tire (including the energy to break performance).

Advantageously, the crown reinforcement comprises at least one hoop layer located radially on the outside of the working reinforcement, so as to ensure good durability of the working reinforcement. The hoop layer comprises reinforcing elements forming an angle with the circumferential direction at most equal to 8 °.

Preferably, the reinforcing elements of at least one hoop layer are made of a fabric, preferably of the type aliphatic polyamide, aromatic polyamide, a combination of aliphatic polyamide and aromatic polyamide, polyethylene terephthalate or rayon, which is particularly suitable for this purpose because of the lighter mass and higher stiffness of the fabric material. The distance (or spacing) between successive reinforcing elements in the hoop layer may be fixed or variable. The reinforcing elements may be laid in layers, strips or individually during the manufacturing process.

Drawings

The characteristics and other advantages of the invention will be better understood with the aid of figure 1, which figure 1 shows a meridian cross section of the crown of a tyre according to the invention.

Detailed Description

The tire has a tread 2, said tread 2 being intended to be in contact with the ground through a tread surface 21. The tyre further comprises a crown reinforcement 3, said crown reinforcement 3 being radially internal to the tread 2 and comprising a working reinforcement 4 and a hooping reinforcement 5. The working reinforcement comprises two working layers 41 and 42, each working layer 41 and 42 comprising mutually parallel reinforcing elements 411, 412, said reinforcing elements 411, 412 forming, respectively, with the circumferential direction (XX') of the tyre, an orientation angle a1, a2 of at least 20 ° in absolute value and at most 50 °, one layer being of opposite sign to the next. The tyre also comprises a single carcass layer 6, said carcass layer 6 being radially internal to the crown reinforcement.

The inventors carried out a first set of tests according to the invention on a tyre of size 225/55R16, having a nominal width of 225mm and comprising two working layers and one carcass layer.

A conventional non-inventive design of control tire TA includes:

two working layers comprising reinforcing elements made of cords having two filaments with a diameter of 0.3mm and a density of 95 reinforcing elements per decimeter, the working layers having a linear breaking strength Rct equal to 420daN/cm,

a carcass layer made of polyethylene terephthalate comprising two 220tex strands and having a density of 63 reinforcing elements per decimeter, the carcass layer having a surface energy of rupture of 1.72J/cm²。

The design is capable of adequate performance in the fracture energy test of greater than 680J, rather than the regulatory 588J tolerance.

The need to reduce mass and improve rolling resistance has led the present inventors to use working layers comprising steel monofilaments.

The carcass layer of tire TA2 designed by the present inventors according to the prior art remained unchanged. The design has a reduced mass of 200g and an improvement in rolling resistance of about 0.15 kg/t. The non-inventive tire comprises:

two working layers comprising reinforcing elements consisting of HT (high tension) steel filaments 0.32mm in diameter and distributed at a density of 143 filaments/dm, the working layers having a linear breaking strength Rct equal to 350 daN/cm.

However, this tire TA2 shows unsatisfactory performance in the breaking energy test (610J, i.e. only 3% higher than the legislation value), which greatly limits the number of markets it can be sold.

The invention includes modifying the carcass layer reinforcing elements to design tire a. The tire a according to the present invention includes:

two working layers (identical to that of TA2, able to reduce mass and improve rolling resistance thanks to the innovations), comprising reinforcing elements consisting of ht (high tensile) steel monofilaments with a diameter of 0.32mm and distributed at a density of 143 monofilaments per decimeter, the working layers having a linear breaking strength Rct equal to 350daN/cm,

a carcass layer consisting of polyethylene terephthalate comprising two 344tex strands and having a density of 53 reinforcing elements per decimeter, the carcass layer having a surface energy of rupture of 2.03J/cm²。

The design has a reduced mass of 200g compared to the initial tire T, an improvement of rolling resistance of about 0.15kg/T and an energy-to-break performance of 960J (i.e. much greater than the value set by the legislation).

The angles a1 and a2 of the working layer reinforcing elements are equal to +25 ° and-25 °, respectively, for all the tires described.