FR3043017A3 - PNEUMATIC WITH A TREAD WITH REINFORCING ELEMENTS - Google Patents

Abstract

A tire whose tread has a circumferential reinforcement consisting of a rubber compound of stiffness greater than the stiffness of the rubber compound of the remainder of the tread, characterized in that, the tire having an outer side and an inner side, the circumferential reinforcement comprises a tapered reinforcing member disposed in the tread members axially disposed externally relative to one of the first and second circumferential grooves of the tread from outward to inward and axially proximate to the circumferential groove.

Description

PNEUMATIC WITH A TREAD TAPE COMPRISING

STRENGTHENING ELEMENTS

Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to tires, and more particularly to a tire whose adhesion performance is improved. State of the art [0002] In known manner, the tread of a tire, whether it is intended to equip a passenger vehicle or a heavy goods vehicle, is provided with a sculpture including sculpture elements or elementary blocks delimited by various main grooves, longitudinal or circumferential, transverse or oblique, the elementary blocks may further comprise various incisions or slices finer. The grooves are channels for evacuating water during a wet run and the walls of these grooves define the leading and trailing edges of the tread elements, depending on the direction of the turn.

To improve the adhesion of a tire, and more particularly for adhesion on dry ground and wet ground, it is well known to reduce the rigidity or stiffness of the rubber compound constituting the tread. This decrease in rigidity of the tread allows it to better marry the rough surface of the running ground and thus the actual surface of contact with the driving floor is increased and the adhesion performance improved compared to a band of rolling whose rubbery mixture is more rigid.

However, particularly in the case of transverse adhesion, the use of a rubber compound less rigid tread promotes the shearing of the tread elements, their tilting and this generates high pressure on the edges of the tread. attacking sculptural elements which in turn generate very important warm-ups.

These overpressures and these overheating can contribute to a very rapid damage to the tread of the tire and to a non-optimal exploitation of the adhesion potential of the tread mixture.

To improve the adhesion performance of the tires by stabilizing the tread elements, the document EP 2 708 382 A1 proposes a tire having an axis of rotation and a median plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation, comprising two beads, two flanks connected to the beads, a vertex connected to the ends of both flanks with a crown reinforcement, and a radially outer tread, the tread comprising a plurality of tread elements with side faces and a contact face for to come into contact with the roadway during the rolling of the tire, a plurality of circumferential grooves each delimited by side faces of adjacent carving elements, facing each other and delimited by a bottom, and a circumferential reinforcement consisting of a rubbery mixture of rigidity greater than the stiffness of the mixture of the remainder of the tread.

This tire is such that the circumferential reinforcement comprises a reinforcing element placed under each circumferential groove and extending radially from the radially inner surface of the tread to form the entire bottom of the groove.

The reinforcement of the circumferential grooves thus produced makes it possible to increase the drifting thrust of the tire, but the presence of a rigid mixture at the bottom of the groove causes difficulty in molding the wear indicators. There is also a significant increase in the rolling resistance linked in particular to the limitation of cross-sectional and longitudinal layouts.

Brief description of the invention [0009] The subject of the invention is a tire according to the preamble of claim 1, characterized in that, the tire having an outer side and an inner side, the circumferential reinforcement comprises a reinforcing element placed in the tread elements axially disposed externally relative to one of the first and second circumferential grooves of the tread from outside to inwardly and axially proximate to said circumferential groove, in that the reinforcing member extends radially from the radially outer surface of the crown reinforcement towards the outside of the tread with an axial width which decreases progressively and over a partial or total height of the tread thickness and in that that the sculpture elements arranged axially internally relative to said first re circumferential groove are free of reinforcing elements disposed in the vicinity of the axially inner sides of said slot.

The circumferential reinforcing element thus disposed on the trailing edge of the rib or the most stressed tread elements on the outside of the tread of the tire during a rapid cornering is opposed by its high stiffness in compression and in shear shearing and tilting of these carving elements and thus allows to maintain a contact surface with the large taxiing floor, to limit overpressure on the leading edge of the rib or elements of sculpture and thus to limit the heating and the rapid wear of the leading edge of the rib. The presence of a reinforcement element for a single groove already makes it possible to obtain a substantial improvement in the transverse adhesion performance of the tires of a vehicle.

The circumferential reinforcing element also has the essential characteristic of leaning directly on the armature of the crown of the tire. This allows to have a fulcrum to stiffen the top and the tread.

It is very advantageous that the sculpture elements arranged axially internally relative to the first circumferential groove do not comprise reinforcing elements disposed near the axially inner faces of this groove. Indeed, the presence of such reinforcing elements on the leading edge of the second rib of the tread is likely to cause a degradation of the transverse adhesion properties of the tire and the vehicle due to the high rigidity of the tire. material of these reinforcing elements when these reinforcing elements come into contact with the rolling ground.

It should also be noted that the reduction in the volume of high rigidity rubber causes a significant decrease in the rolling resistance of the tire relative to the tires disclosed by EP 2 708 382 Al cited.

Preferably, the circumferential reinforcement comprises two reinforcing elements placed respectively in the sculpture elements adjacent to the first and second circumferential grooves of the tread, going from the outside to the inside and axially to the outside. near the first and second circumferential grooves.

This reinforces the favorable effect in terms of transverse adhesion.

Advantageously, the tread having at least three circumferential grooves, the circumferential reinforcement also comprises a reinforcing element placed in the tread elements adjacent to the outside of the third circumferential groove of the tread from outside to inside and axially near the third circumferential groove.

The circumferential reinforcement may also advantageously comprise reinforcement elements placed in all the sculpture elements adjacent to a circumferential groove and axially close to this circumferential groove.

[0018]

According to an advantageous embodiment, the circumferential reinforcement comprises a reinforcing element placed in the adjacent sculpture elements internally to the circumferential groove axially closest to the inner side of the tire.

This stabilizes the ribs or carving elements of the inner side of the tire when the inner side is biased as a leading edge cornering. We thus find the same anti-tilt and anti-shear effect related to the high compression stiffness of the reinforcing element.

According to an advantageous exemplary embodiment, the tread comprising at least four circumferential grooves, the circumferential reinforcement comprises two reinforcing elements placed respectively in the sculpture elements adjacent internally to the first and the second circumferential groove of the strip. rolling from inside to outside and axially close to the first and second circumferential grooves.

According to another advantageous embodiment, the circumferential reinforcing elements are arranged symmetrically relative to the median plane of the tire.

According to a particular embodiment, the tread having a circumferential groove traversed by the median plane, two circumferential reinforcing elements are arranged axially close to and on either side of the circumferential groove traversed by the median plane. .

The shape of the circumferential reinforcing element is of tapered section radially outwardly. This enhances its effectiveness as a fulcrum. The walls of this circumferential reinforcing element may be concave, convex or stepped.

Preferably, the angle of the two side walls of the circumferential reinforcing element or elements is between 35 and 45 degrees.

Below 35 degrees, the effectiveness of the fulcrum is reduced and beyond 45 degrees, the volume of the circumferential reinforcement element becomes too important.

According to a preferred embodiment, the reinforcing elements comprising a base whose radial height is strictly less than the distance between the bottom of a circumferential groove and the radially outer surface of the crown reinforcement and an upper part. the upper portion extends radially outwardly to at least half the height of the lateral faces of the adjacent circumferential grooves.

This minimum height of the upper parts of the circumferential reinforcing elements is useful to obtain a stabilizing effect throughout the life of the tire.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the upper part of the reinforcing elements constitutes at least a part of the lateral face of the adjacent circumferential groove.

According to another advantageous embodiment, the upper part of the reinforcing elements is disposed at an axial distance of 1 to 8 mm and preferably 2 to 5 mm from the side face of the adjacent circumferential groove.

This embodiment makes it possible not to disturb the molding of the circumferential grooves of the tread while maintaining a significant effect of improving the transverse adhesion performance of the tires of a vehicle.

The base of the reinforcing elements may advantageously extend axially under at least part of the bottoms of adjacent circumferential grooves.

This embodiment has the advantage of enhancing the effectiveness of the circumferential reinforcing element or elements while retaining for the groove bottoms the mixing of the tread and thus improving the molding of the wear indicators [0034] According to another exemplary embodiment, the base of the reinforcing elements extends axially under the sculpting elements on the opposite side to the adjacent circumferential grooves.

As before, this has the advantage of stabilizing the circumferential reinforcing elements.

According to another advantageous embodiment the bases of the reinforcing elements may be axially contiguous and extend axially over at least 50% of the axial width of the tread of the tire.

Very advantageously, the bases of the axially contiguous reinforcing elements extend axially over at most the axial width of said crown reinforcement. This makes it possible to keep a good flattening of the two shoulders of the tire and to limit the consequences in terms of tire rolling resistance of the use of a rubber compound of very high rigidity.

Advantageously, the constituent rubber mixture of the circumferential reinforcement has a dynamic modulus G * measured at 60 ° C at 10 Hz and under an alternating shear stress of 0.7 MPa greater than 20 MPa and preferably greater than 30 MPa.

Very advantageously, the tread rubber mixture has a dynamic modulus G * measured at 60 ° C at 10 Hz and under an alternating shear stress of 0.7 MPa less than or equal to 1.3 MPa and preferably less than 1.1 MPa.

The presence of circumferential reinforcement allows to fully utilize the adhesion capabilities of such a tread mixture of very low rigidity.

This is particularly useful in the case of a tire for passenger vehicle.

According to another advantageous embodiment, the tread comprises two distinct mixtures arranged axially one above the other. The mixture arranged radially internally is usually called "underlayer". This underlayer may have more favorable hysteretic properties than the mixture in contact with the pavement, which improves the overall rolling resistance of the tire.

Alternatively, the underlayer may also be more rigid than the rubbery mixture of the tread to stiffen it.

The invention relates more particularly to tires for equipping tourism-type motor vehicles, SUV ("Sports Utility Vehicles"), two wheels (including motorcycles), aircraft, such as industrial vehicles chosen from light trucks, "weight "heavy" - that is to say metro, bus, road transport equipment (trucks, tractors, trailers), off-the-road vehicles such as agricultural or civil engineering -, other transport vehicles or handling.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The objects of the invention are now described with the aid of the attached drawing in which: FIG. 1 very schematically represents (without respecting a specific scale) a radial section of a pneumatic according to an embodiment of the invention; - Figures 2 to 13 show in radial section tire treads according to different embodiments of the invention; and - Figure 14 shows in radial section the tread embodiment tested.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0046] FIG. 1 schematically represents a radial section of a pneumatic or pneumatic tire incorporating a circumferential reinforcement 20 according to one embodiment of the invention.

The tire 1 has an outer side E intended to be placed towards the outside of a vehicle and an inner side I intended to be placed towards the inside of a vehicle. This tire thus has an asymmetry of the tread.

FIG. 1 also indicates the axial X, circumferential C and radial Z directions, as well as the median plane EP (plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the tire which is situated at a distance from the two beads 4 and passes through the middle of the crown reinforcement 6) · [0049] This tire 1 comprises a crown 2 reinforced by a crown reinforcement or belt 6, two sidewalls 3 and two beads 4, each of these beads 4 being reinforced with a rod 5. The crown reinforcement 6 is surmounted radially externally by a rubbery tread 9. A carcass reinforcement 7 is wound around the two rods 5 in each bead 4, the upturn 8 of this armature 7 being for example disposed towards the outside the tire 1. The carcass reinforcement 7 is in known manner constituted of at least one sheet reinforced by so-called "radial" cables, for example textile or metal, that is to say that these cables are rested are substantially parallel to each other and extend from one bead to another so as to form an angle of between 80 ° and 90 ° with the median circumferential plane EP. A sealing layer 10 extends from one bead to the other radially inwardly relative to the carcass reinforcement 7.

The tread 9 has four grooves 11, 12, 13 and 14 going from the outer side E to the inner side I. Each groove has an outer face 11.1, 12.1, 13.1 and 14.1, a groove bottom 11.2, 12.2, 13.2 and 14.2 and an inner face 11.3, 12.3, 13.3 and 14.3.

This tread 9 also comprises a circumferential reinforcement 20 consisting of a reinforcing element 22 disposed adjacent to the outer wall 12.1 of the second groove 12. This reinforcing element 20 bears against the radially outer wall of the crown reinforcement 6 and has a substantially triangular section. This reinforcing element forms part of the outer wall 12.1 of the groove 12.

The circumferential reinforcement 20 opposes the tilting and shearing of the rib adjacent to the rib 12 at the time of strong transverse stresses of the tire oriented axially from the outside towards the inside, for example during a turn of the vehicle. on which is mounted the tire towards the inner side of the tire.

Figures 2 to 9 show radial tread sections according to different embodiments of the invention in the case of tread circumferentially three grooves they.

The tread 30 of Figure 2 comprises three grooves 11, 12 and 13 and a circumferential reinforcement 32 comprising two circumferential reinforcing elements 34 and 36. The circumferential reinforcing element 34 is arranged as in FIG. 1 adjacent to the outer wall 12.1 of the second groove 12. This circumferential reinforcing element 34 bears against the radially outer wall of the crown reinforcement 6 and partly constitutes the outer wall 12.1 of the groove 12.

The additional circumferential reinforcement element 36 is disposed adjacent to the outer wall 11.1 of the first groove 11. It is opposed by its presence in shearing and tilting of the adjacent sculpture elements to the first groove 11 and thus cooperates with the action of the circumferential reinforcing element 34 during strong transverse stresses of the tire.

The circumferential reinforcement 42 of the tread 40 of FIG. 3 comprises three circumferential reinforcing elements 44, 46 and 48. The additional circumferential reinforcing element 48 relative to the circumferential reinforcement 42 is disposed adjacent to the wall. 13.1 outer of the third groove. The three circumferential reinforcing elements of this tread cooperate to oppose the tilting and shearing of the adjacent tread elements outside the three grooves during strong transversal stresses oriented from the outside towards the inside.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a tread 50 according to one of the subjects of the invention in which the circumferential reinforcement 52 comprises, as in FIG. 3, three elements 54, 56 and 58 and an element Additional circumferential reinforcement 59. This circumferential reinforcing element 59 is disposed adjacent to the inner wall 13.3 of the groove 13. This circumferential reinforcing element 59 opposes the tilting and shearing of the adjacent sculpture elements in the third groove 13 during transversal stresses oriented from the inside to the outside. In such a case, taking into account the dynamics of the vehicles when cornering, the stresses directed from the inside to the outside are much less strong than those directed in the other direction and it is useless to add other elements of circumferential reinforcement. In a turn taken at the limit of adhesion, the tire placed on the vehicle inside the bend is heavily unloaded, taking into account the dynamics of the vehicles when cornering. This inner tire corner is still contributory to the transverse grip by its shoulder of attack, located towards the vehicle. The presence of a reinforcement in this shoulder of attack makes it possible to increase the overall thrust to the axle, resulting from the thrust of the two tires of the same axle.

In FIG. 5, the tread 60 comprises a circumferential reinforcement 62 composed of four circumferential reinforcing elements 64, 66, 68 and 69 arranged in a manner similar to FIG. 4. These four circumferential reinforcement elements have a base 61 and an upper part 63. In the embodiment shown, the bases 61 extend under the ribs or tread elements adjacent to the three grooves. These extensions reinforce the stiffening provided by the various circumferential reinforcing elements. The radial height of the bases 61 is strictly less than the radial position of the bottoms of the grooves. The bottom of the ribs is thus always constituted solely by the mixture of the tread.

In FIG. 6, the tread 70 comprises a circumferential reinforcement 72 composed as in FIG. 5 of four circumferential reinforcing elements 74, 76, 78 and 79. These circumferential reinforcing elements comprise upper portions 73 and bases 71 and are such that their bases 71 extend under the adjacent grooves. As before, these extensions reinforce the stiffening provided by the various circumferential reinforcement elements.

In Figure 7, the tread 80 comprises a circumferential reinforcement 82 consisting of four circumferential reinforcing elements 84, 86, 88 and 89 such that their bases 81 are axially contiguous and extend continuously from one side to the other. the other of the tread. This base 81 is thus in continuous direct contact with the radially outer surface of the crown architecture 6 of the tire to which the tread is intended and has a marked action of stiffening the entire crown 2 of this tire.

The axial width of the axially contacting bases 81 covers at least half of the axial width of the tread and at most the axial width W of the crown reinforcement 6. The fact that the bases are continuous strengthens the resistance tilting of the entire vertex block during transverse stresses and the fact that they do not extend beyond the axial width of the crown reinforcement 6 favors the flattening of the shoulders and limits the resistance to tire rolling.

The shape of the circumferential reinforcing elements presented is triangular but this shape may vary and the side walls may be concave, convex or stairs especially without departing from the scope of this invention.

In the examples presented, the angle made by these two side walls is of the order of 40 degrees, ie between 35 and 45 degrees.

The radial height of the circumferential reinforcing elements can reach the contact face of the carving elements when the tire is new, but also be lower. It must not be less than half the height of the carving elements to be able to have an action during all the life of the tire.

Figure 8 shows a tread 100 with a circumferential reinforcement 102 having three circumferential reinforcing elements 104, 106 and 108 arranged as in Figure 3 near the three grooves and externally. But, in this example, the inner side walls of the three circumferential reinforcing elements do not constitute a part of the outer faces of the ribs but are axially offset externally to deviate from these outer faces of the ribs by a distance a from 1 to 8 mm and preferably from 2 to 5 mm. This offset makes it possible not to disturb the molding of the ribs during the vulcanization of the tires without reducing the effectiveness of the circumferential reinforcing elements.

In this figure 8, it is also noted that the circumferential reinforcing element 104 has its upper part which extends radially to the outer face of the carving element. This facilitates evacuation of the electrostatic charges due to the conductive nature of the mixture of the circumferential reinforcing element.

Figure 9 shows a tread 90 whose circumferential reinforcement 92 consists of three circumferential reinforcing elements 94, 96 and 98 as shown in Figure 3. This tread 90 consists of a first rubber mix 91 disposed radially outwardly and forming in particular the contact faces of the carving elements. This tread 90 also comprises a second rubber mix 93 radially internally and intended to be in contact with the radially outer surface of the crown architecture 6. This second mixture 93 constitutes an "underlayer". It should be noted that the three circumferential reinforcement elements are always in direct contact with the radially outer surface of the crown architecture of the tire to be associated with this tread.

According to the objective of the designer of the tire, the mixture of this underlayer may be low hysteresis and thus improve the rolling resistance of the tire or be stiffer than the other constituent mixture of the tread, in this case the underlayer has a stiffening action of the crown of the tire. All the reinforcing features mentioned above are compatible with the use of this underlayer. This underlayer is located above the base of the reinforcing elements when the base exists so that the reinforcement is directly and primarily on the crown reinforcement. That is to say on the calendering of the web of the topmost radially arranged crown architecture.

Figures 10 and 11 show embodiments according to an object of the invention wherein the tread comprises an underlayer.

FIG. 10 shows a tread 140 similar to that of FIG. 5 and comprising an underlayer 115. As indicated above, this underlayer is arranged radially outwardly on the bases 61 of the reinforcement 62.

FIG. 11 shows a tread 150 similar to that of FIG. 7 and comprising an underlayer 115. As indicated above, this underlayer is disposed radially outwardly on the bases 81 of the reinforcement 82.

Figures 12 and 13 show another embodiment of a tire according to an object of the invention wherein the circumferential reinforcements are arranged symmetrically in the tread.

The tread 120 of FIG 12 comprises three grooves 11, 12 and 13 and a circumferential reinforcement 122. In this embodiment according to one of the objects of the invention, the circumferential reinforcement 122 comprises four circumferential reinforcing elements 124, 126, 128 and 129 arranged symmetrically relative to the medial plane EP. The three circumferential reinforcing elements 124, 126, and 128 are arranged as the reinforcing elements 54, 56 and 59 of FIG. 4. On the other hand, the reinforcing element 129 is disposed axially internally relative to the groove 12 and forms thus at least a portion of the inner face 12.3 of this groove. The circumferential reinforcement 122 thus provides no asymmetry to the tread 120 which facilitates the mounting of such a tire when it has no other asymmetry. Such a symmetrical tire may thus have its outer side mounted towards the outside or inside of a vehicle, these inner and outer sides are in this case only a geometrical reference.

FIG. 13 shows a tread 130 with four grooves 11, 12, 13, 14 and a circumferential reinforcement 132. This circumferential reinforcement 132 comprises four circumferential reinforcing elements 134, 136, 138 and 139. As in the embodiment of FIG. embodiment of Figure 12, these four circumferential reinforcing elements are arranged symmetrically relative to the median plane EP of the tire. The reinforcing members 134 and 136 are axially disposed externally relative to the grooves 12 and 11 respectively; the reinforcing members 138 and 139 are axially disposed internally relative to the grooves 14 and 13 respectively.

The circumferential reinforcing elements must serve as a fulcrum to oppose the shear and tilting of the carving elements that contain them. For this the mixture constituting these circumferential reinforcing elements is preferably very significantly more rigid than that of the tread. As a preference, the dynamic modulus G * measured at 60 ° C. at 10 Hz and under an alternating shear stress of 0.7 MPa is greater than 20 MPa, and very preferably greater than 30 MPa.

Such mixtures are described in particular in the application WO 2011/045342 Al of the Applicants.

Table 1 below gives an example of such a formulation.

Table 1

(1) Natural rubber; (2) Carbon black N326 (designation according to ASTM D-1765); (3) novolac formophenolic resin ("Peracit 4536K" from Perstorp); (4) Zinc oxide (industrial grade - Umicore company); (5) Stearin ("Pristerene 4931" from Uniqema); (6) N-1,3-dimethylbutyl-N-phenyl-para-phenylenediamine (Santoflex 6-PPD from Flexsys); (7) Hexamethylenetetramine (from Degussa); (8) N-cyclohexyl-benzothiazyl sulphenamide (Santocure CBS from Flexsys).

This formulation makes it possible to obtain high rigidity mixtures, in particular thanks to the combined action of an epoxy resin and an amine hardener. The shear modulus G * measured under an alternating shear stress of 0.7 MPa at 10 Hz and 60 degrees Celsius is 30.3 MPa.

This very rigid material for circumferential reinforcements is preferably used in treads of low rigidity with dynamic modules G * less than 1.3 MPa and preferably less than or equal to 1.1 MPa.

The following Table 2 gives an example of a suitable formulation:

Table 2

The formulations are given in mass.

(a) SBR with 27% styrene, butadiene -1,2: 5%, cis-1,4: 15%, trans -1,4: 80% Tg -48 ° C (b) "Zeosilll65MP" silica from Solvay surface area BET 160m2 / g (c) Silane TESPT "SI69" from Evonik (d) TDAE oil "Flexon 630" from Shell (e) Resin "Escorez 2173" from Exxon (f) Antioxidant "Santoflex 6PPD Solutia (g) "Santocure CBS" accelerator from Solutia pce: part by weight per 100 parts of elastomer.

The dynamic modulus after vulcanization is 0.9 MPa.

The skilled person, tire designer can adapt the number and position of the circumferential reinforcing elements to obtain optimum resistance to tilting and shear ribs and carving elements and that for asymmetric tires or not.

Tests [0083] The rubber mixtures are characterized as indicated below.

The dynamic mechanical properties are well known to those skilled in the art. These properties are measured on a viscoanalyzer (Metravib VA4000) with specimens molded from raw mixtures or specimens glued together from vulcanized mixtures. The test pieces used are described in ASTM D 5992-96 (using the version published in September 2006 but initially approved in 1996) in Figure X2.1 (Circular Specimens). The diameter "d" of the test pieces is 10 mm (the circular section is thus 78.5 mm 2), the thickness "L" of each mixing portion is 2 mm, giving a ratio "d / L" of 5 (per opposition to the ISO 2856 standard, mentioned in paragraph X2.4 of the ASTM standard, which recommends a d / L value of 2).

The response of a sample of vulcanized composition subjected to a sinusoidal stress in alternating simple shear at the frequency of 10 Hz is recorded. The maximum shear stress imposed is 0.7 MPa.

The measurements are made with a temperature variation of 1.5 ° C per minute, a minimum temperature below the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the mixture or rubber to a maximum temperature greater than 100 ° C. vs. Before the beginning of the test, the test piece is conditioned at the minimum temperature for 20 minutes to ensure a good temperature homogeneity in the test piece.

The result used is in particular the value of the dynamic modulus G * at the temperature of 60 ° C.

The performance of the tires according to the objects of the invention were measured during the following tests: - Longitudinal braking distance: it measures the distance required to go from 80 to 20 km / h on wet ground. Drift rigidity: the axial lateral thrust force of the tire for a given drift angle is measured during rolling.

Charade Circuit Speed Test: The test consists of four laps and the selected performance is the average of four times. A test is carried out with control tires at the beginning and at the end of the tests in order to be able to correct a possible drift, for example linked to an evolution of the air temperature and ground temperature conditions.

Tests [0089] FIG. 14 very schematically shows a section of the tread of the tires used for the vehicle tests.

The tread 110 has four grooves 11, 12, 13 and 14. Two mixtures constitute the tread, the mixture 113 radially outer and the underlayer 115. It also comprises a circumferential reinforcement 112 comprising five elements of the tread. circumferential reinforcement 114, 116, 117, 118 and 119. The circumferential reinforcing elements 114, 116 and 118 are each disposed adjacent an outer face of one of the three outermost ribs. The circumferential reinforcing elements 119 and 120 are arranged adjacent to an inner face of one of the two innermost ribs. The third rib is thus reinforced by two circumferential reinforcing elements. Each circumferential reinforcing element is of substantially triangular shape, is intended to be in direct contact with the radially outer surface of the tire crown architecture of which the tread must be part and one of its side walls constitutes in part a face. lateral of a rib. The underlayer is interrupted by the circumferential reinforcing elements. In the case in point, the underlayer has an alternating dynamic shear modulus at 60 ° C of the order of 7 MPa.

The tread 110 test tires was made in a traditional way. A profile of length corresponding to a multiple of the perimeter of a test tire of the two mixtures constituting the tread 113 and the underlayer 115 was obtained by coextrusion. This profile had four grooves.

Profiles of the same length corresponding to the four circumferential reinforcing elements were also made by extrusion.

Then four volumes of mixture each corresponding to the volume and the shape of a circumferential reinforcing element were removed from the coextruded profile of the two tread mixtures with a heating gouge and the four were manually placed in place. circumferential reinforcement elements in the four volumes thus prepared.

The thus assembled treads were then set up in a manner well known to a person skilled in the art at the top of a tire to complete it. The complete tires were then vulcanized as usually in a baking press.

The reference tires are of Michelin brand, Pilot Sport 3 types, of size 225/45 R17, pressure 2.3 bars at the front and 2.7 bars at the rear and the vehicle of the test a Renault brand vehicle. Clio Cup.

These RI reference tires have a tread with a mixture whose dynamic shear modulus G * at 60 ° C is 1.4 MPa.

Other reference tires R2 have also been made. The tread of these tires is identical to that of FIG. 10 with the exception of the four circumferential reinforcement elements and the underlayer which are absent. These tires have a tread formed solely by the four circumferential grooves indicated.

The tread mixture of the reference tires R2 has a value of G * at 60 ° C. of 0.9 MPa.

The test tires E1 have a tread mixture whose G * value is 0.9 MPa and the circumferential reinforcing elements are made with a mixture whose G * value is 30 MPa. These tires El have a circumferential reinforcement corresponding to that of FIG. 10 but no underlayer.

Other tires E2 according to the invention were made with a tread and a circumferential reinforcement like El but in addition a sub-layer of dynamic modulus G * equal to 5 MPa. This underlayer is interrupted by the four circumferential reinforcement elements as shown in FIG.

The circumferential reinforcing elements have an angle between their side walls of 40 degrees.

Table 3

The use of a tread of lower stiffness very normally decreases the rigidity of drift of the tire and improves the braking performance on wet ground.

The tire tested according to the invention makes it possible to obtain a gain of 10 points in the braking performance on wet ground while finding a rigidity of drift comparable to that of the control R1.

Table 4

[00104] A gain is considered significant from 0.3 s on this circuit.

[00105] It can be seen that the use of a tread whose mixture is much less rigid results in a gain that is barely significant while the results

obtained with the tires comprising circumferential reinforcements according to the invention are very clearly marked.

The presence of circumferential reinforcements in the tread and allows to fully utilize the bond potential of tread mixtures of lower stiffness.

By the combination of the choice of the mixture of the tread, the choice of the mixture of the underlayer and circumferential reinforcements it is then possible for the tire designer to shift the compromises between the adhesion and the behavior respectively. rolling resistance, which is not achievable by the choice of a single material of the tread.

Claims (20)

A tire (1) having an axis of rotation and a median plane (EP) perpendicular to the rotational axis, and comprising: - two beads (4); - two sides (3) connected to the beads; - a top (2) connected to the ends of the two sides with: • a crown reinforcement (6); and a radially outer tread (9, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150), the tread comprising: a plurality of elements carving with side faces (11.1, 11.3, 12.1, 12.3, 13.1, 13.3, 14.1, 14.3) and a contact face intended to come into contact with the road during the rolling of the tire; a plurality of circumferential grooves (11, 12, 13, 14) each delimited by side faces of adjacent carving elements, facing each other and delimited by a bottom ( 11.2, 12.2, 13.2, 14.2); a circumferential reinforcement (20, 32, 42, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92, 102, 112, 122, 132) consisting of a rubber compound of rigidity greater than the rigidity of the rubber mix of the remainder of the strip; rolling ; characterized in that, the tire having an outer side (E) and an inner side (I), the circumferential reinforcement comprises a reinforcing member (22, 34, 36, 44, 46, 48, 54, 56, 58, 59 , 64, 66, 68, 69, 74, 76, 78, 79, 84, 86, 88, 89, 94, 96, 98, 104, 106, 108, 114, 116, 117, 118, 119, 124, 126 , 128, 129, 134, 136, 138, 139) disposed in the axially axially disposed carving members relative to one of the first (11) and second (12) circumferential grooves of the tread from the outside inwardly and axially near said circumferential groove, in that the reinforcing element extends radially from the radially outer surface of said crown reinforcement (6) outwardly of said tread with a width axially decreasing and over a partial or total height of the tread thickness and in that the elements Said axially axially disposed sculpture ts relative to said first (11) circumferential groove do not include reinforcing elements disposed near the axially inner faces of said groove. 2. A tire (1) according to claim 1, wherein the circumferential reinforcement (32, 42, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92, 102, 112, 122, 132) comprises two reinforcing elements placed respectively in the elements of adjacent exterior to the first (11) and second (12) circumferential grooves of the tread from outer to inner and axially proximate to said first (11) and second (12) circumferential grooves. A tire according to one of claims 1 and 2, wherein the tread (40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 140, 150) having at least three circumferential grooves (11, 12, 13), the circumferential reinforcement (42, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92, 102, 112) also includes a reinforcing member disposed in the tread elements adjacent to the outer circumferential groove (13) of the tread from the outside to the inside and axially close to said third circumferential groove. A tire according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the circumferential reinforcement (42, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92, 102, 112) comprises reinforcing elements placed in all the sculpture elements adjacent to an exterior surface. circumferentially grooving and axially near said circumferential grooves. A tire according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the circumferential reinforcement (52, 62, 72, 82, 112, 122, 132) also comprises a reinforcing member placed in the tread elements internally adjacent to the circumferential groove. the closest axially to the inner side of the tire. The tire according to claim 5, wherein, the tread having at least four circumferential grooves, the circumferential reinforcement (112, 132) comprises two reinforcing elements placed respectively in the tread elements adjacent internally to the first and to the tread. second circumferential grooves of the tread running from the inside out and axially near said first and second circumferential grooves. 7. A tire according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the circumferential reinforcing elements (122, 132) are symmetrically disposed relative to said median plane. 8. A tire according to claim 7, wherein, the tread (122) having a circumferential groove traversed by the median plane, two circumferential reinforcing elements are disposed axially close to and on either side of said circumferential groove traversed. by said median plane. A tire according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the angle of the two side walls of the reinforcing member (s) is between 35 and 45 degrees. 10. A tire according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, the reinforcing elements comprising a base (61), whose radial height is strictly less than the distance between the bottom of a circumferential groove and the radially outer surface of the crown reinforcement and a top portion (63), said upper portion extends radially outwardly to at least half the height of the side faces of the adjacent circumferential grooves. The tire of claim 10, wherein the upper portion of the reinforcing members constitutes at least a portion of the side face of the adjacent circumferential groove. Tire according to Claim 10, in which the upper part of the reinforcing elements (104, 106, 108) is arranged at an axial distance of 1 to 8 mm and preferably 2 to 5 mm from the lateral face of the circumferential groove. adjacent. A tire according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the base (71,81) of the reinforcing members extends axially under at least a portion of the bottoms of said adjacent circumferential grooves. A tire according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the base (61, 81) of the reinforcing members extends axially beneath the tread members on the side opposite the adjacent circumferential grooves. 15. A tire according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the bases (81) of the reinforcing elements are axially contiguous and extend axially over at least 50% of the axial width of the tread of the tire. 16. A tire according to claim 15, wherein the bases (81) of the axially contiguous reinforcing elements extend axially over at most the axial width of said crown reinforcement. Tire according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tread (110, 140, 150) comprises two separate rubber compounds (113, 115) axially arranged one above the other. 18. A tire according to any one of claims 10 to 16 taken in combination with claim 17, wherein the bases (61, 81) of the reinforcing elements extend axially between the radially outer surface of the crown reinforcement and said two rubber compounds (113, 115) of the tread. A tire according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rubber blend constituting the circumferential reinforcement has a dynamic modulus G * measured at 60 ° C at 10 Hz and under an alternating shear stress of 0.7 MPa greater than 20. MPa and preferably greater than 30 MPa. A tire according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tread rubber compound has a dynamic modulus G * measured at 60 ° C at 10 Hz and under an alternating shear stress of 0.7 MPa less than or equal to at 1.3 MPa and preferably less than 1.1 MPa.