Polyamide fiber cords for rubber reinforcement

Abstract: Polyamide fiber cords for rubber reinforcement are produced by subjecting cords having a denier per filament of 1.5-10 to RFL adhesive solution having a swelling ratio in DMSO of 122-340% at an impregnated state in cord, embedding the thus treated cords in rubber and vulcanizing them, and have a cord strength in rubber of not less than 8.0 g/d. They provide improved fatigue resistance under repetitive compressive strain without lowering strength in the dipping and vulcanization.

Description: This invention relates to polyamide fiber cords for rubber reinforcement having a high tenacity. Up to now, polyamide fiber cords have been widely used as a reinforcing material for industrial rubber articles such as large size tires for trucks and buses, construction vehicles and airplanes, conveyor belts, hoses, and air springs, because they have excellent strength, durability and heat resistance among various reinforcing cord materials for rubber articles including tires. On the other hand, it is strongly demanded to decrease the amount of the reinforcing material used by decreasing the number of reinforcing material layers to be laminated or the end count of cords, or thinning the size of the cord, in order to achieve tire weight reduction, low fuel consumption, resource-saving, and improvement of productivity. In order to decrease the amount of the reinforcing material used while maintaining total strength as a rubber composite body, it is required to use fibers having a higher tenacity. Recently, polyamide fibers having a tenacity considerably higher than that of the conventional ones have been developed and disclosed, for example in Japanese Patent laid open No. 61-70008. However, when such a so-called super-high tenacity polyamide fiber cord is subjected to a so-called "dip treating step" in which the cords are immersed in an adhesive solution required for the adhesion between fiber and rubber, dried and heated at a high temperature near to the melting point of the fiber, the strength of the cord is significantly decreased, as disclosed in (Japanese patent laid open No. 63-17517 and No. 63-203841). In these publications, it has been proposed to prevent the decrease of the cord strength by restricting tension of the cord to not less than 0.044 N/tex (0.5 g/d) when being immersed in the adhesive solution, or by subjecting the cord to a pretreatment at a high temperature above 100°C so as not to impregnate the inside of the cord with the adhesive solution. Furthermore, there have been proposed techniques similar to the above one (Japanese Patent laid open No. 60-71239 and No. 60-104580), such as a technique of subjecting to a heat treatment under tension prior to the treatment with the adhesive, and a technique of applying an adhesive under an elongation of not less than 3%. Since the amount of the adhesive bonded to the cord is small in such a dipping process, the adhesion force between rubber and fiber lowers. For this end, there is also disclosed a technique of improving the adhesion property by specifying solids content in a solution of resorcinol-formaldehyde-rubber latex (so-called RFL) adhesive, a ratio of total weight of resorcinol and formaldehyde to weight of latex,and a ratio of weight of vinylpyridine latex to total weight of vinylpyridiene latex and styrene-butadiene latex,in addition to a relation between temperature and tension at the heat treating step under tension prior to the immersion in the adhesive solution (Japanese Patent laid open No. 1-174627 and No. 1-174628). Moreover, it is known that the strength of the high tenacity polyamide fiber is decreased even in a vulcanization step at a cord embedded state in rubber after the dip treatment step (Japanese Patent laid open No. 2-91276), which is a problem to be overcome. Further, the present inventors have found a second serious problem. That is, before and during the immersion of the cords in the adhesive solution as in the conventional technique, when either heat or tension or both is applied at the heat treating step under tension, the decrease of strength at the dipping step is certainly prevented, but the fatigue resistance of the cord under repetitive compressive strain in rubber is poor. In this connection, the inventors have made various studies and found that the above problem mainly results because since the adhesive solution is not impregnated into the inside of the cord, bare filaments constituting the cord are abraded with each other at the intersect face of the layer twisted structure to cause fatigue. It is, therefore, an aim of the present invention to simultaneously solve the above problems and to provide high tenacity polyamide fiber cords for rubber reinforcement having improved fatigue resistance under repetitive compressive strain without decreasing the strength in the dipping treatment and vulcanization. The inventors have therefore made further studies in order to simultaneously overcome the above two problems. First, the adhesive solution is not impregnated in the inside of the cords subjected to the heat treatment under tension before the immersion of the adhesive solution as in the conventional technique, so that fatigue is caused by abrading the bare filaments with each other at the intersect face of the layer twisted structure through repetitive stretching and compression. Therefore, it is considered that in order to prevent the fatigue of the cord, it is necessary to sufficiently impregnate the adhesive into the inside of the cord through the immersion of the adhesive solution at a relaxed state as in the usual manner or under a very low tension without conducting the heat treatment under tension, whereby the surfaces of the filaments at the -intersect face are protected with the solid of the adhesive. In this way, the second problem relating to the fatigue property is overcome, but there naturally occurs the first problem relating to decreasing the cord strength in the dipping treatment and vulcanization. Moreover, the inventors have made studies with respect to the cause of decreasing the strength as the first problem, and found that,as disclosed in Japanese Patent laid open No. 63-175179, No. 63-203841, No. 60-71239 and No. 60-104580, the dipping solution impregnated into the inside the cord is dried and resinified in a high-temperature oven in the dipping treatment to close the filaments, whereby the degree of freedom in the filaments constituting the cord is restrained to obstruct uniform stress allotment of each filament at the cord stretching and hence the cord is broken at a strength lower than the strength inherent to the cord itself. Also, in order to produce higher tenacity polyamide fibers, the drawing is generally conducted at a high draw ratio, so that terminal modulus at breakage becomes high as the tenacity of the polyamide fiber is high, which is disadvantageous in the aligning property and uniform stress allotment of the filaments in the stretching of the cord and hence the decrease of the strength is easily caused in the dipping treatment. Now, the inventors have made various studies with respect to RFL adhesive solution to be impregnated in the polyamide fiber cord and found that the strength inherent to the high tenacity polyamide fiber could be developed without obstructing the uniform stress allotment in the stretching of the cord by restricting the swelling ratio in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) of RFL dipped resin after the vulcanization to a certain range even when the adhesive solution is sufficiently impregnated into the inside of the cord at the relaxed state or under a very low tension as in the usual manner, and hence the present invention has been accomplished. Attention is also drawn to the disclosures of EP-A-0350773, EP-A-0285094, EP-A-0317107, and JP-A-60-71240. The present invention provides a polyamide fiber cord for rubber reinforcement, obtainable by being treated with a solution of resorcinol-formaldehyde-rubber latex adhesive (RFL adhesive), embedded in rubber and vulcanized, in which tenacity according to JIS L1017 of the cord embedded in vulcanized rubber is not less than 0.706 N/tex (8.0 g/d), tex per filament is 0.167-1.11 (denier per filament is 1.5-10), and swelling ratio X as herein defined in dimethyl sulfoxide of RFL adhesive impregnated in the cord is 122%≤X≤340%, and in which the solution of RFL adhesive satisfies the following relations: 1/2. 3≤R/F≤1/1.1 1/10≤RF/L≤1/4 0.05≤S≤0.8 0≤A≤0.5 0.05≤S+A≤0.8 10≤C≤24 10≤a≤80 0≤b≤70 20≤c≤60 wherein R/F is molar ratio of resorcinol/formaldehyde, RF/L is ratio of total amount of resorcinol and formaldehyde to total amount as solids content of rubber latex, S is weight percentage of alkali metal hydroxide and/or alkaline earth metal hydroxide to total solids content of RFL adhesive solution, A is weight percentage as NH 4 OH of an aqueous solution of NH 3 to total solids content of RFL adhesive solution, C is weight percentage of total solids content of RFL adhesive solution, a is weight percentage of solids content of vinylpyridine (VP) latex to total solids content of VP latex, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) latex and natural rubber (NR) and/or isoprene rubber (IR) latices, b is weight percentage of solids content of SBR latex to total solids content of all latices, and c is weight percentage of solids content of IR and/or NR latices to total solids content of all latices. In a preferred embodiment, the swelling ratio X is 126%≤X≤270%, more particularly 130%≤X≤20%. In a preferred embodiment, R/F, RF/L, S, A, S≦A and C are 1/2.0≦R/F≦1/1.3 (more particularly, 1/1.8≦R/F≦1/1.5), 1/8≦RF/L≦1/5, 0.1≦S≦0.5 (more particularly, 0.1≤S≤0.3), 0≦A≦0.3, 0.1≦S+A≦0.5 and 14≦C≦22, respectively. In another preferred embodiment, VP latex has a VP content of 5-20%. Further, the weight percentages of VP latex, SBR latex and IR and/or NR latices are preferably 30≦a≦60, 10≦b≦50 and 25≦c≦50, respectively. Moreover, a part of the above latices may be replaced with the other latex component. According to the invention, it has been found that when the solution of RFL adhesive used satisfies all the defined relations, good results are obtained. Moreover, the desired swelling ratio may be obtained by adding a substance obstructing resinification reaction such as SiO 2 or a boron compound to the RFL adhesive solution. The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a flow chart illustrating an outline of a treatment with an adhesive; Fig. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an outline of a heat treatment of cord under tension before the treatment with adhesive; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a specimen holder assembly; Fig. 4 is a diagrammatical view of a specimen before the pouring of DMSO based on a microphotograph; and Fig. 5 is a diagrammatical view of a specimen after the pouring of DMSO based on a microphotograph. According to the invention, when the polyamide fiber cords are used as a rubber reinforcement, the tenacity of the cord is not less than 0.706 N/tex (8.0 g/d), preferably not less than 0.750 N/tex (8.5 g/d), more particularly not less than 0.838 N/tex (9.5 g/d), for sufficiently attaining weight reduction, low fuel consumption, resource-saving, cost reduction and high productivity in a tire through, for example, the decrease of the number of reinforcing layers to be laminated, the decrease of the end count, or the reduction of the cord size. Furthermore, the tex per filament of the cord is 0.167-1.11, preferably 0.333-0.889 (the denier per filament of the cord is 1.5-10, preferably 3-8). When the tex per filament is less than 0.167, the number of filaments constituting the cord increases and also the total surface area of the filaments is too large, so that the restraint and non-uniform stress allotment of each filament by adhesive after the drying and heating treatment increase to undesirably lower the strength in the dipping treatment. When the tex per filament exceeds 1.11, uniform quenching of the filament is obstructed during spinning, which is disadvantageous in the stable production of high tenacity filament. As the polyamide usable in the invention, mention may be made of aliphatic polyamides selected from nylon-6,6, nylon-6, nylon-4,6, nylon-6,10 and mixtures thereof. Preferably, an aliphatic polyamide containing not less than 80% by weight of nylon-6,6 or nylon-6 is used. The use of nylon-6,6 is most preferable having regard to the heat resistance. Stabilizers consisting of a copper salt and other antioxidant are added to these fibers in order to provide durability against heat, light and oxygen. When the swelling ratio of the RFL dipped resin according to the invention in DMSO is less than 122%, the network density of the resin is too dense and the resin itself becomes hard, and consequently the uniform stress allotment in the stretching of the cord is obstructed and hence the strength inherent to the high tenacity polyamide fiber cannot be sufficiently developed. On the other hand, when the swelling ratio is more than 340%, the network density of the resin is too rough and hence sufficient adhesion force cannot be obtained and also the operability is poor because the cords are too sticky before the vulcanization. In the RFL adhesive solution according to the invention, when R/F is less than 1/2.3, the F amount is too large as compared with the R amount and the R-F crosslinking becomes excessive and hence the network of the final RF resin after the heat treatment is too dense and makes the hardness of the RFL adhesive layer excessively high. When R/F exceeds 1/1.1, the F amount is too small as compared with the R amount and the R-F crosslinking is less and hence the strength of RFL layer becomes weak to make the adhesion to rubber insufficient and make the surfaces of the cords sticky, which adversely affects the operability. When RF/L exceeds 1/4, the RF amount is too large as compared with the L amount and hence the hardness of the RFL adhesive layer is too high. When RF/L is less than 1/10, the RF amount is too small as compared with the L amount and hence sufficient adhesion to rubber is not obtained. Further, when S exceeds 0.8% by weight, the amount of alkali metal hydroxide as a catalyst for the reaction between F and R is excessive and hence the R-F crosslinking becomes excessive and the network of the final RF resin after the heat treatment is too dense and hence the hardness of the RFL adhesive layer becomes too high. When S is less than 0.05% by weight, the amount of the alkali metal hydroxide is too small and the adhesive solution is apt to be gelled and the stability is poor. As the alkali metal hydroxide, NaOH is usually preferable, but other alkali metal hydroxides such as KOH may be used. Also, alkaline earth metal hydroxides may be used. The adhesion property to rubber is slightly improved by adding a small amount of aqueous NH 3 solution. When A exceeds 0.5% by weight, or even when A is less than 0.5%, if S+A exceeds 0.8% by weight, the RF crosslinking reaction becomes excessive and the network of the RF resin after the heat treatment is too dense and hence the hardness of the RFL adhesive layer becomes too high. Moreover, when C is less than 10% by weight, the solids content of the adhesive cannot be adhered to the cord in a sufficient amount required for the adhesion to rubber in the immersion with the adhesive. When C exceeds 24% by weight, the solid content becomes too large and the RFL adhesive solution is apt to be gelled and becomes unstable. As regards the latex components in the solution, when a is less than 10% by weight, sufficient adhesion to rubber is not obtained. When a exceeds 80% by weight, the selectivity on rubber to be adhered becomes undesirably large and also the cost of RFL solution becomes too high. When SBR latex is added as a latex component, the heat-resistant adhesion property is improved, but when b exceeds 70% by weight, the adhesion property to rubber lowers. As disclosed in Japanese Patent laid open No. 2-91276, when NR and/or IR latices are added in a proper amount, the decrease of the strength during vulcanization can be suppressed. However, when c is less than 20% by weight, the effect of sufficiently suppressing the decrease of strength during vulcanization is not obtained, while when c exceeds 60% by weight, sufficient adhesion to rubber is not obtained. When using novolac RF resin of acidic catalyst-precondensation type, R and F are condensed in a straight form, so that the R-F network of the final RF resin after the heat treatment is slightly rough and the RFL adhesive layer tends to be relatively soft. In this case, however, when all of the requirements such as ratios of R, F and L, amount of alkali metal hydroxide, amounts of latices, and percentage thereof are satisfied, the precondensation type novolac RF resin may be used in the invention. Moreover, when using the precondensation type novolac RF resin, there may be caused problems that the surfaces of the cords stick and the stability of the solution is poor as compared with the usual resol system using the alkali catalyst. Therefore, the use of the usual resol system is preferable. In the treatment with the adhesive, when the cord tension T in the immersion into the RFL solution is not less than 0.026 N/tex (0.3 g/d), the inside of the cord is not sufficiently impregnated with the adhesive solution and fatigue due to the abrasion contacting of filaments at the intersect face of the layer twisted structure is caused. Preferably, T is not more than 0.018 N/tex (0.2 g/d), more particularly not more than 0.009 N/tex (0.1 g/d). In the polyamide fiber cords treated with the adhesive and embedded in rubber according to the invention, the RFL adhesive layer is soft as compared with the conventional layer, so that the restraint of the filaments constituting the cord through the adhesive layer is less and uniform stress allotment can be attained in the stretching of the cord and consequently the high strength inherent to the cord itself can be developed. The following examples are given in illustration of the invention and are not intended as limitations thereof. As a polyamide yarn to be tested, there were used (i) conventional nylon-6,6 fiber of 2100 dtex (1890 d) having a tex per filament of 0.667 (denier per filament of 6) and a tenacity of 0.838 N/tex (9.5 g/d), (ii) high-tenacity nylon-6,6 fiber of 2100 dtex (1890d), having a tex per filament of 0.667 (denier per filament of 6) and a tenacity of 0.900 N/tex (10.2 g/d), (iii) super-high tenacity nylon-6,6 fiber of 2100 dtex (1890 d) having a tex per filament of 0.444 (denier per filament of 4) and a tenacity of 1.077 N/tex (12.2 g/d), and (iv) super-high tenacity nylon-6 fiber of 1400 dtex (1260 d) having a tex per filament of 0.333 (denier per filament of 3) and a tenacity of 1.147 N/tex (13.0 g/d). Moreover, each of the yarns (i), (ii) and (iii) were twisted in a structure of 2100 dtex/2 (1890d/2) at a twisting number of 32 turns/10 cm, while the yarns (iv) were twisted in a structure of 1400 dtex/2 (1260d/2) at a twisting number of 39 turns/10 cm. In the preparation of RFL adhesive solution used in the examples and comparative examples, resorcinol was first dissolved in soft water, and then aqueous NaOH solution and formaldehyde were added thereto, and left to stand at room temperature for 6 hours to conduct aging. After the aqueous NH 3 solution was added if necessary, latices were added and left to stand at room temperature for 24 hours to conduct aging. The resulting solution was used for the treatment with adhesive. An outline of the treatment with adhesive according to the invention is shown in Fig. 1. For comparison, an outline of the preheating treatment under tension before the immersion in the adhesive solution is shown in Fig. 2. In preheating zone under tension 1 (only Fig. 2), drying zone 2, hot zone 3 and normalizing zone 4 of Figs. 1 and 2, temperature, exposure time and tension of the cord were 190°C x 40 seconds x 0.088 N/tex (1.0 g/d), 130°C x 120 seconds x 0.071 N/tex (0.8g/d), 235°C x 40 seconds x 0.071 N/tex (0.8 g/d) and 230°C x 40 seconds x 0.044 N/tex (0.5 g/d) in the case of nylon-6,6 fiber cord; and 160°C x 40 seconds x 0.088 N/tex (1.0 g/d), 130°C x 120 seconds x 0.071 N/tex (0.8 g/d), 200°C x 40 seconds x 0.071 N/tex (0.8 g/d) and 195°C x 40 seconds x 0.044 N/tex (0.5 g/d) in the case of nylon-6 fiber cord. The measurement of each of the properties is carried out as follows. 1) Swelling ratio When the cord was taken out from the vulcanized rubber, the rubber was cut by means of a knife to form a guide without damaging the cord as far as possible and then the cord was taken out from the rubber and thereafter the rubber was removed from the surface of the cord by means of scissors as far as possible. In the case of a tire, the cord was taken out from a center portion of the tire being stable in strength. The cord taken out from the vulcanized rubber was embedded in epoxy resin having the following components at a mixing ratio by volume, which was cured in an oven at 80°C for 6 hours. EPOK 812 (trade name, epoxy resin) 11.5 MNA (methylnadic acid anhydride) 7.9 DDSA (dodecenyl succinic anhydride) 6.0 DMP-30 (dimethyl aminomethyl phenol) 0.19 Then, the cord embedded in the epoxy resin was cut at a thickness of 20 µm in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the cord by means of a microtome (made by Karl Zeiss AG) to form a cut sample 11. As shown in Fig. 3, the cut sample 11 was placed on a slide glass 12 and covered with a cover glass 13, which was observed and photographed by means of a reflection type fluorescent microscope (ORTHOPLANPOL, made by Lietz, ×200) having a wavelength of 355-425 nm. As shown in Fig. 4, the position of RFL dipped resin to be photographed was selected so that RFL dipped resin 16 was sufficiently impregnated at the outermost layer of the fibers surrounded by a rubber layer 14 and always existent on at least a straight line connecting the filaments to each other within a range of 30-50 µm as a distance between filaments 15 of the outermost layer. After the photographing, DMSO was poured between the slide glass 12 and the cover glass 13 at a temperature of 25°C to start the swelling of the RFL dipped layer, and was left to stand for 30 minutes. Photographing was again conducted at the same position of the RFL dipped layer before the swelling (see Fig. 5). When the distances between the filaments before the swelling and after the swelling were measured as L 1 and L 2 , the swelling ratio X was determined according to the following equation: swelling ratio X = (L 2 /L 1 ) 3 x 100(%) The swelling ratio X was an average of 10 swelling ratios X measured at 10 different positions. 2) Strength at breakage, tenacity A tensile test was applied by means of an Autograph made by Shimazu Seisakusho with respect to each of yarn, raw cord, dipped cord and cord after vulcanization according to JIS L1017 to measure strength at breakage N (kg). Further, the tenacity N/tex (g/d) was calculated according to the following equation, in which official denier according to JIS L1017 was used as a cord denier in case of the fiber: Tenacity = strength at breakage/official denier As regards the cord in vulcanized rubber, 10 filaments were taken out from the sampled cord, and filament diameter per filament was measured by means of an optical microscope, from which a sectional area of the filament was calculated assuming that the section of the filament was a circle. Then, volume per unit length was measured from the above sectional area of the filament together with the total filament number determined by observation of the cord section, which was converted into weight (denier) per unit length using a density ρ=1.14 in the case of nylon-6 and nylon-6,6 to determine an estimated denier and then the tenacity was calculated according to the following equation: Tenacity = strength at breakage/estimated denier 3) Adhesion force The cords after the treatment with adhesive were embedded in an unvulcanized rubber composition having a compounding recipe as shown in Table 1, which was vulcanized at 153°C for 20 minutes. Then, the cords were peeled off from the vulcanizate at a rate of 300 mm/min to measure a peel force per cord as an adhesive force (kg/cord). (parts by weight) Natural rubber 70 Styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber 30 Carbon black 40 Stearic acid 2 Petroleum softening agent 10 Pine tar 4 Zinc white 5 N-phenyl-β-naphthylamine 1.5 2-benzothiazolylsulfide 0.75 Diphenyl guanidine 0.75 Sulfur 3.5 4) Test for the strength in rubber after vulcanization The dipped cords were embedded in the unvulcanized rubber composition having the compounding recipe of Table 1 and vulcanized at 153°C for 40 minutes while maintaining at a constant length state by fixing both ends of the cord. After cooling in air at the constant length state, the cords surrounded by rubber were cut out from the vulcanizate by means of scissors in order to avoid fluff in the peeling of the cord and then the remaining rubber was removed as far as possible. Thereafter, the strength at breakage was measured with respect to the cord at a rubber coated state. 5) Retention of strength after fatigue test The cords after the treatment with adhesive were aligned side by side at an end count of 50 cords/5 cm in the case of 2100 dtex/2 (1890d/2) or an end count of 60 cords/5 cm in the case of 1400 dtex/2 (1260d/2) and sandwiched between two sheets of 0.4 mm made from the same unvulcanized rubber composition as in the above adhesion test to prepare a rubber topping sheet of 5 cm width x 60 cm length. An unvulcanized rubber sheet of 3 mm in thickness was sandwiched between the above two topping sheets, which was sandwiched between two unvulcanized rubber sheets so as to provide a total thickness of 15 mm and vulcanized at 145°C for 40 minutes under a pressure of 20 kg/cm 2 at a constant length state of fixing both ends of the cords to prepare a sample for testing a resistance to flexing fatigue. Then, the sample was extended about a pulley of 60 mm in diameter and repeatedly flexed 5000 times every one minute at an ambient temperature of 120°C under a load of 150 kg applied to each end of the sample. After flexing 1,000,000 times, the sample was taken out from the pulley and then the polyamide fiber cord was taken out from the cord layer located at the side contacting with the pulley (a side subjected to repetitive compressive strain) among two polyamide fiber cord layers. After the strength at breakage of the cord was measured, the fatigue resistance of the cord was indicated by a retention (%) of the measured value to the strength of the new cord before the fatigue test. In the Table 2(a), the values of "Yarn tenacity" as expressed in (N/tex) are 1.077 in each of Comparative Examples 1 and 2 and Examples 1 and 2; 0.900 in each of Examples 3 and 4; 0.838 in Comparative Example 3; 1.147 in Example 5; and 1.077 in each of Comparative Example 6 and Example 6. In the Table 2(a), the values of "Cord structure" are 1890 d/2 = 2100 dtex in all cases. In the Table 2(a), the values of "Raw cord strength" as expressed in (N) are 402.1 in each of Comparative Examples 1 and 2 and Examples 1 and 2; 351.1 in each of Examples 3 and 4; 325.6 in Comparative Example 3; 283.4 in Example 5; and 402.1 in each of Comparative Example 6 and Example 6. In the Table 2(a), the values of "Tension in immersion of adhesive solution" as expressed in (N/tex) are 0.009 in all cases, except in Example 2 where said value is 0.018. In the Table 2(b), the values of "Strength at breakage in rubber after vulcanization" as expressed in (N) are 373.6 in Comparative Example 2, 404.0 in Example 1, 400.1 in Example 2, 351.1 in Example 3, 347.2 in Example 4, 306.9 in Comparative Example 3, 283.4 in Example 5, and 406.0 in Example 6. In the Table 2(b), the values of "Tenacity in rubber after vulcanization" as expressed in (N/tex) are 0.865 in Comparative Example 2, 0.986 in Example 1, 0.918 in Example 2, 0.803 in Example 3, 0.786 in Example 4, 0.697 in Comparative Example 3, 0.971 in Example 5, and 0.936 in Example 6. In the Table 2(b), the values of "Adhesive force" as expressed in (N/cord) are 28.84 in Comparative Example 1, 20.59 in Comparative Example 2, 30.40 in Example 1, 27.46 in Example 2, 31.38 in Example 3, 28.44 in Example 4, 28.44 in Comparative Example 3, 30.40 in Example 5, 24.52 in Comparative Example 4, and 28.44 in Example 6. In Comparative Example 1 of Table 2, the super-high tenacity nylon-6,6 cords were treated with the adhesive of usual RFL recipe having a swelling ratio outside the range defined in the invention according to the conventional treatment step as shown in Fig. 1, so that the retention of strength in the dipping is as low as 82.2%. In Comparative Example 2, the same raw cords were passed through the preheating zone under tension as shown in Fig. 2 and then immersed in the adhesive solution under a high tension, so that the adhesive solution was not impregnated in the inside of the cord and the retention of strength in the dipping was high. However, the strength considerably lowered by repetitive flexing in the fatigue test. This was confirmed to be because the bare filaments were contacted with each other at the intersect face of the layer twisted structure to cause abrasion fatigue as observed in detail after the fatigue test of the cord. In Examples 1 and 2, RFL dipped resin had a swelling ratio within the range defined in the invention and the RFL adhesive solution had the recipe defined in the invention, so that the adhesive layer was soft and the retention of strength in the dipping was high though the cords were treated at the conventional adhesive treating step as shown in Fig. 1. Furthermore, the strength in the vulcanization was retained at a high value. Moreover, tension in the immersion of the adhesive solution was low in Examples 1 and 2, so that the solution was sufficiently impregnated into the inside of the cord to cover and protect the surfaces of the filaments at the intersect face of the layer twisted structure with the solid of the adhesive and hence the retention of strength in the fatigue test was very good. That is, it was confirmed that the two problems of lowering of strength in the dipping and vulcanization and fatigue under low compression are simultaneously overcome. In Examples 3 and 4, high-strength nylon-6,6 cords having a yarn tenacity of 0.900 N/tex (10.2g/d) were used and the RFL dipped resin had the swelling ratio defined in the invention and also the adhesive solution had the recipe defined in the invention, so that the retention of strength and fatigue resistance were established simultaneously. On the other hand, Comparative Example 3 used the conventional strength nylon-6,6 cords and a conventional RFL recipe having a usual swelling ratio, so that even when the cord was subjected to the usual adhesive treatment as shown in Fig. 1, the lowering of the strength was small. Moreover, the tenacity in rubber after the vulcanization was 0.697 N/tex (7.9 g/d). In Example 5, the cords were made from super-high tenacity nylon-6 and the RFL resin had the swelling ratio defined in the invention and the adhesive solution had the recipe defined in the invention, so that they showed good strength retention in the dipping and vulcanization and the fatigue resistance. In Comparative Example 4, novolac RF resin of precondensation type was used, but the swelling ratio was outside the range defined in the invention, so that the hardness of the RFL layer became too high and the lowering of strength in the dipping and vulcanization was large and hence the strength inherent to the cord could not be developed. In Example 6, novolac RF resin of precondensation type was used and also the swelling ratio and recipe of the adhesive solution were within the ranges defined in the invention, so that very good results were obtained. As seen from the data of Table 2, the retention of strength in Examples 1-6 is excellent because the RFL adhesive solutions of Examples 1-6 simultaneously satisfy the requirements of swelling ratio and the defined relations of the RFL adhesive solution. As mentioned above, according to the invention, conflicting problems such as the lowering of strength in the treatment with adhesive and the vulcanization and the lowering of fatigue resistance due to repetitive compressive strain, which could not simultaneously be overcome in the high-tenacity polyamide fiber cord, can simultaneously be overcome by controlling the swelling ratio to a proper range, so that polyamide fiber cords for rubber reinforcement having an improved adhesion property to rubber can be provided. Therefore, when using the polyamide fiber cords according to the invention, the amount of reinforcing material is decreased by reducing the lamination number of reinforcing layers or the end count, whereby weight reduction, low fuel consumption, resource-saving, cost reduction, and improvement of productivity in a tire can be attained.

Claims: A polyamide fiber cord for rubber reinforcement, obtainable by being treated with a solution of resorcinol-formaldehyde-rubber latex adhesive (RFL adhesive), embedded in rubber and vulcanized, in which tenacity according to JIS L1017 of the cord embedded in vulcanized rubber is not less than 0.706 N/tex (8.0 g/d), tex per filament is 0.167-1.11 (denier per filament is 1.5-10), and swelling ratio X as herein defined in dimethyl sulfoxide of RFL adhesive impregnated in the cord is 122%≤X≤340%, and in which the solution of RFL adhesive satisfies the following relations: 1/2. 3≤R/F≤1/1.1 1/10≤RF/L≤1/4 0.05≤S≤0.8 0≤A≤0.5 0.05≤S+A≤0.8 10≤C≤24 10≤a≤80 0≤b≤70 20≤c≤60 wherein R/F is molar ratio of resorcinol/formaldehyde, RF/L is ratio of total amount of resorcinol and formaldehyde to total amount as solids content of rubber latex, S is weight percentage of alkali metal hydroxide and/or alkaline earth metal hydroxide to total solids content of RFL adhesive solution, A is weight percentage as NH 4 OH of an aqueous solution of NH 3 to total solids content of RFL adhesive solution, C is weight percentage of total solids content of RFL adhesive solution, a is weight percentage of solids content of vinylpyridine (VP) latex to total solids content of VP latex, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) latex and natural rubber (NR) and/or isoprene rubber (IR) latices, b is weight percentage of solids content of SBR latex to total solids content of all latices, and c is weight percentage of solids content of IR and/or NR latices to total solids content of all latices. A polyamide fiber cord as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the said swelling ratio X is 126%≤X≤270%. A polyamide fiber cord as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the said swelling ratio X is 130%≤X≤220%. A polyamide fiber cord as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that 1/2. 0≤R/F≤1/1.3; 1/8≤RF/L≤1/5; 0.1≤S≤0.5; 0≤A≤0.3; 0.1≤S+A≤0.5; and 14≤C≤22. A polyamide fiber cord as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that 1/1.8≤R/F≤1/1.5 and 0.1≤S≤0.3. A polyamide fiber cord as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that VP latex has a VP content of 5-20%. A polyamide fiber cord as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that 30≤a≤60; 10≤b≤50; and 25≤c≤50. A polyamide fiber cord as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said tenacity is not less than 0.750 N/tex (8.5 g/d) and said tex per filament is 0.333-0.889 (said denier per filament is 3-8). A polyamide fiber cord as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that said tenacity is not less than 0.838 N/tex (9.5 g/d). A polyamide fiber cord as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that said polyamide fiber is nylon-6, 6 fiber.

Inventors: INADA NORIO, YOSHIDA HIROTO, INADA, NORIO, YOSHIDA, HIROTO
Applicants: BRIDGESTONE CORP, BRIDGESTONE CORPORATION
Application year: 1992
Main classification: C08J5
IPC codes: D06M15, C08J5