Process for producing non-pneumatic tires
AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
InventorsClaude Ernest Félix Boes, Francesco Sportelli
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention is directed to a process for the production of at least a part of a non-pneumatic tire structure, the non-pneumatic tire structure comprising an inner band, an outer band surrounding the inner band and a spoke part comprising a plurality of spokes extending between the inner band and the outer band; wherein the process comprises providing a first plastic composition in the form of a filament comprising a continuous fiber coated with a first thermoplastic resin; and forming one or more selected from one or more spokes of the plurality of spokes, the inner band and the outer band of the non-pneumatic tire structure by 3D printing, wherein forming includes depositing layers of the first plastic composition.
Claims20
A process for the production of at least a part of a non-pneumatic tire structure, the non-pneumatic tire structure comprising an inner band, an outer band surrounding the inner band and a spoke part comprising a plurality of spokes extending between the inner band and the outer band, wherein the process comprises
- providing a first plastic composition in the form of a filament comprising a continuous fiber coated with a first thermoplastic resin;
- and
- forming one or more selected from at least one spoke of the plurality of spokes, the inner band and the outer band of the non-pneumatic tire structure by 3D printing, wherein forming includes depositing layers of the first plastic composition.
A process for the production of a branched spoke of a non-pneumatic tire structure, wherein the branched spoke is intended to be placed between an inner band and an outer band, and wherein the branched spoke has a branched shape with a knot section and a plurality of webs, at least one web of the plurality of webs extending from said knot section towards the inner band, and at least two webs of the plurality of webs extending from said knot section towards the outer band;
- wherein the process comprises:
- providing a first plastic composition in the form of a filament comprising a continuous fiber coated with a first thermoplastic resin,
- providing a second plastic composition selected from an unreinforced plastic, or a fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin, and
- forming the branched spoke of the non-pneumatic tire structure by 3D printing including depositing layers of the plastic composition wherein forming further includes depositing layers from the first plastic composition defining bypassed areas and, for each layer, filling the bypassed areas by depositing the second plastic composition in the bypassed areas, and wherein the bypassed areas comprising the second plastic composition are located at least on one web so that at least one web of the plurality of webs exhibits alternating layers of the first plastic composition and the second plastic composition.
A process for the production of at least a part of a non-pneumatic tire structure, the non-pneumatic tire structure comprising an inner band, an outer band surrounding the inner band and a spoke part comprising a plurality of spokes extending between the inner band and the outer band;
- wherein the process comprises:
- providing a 3-D printer with a heated nozzle;
- providing a continuous fiber;
- providing a first thermoplastic resin;
- coating the continuous fiber with the first thermoplastic material in the heated nozzle of the 3-D printer to produce a first plastic composition in the form of a filament comprising the continuous fiber coated with the first thermoplastic resin;
- and
- forming one or more selected from one or more spokes of the plurality of spokes, the inner band and the outer band of the non-pneumatic tire structure by 3D printing, wherein forming includes depositing layers of the first plastic composition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.