The Goodyear & Tire Rubber Company

Jean-Claude Lucien Girard

Andres Ignacio Delgado

Mark Anthony Sieverding

William Dudley Currie

Michael Thomas Driscoll

Brett Alan Kasper

Dennis Alan Lundell

William Allen Rex

James Michael Hart

David Alan Henthorne

A tooling head for construction of a tire cord to an annular surface is provided having a first roller and a second roller for alternative engagement against the annular surface in a forward and a rearward direction, respectively, the first and second rollers having a spaced apart orientation and annular grooves defining a passageway between the rollers. A guide tube extends between the roller annular grooves within the passageway. A cord exiting guide tube end is axially offset to remote extremities of the first and second roller annular grooves and a first and second axially extending slits are formed within the guide tube opposite the roller annular grooves, respectively.

Applicator head for tire cord construction

A method of building a tire carcass onto a toroidally expanded building drum core is disclosed which comprises: transferring a breaker and tread package to a mold; loading the tire carcass at diameter Dinto the mold; toroidally expanding the tire carcass to a second diameter Dwherein the tire carcass and the breaker and tread package form an uncured tire assembly; curing the uncured tire assembly to form a cured tire in the mold; and removing the cured tire from the mold.

Radially expansible tire assembly drum and method for forming tires

A tooling head for bi-directional tire cord application to an annular surface reciprocates in a forward and a reverse direction across the annular surface. The tooling head includes a housing; a nose block assembly coupled to the housing and reciprocating in an axial direction relative to the tooling head housing; a pair of cord engaging rollers mounted to a remote end of the nose block assembly and moving therewith in a forward and a reverse direction across the annular surface, the rollers positioning at least one cord against the annular surface in the forward and reverse directions; and a biasing element engaging against the nose block assembly for alternatively biasing the rollers against the annular surface.

Spring loaded tooling head and method for tire cord application

Apparatus and a method for pre-cure application of an antenna assembly to a tire comprises the method steps: forming within a rigid core defining an interior surface of the tire a core recess complementarily configured to the antenna assembly; positioning the antenna assembly within the core recess; building an uncured carcass of the tire around the rigid core entrapping the antenna assembly within the core recess; cross-bonding the antenna assembly to the inner surface of the tire during a cure cycle; and removing the cured tire and assembly from the rigid core.

Method for incorporating an annular antenna and electronics into a tire

A cord tensioning mechanism for a tire cord applicator head includes a closed loop timing belt extending between spaced apart pulleys and a tension adjustment pulley pressuring the cord laterally against the timing belt sufficiently to place the cord into a desired tension.

Cord tensioning and feed mechanism for a tire cord applicator head

A segmented moldfor molding a tireis described which has a central axis; plurality of radially movable tread forming segments; two sidewall forming plates, a top sidewall forming plate, and a bottom sidewall forming plate; a top locking ringhaving a plurality of circumferentially spaced openingsfor locking the segments, each opening for lockingproviding a predetermined angular pathfor radially contracting the segmentsupon closing the moldin a locked position. The segmentedmold for molding a tirefurther has a bottom locking ringhaving a complementary plurality of circumferentially spaced openingsfor locking the segments, each opening for lockingproviding a predetermined angular path for radially contracting the segmentsupon closing the mold.

Self-locking tire mold apparatus

A segmented moldfor molding a tireis described which has a central axis; plurality of radially movable tread forming segments; two sidewall forming plates, a top sidewall forming plate, and a bottom sidewall forming plate; a top locking ringhaving a plurality of circumferentially spaced meansfor locking the segments, each means for lockingproviding a predetermined angular pathfor radially contracting the segmentsupon closing the moldin a locked position. The segmentedmold for molding a tirefurther has a bottom locking ringhaving a complementary plurality of circumferentially spaced meansfor locking the segments, each means for lockingproviding a predetermined angular path for radially contracting the segmentsupon closing the mold.

Method for curing tires using a self-locking tire mold

A method of building and transferring a treador a tread belt reinforcing assemblyon a building drumis disclosed. The steps include applying at least one uncured tread componentonto a radially collapsible building drum, inserting the at least one uncured tread componentand the radially collapsible building druminto an open segmented moldwherein a plurality of mold tread forming segmentsare radially expanded; contracting the plurality of mold tread forming segmentspressing into the at least one uncured tread component; collapsing the building drum; and removing the building drumthereby transferring the at least one uncured tread componentinto the mold. The preferred building drum apparatushas a portable radially expandable and axially rotatable support means; a drive meansfor rotating the support meansabout the axis, a plurality of arcuate or straight segmentsslidably mounted over the support means, the plurality of arcuate or straight segmentsforming an annular building surface; a meansfor radially expanding and contracting the radially expandable and axially rotatable support means; a means for receiving and accepting the tread or tread belt assembly while mounted on the plurality of arcuate or straight segmentsmounted onto the portable support means, the receiving meansbeing a segmented moldwith radially movable tread forming segments

Apparatus for tread belt assembly

A module for manufacturing a cured tire from a plurality of tire components is disclosed. The module has a plurality of component appliers located at spaced locations along a predetermined path, and a mobile tire building trolley for movement along the predetermined path and two detachable tire building drums for mounting on the movable trolley. A tire curing station has one tire mold for curing the assembled tire components while mounted on one of the detachable tire building drums. The tire is cured as the other detachable tire building drum on the mobile tire building trolley is having tire components applied. One or more of the plurality of component appliers includes a means for forming the tire component at the location of the applier. The applied components include a liner, a pair of bead cores, a ply, a pair of sidewalls, a pair of chafers, and one or more belt layers and a tread. Optionally the applied components may also include an apex, wedges, overlays, underlays, gum strips, and elastomeric inserts. The module has a means for transferring the detachable tire building drums to the tire mold and further has a means for extracting the cured tire while mounted on a tire building drum from the mold. The tire curing station includes an induction curing means.

Tire manufacturing module and method of manufacturing tires

Apparatus and method for molding a tire () with a radially expandable bead molding ring (). When expanded, the bead molding ring has a circumferentially continuous radially outward-facing surface () for molding the bead. The bead molding ring comprises a plurality of segments (), half of the segments being first segments () that are complementary to, and circumferentially alternated with second segments (). The first segments are wedge shaped, having circumferentially lateral faces () that converge towards the radially outward-facing bead molding surface of the bead molding ring, the first segment lateral faces being planar and oriented in the axial direction; and the second segments have lateral faces () that are complementary to the first segment lateral faces, such that radially outward movement of the first segments () causes radially outward movement of the second segments (). Guide rods () restrict first and second segments to radial movement () only. The elements of the bead molding ring are preferably combined in a single assembly () with the sidewall mold to form a unit that is easily maintained and changed to adapt to different profiles to be molded on beads of different tire constructions. Expansion of the bead molding ring can be driven by a simple wedging action caused by a single frustraconical cam

Radially expandable bead molding ring for a tire mold

Apparatus and method for molding a tire ( ) with an expandable bead molding ring assembly ( ) having a two-stage movement from a retracted and disengaged state, to a radially expanded state, to an expanded and engaged state for molding a tire bead ( ). The two-stage movement is accomplished using a simple assembly of easily manufactured parts, and is driven by a simple continuous downward (axially outward) movement ( ) of a hub ( ) of a mold press ( ). A combination of annular elements with springs converts the hub movement to the desired two-stage movement of segments ( ) of a segmented bead molding ring ( ). Frustraconical cam surfaces ( ) are used to divide axially directed forces ( ) from the mold press movement ( ) into radial force components ( ) and axial force components ( ) for causing corresponding radial movements ( ) and axial movements ( ) during the two stage movement. Spring resistances are balanced, and stopping surfaces are provided in order to control and properly sequence the two-stage movement. The elements of the expandable bead molding ring assembly are preferably assembled with a sidewall mold to form a single unit ( ) that is easily maintained and easily switched in and out of the mold press for mold changeover to adapt to different profiles to be molded on beads of different tire constructions.

Growing community of inventors

Copley, OH, United States of America

Jean-Claude Lucien Girard