CN113478880A - Crown band strip variable-amplitude corrugated winding method - Google Patents

Crown band strip variable-amplitude corrugated winding method Download PDF

Info

Publication number
CN113478880A
CN113478880A CN202110861934.4A CN202110861934A CN113478880A CN 113478880 A CN113478880 A CN 113478880A CN 202110861934 A CN202110861934 A CN 202110861934A CN 113478880 A CN113478880 A CN 113478880A
Authority
CN
China
Prior art keywords
crown
cap
wound
amplitude
strip
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
CN202110861934.4A
Other languages
Chinese (zh)
Other versions
CN113478880B (en
Inventor
田宝玉
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Future Tire Technology (Jiangsu) Co.,Ltd.
Original Assignee
Jiangsu Huanrou Tire Technology Co ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Jiangsu Huanrou Tire Technology Co ltd filed Critical Jiangsu Huanrou Tire Technology Co ltd
Publication of CN113478880A publication Critical patent/CN113478880A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CN113478880B publication Critical patent/CN113478880B/en
Active legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

Links

Images

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29DPRODUCING PARTICULAR ARTICLES FROM PLASTICS OR FROM SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE
    • B29D30/00Producing pneumatic or solid tyres or parts thereof
    • B29D30/06Pneumatic tyres or parts thereof (e.g. produced by casting, moulding, compression moulding, injection moulding, centrifugal casting)
    • B29D30/08Building tyres
    • B29D30/20Building tyres by the flat-tyre method, i.e. building on cylindrical drums
    • B29D30/30Applying the layers; Guiding or stretching the layers during application

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Tyre Moulding (AREA)
  • Tires In General (AREA)

Abstract

The invention provides a variable-amplitude corrugated winding method for a crown strip, which is characterized in that the crown strip is spirally wound on a belt drum or a common belt layer arranged on the belt drum in a corrugated shape in multiple sections through a winding head to form a crown strip layer, wherein a plurality of corrugated crown strips on the same section on the crown strip layer are wound and arranged into shapes with the same wavelength and the same amplitude, and the waveforms on adjacent sections are arranged into shapes with the same wavelength and different amplitudes. The length of the cap strip at the first side position and the second side position in the cap strip layer wound by the method is shorter than that at the middle position, namely the cap strip at the crown part with higher prestress in the cap strip layer is longer, and the cap strip at the shoulder part with relatively lower prestress is shorter, so that the technical problem of uneven prestress of the cap strip at different positions caused by vulcanization expansion of the tire is solved, and the service life of the tire is greatly prolonged.

Description

Crown band strip variable-amplitude corrugated winding method
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of tire manufacturing processes, in particular to a crown band variable-amplitude corrugated winding technology used for passenger radial tires and all-steel radial tires.
Background
The patent technology of "a pneumatic tire" disclosed by plystone, 2009, 11/18 describes that cords with different elastic moduli are respectively arranged on a crown part and a side wall part of the tire, a cord 7 with a higher elastic modulus is arranged on the crown part which is stressed greatly, and a cord 6 with a lower elastic modulus is arranged on the side wall part which is stressed less so as to avoid irregular deformation of the tire and improve the uniformity of the tire, but the process for manufacturing a belt ply by adopting the method is complex and has higher cost.
The patent technology of Guizhou tire products Limited in 2019, 9, 6.s discloses a method for preparing an all-steel radial tire by spirally winding a steel wire crown strip in an S shape, which describes that an S-shaped steel wire crown strip unit is prefabricated by using a winding machine on a belt bundle drum, and the prefabricated S-shaped steel wire crown strip unit is continuously and spirally wound to obtain an S-shaped steel wire crown strip layer with a corresponding width so as to inhibit the radial expansion of the tire and the like. After the tire is vulcanized and shaped, the steel wire crown strip at the tire crown and the tire shoulder of the tire has the problem of uneven prestress, namely the technical problems of large middle prestress and small prestress at two sides.
In summary, after the tire blank is sulfur-expanded, the problem of uneven prestress of the cap strips at different positions of the tire can be solved, and then the problem of uneven stress of the cap strips at different positions of the tire can be more serious when the tire is inflated, so that the technical problem is not properly solved, and the service life of the tire can be seriously influenced.
Disclosure of Invention
In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a method for winding a variable amplitude crown band, which comprises spirally winding a crown band onto a belt drum or onto a general belt layer disposed on the belt drum in a corrugated shape in multiple sections by a winding head to form a crown band, wherein a plurality of corrugated crown bands located on the same section on the crown band are wound and arranged in a shape having the same wavelength and the same amplitude, and the waveforms located on adjacent sections are arranged in a shape having the same wavelength and different amplitudes.
Preferably, the cap strip may be wound in a plurality of sections from a first side position to a middle position of the cap strip corresponding to the shoulder of the tire, and the cap strip of different sections from the first side position to the middle position is wound in a shape of increasing amplitude.
Preferably, the band may be wound in a plurality of sections from a central position to a second side position of the band layer corresponding to the crown of the tire, and the band of different sections from the central position to the second side position is wound in a shape with decreasing amplitude.
Preferably, the cap strip is continuously wound in a shape in which the peaks and the valleys substantially coincide and the amplitude increases and then decreases from the first side position, the middle position, and the direction of the second side position of the cap strip corresponding to the shoulder of the tire.
Preferably, said winding head winds the crown band strips onto the belt drum or onto the common belt layer with different oscillation amplitudes while the belt drum is rotating.
Preferably, the oscillation amplitude of the winding head is between 0 mm and ± 20 mm.
Preferably, the wavelength is wound between 5 mm and 500 mm.
Preferably, when a single layer of cap ply needs to be wound, the amplitude-variable corrugated cap ply strip on the cap ply is formed by winding one cap ply at a time, and adjacent cap ply in the cap ply are wound without overlapping.
Preferably, when multiple layers of cap plies are to be wound, the amplitude varying corrugated cap ply strip on each cap ply is formed by winding one cap ply at a time, and adjacent cap plies in each cap ply are wound without overlap.
Preferably, the crown band may be a steel wire crown band or an aramid crown band or a nylon crown band.
Preferably, the crown tape strips at the first side position and the second side position may be wound in an approximately linear shape.
In summary, the method for winding the variable-amplitude crown band by the corrugation disclosed by the invention is mainly used for winding the crown band onto a belt drum or a common belt layer by the sectional winding, the amplitude is gradually changed among the sections and the amplitude is gradually changed to form the crown band layer. The length of the cap strip at the first side position and the second side position in the cap strip layer wound by the method is shorter than that at the middle position, namely the cap strip at the crown part with higher prestress in the cap strip layer is longer, and the cap strip at the shoulder part with relatively lower prestress is shorter, so that the technical problem of uneven prestress of the cap strip at different positions caused by vulcanization expansion of the tire is solved, and the service life of the tire is greatly prolonged.
Drawings
In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without creative efforts.
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a tire of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a belt layer in the present invention.
Fig. 3 is a partial schematic view of a crown band of the present invention wound in multiple sections with varying amplitudes.
Fig. 4 is a partial schematic view of the present invention with the continuous winding and gradual amplitude change of the crown band.
Detailed Description
The technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. The embodiments described below are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the examples of the present invention without any creative effort belong to the protection scope of the present invention.
The cap ply layer 200 of the present invention is a belt ply formed by spirally winding a cap ply 10 formed by coating one or more cords with rubber in the circumferential direction, so as to distinguish a general belt ply. The cap ply can better restrict the circumferential stretching deformation of the pneumatic tire, reduce the heat generation in the rolling process of the tire, reduce the phenomena of shoulder hollowness, crown explosion and the like of the tire, and greatly prolong the service life of the tire. Compared with the traditional belt ply, the cap ply has few cord ends which are symmetrical left and right, the method is proper in the manufacturing process, and the uniformity of the tire can be greatly improved.
The technical content disclosed by the invention is specifically described as follows, and is shown in attached figures 1 to 4. In the cross-sectional view of the tire 1 shown in FIG. 1, the cap ply 200 is curved within the tire after the tire has been cured and sized for the cap ply 200. Therefore, the prestress generated at the shoulder and at the crown at different positions a, B and C are different. Particularly, the prestress gradually increases from the tire shoulder to the tire crown, and particularly, on a wide base tire (i.e., a tire with a large width of the tire crown), the curve slope of the cap ply 200 on the tire is large (i.e., the bending degree of the cap ply 200 is large), so the problem of uneven prestress generated at the cap ply at different positions is particularly prominent.
To this end, as shown in fig. 3, the present invention discloses a method of winding a variable amplitude crown strip, which lays a general belt layer 20 on a belt drum (not shown), and spirally winds a crown strip 10 onto the general belt layer 20 in a corrugated shape in multiple sections through a winding head (not shown) to form a crown strip layer 200, wherein a plurality of corrugated crown strip strips 10C and 10D on the same section (e.g., N3) on the crown strip layer 200 are wound and arranged in a shape having the same wavelength and the same amplitude, and the crown strip strips 10B and 10C on adjacent sections (e.g., N2 and N3) are wound and arranged in a shape having the same wavelength and different amplitudes. According to the invention, A, B, C crown straps 10A, 10B and 10C are wound into shapes with the same wavelength and different amplitudes by the crown strap amplitude-variable corrugation winding mode. Therefore, after the tire blank is vulcanized and expanded, the crown band 10C of the crown part with larger expansion force is longer, and the crown band 10B of the shoulder part with relatively smaller expansion force is shorter, namely, the technical problem of uneven prestress of the crown band at different positions of the tire is solved by a special winding process of winding the crown band. It should be noted that the invention can also directly wind the cap strip onto the belt drum in a wave shape with multi-section spiral by the winding head to form the cap strip, so as to overcome the technical problem of uneven prestress of the cap strip at different positions of the tire. The specific design can be selected according to the design requirements of the blind tire.
Further, the crown strip 10 of the present invention may be wound in a plurality of sections (only three sections N1 to N3 are taken as an example) from the first side position S1 to the middle position M of the crown strip layer 200 corresponding to the shoulder of the tire 1, and the crown strip 10A, 10B, 10C at different sections N1, N2, N3 from the first side position S1 to the middle position M is wound in a shape of increasing amplitude. Similarly, the crown band 10 according to the present invention may be wound in a plurality of sections (three sections N4 to N6 are merely exemplified) from the middle position M of the crown band layer 200 corresponding to the crown of the tire 1 to the second side position S2, and the crown bands of the crown bands 10E, 10F, 10G at different sections N4, N5, N6 from the middle position M to the second side position S2 are wound in a shape with decreasing amplitude. According to the invention, the cap strips with different amplitudes are wound corresponding to different areas of the tire in a segmented winding manner, namely, the cap strips with different lengths are wound in different areas of the tire, so that the problem of uneven prestress of the cap strips at different positions is solved, and the technical effect of prolonging the service life of the tire is further realized.
Further, as shown in fig. 4, the cap strip 10 according to the present invention may be continuously wound in a shape in which the peaks and the valleys are substantially maintained and the amplitude is increased and then decreased from the first side position S1, the middle position M, and the second side position S2 of the cap strip 200 corresponding to the shoulders of the tire 1. That is, the amplitude of the crown band increases when the crown band is wound from the first side position S1 to the middle position M, and decreases when the crown band is wound from the middle position to the second side position S2.
It should be noted that the winding method of the invention for the variable amplitude corrugation winding of the crown band strip (i.e. segmented winding or continuous winding) is characterized in that the winding head winds the crown band strip onto the belt drum or the common belt layer with different oscillation amplitudes while the belt drum rotates. In addition, according to the repeated verification of the applicant, when the swing amplitude of the winding head is between 0 mm and ± 20 mm, when the wavelength is wound between 5 mm and 500 mm, the uniformity of the manufactured passenger radial tire and all-steel radial tire is better.
In addition, the band strips at the first side position and the second side position of the present invention may be wound in an approximately linear shape, that is, the band strips when the swing amplitude of the winding head is 0 mm are wound in a linear form to the first side position and the second side position on the band layer 200; when a continuous gradual winding of the crown band strip is used, the limit mode of winding in sections is understood, that is to say, each winding of the crown band strip is a segment.
Preferably, the variable amplitude corrugated cap ply strip on the cap ply is formed by winding one cap ply (which may be a steel wire cap ply or an aramid cap ply or a nylon cap ply) at a time, and when a single layer of cap ply needs to be wound, the variable amplitude corrugated cap ply on the cap ply is formed by winding one cap ply at a time, and adjacent cap plies (only 10A to 10G are taken as examples) in the cap ply are wound in a non-overlapping manner; when a plurality of cap plies need to be wound, the variable-amplitude corrugated cap ply strip on each cap ply is formed by winding one cap ply at a time, and adjacent cap plies in each cap ply are wound in a non-overlapping manner, so that the uniformity and the service life of the tire are improved.
In summary, the method for winding the variable-amplitude crown band by the corrugation disclosed by the invention is mainly used for winding the crown band onto a belt drum or a common belt layer by the sectional winding, the amplitude is gradually changed among the sections and the amplitude is gradually changed to form the crown band layer. The length of the cap strip at the first side position and the second side position in the cap strip layer wound by the method is shorter than that at the middle position, namely the cap strip at the crown part with higher prestress in the cap strip layer is longer, and the cap strip at the shoulder part with relatively lower prestress is shorter, so that the technical problem of uneven prestress of the cap strip at different positions caused by vulcanization expansion of the tire is solved, and the uniformity and the service life of the tire are greatly improved.
The above description is only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention, and any modifications, equivalents, improvements and the like that are within the spirit and principle of the present invention are intended to be included therein.

Claims (11)

1. A method for winding a crown band with variable amplitude corrugation, which forms a crown band by spirally winding the crown band on a belt drum or a common belt layer laid on the belt drum in a corrugated shape in multiple sections through a winding head, is characterized in that: the plurality of wave-shaped cap band strips positioned on the same section on the cap band layer are wound and arranged into shapes with the same wavelength and the same amplitude, and the wave-shaped cap band strips positioned on the adjacent sections are arranged into shapes with the same wavelength and different amplitudes.
2. The crown band variable amplitude corrugating method as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the cap strip may be wound in a plurality of sections from a first side position to a middle position of the cap strip corresponding to the shoulder of the tire, and the cap strip of different sections from the first side position to the middle position is wound in a shape of increasing amplitude.
3. The crown band variable amplitude corrugating method as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the crown band can be divided into a plurality of sections from the middle position of the crown band layer corresponding to the crown of the tire to the second side position for winding, and the crown band of different sections from the middle position to the second side position is wound into a shape with the amplitude decreasing progressively.
4. The crown band variable amplitude corrugating method as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the cap strip is continuously wound in a shape in which peaks and valleys are substantially kept consistent and an amplitude is increased and then decreased in a direction from a first side position, a middle position, and a second side position of the cap strip corresponding to a shoulder of the tire.
5. The crown band variable amplitude corrugating method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: the winding head winds the crown strip onto the belt drum or onto the ordinary belt layer with different amplitudes of oscillation while the belt drum rotates.
6. The crown band variable amplitude corrugating method as claimed in claim 5, wherein: the amplitude of oscillation of the winding head is between 0 mm and ± 20 mm.
7. The crown band variable amplitude corrugating method as claimed in claim 6, wherein: the wavelength is wound between 5 mm and 500 mm.
8. The crown band variable amplitude corrugating method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: when a single layer of cap ply needs to be wound, the amplitude-variable corrugated cap ply strip on the cap ply is formed by winding one cap ply at a time, and adjacent cap ply in the cap ply are wound in a non-overlapping mode.
9. The crown band variable amplitude corrugating method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: when multiple layers of cap plies need to be wound, the amplitude-variable corrugated cap ply strip on each cap ply is formed by winding one cap ply at a time, and adjacent cap plies in each cap ply are wound in a non-overlapping manner.
10. The crown band variable amplitude corrugating method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: the crown band may be a steel wire crown band or an aramid or nylon crown band.
11. The crown band variable amplitude corrugating method as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein: the crown tape strips at the first side location and/or the second side location may be wound in an approximately linear shape.
CN202110861934.4A 2021-07-26 2021-07-29 Variable-amplitude corrugated winding method for crown strap Active CN113478880B (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN2021108413515 2021-07-26
CN202110841351 2021-07-26

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CN113478880A true CN113478880A (en) 2021-10-08
CN113478880B CN113478880B (en) 2023-06-23

Family

ID=77943425

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CN202110861934.4A Active CN113478880B (en) 2021-07-26 2021-07-29 Variable-amplitude corrugated winding method for crown strap

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CN (1) CN113478880B (en)

Citations (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2000033806A (en) * 1998-07-17 2000-02-02 Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd:The Pneumatic radial tire
JP2000052711A (en) * 1998-08-06 2000-02-22 Bridgestone Corp Pneumatic radial tire for heavy load and manufacture thereof
EP1284203A1 (en) * 2001-08-07 2003-02-19 Continental Aktiengesellschaft Tire with a belt bandage
JP2003305781A (en) * 2002-04-15 2003-10-28 Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd:The Method for controlling winding of strip material
JP2004161026A (en) * 2002-11-08 2004-06-10 Sumitomo Rubber Ind Ltd Pneumatic tire
US20050139324A1 (en) * 2002-05-29 2005-06-30 Michelin Recherche Et Technique S.A. Apparatus for applying a strip to a rotary surface
JP2009196601A (en) * 2008-02-25 2009-09-03 Bridgestone Corp Pneumatic tire
JP2009292000A (en) * 2008-06-04 2009-12-17 Bridgestone Corp Method of producing pneumatic tire and apparatus therefor
JP2010111084A (en) * 2008-11-10 2010-05-20 Bridgestone Corp Method for manufacturing radial tire for aircraft, and radial tire for aircraft
JP2013169877A (en) * 2012-02-21 2013-09-02 Sumitomo Rubber Ind Ltd Pneumatic tire
US20160075181A1 (en) * 2013-04-25 2016-03-17 Bridgestone Corporation Aircraft tire
CN207510158U (en) * 2017-08-23 2018-06-19 天津恒泰善驰科技有限公司 A kind of tire
CN110202810A (en) * 2019-06-05 2019-09-06 贵州轮胎股份有限公司 A kind of method that steel wire cap strip " S " type spiral winding prepares all-steel radial tyre

Patent Citations (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2000033806A (en) * 1998-07-17 2000-02-02 Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd:The Pneumatic radial tire
JP2000052711A (en) * 1998-08-06 2000-02-22 Bridgestone Corp Pneumatic radial tire for heavy load and manufacture thereof
EP1284203A1 (en) * 2001-08-07 2003-02-19 Continental Aktiengesellschaft Tire with a belt bandage
JP2003305781A (en) * 2002-04-15 2003-10-28 Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd:The Method for controlling winding of strip material
US20050139324A1 (en) * 2002-05-29 2005-06-30 Michelin Recherche Et Technique S.A. Apparatus for applying a strip to a rotary surface
JP2004161026A (en) * 2002-11-08 2004-06-10 Sumitomo Rubber Ind Ltd Pneumatic tire
JP2009196601A (en) * 2008-02-25 2009-09-03 Bridgestone Corp Pneumatic tire
JP2009292000A (en) * 2008-06-04 2009-12-17 Bridgestone Corp Method of producing pneumatic tire and apparatus therefor
JP2010111084A (en) * 2008-11-10 2010-05-20 Bridgestone Corp Method for manufacturing radial tire for aircraft, and radial tire for aircraft
JP2013169877A (en) * 2012-02-21 2013-09-02 Sumitomo Rubber Ind Ltd Pneumatic tire
US20160075181A1 (en) * 2013-04-25 2016-03-17 Bridgestone Corporation Aircraft tire
CN207510158U (en) * 2017-08-23 2018-06-19 天津恒泰善驰科技有限公司 A kind of tire
CN110202810A (en) * 2019-06-05 2019-09-06 贵州轮胎股份有限公司 A kind of method that steel wire cap strip " S " type spiral winding prepares all-steel radial tyre

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CN113478880B (en) 2023-06-23

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
JP5677384B2 (en) Pneumatic tire manufacturing method and pneumatic tire
US8137495B2 (en) Method of producing a pneumatic tire
CN101310966B (en) Manufacturing method of pneumatic tire
WO2012002111A1 (en) Pneumatic tire
EP1847408B1 (en) Tire for an aircraft and method for producing the same
JP6848319B2 (en) Pneumatic tires
JP6516952B2 (en) Pneumatic tire
JPH09323504A (en) Reinforcing ply for elastomer product and its manufacture
CN113478880A (en) Crown band strip variable-amplitude corrugated winding method
JP2022516084A (en) Web structure for non-pneumatic tires and how to make it
JP2002339278A (en) Steel cord for reinforcing tire and tire
JP3611421B2 (en) Tire cord and tire cord arrangement structure
JP2008168807A (en) Pneumatic tire, and method of manufacture thereof
JP5331564B2 (en) Aircraft tire
US20100084070A1 (en) Radial tire for use in aircraft and method of producing the same
JP4905963B2 (en) Pneumatic tire
WO2014073303A1 (en) Pneumatic tire and production method therefor
JP2002301906A (en) Radial tire
EP2032374B1 (en) Tyre for vehicle wheels
WO2004065686A1 (en) Reinforcement material for rubber, rubber product using the material and method for producing the product, pneumatic tire using the material and method for producing the tire
CN211543154U (en) Heavy-duty radial tire with non-joint woven multi-layer winding belt ply structure
JP2006159691A (en) Method for molding pneumatic tire and winding structure of ribbon-like strip used in it
JP2020104546A (en) Pneumatic tire
CN216708925U (en) Semi-steel radial tire
JP2014065437A (en) Pneumatic dire

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PB01 Publication
PB01 Publication
SE01 Entry into force of request for substantive examination
SE01 Entry into force of request for substantive examination
GR01 Patent grant
GR01 Patent grant
TR01 Transfer of patent right
TR01 Transfer of patent right

Effective date of registration: 20230908

Address after: No. 36 Chaohu Road, Hongze Economic Development Zone, Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province, 223113

Patentee after: Future Tire Technology (Jiangsu) Co.,Ltd.

Address before: 215000 room b308, No. 388 Ruoshui Road, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou area, China (Jiangsu) pilot Free Trade Zone, Suzhou, Jiangsu

Patentee before: Jiangsu huanrou Tire Technology Co.,Ltd.