The Goodyear & Tire Rubber Company

Robert K Rossi

Roger E Payne

John A Lovell

Charles John Pearson

Charles L Makinson

David A Du Vernay

James B Knizely

A cured rubber tire has adhered thereto a layer of heated and mixed, productive urethane composition fluid sidewall material which has been flowed from a nozzle into a groove in the sidewall of a shaped tire. The tire is rotated under the nozzle a distance equal to the circumferential length of the groove so that the ends of the layer may be joined after which the flow of productive urethane composition sidewall material is terminated.

Apparatus for applying polyurethane layer to tire sidewall

The method of molding a pneumatic tire having a radially outer tread portion, a tire casing underlying the tread portion and a reinforcing cord belt interposed between the tread portion and casing in which the tread portion is spin cast and then partially cured in the mold, the reinforcing cord belt is then fastened to the tread portion, a core inserted in the mold and the tire casing spin cast and cured. The reinforcing cord belt may be adhered to the tread portion by staples or a skim coat adhesive to hold the belt in place during the spin casting of the tire casing.

Process for casting reinforced tires

Tire cord fabric is processed by supporting a section of fabric and adjusting the warp cords to hang so that they are evenly distributed in a longitudinal direction. The fabric is then clamped in place and a dilute reactive polyurethane solution is sprayed to wet the cords on both sides of the fabric so that the coating on the cords is extremely thin and acts as a sizing material for the fabric to give it dimensional stability and preserve the interstices of the cords. The fabric is then heated to evaporate the solvent and cause the polyurethane mixture to be at least partially cured and to at least partially cover the cords of the fabric. The treated fabric may be used to reinforce a cast polyurethane tire.

Method of processing tire cord fabric

A reinforcing cord is positioned in a mold cavity for reinforcing an annular article such as a tire by wrapping the cord on an annular spacer band which is supported on a mold core and then placed in the mold. The mold is charged with a liquid polyurethane reaction mixture to form an outer polymeric ring of the annular article which is adhered to the cord and partially cured. The spacer band is removed, the mold closed and charged with additional liquid polyurethane reaction mixture to form an inner polymeric ring of the annular article adjacent the reinforcing cord carried by the outer ring. The partially cured outer ring and the inner ring are then cured to adhere the inner ring to the outer ring with the layer of reinforcing cord encapsulated between the rings. An additional layer of reinforcing cord may be positioned in the article by wrapping another cord around a second spacer band having a smaller diameter than the first spacer band. The second spacer band is placed in a mold and defines a cavity between the spacer band and the outer ring. The mold is then charged with additional liquid reaction mixture to form the second polymeric ring and encapsulate the cord on the second spacer ring and partially cure the second ring for adherence to the first ring. The second spacer band is then removed and the mold charged with additional liquid reaction mixture to form the radially innermost third polymeric ring. The reaction mixture of the second and third rings are then cured to provide adherence between the adjacent rings.

Growing community of inventors

Akron, OH, United States of America

Robert K Rossi