Tire and method of manufacturing the same
AssigneeSumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
InventorsMasaya YOKOTA, Yoshitaka KAWASAKO
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A manufacturing method includes the steps of: (A) preparing first and second sheet pieces 20a and 20b made of unvulcanized rubber; and (B) winding a long sheet 26 on a drum 6. The long sheet 26 includes the first and second sheet pieces 20a and 20b, and the second sheet piece 20b has a front edge joined to a rear edge of the first sheet piece 20a. Preferably, the step (B) includes the steps of: (B′1) joining the front edge of the second sheet piece 20b to the rear edge of the first sheet piece 20a to obtain the long sheet 26; and (B′2) feeding the sheet 26 from a servicer 4 to the drum 6 while rotating the drum 6 to wind the sheet 26 on the drum 6.
Claims15
A tire manufacturing method comprising the steps of:
- (A) preparing first and second sheet pieces made of unvulcanized rubber;
- and
- (B) winding a long sheet on a drum, the long sheet including the first and second sheet pieces, wherein the second sheet piece has a front edge joined to a rear edge of the first sheet piece.
A tire manufacturing apparatus comprising:
- a drum;
- and
- a servicer that feeds a sheet made of unvulcanized rubber to the drum, wherein the servicer includes:
- a placement base on which first and second sheet pieces made of unvulcanized rubber are arranged in a length direction of the first and second sheet pieces;
- guides by which locations of the sheet pieces in a width direction of the sheet pieces are fixed;
- and
- a pressure bonding mechanism by which the sheet pieces are pressure-bonded at a joint between the sheet pieces.
A pneumatic tire comprising:
- a first tread having an outer surface formed as a tread surface, the first tread extending in a circumferential direction of the pneumatic tire;
- and
- a second tread having an outer surface formed as a tread surface, the second tread being continuous with the first tread and extending in the circumferential direction, wherein
- the pneumatic tire has an outer diameter of 740 mm or more.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.