JP7699531B2 - Tire and tire manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a tire equipped with an RFID tag and a tire manufacturing method.

In recent years, there has been a demand for using thermoplastic resins, thermoplastic elastomers, etc. as tire materials due to their light weight and ease of recycling, and tires using resin materials for tire frame components have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

International Publication No. 2014-129427

In addition, RFID tags that store information about the tire are sometimes attached to tires, but when a metal cord such as steel is embedded in the reinforcing layer in the crown, the electromagnetic waves used to transmit and receive information between the RFID tag and an RFID reader placed outside the tire can be attenuated by the metal cord.

The present invention aims to provide a tire in which the electromagnetic waves used in RFID tag communication are less likely to attenuate, and a tire manufacturing method for manufacturing such a tire.

The tire described in claim 1 is made of a resin material and includes a tire frame member in which a pair of tire frame halves having bead portions, side portions, and half-width crown halves are butted together at the tips of the crown halves, a cord reinforcing layer disposed radially outward of the tire frame member, and an RFID tag attached to the inner surface of the tire frame member at the joint where the tips are joined.

In the tire described in claim 1, a tire frame member made of a resin material is interposed between the cord reinforcement layer and the RFID tag, so that when a metal cord is embedded in the cord reinforcement layer, the RFID tag can be separated from the metal cord, and the electromagnetic waves used for wireless communication of the RFID tag are less likely to attenuate.

The invention described in claim 2 is the tire described in claim 1, in which the tire frame member is a pair of tire frame halves having the bead portion, the side portion, and the half-width crown half, butted together at the tips of the crown halves and welded, and the RFID tag is welded to the part where the tips of the crown halves are butted together.

In the tire described in claim 2, the crown halves are joined by welding, and the RFID tag is joined by welding to the inner surface of the tire frame member at the joining portion, so a higher joining strength can be obtained compared to when they are joined with an adhesive. In addition, when welding the crown halves together, the RFID tag can be welded at the same time, making the welding work easier compared to when welding the crown halves and the RFID tag are performed separately.

In a third aspect of the present invention, in the tire according to the first or second aspect, the RFID tag has an RFID chip and an antenna embedded in the same type of resin material as the tire frame member .

In the tire described in claim 3, the resin material of the RFID tag and the resin material of the tire frame member are the same type of resin material, so they are easily welded together and a high joining strength can be obtained.

The invention described in claim 4 is a tire described in any one of claims 1 to 3, in which a convex engagement portion is formed on the tire radial inner side of the crown halves and on the tire width direction outer side of the joint portion between the crown halves, the convex engagement portion engaging with the outer surface of a support that supports the pair of tire frame halves from the tire radial inner side when joined, thereby suppressing movement in the tire axial direction relative to the support, and the RFID tag is provided between the convex engagement portion of one crown half and the convex engagement portion of the other crown half.

In the tire described in claim 4, when the RFID tag is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the tire frame member, the RFID tag can be placed between the convex engagement portion of one crown half and the convex engagement portion of the other crown half, and the convex engagement portion can be used to position the RFID tag.

The invention described in claim 5 is a tire manufacturing method using an annular tire support member that is made of a resin material and has a pair of tire frame halves that have a bead portion, a side portion, and a half-width crown half that can be attached to the outer surface and can be divided into multiple pieces. The tire support member has a tag installation section on the outer circumferential surface for temporarily placing an RFID tag. After temporarily placing the RFID tag on the tag installation section, the pair of tire frame halves are attached to the outer surface, the tips of the crown halves are butted together, and the tire frame halves and the RFID tag are welded to each other.

In the tire manufacturing method described in claim 5, the RFID tag is temporarily placed on a tag installation section provided on the outer peripheral surface of the tire support member, and then a pair of tire frame halves are attached to the outer surface, the tips of the crown halves are butted together, and the tire frame halves and the RFID tag are welded to each other. This simplifies the welding process compared to when welding the tire frame halves and welding the tire frame halves and the RFID tag to each other separately. In addition, since the tag installation section for temporarily placing the RFID tag is provided, the positioning of the RFID tag is easy, and the RFID tag can be welded to a predetermined portion of the tire frame half.

As explained above, the tire of the present invention makes it difficult for the electromagnetic waves used in RFID tag communication to attenuate.

In addition, the tire manufacturing method of the present invention makes it possible to manufacture tires that are less susceptible to attenuation of the electromagnetic waves used in RFID tag communication.

1 is a perspective view, partially in cross section, of a tire according to one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along a tire rotation axis of a tire according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1A is a plan view showing an RFID tag, and FIG. 1B is a side view showing an RFID tag. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the support in an assembled state. 1A is a cross-sectional view showing a joint portion before welding in a state in which a tire frame half body is supported by a support tool, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing the joint portion of FIG. FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view showing a joint portion before welding an RFID tag when a tire frame half is supported by a support, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing an RFID tag welded to the joint portion of FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of a molding machine and a joining process by an extruder. FIG. 1A is a front view of a tire frame member supported by a support device, as viewed from the tire axial direction, and FIG. 1B is a front view showing the operating state (A) when the tire frame member is removed from the support device.

A tire 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention and its manufacturing device will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 9.

(Tire configuration)
A tire 10 according to the present embodiment shown in Fig. 1 is a pneumatic tire filled with air. The tire 10 includes a tire frame member 17. The tire frame member 17 includes a pair of bead portions 12, side portions 14 extending radially outward from the bead portions 12, and a crown portion 16 connecting radially outward ends of the side portions 14 to each other.

The tire frame member 17 is composed of a pair of identical circular tire frame halves 17A in which one bead portion 12, one side portion 14, and a half-width crown half portion 16A are integrally molded. As shown in FIG. 2, the tip 16B of the crown half portion 16A is tapered on the tire equatorial plane CL side.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a protrusion 32 is formed as an engagement portion on the radially inner surface of the crown half 16A. The protrusion 32 is disposed closer to the tire equatorial plane CL than the center of the crown half 16A in the tire axial direction W. The protrusion 32 is formed in an annular shape around the entire circumference along the tire circumferential direction. The protrusion 32 has a semicircular cross section. The protrusion 32 is engaged with a recess 48D as a support engagement portion described later. The height H1 of the protrusion 32 is preferably in the range of 0.3 mm to 5 mm. If it is less than 0.3 mm, the engagement may be released and the tire frame half 17A may move in the tire axial direction W relative to the tire support member 48 described later, and if it is higher than 5 mm, it becomes difficult to fit the tire frame half 17A into the tire support member 48.

The pair of tire frame halves 17A are butted against each other at the tips 16B of the crown halves 16A and joined at the tire equatorial plane CL to form the tire frame member 17. A welding thermoplastic material 19 is used for joining at the tire equatorial plane CL.

A tread portion 30 that constitutes the tire tread, which is the part of the tire that comes into contact with the ground, is located on the radially outer side of the crown portion 16.

The tire frame member 17 is formed from a resin material. The resin material does not include vulcanized rubber. Examples of resin materials include thermoplastic resins (including thermoplastic elastomers), thermosetting resins, and other general-purpose resins, as well as engineering plastics (including super engineering plastics).

Thermoplastic resins (including thermoplastic elastomers) are polymeric compounds that soften and flow with increasing temperature and become relatively hard and strong when cooled. In this specification, a distinction is made between thermoplastic elastomers and polymeric compounds that soften and flow with increasing temperature, become relatively hard and strong when cooled, and have rubber-like elasticity, and non-elastomers and polymeric compounds that soften and flow with increasing temperature, become relatively hard and strong when cooled, and do not have rubber-like elasticity.

Thermoplastic resins (including thermoplastic elastomers) include polyolefin thermoplastic elastomers (TPO), polystyrene thermoplastic elastomers (TPS), polyamide thermoplastic elastomers (TPA), polyurethane thermoplastic elastomers (TPU), polyester thermoplastic elastomers (TPC), and dynamically crosslinked thermoplastic elastomers (TPV), as well as polyolefin thermoplastic resins, polystyrene thermoplastic resins, polyamide thermoplastic resins, and polyester thermoplastic resins.

The above thermoplastic materials may have a deflection temperature under load (at a load of 0.45 MPa) of 78°C or more as specified in ISO 75-2 or ASTM D648, a tensile yield strength of 10 MPa or more as specified in JIS K7113, a tensile elongation at break of 50% or more as specified in JIS K7113, and a Vicat softening temperature (method A) of 130°C as specified in JIS K7206.

Thermosetting resins are polymeric compounds that form a three-dimensional network structure and harden as the temperature rises. Examples of thermosetting resins include phenolic resins, epoxy resins, melamine resins, and urea resins.

In addition to the thermoplastic resins (including thermoplastic elastomers) and thermosetting resins already described, general-purpose resins such as (meth)acrylic resins, EVA resins, polyvinyl chloride resins, fluorine-based resins, and silicone-based resins may also be used as the resin material.

In this embodiment, we will explain the case where the tire frame member 17 is made of thermoplastic resin.

The tire frame half 17A formed using a thermoplastic material can be molded, for example, by vacuum molding, compressed air molding, injection molding, melt casting, etc., and compared to molding (vulcanization) with rubber, the manufacturing process can be greatly simplified and the molding time can be shortened.

The tire frame member 17 may be made of a single thermoplastic material, or, as in conventional pneumatic rubber tires, each part of the tire frame member 17 (side portion 14, crown portion 16, bead portion 12, etc.) may be made of a thermoplastic material with different characteristics.

A circular bead core 15 is embedded in the bead portion 12 of the tire frame member 17. The bead core 15 is made of steel cord, similar to that of conventional pneumatic tires. Note that the bead core 15 may be omitted if the rigidity of the bead portion 12 is ensured and there is no problem with fitting with the rim (not shown). The bead core 15 may also be made of cords other than steel, such as organic fiber cords or cords with organic fibers coated with resin, and furthermore, the bead core 15 may be made of hard resin by injection molding or the like, rather than cord.

The crown portion 16 of the tire frame member 17 is provided with a cord reinforcement layer 28 including a spirally wound steel cord 26S. The cord reinforcement layer 28 corresponds to the belt that is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the carcass of a conventional rubber pneumatic tire.

A coating layer 24 is formed on the tire frame member 17 from the bead portion 12 to the outside of the crown portion 16 in the tire axial direction W. The end of the coating layer 24 on the bead portion 12 side is disposed on the tire inner side of the contact portion of the bead portion 12 with the rim (not shown). In this embodiment, the coating layer 24 includes a first coating layer 24A that extends from one bead portion 12 to a position slightly beyond the tire equatorial plane CL, and a second coating layer 24B that extends from the other bead portion 12 to a position slightly beyond the tire equatorial plane CL and overlaps the first coating layer 24 on the tire equatorial plane CL.

In the first coating layer 24 and the second coating layer 24B, the reinforcing material is coated with a resin material. The resin material may be the same as the resin material constituting the tire frame member 17. One side or both sides of the reinforcing material may be coated with the resin material. When both sides of the reinforcing material are coated with the resin material, the reinforcing material can be positioned in the center in the thickness direction of the first coating layer 24 and the second coating layer 24B. When coating both sides, different resin materials may be used for one side and the other side.

The reinforcing material is, for example, a twisted cord or an aggregate of multiple filaments. The material of the reinforcing material is, for example, aliphatic polyamide, polyethylene terephthalate, glass, aramid, steel, or other metal. In the first coating layer 24 and the second coating layer 24B, the reinforcing material extends at least along the tire radial direction. This reinforcing material may be combined with a reinforcing material extending in the tire circumferential direction, and the reinforcing materials may be layered so as to cross each other. In this case, the reinforcing material may be woven or knitted into a cloth-like configuration. The reinforcing material may be inclined with respect to the tire radial direction or the tire circumferential direction.

A tread portion 30 is arranged outside the covering layer 24 on the radially outer side of the tire frame member 17, and a side member 31 is arranged outside the covering layer 24 on the radially outer side of the tire frame member 17.
The tread portion 30 constitutes the tire tread, which is the ground contact portion of the tire 10 .

The tread portion 30 is formed of rubber having better abrasion resistance than the thermoplastic resin of the tire frame member 17. The same type of rubber as that used in conventional pneumatic tires made of rubber can be used as the rubber used for the tread portion 30. Note that the tread portion 30 may be made of another type of thermoplastic resin having better abrasion resistance than the thermoplastic resin forming the side portion 14.
The side member 31 can be made of the same type of rubber as that used in conventional pneumatic tires made of rubber.

(RFID tag)
An RFID tag 60 is attached to the inner circumferential surface of the tire frame member 17. As shown in Fig. 3, the RFID tag 60 has an RFID chip 62 and an antenna 64 connected to the RFID chip 62 embedded in a thin resin sheet 66, and is deformable in response to deformation of the tire 10 (see Fig. 3(B)). As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in this embodiment, the RFID tag 60 is disposed between the protruding stripes 32 such that its longitudinal direction is aligned with the tire equatorial plane CL.

As the resin material of the resin sheet 66, it is preferable to use the same type of resin material as the thermoplastic resin constituting the tire frame member 17 and the welding thermoplastic material 19 described later. In this embodiment, the resin sheet 66 is welded to the inner peripheral surface of the tire frame member 17 by the welding thermoplastic material 19 described later for joining one tire frame half 17A and the other tire frame half 17A.

(Tire manufacturing equipment)
4 is a perspective view of a forming machine 40 used for joining a pair of tire frame halves 17A. The forming machine 40 has a geared motor 43 that rotates a horizontally disposed shaft 42 attached to an upper portion of a pedestal 41 that is placed on the floor surface.

A support 44 is attached to the end of the shaft 42 to support the tire frame half 17A from the radially inner side of the tire. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the support 44 includes a central mounting portion 45, an arm portion 46, and a tire support member 48.

The central mounting portion 45 has a hole 45A formed in the center through which the shaft 42 is inserted. Four clamping portions 45B are formed radially from the hole 45A, protruding outward in the tire radial direction. Each clamping portion 45B is formed of two plates arranged in the tire axial direction, and is attached so that the arm portion 46 is sandwiched between the two plates. A male screw 45C is fixed to one of the two plates that make up the clamping portion 45B, and is inserted into a long hole 46C, which will be described later.

One end of the arm portion 46 is sandwiched between the clamping portion 45B and extends outward in the tire radial direction. The other end of the arm portion 46 (the tip portion 46A in the tire radial direction) is generally fan-shaped with a radially outwardly diverging shape, and the outer end is arc-shaped. The arm portion 46 has a long hole 46C formed along the tire radial direction on the extension of the clamping portion 45B. A male screw 45C is inserted into the long hole 46C from one side of the arm portion 46 and protrudes to the other side. A set screw 46B with a female screw formed on the inner circumference is screwed into the male screw 45C. Each arm portion 46 can be individually extended and retracted in the tire radial direction. When extending or retracting, the set screw 46B is loosened, the male screw 45C is moved along the long hole 46C, and the set screw 46B is tightened again at the moved position.

The tire support member 48 is composed of eight split pieces 48P, and is annular when assembled to the arm portion 46. The outer diameter of the tire support member 48 is set to be larger than the inner diameter of the crown portion 16 of the tire frame half 17A. Each split piece 48P has an arc-shaped outer peripheral surface 48A. A ring-shaped groove 48D is formed on the outer peripheral surface 48A at a position corresponding to the protrusion 32 of the tire frame half 17A around the entire circumference. One groove 48D is formed for each tire frame half 17A, and two grooves 48D are formed in total on the tire support member 48. Between the two grooves 48D, a joining groove 48C is formed in a straight line around the entire circumference. The joining groove 48C is located at the joining portion of the pair of tire frame halves 17A, i.e., on the tire equatorial plane CL.

As shown in FIG. 6A, a groove 48B is formed on the radially inner side of the split piece 48P. The tip 46A of the arm 46 is fitted into the groove 48B. The groove 48B is deeper on the outer side of the split piece 48P in the circumferential direction of the tire and shallower in the center.

The split pieces 48P are assembled by engaging the tip 46A of the arm 46 with the groove 48B. The length of the arm 46 in the tire radial direction is adjusted according to the diameter of the tire support member 48. Four of the eight split pieces 48P are arranged one at a time in the center of the tip 46A in the tire circumferential direction. The remaining four are arranged across the space between adjacent tip portions 46A.

4 and 7, a tag installation recess 70 is formed on the outer periphery of any of the split pieces 48P as an example of a tag installation section , which has a shape in plan view similar to that of the RFID tag 60 and a depth dimension set to the same as the thickness dimension of the RFID tag 60. This allows the RFID tag 60 to be fitted into the tag installation recess 70 for positioning. The tag installation recess 70 in this embodiment is formed between the recesses 48D and 48D.

As shown in FIG. 8, an extruder 50 that extrudes the thermoplastic material 19 for welding is disposed near the molding machine 40. The extruder 50 is equipped with a resin discharge nozzle 52 that discharges the molten thermoplastic material 19 for welding downward.

The thermoplastic material for welding 19 is preferably the same type as the thermoplastic material constituting the tire frame member 17, but may be a different type as long as it can be welded. If the materials are the same type, the tire frame member 17 as a whole can be composed of one type of thermoplastic material, which reduces costs. Also, if different materials are used, it is possible to use materials that have favorable properties for the thermoplastic material for the tire frame member and the thermoplastic material for welding 19 for joining.

Near the resin discharge nozzle 52, downstream of the rotation direction of the tire frame member 17 (in the direction of arrow A), there are disposed a smoothing roller 53 for pressing and smoothing the welding thermoplastic material 19 attached to the outer surface of the tire, and a cylinder device 54 for moving the smoothing roller 53 in the vertical direction. The cylinder device 54 is supported by a support 50A of the extruder 50 via a frame (not shown).

A cooling air nozzle 55 that sprays cooling air is disposed downstream of the smoothing roller 53 in the direction of rotation of the tire frame member. A fan 56 is disposed on the opposite side of the resin discharge nozzle 52 from the direction of rotation of the tire case (opposite the direction of arrow A), and a hot air blocking roller 57 is disposed between the fan 56 and the resin discharge nozzle 52.

The fan 56 is supported by the support 50A of the extruder 50 via a frame (not shown). The fan 56 has a nozzle 56A that blows hot air toward the joint between one tire frame half 17A and the other tire frame half 17A in order to preheat the joint.

A cylinder device 58 that moves the hot air blocking roller 57 in the up and down direction is located above the hot air blocking roller 57. The cylinder device 58 is supported by the support 50A of the extruder 50 via a frame (not shown).

(Tire frame member molding process)
Next, a molding process for the tire frame member in this embodiment will be described.
First, the tire frame half 17A with the bead core 15 embedded therein is molded. The protruding strips 32 are molded integrally with the tire frame half 17A by providing corresponding recessed strips in the mold. The protruding strips 32 have a semicircular cross section, which makes it easy to remove from the mold.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, a support 44 having an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the tire frame half 17A is assembled, and an RFID tag 60 is fitted into a tag installation recess 70 formed on the outer circumferential surface of the tire frame half 17A. Then, each tire frame half 17A is fitted and attached to the outer circumferential side of the tire support member 48 from the outside in the tire axial direction W. At this time, the convex rib 32 of the tire frame half 17A is engaged with the concave rib 48D of the tire support member 48.

In this embodiment, the outer diameter of the support 44 is larger than the inner diameter of the tire frame half 17A, so that the movement of the tire frame half 17A in the tire circumferential direction relative to the tire support member 48 can be suppressed. In addition, the convex rib 32 of the tire frame half 17A and the concave rib 48D of the tire support member 48 are engaged with each other, so that the movement of the tire frame half 17A in the tire axial direction W relative to the tire support member 48 can be suppressed. Therefore, the pair of tire frame halves 17A can be positioned accurately.

Next, the extruder 50 is moved so that the joint portion of the two tire frame halves 17A (the tire equatorial plane CL of the tire frame member 17) is positioned below the fan 56, hot air blocking roller 57, resin ejection nozzle 52, smoothing roller 53, and cooling air ejection nozzle 55, as shown in FIG. 8.

Next, the hot air blocking roller 57 and the leveling roller 53 are lowered so that the hot air blocking roller 57 and the leveling roller 53 come into contact with the outer circumference of the butting portion of the two tire frame halves 17A. Then, while rotating the tire frame member 17 supported by the tire support member 48 in the direction of arrow A, hot air from the fan 56 is blown toward the joint portion of the pair of tire frame halves 17A. This causes the surface of the portion to which the welding thermoplastic material 19 is to be attached to be softened or melted in sequence (preheating process).

The preheated part then moves downstream in the direction of rotation (in the direction of arrow A), and the molten welding thermoplastic material 19 extruded from the resin discharge nozzle 52 is successively applied to the joint part (joining process).

The molten welding thermoplastic material 19 is then pressed radially inward by the smoothing rollers 53, and as shown in FIG. 6(B), the surface is smoothed to an almost flat surface, and a portion of the material is pushed out radially inward from between the tire frame halves 17A to fill the joining grooves 48C formed on the outer circumferential surface of the tire support member 48.

At the joint, a substantially triangular recess formed by the tip 16B of one crown half 16A and the tip 16B of the other crown half 16A is filled with the thermoplastic welding material 19. A part of the molten thermoplastic welding material 19 fills the joint groove 48C, and the molten thermoplastic welding material 19 adheres to the inner peripheral surface with a certain width from the butted portion of the tip 16B.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7B, at the location where the RFID tag 60 is disposed, a part of the molten thermoplastic welding material 19 can be brought into contact with the resin material of the RFID tag 60 .

In this way, in this embodiment, the welding thermoplastic material 19 is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral side of the tire frame half 17A to provide a large bonding area, resulting in high adhesive strength and making the tire particularly resistant to bending deformation.

Then, the welding thermoplastic material 19 attached to the tire frame half 17A gradually solidifies, and the pair of tire frame halves 17A are welded together by the welding thermoplastic material 19, resulting in a tire frame member 17 in which the two tire frame halves 17A are completely integrated. In addition, the welding thermoplastic material 19 that comes into contact with the RFID tag 60 gradually solidifies, and the RFID tag 60 is welded (fixed) to the tire frame member 17.

Next, the extruder 50 is withdrawn, a cord supplying device (not shown) is positioned near the support 44, and the heated reinforcing cord is spirally wound around the outer peripheral surface of the tire frame member 17 to form the cord reinforcing layer 28. The reinforcing cord can be easily embedded in the resin material by wrapping the resin-coated steel cord 26S around the steel cord 26S while heating it to melt the resin.

Next, a coating layer 24 is formed on the outer surface of the tire frame half 17A.

Next, the vulcanized band-shaped tread portion 30 and side member 31 are wrapped around the outer surface of the covering layer 24 of the tire frame member 17 once, and the tread portion 30 and side member 31 are bonded to the outer surface of the tire frame member 17. The bonding is performed using an adhesive, unvulcanized rubber (if unvulcanized rubber is used, vulcanization for bonding is performed in a later process), etc.

Then, the tire 10 is removed from the tire support member 48. At this time, as shown in FIG. 9(A), the arm portion 46 is extended to support the tire support member 48, and the set screw 46B is loosened, and the arm portion 46 is retracted as shown in FIG. 9(B). This separates the tip portion 46A from the tire support member 48, and each of the split pieces 48P is removed from the inside of the tire frame member 17. In this way, the tire 10 is completed.

In the tire 10 of this embodiment, a convex rib 32 is formed on the tire radially inner surface of the crown half 16A of the tire frame half 17A. Therefore, by engaging the convex rib 32 with the concave rib 48D formed on the tire radially outer surface of the tire support member 48, it is possible to suppress movement of the tire frame half 17A in the tire axial direction W relative to the tire support member 48. This allows the tire support member 48 to support the tire frame half 17A in an accurate position, and a good joint can be obtained.

In addition, the ridges 32 have a semicircular cross section, which increases the strength against deformation when the tire rolls. In addition, this makes it easier to remove the tire frame half 17A from the mold. Note that the ridges 32 do not necessarily have to have a semicircular cross section and may be angular. However, it is preferable that the corners of the cross section of the ridges 32 be rounded.

In this embodiment, the tire frame half 17A side has the convex streak 32 and the tire support member 48 side has the concave streak 48D, but the tire frame half 17A side may have the concave streak and the tire support member 48 side may have the convex streak. By forming the tire frame half 17A side with the convex streak 32 as in this embodiment, compared to the case where a concave portion is formed, no thin portion is formed in the tire frame member 17, and the strength of the tire can be maintained.
Also, a step may be formed by increasing the thickness of the tip 16B side of the crown half 16A of the tire frame half 17A, and a step may also be formed on the tire support member 48 side to correspond to this step and engage with it.

In addition, in this embodiment, the ridges 32 are formed around the entire circumference of the tire frame half 17A in the tire circumferential direction, so that movement of the tire frame half 17A in the tire axial direction W relative to the tire support member 48 can be effectively suppressed at each part in the tire circumferential direction.

In the tire 10 of this embodiment, the crown portion 16 of the tire frame half 17A is interposed between the antenna 64 of the RFID tag 60 and the steel cord 26S of the cord reinforcement layer 28, and the antenna 64 is separated from the steel cord 26S, so that the electromagnetic waves for communication between the RFID tag 60 and an external RFID reader/writer (not shown) are less likely to attenuate.

A tag installation recess 70 is formed on the outer periphery of the split piece 48P. The tag installation recess 70 has a shape similar to that of the RFID tag 60 when viewed in plan, and a depth dimension set to the same as the thickness dimension of the RFID tag 60. This makes it easy to fit the RFID tag 60 into the tag installation recess 70 and position it.

In addition, in the RFID tag 60 of this embodiment, the resin sheet 66 is made of the same type of resin material as the thermoplastic resin constituting the tire frame member 17 and the welding thermoplastic material 19, making it easier to weld the resin sheet 66.

In addition, in order to protect the RFID chip 62 of the RFID tag 60 from the heat during welding, it is preferable to ensure a certain degree of thickness (gauge on the crown side of the RFID chip 62) of the resin sheet 66 (for example, 1 mm or more).

[Other embodiments]
Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modified forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the RFID tag 60 is arranged with its longitudinal direction facing the tire circumferential direction, but it may be arranged with its longitudinal direction facing in a direction inclined relative to the tire circumferential direction, or with its longitudinal direction facing the tire width direction.

In the above embodiment, the RFID chip 62 and antenna 64 of the RFID tag 60 are embedded in a resin material, but the RFID tag 60 may be configured such that the RFID chip 62 and antenna 64 are embedded in rubber and are attached to the tire frame member 17 with an adhesive.

In the above embodiment, the tag installation recess 70 is formed on the outer periphery of the split piece 48P, but the tag installation recess 70 may be provided as necessary and does not have to be provided. If the tag installation recess 70 is not used, when the RFID tag 60 is adhered to the inner periphery of the tire frame member 17 using an adhesive, the tire frame member 17 can be positioned between a pair of ridges 32, and the ridges 32 can be used for positioning.

10...Tire, 16A...Crown half, 17...Tire frame member, 17A...Tire frame half, 28...Cord reinforcement layer, 48...Tire support member, 60...RFID tag, 62...RFID chip, 64...Antenna

Claims (4)

A tire frame member is made of a resin material, and includes a pair of tire frame halves each having a bead portion, a side portion, and a crown half portion of a half width, the tire frame halves being joined together by butting together tips of the crown halves;
A cord reinforcing layer disposed on a radially outer side of the tire frame member;
an RFID tag joined to an inner surface of the tire frame member at the joint where the tip is joined;
Equipped with
The crown halves are joined together by welding,
The tire , wherein the RFID tag is joined by welding to an inner surface in a radial direction of the tire at the joining portion of the crown half portion . The RFID tag has an RFID chip and an antenna embedded in the same type of resin material as the tire frame member.
2. The tire of claim 1. a convex engagement portion is formed on an inner side in the tire radial direction of each of the crown halves and on an outer side in the tire width direction of the joint portions between the crown halves, the convex engagement portion being engaged with an outer surface of a support that supports the pair of tire frame halves from the inner side in the tire radial direction during joining to suppress movement of the pair of tire frame halves in the tire axial direction relative to the support,
The RFID tag is provided between the convex engagement portion of one of the crown halves and the convex engagement portion of the other of the crown halves.
The tire according to claim 1 or 2 . A tire manufacturing method using an annular tire support member that is made of a resin material, has a pair of tire frame halves that have a bead portion, a side portion, and a half-width crown half portion and can be attached to an outer surface of the tire frame halves, and is separable into a plurality of pieces,
the tire support member is provided with a tag installation portion on an outer circumferential surface of which an RFID tag is temporarily placed,
After the RFID tag is temporarily placed on the tag installation portion, the pair of tire frame halves are attached to an outer surface, the tips of the crown halves are butted against each other, and the tire frame halves and the RFID tag are welded to each other.
Tire manufacturing method.