WO2012007702A1

WO2012007702A1 - Method for attaching a transponder to a vehicle tyre

Info

Publication number: WO2012007702A1
Application number: PCT/FR2011/051706
Authority: WO
Inventors: Thierry Penot; Pierre Voissier; Francisco Mingorance
Original assignee: Societe De Technologie Michelin; Michelin Recherche Et Technique S.A.
Priority date: 2010-07-16
Filing date: 2011-07-18
Publication date: 2012-01-19
Also published as: FR2962690A1; FR2962690B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for attaching a radiofrequency transponder (11) to a vehicle tyre, comprising: placing the transponder on a template (6); placing the template such that is abuts against the tyre and such that the abutment forms an obstacle to the sliding of the template in at least one direction locally parallel to a surface of the tyre; attaching the transponder to the tyre in a position defined by the template; and removing the template.

Description

Method for attaching a transponder to a vehicle tire

The invention relates to vehicle wheel tires.

It is known, for example from document EP-1 977 912, to place in a vehicle wheel tire a radio frequency identification transponder, also called radio-tag or RFID (for English radio frequency identification or radio frequency identification) ). The transponder is disposed in one of the two sidewalls of the tire. It can record information, especially relating to the manufacture of the tire, which can then be read remotely at different stages of the use and life of the tire by means of a suitable reader.

The tires are thus equipped with transponders for reasons of traceability, inventory or fleet monitoring in particular. When the use of radio frequency transponders on the tires will be generalized, it is planned to incorporate the transponder to the tire during its manufacture and typically during the production of the raw blank, prior to the cooking of the tire. rubber. At present, it is common that one wants to equip such a transponder tire after manufacture or even after assembly and use on a vehicle. This is particularly the case when an operator is entrusted with a fleet of vehicles equipped with tires which he must manage, in particular monitor wear, service life and ensure timely replacement. And when the operator is himself a tire manufacturer, he may then be in a position to support tires manufactured by a competitor.

The transponder attachment must be robust to withstand the use of the vehicle. It must be precise and reproducible so that the transponder is easily read. The transponder is generally fixed on an external or internal face of the tire sidewall. However, it is a non-planar area and whose curvature varies and even changes direction when traversing the radial direction of the tire. In practice, the operation is conducted by hand and requires a lot of attention to detail and dexterity, which makes it relatively expensive.

An object of the invention is to position a transponder on a tire sidewall in a simple, fast and precise manner.

For this purpose, there is provided, according to the invention, a method for attaching a radio frequency transponder to a vehicle tire, wherein:

the transponder is placed on a template;

the template is placed in abutment against the tire so that the stop forms an obstacle to a sliding of the jig in at least one direction locally parallel to one face of the tire;

the transponder is fixed to the tire in a position defined by the jig; and

- remove the template.

Thus, by fixing the transponder in a predetermined position relative to the template and then fixing the latter in a predetermined position against the tire, the transponder is fixed to the tire in a reliable, precise and reproducible manner. Even when done by hand, the process is easy and quick to implement using this tool. The cost of fitting the transponder on the tire is therefore reduced.

Advantageously, the method is used after baking the tire.

Although the method is applicable for attaching a transponder to a green tire blank, it is particularly advantageous when the gum is already cooked.

Advantageously, the template comprising two faces delimiting a housing, the transponder is fixed to the template so that the transponder extends completely out of the housing.

Preferably, a support is fixed to the template, the transponder is fixed to the support and the latter is fixed to the tire.

Thus, the use of the support avoids dirtying the template with the means used to fix the transponder to the tire, for example an adhesive. It is therefore possible to fix the transponder to the support by such means without putting the latter in contact with the template. The implementation of the process is also accelerated.

Advantageously, the support is a sheet of paper, especially nonstick.

Such a support allows a simple, fast, accurate and reliable positioning of the transponder on the tire. It can be fixed permanently to the tire with the transponder and thus greatly facilitates the attachment of the latter to the tire. Given its fragility, the sheet of paper disintegrates completely when the vehicle begins to roll.

Preferably, the template comprises two faces delimiting a housing and the tire is placed in abutment against the faces and in the housing.

Advantageously, the template is placed in abutment against both a heel and a face of the tire. This placement ensures a particularly accurate positioning of the transponder on the flank, curvilinear abscissa along the radial direction. It does not determine in itself the position of the transponder with respect to the circumferential direction of the tire, but this position is less critical given the overall symmetry of revolution of the tire about its axis.

Advantageously, the transponder is bonded to the tire, in particular with silicone.

According to the invention, a tire comprising a mass of rubber and a transponder attached to the mass of rubber is also provided by means of a method according to the invention.

Also provided according to the invention a template for fitting a radio frequency transponder on a vehicle tire, which comprises:

at least two bearing faces forming an angle less than 180 ° and preferably less than 90 °, and delimiting a housing, and

a positioning zone of a transponder comprising means for fixing the transponder to the jig, the fastening means extending integrally out of the housing.

This template allows the implementation of the method according to the invention. The angle of less than 180 ° makes it possible to place the template both in abutment against the heel and the sidewall of the tire. If the angle is less than 90 °, the probability of being able to put the jig in surface contact with one face of the bead or one face of the sidewall at least, in order to achieve an even more stable support of the jig on the tire, is further increased. .

Preferably, the fixing means are entirely mechanical, the fixing means comprising for example a jaw.

Advantageously, the template comprises means for adjusting at least one dimension of the template.

Thus, the template can be adapted to the model of the tire on which the transponder is to be fixed. It is also possible to set the correct position at the end of a test phase.

Preferably, the adjustment means are arranged to modify a position of the fastening means without modifying a relative position of the two faces, in particular a position of the fastening means with respect to one of the faces adapted to abut against a heel of the pneumatic.

Advantageously, the template has at least one graduated scale indicating a position of the fixing means.

It is thus possible to precisely locate the position of the transponder following a curvilinear abscissa along the radial direction of the tire on the side of the flank although the latter is not rectilinear in this direction. We can also record this position.

Finally, according to the invention, there is provided a set of installation of a radio frequency transponder on a tire, which comprises a template according to the invention and at least one sheet having a drawing of a location for receiving a transponder.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the following description of an embodiment and a variant given as non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

- Figures 1, 2 and 3 are three perspective views of a template according to one embodiment of the invention, Figure 2 further showing a support sheet of the transponder carried by the template;

FIGS. 4 to 6 are three views showing three respective steps of the method of laying the transponder on a tire by means of the jig of FIGS. 1 to 3; and

- Figure 7 is a perspective view showing an alternative embodiment of the template.

A method of laying a transponder on a tire 2 of a vehicle wheel, and the template used for the implementation of this method will be described below. The vehicle may be a passenger vehicle, a commercial vehicle, a heavy vehicle or a civil engineering vehicle, and may include two, three, four or more wheels.

The tire 2 has in particular an apex area intended to be in contact with the road, two sidewalls 26 forming lateral zones and a main axis of symmetry. The crown zone has an outer face having a generally cylindrical shape with respect to the axis while the flanks have an annular shape.

The tire comprises gum formed of a mixture of different constituents, including natural rubber, synthetic rubber and chemical additives (sulfur, carbon black, oil, etc.). It also includes textile and / or metal cables.

The tire 2 comprises a transponder 11 or radiofrequency identification tag, visible in FIG. 2. The transponder is of a type known in itself and is composed of a semiconductor chip, an antenna and means capable of reading and writing data in the chip. The communication with the transponder is done remotely by radiofrequency. For this, a specially adapted reader for this purpose sends a request to the transponder which is in the field of the reader and the transponder responds immediately, all according to a predetermined communication protocol. The chip has a memory in which the reader can, depending on the case, read or write data. For this, the reader emits radio waves and then listens to the answer or answers provided by the transponder which is in its reading field. The transponder is in this case intended for communication by radio waves but it could be expected that it is suitable for communication by electromagnetic field. The transponder is for example designed to communicate at the frequencies of 869 MHz and / or 915 MHz. It is linearly polarized in this case.

It is in this case a passive transponder, so does not include autonomous power supply means. The transponder is powered only when it receives electromagnetic waves from a reader, these waves inducing a current in the antenna of the transponder. The energy recovery is done through the antenna of the transponder which provides an AC voltage induced at its terminals by the radio waves of the reader, which voltage must be rectified, filtered and adjusted to power the rest of the integrated circuit transponder.

In this case, it is a transponder with multiple reads and writes. It is mounted blank on the tire and can then several times receive data in writing, make a modification of these data, a deletion of this data, an addition of data and be read.

Nevertheless, one could provide a transponder of another type, for example a transponder with which writing is possible only once and reading several times. In this case, the transponder is delivered blank, then is the subject of a single writing phase. It then falls into read-only mode and data writing is no longer possible. Only the data recorded in the transponder can be read.

The transponder can comprise for example all or part of the following data:

- the reference code and the serial number of the tire;

- the date and place of delivery;

- information on the delivery circuit ...

The jig 6 serving to place the transponder 11 on the tire 2 is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3. It is made entirely of metal in the present embodiment. It could, however, be realized in one or more materials, especially plastics.

The jig 6 comprises a body 8 here in one piece and formed by a sheet cut and folded. It has three parts each substantially planar, namely a proximal end portion 10, a medial portion 12 and a distal end portion 14. The proximal end portion and the medial portion extend into planes substantially perpendicular to each other at a right angle visible in Figure 1. The proximal end portion comprises three tabs 16a, 16b and 16c delimited by opening the wall of this portion from its free end edge to arrive at the middle portion. The two legs 16a, 16c farthest from each other are folded on one side of the middle part while the other leg 16b is folded in the opposite direction but in the same plane as the first two legs.

The distal end portion 14 is folded on the same side of the medial portion 8 as the tabs 16a and 16c. It is however folded only at an angle of about 45 °. It thus extends facing the inner face 18 of the tabs 16a, 16c.

The inner face 18 thereof, the inner face 20 of the middle portion 12 and the inner face 22 of the distal end portion 14 extending opposite one another, define a housing 21 and form faces of abutment for putting the jig in support against a heel 24 and a sidewall 26 of a tire as discussed below. The faces 18 and 20 form an angle of 90 ° and the faces 18 and 22 an angle of approximately 45 °.

The template 6 further comprises a carrier 30 also formed in this case in one piece, here in a sheet cut and folded. The bearing 30 has a general rectangular shape in plan. The bearing has a substantially planar shape with the exception of a central rear leg 32 cut from the rear edge of the bearing and folded away from the body and at right angles to the rest of the bearing. Are also arranged in the same direction from the other edge of the bearing two front tabs 34. These three tabs are arranged symmetrically with respect to a general plane of symmetry of the template 6.

The bearing is supported by a lower face against an upper face of the distal end portion of the body 8. The jig 6 comprises means for fixing the bearing 30 to the body 8 for adjusting a position of the first relative to the second following sliding direction. In the present case, these means comprise two rectilinear slides 36 passing through the bearing wall and extending parallel to each other and to the general plane of symmetry of the template. The slides 36 form through-holes in the wall of the wearing.

The jig 6 comprises through members such as screw connections 38 and nut 40, one for each slide. The head of the screw is rigidly permanently attached to the body while its rod passes through the corresponding slide 36 and receives the nut 40. The latter has, in this case, a knurled outer face. It can be loosened so as to slide the bearing relative to the body along the slides. The nuts can be tightened on the screws so as to rigidly immobilize the bearing on the body.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the position of the bearing 30 with respect to the body 8 may be easily chosen or marked by virtue of the fact that the template comprises at least one graduated scale and in this case two parallel scales 50 which are here respectively graduated in centimeters and inches. These scales are here borne by the inner face of the bearing 30 and partially hidden by the body which slides over. This masking varies according to the position of the body relative to the bearing and thus allows to identify precisely the latter. It is thus easy to change the configuration of the template when changing the tire model and find the same configuration when treating a tire of a model already encountered.

The bearing 30 comprises a jaw or tongue rigidly fixed by a rear end to the upper face of the bearing. This jaw is made of a spring material such as a metal so that the front end of the jaw can be easily removed from the upper wall of the bearing against which it comes into elastic support. As will be seen in the following, this arrangement makes it possible to clamp between the body of the carrier and the jaw 42 a support such as a sheet of paper 44. The free end of the jaw is then applied against the upper face of the sheet and press it against the upper face of the door. In this position, the rectilinear rear edge 46 of the sheet abuts against the tabs 34. The body and the jaw thus form means for fixing the support to the template which are in this case entirely mechanical. The holder also carries a clamp 48 which serves to lift the jaw to place the sheet 44 under the jaw, but we could dispense with this clamp. The means for fixing the support, the jaw and the clamp extend entirely from an outer side of the template, out of the housing 21 and at a distance from the latter.

We will now present an embodiment of the method according to the invention for fixing the transponder 11 to the tire 2.

In this case, it is a question of fixing the transponder to a tire whose gum is cooked. With reference to FIG. 3, it is assumed that the carrier 30 is rigidly attached to the body 8 occupying a position corresponding to the tire in question. If this is not the case, we can loosen the nuts 40 to change this position by locating with one of the scales 50.

Firstly, a sheet of paper 44 is immobilized at the bearing 30 with the jaw 42 as already described with reference to FIG. 2. The rear edge 46 of the sheet is abutted against the tabs 34. The sheet, of rectangular shape, is arranged symmetrically with reference to the general plane of symmetry of the template. The sheet is thus fixed rigidly in a predetermined position relative to the template 6. It extends integrally out of the housing 21 which is on the other side of the template.

The sheet 44 may be made of non-stick paper, for example parchment paper (obtained by treatment with sulfuric acid to make it impermeable to water and / or grease). It may also be a paper coated with PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) on at least the face intended to receive the bead 52. This is for example a sheet of 39 g / m ² to 5.5% d humidity having a thickness of 50.80 microns, without all these values being limiting, other values that can be chosen. For example, the paper marketed under the reference GF244003 may be used by Stevenson Paper Company.

The sheet has a printed location 51 delimited by means of one or more lines, here in dashed lines. The location has an elongated shape and dimensions enabling it to receive the transponder 11. In order to be made visible in FIG. 2, the location has been illustrated on the upper face of the sheet 44. However, the location is actually drawn on its underside that will carry the transponder.

Referring to Figure 4, there is a bead 52 of an adhesive, in this case silicone, in the location 51.

The transponder 11 is then installed in the slot by embedding it in this bead. The transponder then also extends completely out of the housing 21.

Referring to Figure 5, is then brought the template 6 carrying the sheet which itself carries the transponder facing the heel 24 of the sidewall of the tire to which we want to fix the transponder. The heel forms the periphery of the inner circumference of the flank. It is assumed here that the transponder must be fixed against an inner face 54 of the sidewall. Without putting the template or the sheet in contact with this face, we place them facing this face by putting the faces 18 and 20 of the body in abutment against the heel 24. The latter thus forms a reference of position for the template 6 on the tire in the radial direction to the latter.

While maintaining this stop, the template is tilted with respect to the tire in the direction indicated by the arrows 56 in FIG. 5. This is a rotation about the axis formed locally by the tangent to the heel 24. This rotation has the result of applying the cord 52 with the transponder against the face 54. The template is now abutted both against the heel in the radial direction and against the face 56 in a direction close to the axial direction by reference to the main axis of the tire. The face 18 is in surface contact with a face of the heel while the face 20 is in surface contact with the birth of the face 54 of the sidewall, thus both ensuring a stable positioning of the template on the tire. The tire then extends into the housing 21. The faces 18 and 20 of the template form an obstacle preventing a relative sliding of the template and the tire in a direction locally parallel to the face 54 of the tire, this direction being perpendicular to the heel against which the template is in abutment.

Thanks to the stop made and maintained by the template against the tire during this movement, the transponder is applied to the sidewall in a position determined by the shape of the template, the adjustment of the position of the bearing relative to the body and the abutment of the sheet against the tabs 34. Despite the non-rectilinear shape of the face 54 in the radial direction of the tire, no hazard occurs in the positioning of the transponder on the sidewall along this direction. Furthermore, it is not necessary to respect a particularly precise positioning of the template along the heel 24, in the circumferential direction of the tire, because this dimension is not critical for the positioning of the transponder.

Once this position of the transponder is reached on the tire, the sheet 44 is held against the sidewall while freeing it from the jaw 42, removing the jig and moving away from the tire as shown in FIG.

The adhesive is then allowed to dry for final attachment of the transponder to the gum.

Subsequently, during rolling, the cord 52 firmly holds the transponder in position on the sidewall while the sheet 44 disintegrates into tiny particles.

This method has the advantage that the tire is clean after the implementation and does not require special cleaning. It allows the installation of the transponder inside and outside the tire. The pose is fast, easy, accurate, reliable and reproducible with respect to the position of the transponder on the tire. It is thus possible to obtain a series or a population of tires whose transponders occupy the same position in a radial direction on the sidewall. The method makes it possible to reproduce the positioning of the transponder with a precision of the order of a millimeter. The process, in particular, does not require the use of an instrument such as a silver pencil which is an anti-stick and has the disadvantage of generating detachment primers in some cases.

The invention can in particular be implemented within a retreading installation. The method can be used by a user who seeks to improve the traceability of the tires for which he is responsible. The invention can be implemented regardless of the tire model.

An alternative embodiment of the template has been illustrated in FIG. 7. In this, the distal end portion of the body 8 as well as the holder 30 both have a slightly curved shape with a center of curvature lying on the same side of these elements that the rest of the body 8. This curvature allows him to follow the curvature of the face 56 of the flank. The other elements of the template are identical to those of the first embodiment and have not been described further.

Of course, we can bring to the invention many changes without departing from the scope thereof.

It will be possible to secure the actual attachment of the transponder to the tire by means other than a bead of silicone. In particular, it is possible to use an assembly formed by two layers of raw rubber between which a transponder is sandwiched and fix this assembly to a shaped green tire blank intended to be fired for the vulcanization of the rubber.

The invention can be implemented using a transponder support other than a sheet of paper. It could for example be a flexible or rigid support and not intended to be left on the tire.

Claims

1. Method for attaching a radio frequency transponder (11) to a vehicle tire (2), characterized in that:

the transponder is placed on a jig (6);

- The template is placed in abutment against the tire so that the stop forms an obstacle to a sliding of the template in at least one direction locally parallel to a face of the tire;

the transponder is fixed to the tire in a position defined by the jig; and

- remove the template.

2. Method according to the preceding claim wherein it implements the process after baking the tire.

3. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims wherein, the template comprising two faces (18, 20) defining a housing (21), the transponder is fixed to the template so that the transponder extends completely out of the housing. housing.

4. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims wherein a support (44) is fixed to the template (6), the transponder (11) is fixed to the support (44) and the latter is fixed to the tire (2). .

5. Method according to the preceding claim wherein the support (44) is a sheet of paper, especially nonstick.

6. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims wherein, the template comprising two faces (18, 20) defining a housing (21), the tire is placed in abutment against the faces and in the housing.

7. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims wherein the template (6) abuts against both a bead (24) and a face (54) of the tire.

8. Method according to at least one of the preceding claims wherein the transponder (11) is bonded to the tire (2), in particular with silicone (52).

Pneumatic tire (2) comprising a mass of rubber and a transponder (11) attached to the mass of rubber by means of a method according to at least one of the preceding claims.

10. Template (6) for laying a radio frequency transponder (11) on a vehicle tire (2), characterized in that it comprises: at least two support faces (18, 20) forming an angle of less than 180 ° and preferably less than 90 °, and delimiting a housing (21), and

11. Template according to the preceding claim wherein the fixing means are entirely mechanical, the fixing means comprising for example a jaw (42).

12. Template according to at least one of claims 10 to 11, which comprises means (36, 38, 40) for adjusting at least one dimension of the template.

13. Template according to the preceding claim wherein the adjustment means (36, 38, 40) are arranged to change a position of the fastening means (42) without changing a relative position of the two faces (18, 20), including a position fastening means (42) relative to one (18) of the faces adapted to abut against a bead (24) of the tire.

14. Set of installation of a radio frequency transponder (11) on a tire (2), characterized in that it comprises a jig (6) according to at least one of claims 10 to 13 and at least one sheet (44) having a drawing (51) of a receiving location of a transponder.