METHOD FOR APPLYING AN ELECTRICAL MICROSTRUCTURE, ELASTOMER STRUCTURE, FIBER COMPOSITE COMPONENT, AND TIRE

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for applying an electrical microstructure on or in an object of any type, wherein the electrical microstructure is first applied to a flexible film and the film is fastened, with the electrical microstructure applied thereto in front, to a fastening surface of the object by adhesive bonding and/or vulcanization attachment. The invention further relates to an elastomer structure, to a fiber composite component, and to a motor-vehicle tire, each having at least one electrical microstructure fastened thereto by adhesive bonding and/or vulcanization attachment.

Claims

1. A method for applying an electrical microstructure on or in an object, comprising: applying the electrical microstructure on a flexible film to form a combination of the film with the electrical microstructure applied thereon; and fastening the combination of the film with the electrical microstructure applied thereon on a fastening surface of the object by one or more of adhesive bonding on the object, and vulcanizing in the object.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising, after the fastening step, removing the film fully or partially from the object.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein removing is performed by dissolving the film.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein dissolving is performed by one or more of wetting the film with a solvent which dissolves the film, and heating the film to dissolve the film.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the film is perforated and/or comprises holes.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the electrical microstructure is applied on the film by a vapor deposition process.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the electrical microstructure comprises conductive tracks connecting surfaces for electrical and/or electronic components and/or passive electrical and/or electronic components.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of applying the electrical microstructure on the film includes applying a layer of an interlayer material having electrical and/or electronic components embedded in recesses of the interlayer material onto the film, and then the electrical microstructure is applied to the interlayer material.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the object on which the electrical microstructure is applied comprises a layer structure of at least two layers, and wherein the fastening surface is of one of the at least two layers, and wherein the other layers of the at least two layers are subsequently arranged so that the electrical microstructure is embedded between the at least two layers.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the fastening step is performed with an adhesive which is cured by adding a curing agent.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the curing agent also functions as a solvent that dissolves the film.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the electrical microstructure comprises at least one sensor component.

13. An elastomer structure having at least one electrical microstructure adhesively bonded thereon or vulcanized in.

14. A fiber composite component having at least one electrical microstructure adhesively bonded thereon.

15. A tire having an electrical microstructure adhesively bonded or vulcanized in on the tire inner side or embedded between different layers of the tire.

Description

[0032] The invention will be explained in more detail below with exemplary embodiments with the use of drawings, in which

[0033] FIG. 1 shows a multistage production process,

[0034] FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the application of an electrical microstructure on a fastening surface,

[0035] FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the application of an electrical microstructure on a fastening surface, and

[0036] FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the application of an electrical microstructure on a fastening surface.

[0037] In the figures, the same references are used for elements which correspond to one another.

[0038] First, FIG. 1 shows a production step A in which a flexible film 1 is coated by vapor deposition, here by a PVD process, by means of a coating system 4 with an electrical microstructure 2. The film 1 is in this case unrolled from a roll 3. During the process of unrolling the film 1 from the roll 3, the outer film layer of the roll 3 is respectively coated by means of the coating system 4. The coating system 4 comprises a shadow mask 5, by means of which the corresponding structuring of the electrical microstructure 2 is produced.

[0039] The application of the electrical microstructure 2 on the film 1 may also be carried out in such a way that the film 1 is exposed to the coating system 4 in the flat unrolled state. The film 1 coated with the electrical microstructure 2 may then be rolled up to form a roll 3 for transport purposes.

[0040] Production steps B, C, D relate to the application of the electrical microstructure 2 on an object 6, in this case on a rubber web unrolled from a roll. In step B, the film 1 previously prepared in step A is therefore applied, in the rotated state compared with Figure A, with the electrical microstructure 2 forward on a fastening surface 11 of the object 6. Step C shows that the electrical microstructure 2 is firmly adhesively bonded on the fastening surface 11 by adding adhesive 8. Water 7 may be added to dissolve the film 1 and in order to activate the adhesive 8. Step D shows the final state after the dissolving of the film 1. The electrical microstructure 2 remains on the fastening surface 11 of the object 6.

[0041] FIG. 2 shows steps B, C, D of FIG. 1 in an enlarged detail representation. The film 1 with the electrical microstructure 2 applied thereon can again be seen. It can furthermore be seen that adhesive 8, for example cyanoacrylate is applied on the side of the film 1 coated with the electrical microstructure 2. This arrangement is then rotated and applied with the adhesive layer 8 forward onto the fastening surface 11 of the object 6. The lower part of FIG. 2 shows the final state after the film 1 is removed. The object 6, in this case the rubber web, may be an already vulcanized rubber material.

[0042] FIG. 3 shows an alternative process for applying an electrical microstructure 2. In this case, the electrical microstructure has already been constructed in a more complex manner in the preceding production step A, by already applying electrical and electronic components 10, for example SMD components and/or piezo components on a contact layer of this microstructure 2. This was carried out in production step A by for example using a thermally removable film as the film 1. The latter was coated with a layer of interlayer material 9. In this interlayer material 9 there are recesses into which the components 10 were inserted. The actual microstructure 2, which in this case represents a contact layer, is then applied by means of the coating system 4.

[0043] In the subsequent steps B, C, D, a procedure comparable to that explained above is then carried out. The adhesive layer 8 is applied onto the microstructure 2. The entire arrangement is rotated and applied with the adhesive layer 8 forward onto the fastening surface 11 of the object 6. The adhesive is activated. The film 1 is thermally removed. The layer of the interlayer material 9 is then removed, for example using a solvent. If a water-soluble material such as PVA is used as the interlayer material 9, the removal of the interlayer material may be carried out by a washing with water.

[0044] FIG. 3 shows a variant of the application of the electrical microstructure 2 on an object 6 in the form of a not yet vulcanized rubber layer. The film 1 with the electrical microstructure 2 is then fastened directly on the fastening surface 11 without the adhesive layer 8. The fastening of the electrical microstructure 2 on the fastening surface 11 is carried out by the vulcanizing of the rubber material of the object 6. The film 1 is again removed as explained above.