AIRCRAFT TIRE

Abstract

A tire for use under heavy loads and high speeds includes a tread, a crown reinforcement, a carcass reinforcement with at least one ply wound about a pair of bead cores, and a cut/puncture resistant breaker layer disposed radially adjacent the crown reinforcement and radially inside the tread. The cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is formed of monofilaments inclined at between about 0 degrees and about 10 degrees relative to an equatorial plane of the tire.

Claims

1. A tire for use under heavy loads and high speeds comprising: a tread; a crown reinforcement; a carcass reinforcement with at least one ply wound about a pair of bead cores; and a cut/puncture resistant breaker layer disposed radially adjacent the crown reinforcement and radially inside the tread, the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is formed of monofilaments inclined at between about 0 degrees and about 10 degrees relative to an equatorial plane of the tire.

2. The tire as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is disposed adjacent a radially outer surface of a belt structure of the crown reinforcement.

3. The tire as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is disposed adjacent a radially outer surface of an overlay structure of the crown reinforcement.

4. The tire as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is disposed adjacent a radially inner surface of an overlay structure of the crown reinforcement.

5. The tire as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is disposed radially between a first belt of a belt structure of the crown reinforcement and a second belt of the belt structure of the crown reinforcement.

6. The tire as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is disposed radially between a belt structure of the crown reinforcement and an overlay structure of the crown reinforcement.

7. The tire as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is disposed radially between an undertread of the tread and the crown reinforcement.

8. The tire as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is disposed radially adjacent a radially outer surface of the carcass reinforcement.

9. The tire as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of the monofilaments are inclined between 5 degrees and 10 degrees relative to the equatorial plane of the tire.

10. The tire as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of a first plurality of monofilaments are parallel to each of the remaining first plurality of monofilaments.

11. The tire as set forth in claim 10 wherein each of a second plurality of monofilaments are parallel to each of the remaining second plurality of monofilaments.

12. The tire as set forth in claim 11 wherein each of the first plurality of monofilaments have a first angle of inclination relative to the equatorial plane of the tire and each of the second plurality of monofilaments have a second angle of inclination relative to the equatorial plane of the tire, the first angle being equal and opposite the second angle.

13. The tire as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is formed by spirally winding a single monofilament around a radially outer surface of the crown reinforcement.

14. The tire as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is formed by spirally winding a single monofilament radially between a first belt layer of a belt structure of the crown reinforcement and a second belt layer of the belt structure of the crown reinforcement.

15. The tire as set forth in claim 1 wherein the monofilaments are formed from textile fibers.

16. A tire for use under heavy loads and high speeds comprising: a tread; a crown reinforcement; a carcass reinforcement with at least one ply wound about a pair of bead cores; and a cut/puncture resistant breaker layer disposed radially adjacent the crown reinforcement and radially inside the tread, the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is formed of parallel monofilaments inclined at about 0 degrees relative to an equatorial plane of the tire.

17. The tire as set forth in claim 16 wherein the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is disposed adjacent a radially outer surface of an overlay structure of the crown reinforcement.

18. The tire as set forth in claim 16 wherein the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is disposed radially between an undertread of the tread and the crown reinforcement.

19. The tire as set forth in claim 16 wherein the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer is formed by spirally winding a single monofilament around a radially outer surface of the crown reinforcement.

20. The tire as set forth in claim 16 wherein monofilaments are formed from textile fibers.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0105] The present invention will be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0106] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross sectional view of an example tire for use with the present invention;

[0107] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross sectional view of the bead of the example tire of FIG. 1;

[0108] FIG. 3 is a schematic additional view of the bead of FIG. 2; and

[0109] FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a ply reinforcement in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLES OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0110] The following language is of the best presently contemplated mode or modes for carrying out the present invention. This description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principals of the present invention and should not be interpreted as a limitation of the appended claims. The scope of the present invention may be best determined by reference to the appended claims.

[0111] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary aircraft tire 100 for use with the present invention. The tire 100 may have a tread 12 with sidewall portions 9 connected to, and extending from, the lateral edges of the tread 12. At the radially inner ends of each sidewall 9 may be a bead portion 30. Each bead portion 30 may have therein a bead core 33, an apex 40 extending radially outward from the bead core 33, and at least one chafer layer 60 reinforced with cords 61 to reduce rim chafing of the tire 100. A carcass reinforcing ply structure 20 may extend from one bead portion 30 to the opposing bead portion 30 with turnup portions as shown. In greater detail, the exemplary tire 100 of FIG. 1 may be illustrated by the diagrammatic cross-section views of FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0112] With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the carcass reinforcement 20 may be formed of six plies 2A to 2F of radial textile cords 21. Among these six plies, four axially inner plies 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D may be wound around each circular bead core 33. These four plies may extend from the inside to the outside of the tire 100 in order to form turn-ups 20A, 20B, 20C and 20D. The carcass reinforcement 20 may be radially outward of the innerliner 22 of tire 100.

[0113] Outward of the bead cores 33 may be a strip or filler 40 of elastomeric material having a substantially triangular shape extending to an apex A radially furthest from the rotation axis of the tire 100 and located a distance D from a reference line XX′. As shown in FIG. 1, the reference line may also be parallel to the axis of rotation and pass through the geometric center O of the circle circumscribed on the cross section of the bead core 33.

[0114] A flipper 50, which can be formed of radial textile cords 51 similar to those of plies 20, may be located with an inner end L.sub.I slightly above the height B.sub.h of the bead core 33 and an outer end L.sub.E may also be slightly above the bead core 33 as measured from line YY′. The ends L.sub.I, L.sub.E may satisfy a relationship wherein B.sub.h<L.sub.I and L.sub.E<0.7D, as measured from the nominal bead diameter NBD. To minimize the space occupied by the flipper 50, the cords 51 may be made of a diameter smaller than the ply cords 21.

[0115] The carcass may further have two carcass plies 2E and 2F herein called outer plies. These outer plies 2E, 2F may cover the turn-ups 20A through 20D of the inner plies 2A through 2D. The outer plies 2E and 2F may be wound around the bead core 33 over a portion of the circular arc radially outside of the center of bead core 33. The ply ends 20E and 20F may thus be disposed axially inward of the lowest portion of the bead core 33. The ends 20E and 20F may effectively be pinched between the bead core 33 and the rim seat thereby securely anchoring the outer plies 2E, 2F.

[0116] The tire bead may have an outer chipper 60 of textile cords 61 wrapped around the ends 20E and 20F assuring protection of the carcass plies against damage during mounting. Radially below the chipper 60 may be a chafer 11 having a rubber gauge in the range between about 0.04 inches (1.0 mm) and about 0.16 inches (4.1 mm).

[0117] Axially outward of the chafer 11 and the plies 20E and 20F may be an elongated strip 8 of elastomeric material extending from radially inward of the bead 30 adjacent the chafer 11 to a radial location at, or slightly above, the turn-up 20B, but below the turn-up 20D. As shown, this strip 8 may be interposed between the sidewall rubber 9 and the outer ply 20F. At a location almost equal to the radial height D of the apex A, the strip 8 may have a maximum thickness t of 0.3 inches (7.6 mm).

[0118] Referring back to FIG. 1, radially outward of the carcass 20 may be a belt structure 10. The belt structure 10 may have at least belt two ply layers of cords 1 inclined at an angle between 5 degrees to 35 degrees. The cords 1 in each belt ply layer may be parallel to each other and crossed relative to the cords 1 in the adjacent belt ply layer. The radial carcass reinforcement may be radially surmounted by the crown reinforcement, or belt structure 10, formed of a plurality of textile layers of reinforcement elements or cords 1 which are inclined relative to the circumferential direction by a predetermined angle. So as to avoid the free ends of crown/belt plies, the layers may be laying out by winding, around a cylindrical or rounded form or a carcass reinforcement blank, a strip of at least one textile reinforcement element or cord 1 from one axial edge of the layer to the other thereby forming the desired angle with the equatorial plane of the tire 100.

[0119] Outward of the belt structure 10 may be an overlay ply 70. The overlay ply 70 is shown in FIG. 1 radially outward of the belt plies 10, but such an overlay ply 70 may also be located radially inward of the belt plies 10 or between two of the belt plies 10. The overlay ply 70 may be formed of cords 71 inclined at between about 5 degrees and 10 degrees relative to the equatorial plane of the tire 100. The inclination angle of the cords 71 may be partially dependent upon the formation and application method of the overlay ply 70. The overlay ply 70 may be spirally wound onto a tire building machine—with spiral winding of a single elastomeric encased cord or an elastomeric ribbon of multiple cords having a width between 5 mm and 30 mm and a cord density in a range between about 10 ends per inch (25.4 ends per cm) and about 50 ends per inch (130 ends per cm). The overlay ply 70 may also be a cut ply of parallel cords 71. A spirally wound layer may have a greater inclination angle relative to the equatorial plane than a cut ply of parallel cords 71. Each of the elements described above may employ the textile cords 1, 21, 51, 61, and/or 71 including the carcass plies 20, the belt plies 10 or strips, the chafer 60, the flipper 50, and/or the overlay 70.

[0120] In accordance with the present invention, one of more cut/puncture resistant breaker layers 200 may be disposed adjacent a radially outer surface of the overlay 70 (FIGS. 1 & 4) and radially inside the tread 12, adjacent a radially outer surface of the belt structure 10 radially inside the overlay, and/or radially between layers of the overlay 70 and/or belt structure 10. The cut/puncture resistant breaker layer(s) 200 may be formed of monofilaments 201 inclined between about 5 degrees and about 10 degrees relative to the equatorial plane of the tire 100. The inclination angle of the cords 201 may be partially dependent upon the formation and application method of the cut/puncture resistant breaker layer(s) 200. The cut/puncture resistant breaker layer(s) 200 may also be spirally wound onto a tire building machine—with spiral winding of a single elastomeric encased monofilament 201 or an elastomeric ribbon of multiple monofilaments 201 having a width between 5 mm and 30 mm and a density in a range between about 10 ends per inch (25.4 ends per cm) and about 50 ends per inch (130 ends per cm). The cut/puncture resistant breaker layer(s) 200 may also be a cut ply of parallel cords 201 (FIG. 4). A spirally wound layer may have a greater inclination angle relative to the equatorial plane than a cut ply 200 of parallel cords 201. The cut/puncture resistant breaker layer(s) 200 may employ textile and/or steel monofilaments 201. The cut/puncture resistant breaker layers 200 may be paired with a first layer having parallel monofilaments 201 inclined at a first angle relative to the equatorial plane of the tire 100 and a second layer having parallel monofilaments 201 inclined at an equal and opposite second angle relative to the equatorial plane of the tire, similar to belt structures, such as the belt structure 10.

[0121] Variations in the present invention are possible in light of the description of it provided herein. While certain representative examples and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the subject invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes, modifications, equivalents may be made therein without departing from the scope of the subject invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that changes may be made in the particular examples described herein which will be within the fully intended scope of the present invention as defined by the following appended claims.