TIRE COMPRISING A SEALANT LAYER AND A SOUND-ABSORBING ELEMENT

Abstract

A tubeless tyre (1) comprising a tread (2), a carcass (3) defining an inner cavity (4), an innerliner (5) designed to ensure that the air contained in the inner cavity (4) of the carcass (3) remains under pressure, a sealant layer (6) arranged in said inner cavity (4) in contact with the innerliner (5), and a sound-absorbing layer (7), which is also arranged in said inner cavity (4). The tyre comprises a support structure (8) housed inside said inner cavity (4) and designed to support said sound-absorbing layer (7), always keeping it separate from the sealant layer (6). The support structure (8) comprises a spacing portion (9) having an end in contact with said innerliner (5) and partially immersed in said sealant layer (6) and a support portion (10), on which the sound-absorbing layer (7) is fixed.

Claims

1-9. (canceled)

10. A tubeless tire comprising: a tread; a carcass defining an inner cavity; an innerliner configured to contain air in the inner cavity such that the inner cavity remains under pressure; a sealant layer positioned in said inner cavity and in contact with the innerliner; a sound-absorbing layer comprising a foamed material and positioned in said inner cavity; a support structure located within said inner cavity and configured to support said sound-absorbing layer such that the sound-absorbing layer is spaced from said sealant layer, said support structure comprising a polymeric non-foamed material; said support structure having a spacing portion with an end in contact with said innerliner and partially immersed in said sealant layer; and the support structure having a support portion on which said sound-absorbing layer is fixed.

11. The tubeless tire of claim 10, wherein said spacing portion comprises a plurality of legs, each of the plurality of legs in contact with said innerliner and partially immersed in said sealant layer.

12. The tubeless tire of claim 10, wherein said support structure comprises a material having a Young's modulus ranging from 1,000 N/m.sup.2 to 2,900 N/m.sup.2.

13. The tubeless tire of claim 12, wherein a distance between the support portion and a free surface of said sealant layer is at least 2 mm, the free surface of said sealant layer comprising a surface in which the end of the spacing portion is not partially immersed in said sealant layer.

14. The tubeless tire of claim 12, wherein the polymeric non-foamed material comprising the support structure comprises acrylonitrile butadiene stirene (ABS).

15. The tubeless tire of claim 12, wherein the polymeric non-foamed material comprising the support structure comprises silicone.

16. The tubeless tire of claim 10, wherein said support structure is manufactured by three-dimensional (3D) printing, injection moulding, or extrusion.

17. The tubeless tire of claim 10, wherein a thickness of the sealant layer ranges from 0.5 mm to 6 mm.

18. The tubeless tire of claim 10, wherein a thickness of the sound-absorbing layer ranges from 2 mm to 50 mm.

19. The tubeless tire of claim 10, wherein said support portion has a width ranging from 5 mm to 50 mm.

20. The tubeless tire of claim 10, wherein the foamed material comprising the sound-absorbing layer comprises polyurethane.

21. A tubeless tire comprising: a tread; a carcass defining an inner cavity; an innerliner configured to contain air in the inner cavity such that the inner cavity remains under pressure; a sealant layer positioned in said inner cavity and in contact with the innerliner; a sound-absorbing layer comprising a foamed material and positioned in said inner cavity; a support structure located within said inner cavity and configured to support said sound-absorbing layer such that the sound-absorbing layer is spaced from said sealant layer, said support structure comprising a polymeric non-foamed material; said support structure having a spacing portion, the spacing portion comprising a plurality of legs, each of the plurality of legs in contact with said innerliner and partially immersed in said sealant layer; and the support structure having a support portion on which said sound-absorbing layer is fixed.

22. The tubeless tire of claim 21, wherein said support structure comprises a material having a Young's modulus ranging from 1,000 N/m.sup.2 to 2,900 N/m.sup.2.

23. The tubeless tire of claim 22, wherein a distance between the support portion and a free surface of said sealant layer is at least 2 mm, the free surface of said sealant layer comprising a surface in which the end of the spacing portion is not partially immersed in said sealant layer.

24. The tubeless tire of claim 22, wherein the polymeric non-foamed material comprising the support structure comprises acrylonitrile butadiene stirene (ABS).

25. The tubeless tire of claim 22, wherein the polymeric non-foamed material comprising the support structure comprises silicone.

26. The tubeless tire of claim 21, wherein said support structure is manufactured by three-dimensional (3D) printing, injection moulding, or extrusion.

27. The tubeless tire of claim 21, wherein a thickness of the sealant layer ranges from 0.5 mm to 6 mm.

28. The tubeless tire of claim 21, wherein a thickness of the sound-absorbing layer ranges from 2 mm to 50 mm.

29. The tubeless tire of claim 21, wherein said support portion has a width ranging from 5 mm to 50 mm.

Description

[0021] Hereinafter you can find a description of an embodiment of the invention, by mere way of example, with the aid of the accompanying FIGURE, which shows a cross section of the tire according to the invention.

[0022] In the aforesaid FIGURE, number 1 indicates, as a whole, a tire according to the invention.

[0023] The tire 1 comprises a tread 2, a carcass 3 defining an inner cavity 4 of the tire 1, an innerline 5 facing the inner cavity 4 and designed to make sure that the air contained in the inner cavity 4 remains under pressure, a sealant layer 6 arranged in contact with the impermeable layer 5 in the area of the tread 2, and a sound-absorbing layer 7 arranged inside the cavity 4 in order to attenuate the resonance cavity sound generated by the operating tire.

[0024] The tire 1 further comprises a support structure 8 designed to support the sound-absorbing layer 7, though keeping it separate from the sealant layer 6.

[0025] The support structure 8 comprises a spacing portion 9, which, in the example shown herein, consists of a plurality of legs 9a, and a support portion 10, on which the sound absorbing layer 7 is arranged.

[0026] The spacing portion 9 has a first end in contact with the innerliner 5 and a second end fixed to the support portion 10. According to the FIGURE, the spacing portion rests on the innerliner 5 and goes through the sealant layer 6 from which it extends, so as to keep the support portion—and, hence, the sound-absorbing layer 7 fixed to thereto—properly spaced apart from the sealant layer 6. By so doing, it is assured that the sound-absorbing layer 7 made of foamed material does not come into contact with the sealant layer 6, which could jeopardize the functionality of both. Indeed, in contact with the sealant layer there is only the support portion 10, which being not made of a nonfoamed material, will not physically interact with the sealant layer.

[0027] As a person skilled in the art can immediately understand, during the rotation of the operating tire, the support structure 8 necessarily is subjected to forces that could deform it. In order to prevent the support structure 8 from being deformed in such a way that it cannot ensure any longer the separation between the sealant layer 6 and the sound-absorbing layer 7, the material with which the support structure 8 is manufactured must preferably have a Young's modulus ranging from 1000 to 2900 N/m.sup.2 and the distance between the support portion 8 and the free surface of the sealant layer 6 preferably is at least 2 mm.

[0028] In particular, the material making up the support structure 8 of the example is ABS, which has mechanical features that well suit the needs of the invention.

[0029] Another material that can advantageously be used to manufacture the support structure 8 is silicone. Silicone has the advantage of being able to be easily removed from the tire, thus ensuring a correct recycle of the tire itself.

Both possibilities may coexist within the support structure.

[0030] Owing to the above, it is evident that the invention, thanks to the presence of the support structure, allows manufacturers to produce a tire comprising, at the same time and in an effective manner, a sealant layer and a sound absorbing layer, though without being affected by the problems of the prior art. This leads to a tire whose technical features are capable both of countering the effects of a punctured tire through the sealant layer and of attenuating the noise generated inside the inner cavity by means of the sound-absorbing layer.