US 4,057,445 A · Closed torus tire

Abstract

A closed torus tire in which the cord or wire reinforcement ply, or plies, surround the inflation chamber which can retain pressure without being mounted on a wheel. The reinforcement ply is continuous circumferentially of the tire and axially in the crown and sidewalls. The circumferential ply edges are lap-spliced in the inner wheel-engaging part, rather than being folded around bead cores. The tire is made without use of a building core of any kind, thus avoiding the cost and difficulty of removing such core from the completed tire. The tire is made by wrapping the reinforcement ply, or plies, about a cylindrical drum to form a sleeve. An inner liner is then wrapped about the sleeve, a reversal of normal tire building practice. One circumfferential edge of the sleeve is then moved outward and axially over the remaining sleeve, beyond the other, unmoved edge. The one edge is then moved inward and axially under the other edge to form the lapped splice.

Claims15

Dependent claims

The method of building a tire having a toric inflatable chamber comprising in combination the steps of:

forming a cylindrical sleeve including a ply of cord or wire ply stock, disposing a pair of parallel spaced apart inextensible hoops around one circumferential edge portion of the sleeve, moving the other circumferential edge portion of the sleeve radially outwardly and axially over the remaining portion of the sleeve to form and to locate a first sidewall of said tire, then moving said other circumferential edge portion radially inwardly of said one edge portion and axially through at least one of said hoops, and then disposing said other circumferential edge portion in lapping and contacting relation with and radially inwardly of said one edge portion thereby to at least initiate between the respective edge portions a splice closing said toric inflatable chamber with said splice being disposed circumferentially of said chamber in the radially inward region of the tire and subsequently curing the tire.

Apparatus for building a closed torus tire comprising:

a cylindrical building drum having an axis and having a plurality of radially fixed slats extending parallel to and spaced angularly about the axis to define an axially extending space between each circumferentially adjacent pair of such slats, and having a plurality of segments extending parallel to the axis and each movable radially of the axis from a position occupying a respective one of the spaces to a radially inward position defining an open unobstructed annular space radially outward of the segments and radially inward of the slats;
means supporting said drum for rotation about said axis;
ply rollover means for rolling a ply sleeve edge axially over the remainder of the sleeve having a plurality of arms extending coaxially of said drum, said rollover means including a carrier supporting said arms for movement axially of said drum and for movement radially of said axis;
each said arm having a ply grip pivotally mounted thereon at the end thereof remote from said carrier to swing through an arc of 270.degree., or more, while gripping said edge;
and
a cylindrical building form disposed in coaxial spaced relation with respect to said building drum and means mounting said building form for movement thereof coaxially of said drum to a predetermined proximate relation with said drum such as to enable the direct coaxial transfer of a partially built and closed torus tire carcass from said tire building drum to said form.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Closed torus tire

Life of this patent

Closed torus tire

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims15