Motor-cycle radial tyre

Abstract: A radial motor-cycle tyre (1) comprises a tread (2) reinforced between its edges (3,4) by a breaker assembly (5) and having in its normally inflated fitted condition a camber value C/L of between 0.5 and 0.7, a reinforcing carcass ply (14) of radially disposed cords extending under the breaker assembly (5) and between two bead regions (10,11) and wrapped in each bead region around an annular bead core (12,13) from the axial inside to the outside to form carcass ply turn-ups (15,16) and between the tread edges (3,4) and bead regions (10,11), tyre sidewalls (8,9) characterised in that each sidewall (8,9) includes a sidewall reinforcing ply (19,20) comprising cross-woven cords and having first and second edges, the sidewall reinforcing ply (19,20) being immediately adjacent to and axially outward of the carcass ply (14) and being wrapped around the bead core (12,13) from the axial inside to the outside so that the second edge is positioned radially outside the ply turn-up edge.

Description: This invention relates to radial motor-cycle tyres and in particular but not exclusively to high performance or race motor-cycle tyres. Such tyres utilise very wide treads which in transverse cross-section are sharply curved to provide good contact-with the road surface when the motor-cycle is steeply banked in cornering. Maintenance of a consistent ground contact area or 'tyre footprint' under all conditions is a major problem in determining general vehicle handling especially maximum cornering speeds under race conditions and this is particularly the case with the radial tyre construction. Another problem with the radial construction is concerned with power transmission due to the so-called "wind-up" effect in which the sidewalls are deformed in the direction of the applied torque of modern high-powered machines. Present radial motor-cycle race tyres have short sidewalls which extend to the tread edges radially and axially outwardly from the tyre beads. The beads provide engagement to the wheelrim on tapered bead seats. The sidewalls are reinforced by radial carcass plies which when tensioned by the inflation pressure act together with sidewall geometry to provide location of the curved tread regions to withstand cornering forces. A tire according to the preamble of claim 1 is known from JP-A-1 311 901. An object of the present invention is to improve the properties of such tyres. According to one aspect of the present invention a radial motor-cycle tyre comprises a tread reinforced between its edges by a breaker assembly and having in its normally inflated fitted condition a camber value C/L of between 0.5 and 0.7, a reinforcing carcass ply of radially disposed cords extending under the breaker assembly and between two bead regions and wrapped in each bead region around an annular bead core from the axial inside to the outside to form carcass ply turn-ups and between the tread edges and bead regions tyre sidewalls wherein each sidewall includes a sidewall reinforcing ply comprising cross-woven cords and having first and second edges the first edge being the edge of the axially inner main part of the sidwall reinforcing ply and the second edge being the edge of the axially outer turned up part, the sidewall reinforcing ply being immediately adjacent to and axially outward of the carcass ply and being wrapped around the bead core from the axial inside to the outside so that the second edge is positioned radially outside the edge of the carcass ply turn-up. By camber value is meant the ratio C/L between the radial distance C from the centre to the edge of the tyre tread and the axial distance L between the centre and edge of the tread. Preferably the sidewall reinforcing ply comprises square-woven cords such that the cords in the first direction lie at 90 degrees to the cords in the second direction and they are at an angle of 45 degrees to the direction of the radial carcass ply cords. The cords are preferably of a polyamide material. It is also preferable that the first edge of the sidewall reinforcing ply is radially outside the second edge of the sidewall reinforcing ply and most preferably that they are separated radially by 10mm. Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the following embodiment in conjunction with the attached diagrammatic drawing in which:- Figure 1 shows in cross-section a 185/55 R17 radial motor-cycle tyre intended for high speed racing. The tyre 1 has a camber value of 0.6 and comprises a convex tread region 2, having tread edges 3,4, reinforced by a breaker assembly 5. The breaker assembly 5 comprises two breaker plies 6 and 7 each of which comprises weftless Kevlar (Registered Trade Mark) cord tyre fabric. The tyre 1 further comprises a pair of sidewalls 8 and 9 terminating in bead regions 10 and 11. Each bead region is reinforced by an inextensible annular bead core 12 and 13. Extending between each bead region is a tyre carcass reinforcement ply 14 which is anchored in each bead region by being turned around the respective bead core 12,13 laterally from the inside to the outside to form a carcass ply turn-up 15,16. The carcass reinforcement ply 14 comprises a single ply of nylon tyre fabric laid with the cords substantially radially. Each bead region 10,11 further comprises a hard rubber apex member 17,18 which is anchored to each respective bead core 12,13 and extends taperingly radially outwardly. The tyre 1 also comprises in each sidewall region a sidewall reinforcing ply 19,20 comprising a single ply of nylon tyre fabric comprising parallel cords in a first direction woven with parallel cords in a second direction being 90° to the first direction. In this embodiment the sidewall reinforcing plies 19,20 are oriented such that the woven cords in both the first and second directions are inclined at an angle of about 45° to the radial direction of the carcass ply 14. The sidewall reinforcing plies 19,20 are disposed radially outside and adjacent to the carcass ply 14 and are similarly turned around the respective bead cores 12,13 from the inside to the outside to form sidewall reinforcing ply turn-ups 21,22. The sidewall reinforcing ply 19,20 having first and second edges, the first edge being the edge of the axially inner main part of the sidewall reinforcing ply and the second edge being the edge of the axially outer turned up part 21,22. The second edge of the sidewall reinforcing ply is radially higher than the respective edge of the carcass ply turn-up but is 10mm lower than the first edge of the sidewall reinforcing ply. The resultant tyre has been found to have improved stability under all conditions, better power transmission characteristics and improved grip. This construction has also been shown to give superior fatigue life. With regard to the cross-woven ply the angles of the cords may be varied. Thus in the ply itself the angle between the cords in the first and second directions may be varied whilst in the tyre the angle of the cross-woven cords in relation to the radial carcass ply cords may also be varied.

Claims: A radial motor-cycle tyre (1) comprising a tread (2) reinforced between its edges (3,4) by a breaker assembly (5) and having in its normally inflated fitted condition a camber value C/L of between 0.5 and 0.7, a reinforcing carcass ply (14) of radially disposed cords extending under the breaker assembly (5) and between two bead regions (10,11) and wrapped in each bead region around an annular bead core (12,13) from the axial inside to the outside to form carcass ply turn-ups (15,16) and between the tread edges (3,4) and bead regions (10,11), tyre sidewalls (8,9) characterised in that each sidewall (8,9) includes a sidewall reinforcing ply (19,20) comprising cross-woven cords and having first and second edges the first edge being the edge of the axially inner main part of the sidewall reinforcing ply (19,20) and the second edge being the edge of the axially outer turned up part (21,22), the sidewall reinforcing ply (19,20) being immediately adjacent to and axially outward of the carcass ply (14) and being wrapped around the bead core (12,13) from the axial inside to the outside so that the second edge is positioned radially outside the edge of the carcass ply turn-up. A radial motor-cycle tyre according to claim 1 characterised in that the first edge of the sidewall reinforcing ply (19,20) is radially outside the second edge of the sidewall reinforcing ply. A motor-cycle tyre according to claim 2 characterised in that the first edge of the sidewall reinforcing ply (19,20) is radially outside the second edge of the sidewall reinforcing ply by 10mm. A radial motor-cycle tyre according to any of claims 1 to 3 characterised in that the sidewall reinforcing ply (19,20) comprises square-woven cords such that the cords in the first direction lie at 90 degrees to the cords in the second direction. A radial motor-cycle tyre according to claim 4 characterised in that the cords comprising the square-woven sidewall reinforcing ply (19,20) are at an angle of 45 degrees to the direction of the radial carcass ply cords. A radial motor-cycle tyre according to any of claims 1 to 5 characterised in that the sidewall reinforcing ply (19,20) comprises polyamide cords.

Inventors: FLINT RAYMOND, WATKINS DAVID ROBERT, FLINT, RAYMOND, WATKINS, DAVID ROBERT
Applicants: SUMITOMO RUBBER IND, SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES LIMITED
Application year: 1992
Main classification: B60C15
IPC codes: B60C13, B60C15, B60C9