PNEUMATIC VEHICLE TIRE WITH NOISE ABSORBER, AND METHOD FOR DETECTING A PNEUMATIC VEHICLE TIRE WITH NOISE ABSORBER AND FOR RECYCLING A PNEUMATIC VEHICLE TIRE WITH NOISE ABSORBER

Abstract

The invention relates to a pneumatic vehicle tire with at least one sound absorber adhesively attached in its interior to the inner surface opposite the tread. The invention further relates to a process for detecting a pneumatic vehicle tire with a sound absorber and to a process for recycling a pneumatic vehicle tire with a sound absorber.

According to the invention the radially inward-facing surface of the sound absorber has at least one colorant applied to it.

Claims

1-12. (canceled)

13. A pneumatic vehicle tire comprising: a tread, sidewalls and an inner layer opposite the tread; a sound absorber attached to the inner layer, in the form of a foam ring having an elongated triangle cross section, matched to a tire cavity frequency and having a radially inward facing surface; and a colorant applied to radially inward facing surface of the sound absorber, the colorant having a different hue than a hue of the sound absorber.

14. The pneumatic vehicle tire of claim 1, the colorant is inorganic.

15. The pneumatic vehicle tire of claim 1, the colorant is organic.

16. The pneumatic vehicle tire of claim 1, the colorant is one of white and blue.

17. The pneumatic vehicle tire of claim 1, the colorant comprises metal.

18. The pneumatic vehicle tire of claim 1, the colorant applied by dispersion with a solution that contains from 1% to 80% by weight of colorants.

19. The pneumatic vehicle tire of claim 1, the colorant covers 50% to 100% of the radially inward-facing surface of the sound absorber.

20. The pneumatic vehicle tire of claim 1, the colorant is a film having a thickness of 1 μm (micrometer) to 1000 μm.

21. The pneumatic vehicle tire of claim 1, the sound absorber having a porous damping element.

22. The pneumatic vehicle tire of claim 21, the porous damping element is a sound-absorbing foam ring closed or open in the circumferential direction.

23. The pneumatic vehicle tire of claim 1, the sound absorber contains a polyurethane.

24. A method of recycling a tire, the method comprising: providing a tire to be recycled, the tire comprising a sound absorber attached to an inner layer, in the form of a foam ring having an elongated triangle cross section, matched to a tire cavity frequency and having a radially inward facing surface; determining presence of a colorant on the radially inward facing surface of the sound absorber; separating the sound absorber from the tire based on the determined presence of the colorant; and recycling the tire based after removing the sound absorber.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising transferring the tire to a separate recycling process on determining the presence of the colorant on the sound absorber.

Description

[0090] The invention shall be more particularly elucidated hereinbelow with reference to an exemplary embodiment. An example of a pneumatic vehicle tire according to the invention is shown in FIG. 1 in the context of a schematic representation.

[0091] FIG. 1 depicts a cross section through a radial passenger motor vehicle tire having a profiled tread 1, sidewalls 2, bead regions 3, bead cores 4 and also a multi-ply belt bandage 5 and a carcass insert 6. On its inner surface, the tire is covered with an inner layer 7 of an airtight rubber compound. On the inner surface of the inner layer 7 opposite the tread strip 1 a sound-absorbing foam ring as sound absorber 9 is subsequently (in the finished tire) adhesively attached using an adhesive 8, for example a polyurethane-based adhesive 8.

[0092] With respect to its sound-absorbing properties the sound-absorbing foam ring is matched to the tire cavity frequency. The sound absorber 9 in the form of a foam ring here has for example approximately an elongated triangle cross section that is symmetrical with respect to the tire equator.

[0093] The foam of the foam ring is an open-celled foam since said foam is particularly well suited for absorbing sound. The foam comprises polyurethane for example.

[0094] The sound absorber 9 has a radially inward-facing surface 9a.

[0095] According to the example in FIG. 1 the radially inward-facing surface 9a of the sound absorber 9 has at least one colorant 10 applied to it.

[0096] The colorant 10 is applied, for example, by means of a suspension containing the colorant methyl orange. The sound absorber 9 is therefore colored, namely orange, on the inward-facing surface 9a. The liquid of the suspension is, for example, water, wherein styrene-acrylate copolymer is further present as a binder.

[0097] The colorant 10 covers, for example, the entire (100%) surface 9a of the sound absorber 9.

[0098] The pneumatic vehicle tire described by way of example can now be distinguished, using a color detector, from pneumatic vehicle tires without a sound absorber by the process according to the invention. To this end, the color detector is programmed in particular to detect orange hues.

[0099] This allows pneumatic vehicle tires with sound absorbers according to the invention and pneumatic vehicle tires without sound absorbers to be distinguished from one another in a, for example automated, process according to the invention, spatially separated and supplied to different recycling processes. In the case of a tire according to the invention sound absorbers comprising colorants are initially removed from the tire in an additional step.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0100] (Part of the Description) [0101] 1 Tread [0102] 2 Sidewall [0103] 3 Bead region [0104] 4 Bead core [0105] Belt bandage [0106] 6 Carcass insert [0107] 7 Inner layer [0108] 8 Adhesive [0109] 9 Sound absorber [0110] 9a Radially inward-facing surface of the sound absorber [0111] 10 Colorant [0112] rR radial direction [0113] aR axial direction [0114] UR circumferential direction of the tire