Patent Description:
Recently, an increase of technology development of connected cars, self-driving cars, or the like brings about active research on a technology for attaching an electronic device to a tire.

However, in the related art, in a process of attaching an electronic device to a tire, problems of a durability reduction of the tire and complication of processes arise, and a problem of detachment of the electronic device due to deformation of the tire arises.

For example, <CIT> proposes a method for attaching RFID topped with a rubber member or the like to a surface of a tire using an adhesive, the rubber member or the like being imprinted with a barcode; however, the method has problems in that detachment can easily occur due to a decrease in adhesion of the adhesive, and there is also a high possibility of detachment due to a decrease in adhesion by deformation of the tire.

<CIT> proposes a method for collecting data by inserting an electronic device between a belt and a side wall or inserting the electronic device inside a tire inner liner in a method of inserting an electronic device inside the tire. However, an insertion position is limited to a position between a bead and a carcass, and thus when the electronic device is inserted inside the tire, an air layer can be formed between an RFID PCB and rubber. In this case, a problem arises in that the air layer increases in size and affects durability of the tire.

<CIT> proposes a method for providing information of a tire by attaching a topped RFID on a surface of a tire and connecting the RFID to a tire surface temperature measuring device. However, in the method, an electronic device is integrated with the tire at a side closer to a bead, the electronic device is inserted into a portion which is turned up to have a height, and thus there is a possibility that the electronic device will project to cause a defect of an external appearance. In addition, the electronic device is inserted to a portion at the side closer to the bead and receives a direct force of a tire mounting/demounting tool during mounting and demounting of the tire, and thus there is a high possibility that the electronic device will be damaged.

In <CIT>, an electronic device is located at a position separated from an end of a bead filler inside a tire and is located between a side wall and a shoulder. The electronic device is inserted inside the tire except for a position of the end of the bead filler which disadvantageously affects the durability; however, in a method of inserting the electronic device inside the tire, there is a possibility that an RFID PCB will not be integrated with the tire, so bubbles are generated, and the bubbles can have a bad influence on the durability of the tire.

As described above, technologies of integrating an electronic device with a tire in the related art have problems of a durability reduction of the tire and a decrease in durability of the electronic device.

<CIT> discloses a tire comprising a crown, two sidewalls and two beads, a carcass reinforcement anchored in each bead and a sidewall insert placed in each of the two sidewalls axially internally relative to the carcass reinforcement. The tire is equipped with an electronic device comprising at least one radiofrequency transponder and such that the electronic device is embedded in one of the sidewall inserts.

Attention is also drawn to the disclosure of <CIT>.

Objects of the invention to solve the above-described problems are to provide a tire integrated with an electronic device provided not to reduce durability of the tire and a manufacturing method of the tire integrated with an electronic device.

This object is achieved by a tire according to claim <NUM> and a manufacturing method of a tire according to claim <NUM>.

According to a configuration of the invention to achieve an object described above, there is provided a tire integrated with an electronic device in which the electronic device is attached to an inner liner or a side wall of the tire by vulcanization. The electronic device is attached to a radial inner side or a radial outer side of an end of a bead filler depending on a length of the bead filler. The electronic device is attached at a portion of the inner liner or the side wall at which contact shear strength is the lowest. The electronic device is attached to the inner liner and to the radial inner side of the end of the bead filler at a height of <NUM>% to <NUM> % of the length of the bead filler from the end of a bead wire of the tire, when the bead filler has a length of <NUM> or longer. The electronic device is attached to the radial outer side of the end of the bead filler at a height of <NUM>% to <NUM>% of the length of the bead filler from the end of a bead wire of the tire, when the bead filler has a length of shorter than <NUM>. The electronic device is configured of an RFID completely surrounded by a topping member. The topping member is made of the same material as that of a portion at which the RFID is attached.

According to a configuration of the invention to achieve another object described above, there is provided a manufacturing method of a tire integrated with an electronic device, including: a) a step of preparing the electronic device; b) a step of attaching the electronic device to an inner liner or a side wall of the tire; and c) a step of integrating the electronic device with the inner liner or the side wall by vulcanizing the tire. The electronic device is attached to the inner side or the outer side of the end of the bead filler depending on a length of the bead filler. In the step of b), the electronic device is attached at a portion of the inner liner or the side wall at which contact shear strength is the lowest. The step of b) includes: b1) a step of attaching the electronic device to the inner liner and to the radial inner side of the end of the bead filler, at a height of <NUM>% to <NUM> % of the length of the bead filler from the end of a bead wire of the tire when the bead filler has a length of <NUM> or longer; and b2) a step of attaching the electronic device to the radial outer side of the end of the bead filler at a height of <NUM>% to <NUM>% of the length of the bead filler from the end of a bead wire of the tire, when the bead filler (<NUM>) has a length of shorter than <NUM>. The step of a) includes: a1) a step of preparing a topping member; and a2) a step of covering and topping RFID with the topping member from one end to the other end of the RFID in order. The topping member is made of the same material as that of a portion at which the RFID is attached.

Hereinafter, the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the invention can be realized as various different embodiments as long as falling into the scope of the appended claims. Besides, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted from the drawings in order to clearly describe the invention, and similar reference signs are assigned to similar parts through the entire specification.

In the entire specification, a case where a certain part "is connected to (accesses, is in contact with, or is coupled to)" another part includes not only a case where the parts are "directly connected" to each other, but also a case where the parts are "indirectly connected" to each other with another member interposed therebetween. In addition, a case where a certain part "includes" a certain configurational element means a case where another configurational element is not excluded but can be further included, unless specifically described otherwise.

Terms used in this specification are only used to describe a specific embodiment and are not intentionally used to limit the invention thereto, wherein the invention is defined by the appended claims. A word having a singular form contain a meaning of its plural form, unless obviously implied otherwise in context. In this specification, words such as "to include" or "to have" are construed to specify that a feature, a number, a step, an operation, a configurational element, a member, or a combination thereof described in the specification is present and not to exclude presence or a possibility of addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, configurational elements, members, or combinations thereof in advance.

<FIG> is a view illustrating a tire integrated with an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention, <FIG> illustrates a distribution diagram of shear stress of a <NUM>/40R20 tire according to the embodiment of the present invention, and <FIG> illustrates a distribution diagram of shear stress of a <NUM>/35R19 tire according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in <FIG>, a tire <NUM> integrated with an electronic device includes an inner liner <NUM>, an electronic device <NUM>, a bead filler <NUM>, a bead wire, and a side wall <NUM>.

The electronic device <NUM> can be attached to and integrated with the inner liner <NUM> or the side wall <NUM> by vulcanization.

The electronic device <NUM> can be attached to an inner side or an outer side of an end of the bead filler <NUM> depending on a length of the bead filler <NUM>.

The electronic device <NUM> can be configured of RFID completely surrounded by a topping member. The topping member can be made of the same material as that of a portion at which the RFID is attached, or the topping member can be made of a polymer material.

Specifically, when the electronic device <NUM> is attached to the inner liner <NUM>, the topping member can be made of the same material as that of the inner liner <NUM> or a polymer material. Besides, when the electronic device <NUM> is attached to the side wall <NUM>, the topping member can be made of the same material as that of the side wall <NUM> or a polymer material.

The topping member provided as described above enables the electronic device <NUM> to be more firmly integrated with the tire during vulcanization.

The RFID can be a spring antenna type RFID or a film type RFID; however, a type of RFID is not limited thereto.

In addition, the RFID can use a bandwidth of <NUM> to <NUM>; however, the frequency bandwidth is not limited thereto.

The electronic device <NUM> can be attached at a portion of the inner liner <NUM> or the side wall <NUM> at which contact shear strength is the lowest.

Specifically, the electronic device <NUM> can be attached to the inner side of an end <NUM> of the bead filler, when the bead filler <NUM> has a length of <NUM> or longer.

At that time, as illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> can be attached at a height of <NUM>% to <NUM>% from the end <NUM> of the bead wire of the tire at which the contact shear strength is the lowest. Alternatively, as illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> can be attached at a height of <NUM> to <NUM> from the end <NUM> of the bead wire of the tire at which the contact shear strength is lowest.

<FIG> is a view illustrating a tire integrated with an electronic device according to another embodiment of the invention, and <FIG> illustrates a stress distribution diagram of the tire integrated with an electronic device according to the other embodiment of the invention.

On the other hand, as illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, a tire <NUM> integrated with an electronic device according to the other embodiment includes an inner liner <NUM>, an electronic device <NUM>, a bead filler <NUM>, a bead wire, and a side wall <NUM>.

Here, the electronic device <NUM> can be attached to an outer side of an end <NUM> of the bead filler, when the bead filler <NUM> has a length of shorter than <NUM>.

At that time, the electronic device <NUM> can be attached at a height of <NUM>% to <NUM>% from an end <NUM> of the bead wire of the tire at which the contact shear strength is the lowest. Alternatively, the electronic device <NUM> can be attached at a height of <NUM> to <NUM> from the end <NUM> of the bead wire of the tire.

The electronic device <NUM> can be extended to an end portion of the side wall <NUM> to be attached thereto and can be attached on a tread.

Here, in order to secure a recognition distance, the electronic device <NUM> can be provided not to be attached beyond a start end of a second belt.

Regarding the electronic device (<NUM> or <NUM>) provided as described above, since the electronic device (<NUM> or <NUM>) is not inserted between a carcass and the side wall (<NUM> or <NUM>) inside the tire, there is no concern about a durability reduction of the tire or malfunction of the electronic device (<NUM> or <NUM>) due to deformation of the tire.

Hereinafter, a specific manufacturing method of the tire <NUM> integrated with an electronic device will be described.

<FIG> is a flowchart of the manufacturing method of the tire integrated with an electronic device according to still another embodiment of the invention.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the manufacturing method of the tire integrated with an electronic device includes Step S10 of preparing the electronic device, Step S20 of attaching the electronic device to the inner liner or the side wall, and Step S30 of integrating the electronic device with the inner liner or the side wall by vulcanizing the tire.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a step of preparing the electronic device according to the other embodiment of the invention.

As illustrated in <FIG>, in Step S10 of preparing the electronic device, Step S11 of preparing the topping member can be first performed.

In Step S11 of preparing the topping member, the topping member can be made of the same material as that of a portion at which the electronic device <NUM> is attached, or the topping member can be made of a polymer material.

After Step S11 of preparing the topping member, Step S12 of covering and topping the RFID with the topping member from one end to the other end of the RFID in order can be performed.

In Step S12 of covering and topping the RFID with the topping member from one end to the other end of the RFID in order, a total length of the RFID including an antenna and a chip having a thickness of <NUM> can be <NUM> or shorter. Besides, the RFID can be provided to be completely covered with the topping member not to project outside the topping member.

In particular, in Step S12 of covering and topping the RFID with the topping member from one end to the other end of the RFID in order, the RFID is covered and topped with the topping member from the one end to the other end of the RFID in order, and thereby it is possible to prevent air from being contained between the topping member and the chip.

After Step S10 of preparing the electronic device, Step S20 of attaching the electronic device to the inner liner or the side wall can be performed.

In Step S20 of attaching the electronic device to the inner liner or the side wall, the electronic device can be attached at a portion of the inner liner <NUM> or the side wall <NUM> at which contact shear strength is the lowest.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a step of attaching the electronic device to the inner liner or the side wall according to the other embodiment of the present invention.

More specifically, as illustrated in <FIG>, in Step S20 of attaching the electronic device to the inner liner or the side wall, first, Step S21 of attaching the electronic device to the inner side of the end of the bead filler when the bead filler has a length of <NUM> or longer can be performed.

In Step S21 of attaching the electronic device to the inner side of the end of the bead filler when the bead filler has a length of <NUM> or longer, the electronic device <NUM> can be attached at a height of <NUM>% to <NUM>% from the end <NUM> of the bead wire of the tire. Alternatively, the electronic device can be attached at a height of <NUM> to <NUM> from the end <NUM> of the bead wire of the tire.

After Step S21 of attaching the electronic device to the inner side of the end of the bead filler when the bead filler has a length of <NUM> or longer, Step S22 of attaching the electronic device to the outer side of the end of the bead filler when the bead filler has a length of shorter than <NUM> can be performed.

In Step S22 of attaching the electronic device to the outer side of the end of the bead filler when the bead filler has a length of shorter than <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> can be attached at a height of <NUM> to <NUM>% or at a height of <NUM> to <NUM> from the end <NUM> of the bead wire of the tire.

After Step S20 of attaching the electronic device to the inner liner or the side wall, Step S30 of integrating the electronic device to the inner liner or the side wall by vulcanizing the tire can be performed.

According to the manufacturing method of the tire <NUM> integrated with the electronic device provided as described above, the electronic device <NUM> can be attached to and integrated with a manufactured tire or a tire in a partly manufactured state, and thus the manufacturing method is conveniently used since there is no need to change a manufacturing process.

In addition, according to the invention, when the electronic device <NUM> is attached to the inner liner <NUM>, and a problem of durability reduction of the tire arises, a tire pressure monitoring system makes it easy to cope with the problem of durability reduction.

On the other hand, although not illustrated, the electronic device <NUM> can be attached inside the tire by vulcanization at a molding step.

The invention according to the configurations described above has the following effects. Since it is possible to attach and integrate an electronic device to and with a manufactured tire or a tire in a partly manufactured state, there is no need to change a manufacturing process.

In addition, according to the invention, since the electronic device is not inserted between a carcass and a side wall inside a tire, there is no concern about a durability reduction of the tire or malfunction of the electronic device due to deformation of the tire.

In addition, according to the invention, when the electronic device is attached to an inner liner, and a problem of the durability reduction of the tire arises, a tire pressure monitoring system makes it easy to cope with the problem of the durability reduction.

The description of the invention described above is provided as an example, and a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention belongs can understand that it is possible to easily modify the invention to another embodiment without altering the technical idea or an essential feature of the invention as it is defined by the appended claims. Therefore, the embodiments described above need to be understood as exemplified embodiments in every aspect and not as embodiments to limit the invention. For example, configurational elements described in a singular form can be realized in a distributed manner. Similarly, the configurational elements described in the distributed manner may be realized in a combined manner.

Claim 1:
A tire (<NUM>, <NUM>) integrated with an electronic device (<NUM>, <NUM>), comprising:
the electronic device (<NUM>, <NUM>) attached to an inner liner (<NUM>, <NUM>) or a side wall (<NUM>, <NUM>) of the tire (<NUM>, <NUM>) by vulcanization,
characterized in that the electronic device (<NUM>, <NUM>) is attached to a radial inner side or a radial outer side of an end of a bead filler (<NUM>, <NUM>) depending on a length of the bead filler (<NUM>, <NUM>),
wherein the electronic device (<NUM>, <NUM>) is attached at a portion of the inner liner (<NUM>, <NUM>) or the side wall (<NUM>, <NUM>) at which contact shear strength is the lowest,
wherein the electronic device (<NUM>) is attached to the inner liner (<NUM>, <NUM>) and to the radial inner side of the end of the bead filler (<NUM>) at a height of <NUM>% to <NUM> % of the length of the bead filler (<NUM>) from the end (<NUM>) of a bead wire of the tire (<NUM>), when the bead filler (<NUM>) has a length of <NUM> or longer, and
wherein the electronic device (<NUM>) is attached to the inner liner (<NUM>, <NUM>) and to the radial outer side of the end of the bead filler (<NUM>) at a height of <NUM>% to <NUM>% of the length of the bead filler (<NUM>) from the end (<NUM>) of a bead wire of the tire (<NUM>), when the bead filler (<NUM>) has a length of shorter than <NUM>,
wherein the electronic device (<NUM>, <NUM>) is configured of RFID completely surrounded by a topping member, and wherein the topping member is made of the same material as that of a portion at which the RFID is attached.