Tire with self-repairing mechanism

Abstract

A new type of tire is presented, in which there is no air leakage when nails puncture the tire. The broken part is repaired automatically by a self-repairing mechanism. The selfrepairing unit consists of two rubber sheets with internal lattices. Polymer particles, which expand their volume on adding water, are inserted into the lattices. The unit is adhered to the inside wall of the tire. Coolant fluid diluted with water is introduced to the polymers uniformly. In this system, the polymer particles expand with water-diluted coolant fluid, and become gel. Hence, they stop air leakages in the tire. Fundamental experiments are performed, and optimum conditions are found. This technique is also applied to real tires, and it is ascertained that there is no air leakage when the tire is punctured by nails. Copyright © 2006 by The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.