Steel-belted radial ply tires with 0.degree. textile cap band

Abstract

A steel-belted radial ply tire construction characterized by improved uniformity and resistance to ply separation, and a method of manufacturing such tires in non-segmented molds, are disclosed. In the finished tire, a cap band having at least one layer of rubberized tire cords of synthetic filamentary textile material is disposed in direct surrounding relation to the radially outermost belt ply of bias-angled steel cords, the cap band having a width equal to or greater than the width of the belt, with the cords in the cap band being disposed parallel to one another and to the median equatorial plane of the tire, i.e., at an essentially 0.degree. bias angle. The cords in the cap band are prestressed, due to their having been stretched about 1 to 5% in the manufacturing operation during the final expansion of the tire into the mold contours under high internal pressure, so as to exert a stability and uniformity-enhancing compressive stress on the underlying belt. The cap band also serves, during the final in-mold expansion of the tire during the manufacturing process, to ensure uniform pantographing of the steel cords in the belt plies to their desired bias angles. This abstract is not to be taken either as a complete exposition or as a limitation of the present invention, however, the full nature and extent of the invention being discernible only by reference to and from the entire disclosure.