Patent Description:
Although there has not been a large problem in static electricity of a conventional carbon-based rubber composition, application of a high loading silica-containing rubber composition has been increasing according to an increase in fuel efficiency requiring performance. There is a problem that a rubber composition with a high silica content discharges static electricity to the surface of a road.

A method of discharging static electricity to the surface of the road from a tire having such a low rolling resistance (LRR) may include thinking of configuration of a sidewall rubber composition with a predetermined conductivity or more, an electrically conductive under tread rubber composition, a chimney, etc. However, an increase in the content of a carbon grade for conductivity of a sidewall is disadvantageous to LRR due to an increase in heating. Further, although it can be considered to develop an electrically conductive LRR sidewall rubber composition or an electrically conductive LRR carcass rubber composition, there actually is a limit to a certain extent in development of an LRR rubber composition with a tire resistance value of <NUM>,<NUM> V to <NUM> MΩ, i.e., a level required in an automobile manufacturer.

Further, LRR performance and electrical conductivity require much time and costs when developing a rubber composition which simultaneously satisfies LRR performance and electrical conductivity in a trade-off relationship. Particularly, since an existing sidewall rubber composition has a large influence degree of rolling resistance, it is usual to use a method of giving conductivity to a carcass rubber composition when a rubber composition with low rolling resistance properties is used in a state that conductivity of the sidewall is abandoned. However, in order to give conductivity to the carcass rubber composition, carbon black which increases conductivity and in which a structure, i.e., a direction of increasing strength and modulus of rubber is developed should be used. Such a method has a problem of difficult processability since the rubber composition is disadvantageous to heating during rolling processing, and the method has a disadvantage that processability gradually becomes disadvantageous when carbon with more developed structure is used to obtain desired conductivity. Therefore, there is a lot of technical difficulty in that both conductivity and low rolling resistance are compatible in an actual tire. <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT> disclose known prior art tire cord fabrics. <CIT> relates to a cloth warming provided with an antenna for detecting a wireless ID tag such as an RFID and a movement detection device using the same. However, <CIT> fails to disclose or suggest a conductive fiber that comes into contact with the surface of the tire cord and extends in a longitudinal direction of the tire cord, wherein the conductive fiber is a fiber having metal plated on the surface thereof.

An objective of the present invention is to provide a tire cord fabric which can effectively discharge static electricity aggregated in a tire and can accomplish a fuel efficiency improving effect through low rolling resistance at the same time.

Other objective of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a tire cord fabric, the method which does not require additional equipment by enabling an existing topping process applying method to be equally applied.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a sheet including the tire cord fabric.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a tire including the sheet.

Provided is a tire cord fabric according to an embodiment of the present invention, the tire cord fabric including a plurality of tire cords which are arranged in parallel to each other, a weft yarn which weaves the tire cords to conduct a weaving operation, and a conductive fiber which comes into contact with the surface of the tire cord and is extended in a longitudinal direction of the tire cord, wherein the conductive fiber is a fiber having metal plated on the surface thereof.

The conductive fiber may be fixed to the surface of the tire cord in a state that the conductive fiber is woven along with the tire cord by the weft yarn.

The tire cord fabric may include <NUM> to <NUM> conductive fibers.

The conductive fiber may be obtained by plating metal on the surface of any one fiber selected from the group consisting of a synthetic fiber, a cellulose fiber, and a mixed yarn thereof.

The synthetic fiber may be any one selected from the group consisting of polyester, polyimide, polyurethane, acrylic fiber, modacrylic fiber, and mixed yarns thereof.

The cellulose fiber may be any one selected from the group consisting of rayon, lyocell, tencel, and mixed yarns thereof.

The conductive fiber may be any one selected from the group consisting of a filament yarn, a staple fiber, and a spun yarn.

The spun yarn may have <NUM> yarn counts ('S) to <NUM> yarn counts ('S), and the filament yarn may have <NUM> deniers to <NUM> deniers.

Provided is a method of manufacturing a tire cord fabric according to another embodiment of the present invention is provided, the method comprising a step of manufacturing a conductive fiber by plating metal on the surface of a fiber, and a step of supplying a plurality of tire cords as a warp yarn and weaving a weft yarn with the tire cords to conduct a weaving operation, wherein the step of carrying out the weaving operation comprises mixing the conductive fiber with the tire cords to supply the conductive fiber as the warp yarn, and the conductive fiber is a fiber having metal plated on the surface thereof.

The step of manufacturing the conductive fiber may be performed by electroless plating copper sulfate on the surface of the fiber.

The step of carrying out the weaving operation may comprise warping or drawing the conductive fiber along with the tire cord.

The step of carrying out the weaving operation may comprise supplying the conductive fiber in the same heald, reed and dropper as the tire cord in the drawing process.

A sheet including the tire cord fabric and a topping rubber which tops the tire cord fabric according to another embodiment of the present invention is provided.

The topping rubber may comprise <NUM> parts by weight of raw rubber including <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of natural rubber and <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of emulsion-polymerized styrene butadiene rubber, and <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of carbon black having a statistical thickness surface area (STSA) value of <NUM> to <NUM><NUM>/g, an oil absorption number of compressed sample (COAN) value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, an oil absorption number of sample (OAN) value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, and an iodine adsorption amount value of <NUM> to <NUM>/g.

The topping rubber may comprise <NUM> parts by weight of raw rubber including <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of synthetic styrene butadiene rubber and <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of natural rubber, <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of a first carbon black having an STSA value of <NUM> to <NUM><NUM>/g, a COAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, an OAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, and an iodine adsorption amount value of <NUM> to <NUM>/g, and <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of a second carbon black having an STSA value of <NUM> to <NUM><NUM>/g, a COAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, an OAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, and an iodine adsorption amount value of <NUM> to <NUM>/g.

A tire including the sheet according to another embodiment of the present invention is provided.

The tire may have a resistance value of <NUM> to <NUM> MΩ at a voltage of <NUM>,<NUM> V.

A tire cord fabric according to the present invention can effectively discharge static electricity aggregated in a tire by mixing a tire cord with a conductive fiber, thereby weaving a mixture of the tire cord and the conductive fiber. Particularly, the tire cord fabric according to the present invention can secure an effective conductive passage since the conductive fiber is extended in a radial direction from bead parts to a tread part as in a carcass cord.

Therefore, a tire cord fabric according to the present invention can simultaneously accomplish solving of a static electricity problem and obtaining of a fuel efficiency improving effect through low rolling resistance as a result by decreasing a demand associated with electrical conductivity of a rubber composition for sidewall and a rubber composition for topping, thereby enabling a rubber composition having a low loss modulus (E") for improving rolling resistance to be applied.

Further, a method of manufacturing a tire cord fabric does not require additional equipment by mixing the tire cord with the conductive fiber during manufacturing of an existing tire cord fabric, thereby enabling an existing topping process applying method to be equally applied.

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the present invention can be easily realized by those skilled in the art.

A tire cord fabric according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of tire cords which are arranged in parallel to each other, a weft yarn which weaves the tire cords to conduct a weaving operation, and a conductive fiber which comes into contact with the surface of the tire cord and is extended in a longitudinal direction of the tire cord.

<FIG> is a perspective view schematically illustrating the tire cord fabric, and <FIG> is a cross-sectional view of <FIG>. Hereinafter, the tire cord fabric <NUM> will be described with reference to <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, the tire cords <NUM> are arranged in parallel to each other. The tire cords <NUM> may be arranged to be separated from one another at predetermined intervals or may be arranged without intervals.

The tire cord <NUM> may include any cords for carcass generally used in tires, and may generally include a textile cord.

The tire cord <NUM> may have a diameter of <NUM> to <NUM>, specifically <NUM> to <NUM>. Strength force of the tire cord <NUM> may be excessively weak when the tire cord <NUM> has a diameter of less than <NUM>, while a cut surface of the tire cord <NUM> may become excessively thick when the tire cord <NUM> has a diameter of more than <NUM>.

The weft yarn <NUM> may enable the tire cord fabric <NUM> in the form of a fabric to be formed by weaving the tire cords <NUM> to conduct a weaving operation. For example, a method of weaving the tire cords <NUM> by the weft yarn <NUM> may comprise enabling the tire cords <NUM> to be woven by allowing the tire cords <NUM> to be vertically alternately crossed while disposing the weft yarn <NUM> in a width direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the tire cords <NUM>. Namely, the weft yarn <NUM> can pass under a next tire cord <NUM> when the weft yarn <NUM> passes over a first tire cord <NUM>, a returning weft yarn <NUM> or a next weft yarn <NUM> passes under the tire cord <NUM> over which the first weft yarn <NUM> has passed, and the returning weft yarn <NUM> or the next weft yarn <NUM> passes over the tire cord <NUM> under which the first weft yarn <NUM> has passed such that the tire cord <NUM> can be woven. Further, the weft yarn <NUM> may pass under next two or more tire cords <NUM> after passing over two or more tire cords <NUM>, or may pass under a next one tire cord <NUM> only after passing over two or more tire cords <NUM>. As such, a method of weaving the tire cords <NUM> by the weft yarn <NUM> to conduct a weaving operation may be various.

The weft yarn <NUM> may include any yarns which weave the tire cords <NUM> so as to be able to conduct a weaving operation. For example, although the weft yarn <NUM> may include any one selected from the group consisting of a natural fiber, a synthetic fiber and a mixed yarn thereof, specifically a cotton spun yarn, a rayon spun yarn (polynosic spun yarn), a covering yarn in which cotton staple fibers or rayon staple fibers are covered on an undrawn yarn of nylon or polyester, etc..

The conductive fiber <NUM> comes into contact with the surface of the tire cord <NUM>, and is extended in a longitudinal direction of the tire cord <NUM>. Although a conductive fiber <NUM> may be come into contact with surfaces of several tire cords <NUM>, a conductive fiber <NUM> may be come into contact with the surface of a tire cord <NUM> only, and may be extended along the contacted tire cord <NUM> only as illustrated in <FIG>.

Further, as illustrated in <FIG>, the conductive fiber <NUM> is woven along with the tire cord <NUM> by the weft yarn <NUM> such that the conductive fiber <NUM> may be fixed to the surface of the tire cord <NUM>.

In this case, the conductive fiber <NUM> may be positioned on only one surface of the tire cord fabric <NUM>, or may be alternately positioned on both surfaces of the tire cord fabric <NUM>. Further, the conductive fiber <NUM> may be positioned between the tire cord <NUM> and the tire cord <NUM>. In this case, the conductive fiber <NUM> may be woven by the weft yarn <NUM> separately from the tire cord <NUM>. Namely, the weft yarn <NUM> may alternately cross over or under the tire cord <NUM> and the conductive fiber <NUM>.

Further, the conductive fiber <NUM> has a sufficiently smaller diameter than that of the tire cord <NUM>, the conductive fiber <NUM> is positioned in a valley formed between the tire cord <NUM> and the tire cord <NUM>. Therefore, since the conductive fiber <NUM> is not protruded from the surface of the tire cord fabric <NUM>, the surface of the tire cord fabric <NUM> is not uneven, and the tire cord fabric <NUM> may have a thickness corresponding to about a diameter of the tire cord <NUM>.

Meanwhile, the conductive fiber <NUM> may have conductivity by plating metal on the surface of a fiber. Specifically, the conductive fiber <NUM> may be obtained by plating metal on the surface of any one fiber selected from the group consisting of a synthetic fiber, a cellulose fiber, and a mixed yarn thereof.

The synthetic fiber may be any one selected from the group consisting of polyester, polyamide, polyurethane, acrylic fiber, modacrylic fiber, and mixed yarns thereof. The cellulose fiber may be any one selected from the group consisting of rayon, lyocell, tencel, and mixed yarns thereof.

Further, the conductive fiber <NUM> may be any one selected from the group consisting of a filament yarn, a staple fiber, and a spun yarn. That is, the conductive fiber <NUM> may include a long fiber filament yarn used as it is, a texture-processed staple fiber used as a staple fiber, and a spun texture-processed staple fiber processed by a spun yarn.

The conductive fiber <NUM> may have a diameter of <NUM> to <NUM> considering easiness of manufacturing and durability and conductivity performance of a tire, the conductive fiber <NUM> may have <NUM> yarn counts ('S) to <NUM> yarn counts ('S) when the conductive fiber <NUM> is a spun yarn, and the conductive fiber <NUM> may have <NUM> deniers to <NUM> deniers when the conductive fiber <NUM> is a filament yarn. Here, the yarn count includes cotton count, wool count and flax count, a cotton yarn having weight of <NUM> pound (<NUM>) and length of <NUM> yards (<NUM>) is called as <NUM> yarn count in the cotton count, and a flax yarn having weight of <NUM> pound (<NUM>) and length of <NUM> yards (<NUM>) is called as <NUM> yarn count in the flax count. Further, a filament yarn having weight of <NUM> based on length of <NUM>,<NUM> is called as <NUM> denier in the denier. The conductive fiber <NUM> may be disadvantageous in workability since the conductive fiber <NUM> falls short of tensile strength when the conductive fiber <NUM> has a diameter of less than <NUM>, less than <NUM> yarn counts ('S) or less than <NUM> deniers, and the conductive fiber <NUM> may function as a foreign material within a tire since the conductive fiber <NUM> is too thick when the conductive fiber <NUM> has a diameter of more than <NUM>, more than <NUM> yarn counts ('S) or more than <NUM> deniers.

Although the more the conductive fiber <NUM> is, the better the conductive fiber <NUM> is considering static electricity performance, unit cost of the conductive fiber <NUM> is increased, and there is some room for the conductive fiber <NUM> to function as the foreign material within the tire since the conductive fiber <NUM> is expensive. Therefore, it can be seen that the intended goal of the conductive fiber <NUM> is accomplished when the tire can give a minimum electrical conductivity (resistance of less than <NUM> Q). Accordingly, the conductive fibers <NUM> may be arranged at intervals of <NUM> to <NUM>, specifically <NUM> to <NUM>. Durability of the tire may deteriorate since the conductive fibers <NUM> is economically inefficient, and the conductive fibers <NUM> function as a foreign material within a tire when the conductive fibers <NUM> are arranged at intervals of less than <NUM>, while the conductive fibers <NUM> may not secure a desired level of electrical conductivity when the conductive fibers <NUM> are arranged at intervals of more than <NUM>.

In addition, the tire cord fabric <NUM> may include <NUM> to <NUM> conductive fibers <NUM>. The tire cord fabric <NUM> cannot secure electrical conductivity since the tire cord fabric <NUM> includes one conductive fiber <NUM> only per one tire manufactured when the tire cord fabric <NUM> includes less than <NUM> conductive fibers <NUM>, while there may be a problem in durability of the tire the tire cord fabric <NUM> is economically inefficient and includes an excessively large number of conductive fibers <NUM> when the tire cord fabric <NUM> includes more than <NUM> conductive fibers <NUM>.

A method of manufacturing a tire cord fabric according to another embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of plating metal on the surface of a fiber to manufacture a conductive fiber, and supplying a plurality of tire cords as a warp yarn and weaving a weft yarn with the tire cords to conduct a weaving operation.

First, a conductive fiber is manufactured by plating metal on the surface of a fiber.

The conductive fiber having metal plated on the surface thereof may be manufactured by electroplating or electroless plating the fiber taken out of the electrolyte after dipping any one fiber selected from the group consisting of the synthetic fiber, the cellulose fiber and a mixed yarn thereof in an electrolyte including a metal salt, or may be manufactured by plating metal on the surface of the fiber by a physical vapor deposition method or a chemical vapor deposition method.

Repetitive description is omitted since contents for any one fiber selected from the group consisting of the synthetic fiber, the cellulose fiber and the mixed yarn thereof, and the metal are the same as described above.

However, for example, a fiber having copper plated on the surface thereof may be manufactured by electroless plating the fiber taken out of the electrolyte after dipping any one fiber selected from the group consisting of the synthetic fiber, the cellulose fiber and the mixed yarn thereof in an electrolyte including a metal salt such as copper sulfate or the like.

The manufactured conductive fiber may be directly used as a long fiber in a weaving process, or may be used in the weaving process after optionally performing a texturing process by various methods as described above. When performing the texturing process on the conductive fiber having metal plated on the surface thereof, the textured conductive fiber may be helpful in electrical conductivity since a textured conductive fiber may have an increased bonding area with rubber due to its bulky characteristics. Further, when a spinning process is performed on the textured conductive fiber after performing the texturing process on the conductive fiber, the spinning process is progressed after manufacturing a sliver through carding and combing, wherein the spinning process can be smoothly performed by performing the texturing process, thereby giving a crimp to the conductive fiber since the filament long fiber cannot be spun although the spinning process is performed even after cutting a filament long fiber with strong straightness to a predetermined length.

A method of performing the texturing process may include all of a false-twist method, a stuffer-box method, an air-jet texturing method, or the like which has been generally known. The method of performing the texturing process may representatively include the false-twist method among them, and may suitably include the stuffer-box method in case of a thermoplastic fiber.

The staple fiber can be spun by various methods including ring spinning, air jet spinning, open end spinning, etc., after manufacturing a staple fiber by cutting the textured conductive fiber to a length of <NUM> to <NUM>.

Next, the tire cord fabric is manufactured by supplying a plurality of tire cords as a warp yarn and weaving a weft yarn with the tire cords to conduct a weaving operation.

In this case, a conductive fiber is mixed with the tire cords and supplied as the warp yarn. A method of manufacturing the tire cord fabric may be a method of manufacturing the existing tire cord fabric as it is except that the conductive fiber is mixed with the tire cords and supplied as the warp yarn during manufacturing of an existing tire cord fabric.

Specifically, the step of carrying out the weaving operation may comprise a winding process, a warping process, a drawing process, and a weaving process. More specifically, the winding process is a process of rewinding tire cords supplied in various forms, the warping process is a process of arranging the tire cords to be in parallel to one another to supply the tire cords (warp yarn) to a loom, and winding the tire cords around a warp beam in a state that tension of the tire cords is constantly maintained, the drawing process is a process of inserting the tire cords in the order of heald, reed and dropper according to design conditions of a fabric, and the weaving process is a process of inserting the weft yarn between the tire cords to manufacture the fabric into a desired tissue.

In this case, the conductive fiber as a warp yarn is mixed with the tire cord to enable the conductive fiber to be fixed to the surface of the tire cord in a state that the conductive fiber is woven along with the tire cord by the weft yarn. To this end, the conductive fiber along with the tire cord may be subjected to a warp process and/or a drawing process. Specifically, the warping process may comprise carrying out a creeling operation of the conductive fiber along with the tire cord, and the drawing process may comprise supplying the conductive fiber to heald, reed and dropper which are the same as the tire cord, thereby enabling the conductive fiber to be woven along with the tire cord by the weft yarn.

The conductive fiber may be injected through a drawing line which is the same as the tire cord at a weaving width of <NUM>,<NUM> to <NUM>,<NUM> and intervals of <NUM> to <NUM> based on the reed. The creeling operation may be progressed in a state that the conductive fiber and the tire cord are put over the same creel shaft, or may comprise carrying out a weaving operation to manufacture a tire cord Griege fabric by passing heald and reed having the same column after sticking the conductive fiber and the tire cord into a separate creel shaft.

Thereafter, the method may comprise passing the manufactured tire cord Griege fabric through a heat treatment process to set final properties of the tire cord Griege fabric, and proceeding a dip solution coating process to manufacture the tire cord Griege fabric into a heat-treated fabric (dipped fabric).

A sheet according to another embodiment of the present invention includes the tire cord fabric, and a topping rubber which tops the tire cord fabric.

The topping rubber enables the sheet to be formed by penetrating between the tire cord fabrics while surrounding one surface or both surfaces of the tire cord fabric.

For example, although the sheet may include any sheet including a tire cord fabric topped with the topping rubber, e.g., carcass.

According as the sheet effectively discharges static electricity aggregated in a tire to a road surface, a tire including the sheet may have a resistance value of <NUM> to <NUM> MΩ at a voltage of <NUM>,<NUM> V. In order for the tire to have a resistance value of less than <NUM> MΩ at the voltage of <NUM>,<NUM> V, there are many other tradeoff items, e.g., additional application of a conducting compound or excessive use of the conductive fiber may be disadvantageous to rolling resistance, while static electricity of a tire may not be discharged when the tire has a resistance value of more than <NUM> Ω.

The sheet may effectively discharge static electricity aggregated in the tire. Particularly, an effective conductive passage can be secured by radially extending the conductive fiber like a carcass cord from bead parts to a tread part.

Through this, according as electrical conductivity is being given to a part except for the production of a rubber composition, degree of freedom for developing LRR of a carcass topping rubber composition and a sidewall rubber composition may be increased. Namely, since demand for electrical conductivity of the sidewall rubber composition and the carcass topping rubber composition is decreased, a rubber composition for improving rolling resistance may be applied. Accordingly, a fuel efficiency improved tire for solving a static electricity problem and having LRR may be manufactured by applying the conductive fiber.

Therefore, although any topping rubber as the topping rubber is applicable if it is a textile cord topping rubber generally used in a tire, the topping rubber may have a composition with excellent LRR characteristics comprising <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of carbon black which has a large particle size and of which structure is not much developed with respect to <NUM> parts by weight of raw rubber including <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of natural rubber and <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of emulsion-polymerized styrene butadiene rubber. When the topping rubber is produced as described above, the topping rubber is advantageous to bonding in that styrene butadiene rubber is included in the topping rubber, the topping rubber is advantageous to rolling resistance by reducing internal heating according to use of the carbon black of which structure is not developed, and the topping rubber is desirable in that heating is decreased by reducing parts by weight of carbon black also. The tire may have a resistance value of <NUM> to <NUM> Ω at a voltage of <NUM>,<NUM> V by including the sheet. The carbon black which has a large particle size and of which structure is not much developed may be carbon black having a statistical thickness surface area (STSA) value of <NUM> to <NUM><NUM>/g, an oil absorption number of compressed sample (COAN) value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, an oil absorption number of sample (OAN) value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, and an iodine adsorption amount value of <NUM> to <NUM>/g.

Nevertheless, the topping rubber may also be a conducting topping rubber composition for further improving electrical conductivity of the sheet. The conducting topping rubber composition may have a composition comprising <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of a first carbon black which has a relatively large particle size and of which structure is relatively less developed and <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of a second carbon black which has a relatively small particle size and of which structure is relatively well developed with respect to <NUM> parts by weight of raw rubber including <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of synthetic styrene butadiene rubber and <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of natural rubber. The first carbon black which has a relatively large particle size and of which structure is relatively less developed may be carbon black having an STSA value of <NUM> to <NUM><NUM>/g, a COAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, an OAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, and an iodine adsorption amount value of <NUM> to <NUM>/g. The second carbon black which has a relatively small particle size and of which structure is relatively well developed may be carbon black having an STSA value of <NUM> to <NUM><NUM>/g, a COAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, an OAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, and an iodine adsorption amount value of <NUM> to <NUM>/g.

Further, the sidewall rubber may be applicable to a rubber composition having low conductivity and low rolling resistance characteristics. The sidewall rubber may have a composition comprising <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of carbon black which has a large particle size and of which structure is not much developed with respect to <NUM> parts by weight of raw rubber including <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of natural rubber and <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of synthetic butadiene rubber. The sidewall rubber is desirable in that it has excellent fuel efficiency since heating is reduced when the sidewall rubber is produced in such a composition. Even when the sidewall rubber having such a composition is contained in the tire, the tire may have a resistance value of <NUM> to <NUM> Ω at a voltage of <NUM>,<NUM> V by including the sheet. The carbon black which has a large particle size and of which structure is not much developed may be carbon black having an STSA value of <NUM> to <NUM><NUM>/g, a COAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, an OAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, and an iodine adsorption amount value of <NUM> to <NUM>/g.

Meanwhile, the sidewall rubber may also be a conducting sidewall rubber composition for further improving electrical conductivity of the tire. The conducting sidewall rubber composition may have a composition comprising <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of a first carbon black which has a relatively large particle size and of which structure is relatively less developed and <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of a third carbon black which has a relatively small particle size and of which structure is relatively very well developed with respect to <NUM> parts by weight of raw rubber including <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of natural rubber and <NUM> to <NUM> parts by weight of synthetic butadiene rubber. The first carbon black which has a relatively large particle size and of which structure is relatively less developed may be carbon black having an STSA value of <NUM> to <NUM><NUM>/g, a COAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, an OAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, and an iodine adsorption amount value of <NUM> to <NUM>/g. The third carbon black which has a relatively small particle size and of which structure is relatively very well developed may be carbon black having an STSA value of <NUM> to <NUM><NUM>/g, a COAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, an OAN value of <NUM> to <NUM> cc/<NUM>, and an iodine adsorption amount value of <NUM> to <NUM>/g.

The sheet may be manufactured by rolling and cutting a topping rubber-topped tire cord fabric obtained by topping the tire cord fabric with the topping rubber. In this case, the sheet is manufactured through a heat treater when the tire cord fabric is the Griege fabric, and manufactured through a general rolling process when the tire cord fabric is a heat-treated fabric (dipped fabric). Namely, since an existing topping process applying method may be equally applied to the tire cord fabric, the tire cord fabric does not require additional facilities.

A tire according to another embodiment of the present invention includes the sheet. <FIG> is a half-sectional view schematically illustrating the tire. Hereinafter, the tire will be described with reference to <FIG>.

The tire includes a tread part <NUM>, a sidewall part <NUM>, and a pair of left and right bead parts <NUM>. The pair of left and right bead parts <NUM> have a carcass layer <NUM> installed therebetween, and tire width directional both end portions of the carcass layer <NUM> are each wound up the circumference of the bead parts <NUM> from an inner side of the tire to an outer side thereof. The carcass layer <NUM> has a belt layer <NUM> and a reinforcing belt layer <NUM> installed on an outer side thereof, and the carcass layer <NUM> has an inner liner (not illustrated) disposed on an inner side thereof.

In this case, the sheet according to the present invention may be applied to the carcass layer <NUM>. Therefore, static electricity aggregated in the tire may be effectively discharged, and particularly since the tire cord fabric is radially extended from the bead parts to the tread part as in the carcass layer <NUM>, an effective conductive passage can be secured.

On the other hand, although the tire may be preferably a general passenger car tire. The tire may be a passenger car tire, a light truck tire, a high-performance tire, an SUV tire, an off-the-road tire, a bias truck tire, a bias bus tire, etc. Further, the tire may be a radial tire or a bias tire.

As represented in the following Table <NUM> and Table <NUM>, after selecting a tire <NUM>/45R17 standard, carcasses were manufactured by weaving copper-plated conductive fibers in Examples <NUM> to <NUM> without using a conductive fiber in Comparative Examples <NUM> and <NUM>.

Specifically, tire cord fabrics according to embodiments of the present invention were manufactured as follows.

After dipping acryl long fibers or N66 long fibers in a copper sulfate electrolyte, copper-plated conductive fibers were manufactured by electroless plating the acryl long fibers or N66 long fibers dipped in the copper sulfate electrolyte. The conductive fibers as filament long fibers had a fineness of <NUM> deniers.

When weaving tire cord fabrics using the manufactured conductive fibers, the conductive fibers as a warp yarn were mixed along with tire cords. Specifically, the conductive fibers were injected through the same drawing line as the tire cords at intervals of <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> respectively at a weaving width of <NUM> based on the reed. In this case, the heald and reed having the same column as the tire cords were passed after sticking the conductive fibers and the tire cords into a separate creel shaft. In this case, a PET <NUM> D/<NUM> with a diameter of <NUM> was used as a carcass cord, and a nylon-cotton covering yarn with a diameter of <NUM> deniers was used as a weft yarn.

After primarily dipping the woven Griege fabric in epoxy, drying a woven Griege fabric dipped in epoxy at <NUM> and appropriate tension for <NUM> minutes, secondly dipping a dried-primarily dipped woven Griege fabric in a resinol-formaldehyde latex (RFL) aqueous solution, and drying a secondly dipped woven Griege fabric at <NUM> for <NUM> minutes, a dried-secondly dipped woven Griege fabric was heat-treated in a continuous process at <NUM> and appropriate tension for <NUM> minutes to manufacture a dipped fabric cord. A rolling process was performed on the manufactured dipped fabric cord using a topping rubber composition by a <NUM> bowl calender. A rolling-completed rolled sheet was cut to <NUM> degrees of an angle in accordance with a tire size.

After measuring conduction performance and durability performance of tires manufactured in the foregoing Examples and Comparative Examples, measurement results are represented in the following Table <NUM> and Table <NUM>.

In Table <NUM> and Table <NUM>, the electric resistance was measured by applying a voltage of <NUM>,<NUM> V to a grounding part and a rim part of a tire, and the highspeed durability, general durability and long-term durability were measured at conditions of <NUM>% and <NUM>/hr compared to load index. The rolling resistance (RRc) was measured by an ISO <NUM> method, a rolling resistance value of Comparative Example <NUM> was indexed as <NUM>, and the lower the rolling resistance value is, the more excellent the rolling resistance value is.

Referring to Table <NUM> and Table <NUM>, it can be confirmed that there are no variations in durability and rolling resistance through durability performance and rolling resistance tests although conductivity performance is improved in Examples <NUM> to <NUM> since electric resistance is lowered in Examples <NUM> to <NUM> compared to Comparative Example <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A tire cord fabric including:
a plurality of tire cords (<NUM>) which are arranged in parallel to each other;
a weft yarn (<NUM>) which weaves the tire cords (<NUM>) to conduct a weaving operation; and
a conductive fiber (<NUM>)
characterized in that said conductive fiber (<NUM>) comes into contact with the surface of the tire cord (<NUM>) and extends in a longitudinal direction of the tire cord (<NUM>), wherein the conductive fiber (<NUM>) is a fiber having metal plated on the surface thereof.