Tire and method of reinforcement
AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
InventorsKenneth W. McIntosh, Edward B. Colby, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cast or injection molded tire having a reinforcing sheet of netting material providing openings for striking through of elastomeric material during filling of the mold. The process of making the tire includes shaping the sheet of netting material by stretching and thereby orienting the strands. The shaping is done at elevated temperatures and then the netting material cooled in the shaped form. A mat of overlapping sheets of netting material may be used with the strands being multidirectional to provide uniform sidewall strength. An overlapping breaker ply of netting material may also be used to connect two mats of reinforcing sheets on opposite sides of the tire.
Claims28
A tire of the type which is cast or injection molded comprising an annular body of elastomeric material having a U-shaped cross section, a pair of radially inner edges of said body, a crown portion, a pair of sidewalls extending radially outward from said inner edges and connected to said crown portion, overlapping, multidirectional reinforcing strands positioned in at least one of said sidewalls to define openings between said strands for striking through of elastomer forming material during molding to provide encapsulation of said strands and interlocking with said annular body.
A process for reinforcing a tire with a plurality of overlapping, multidirectional reinforcing strands positioned in at least one annular sheet of netting material to provide openings between the strands comprising the steps of:
- (1) retaining said sheet in a shaping apparatus having an annular shaping member with a shaping surface conforming to the shape of at least a portion of said tire and moving said sheet into shaping engagement with said annular shaping surface;
- (2) shaping said sheet at an elevated temperature;
- (3) placing said shaped sheet on a collapsible core member within a mold and closing an outer shell of a mold around said core member;
- (4) filling the cavity between said core member and said outer shell by injecting a liquid reaction mixture of elastomer forming material and flowing said mixture through said openings, reacting said mixture and at least partially curing said mixture;
- (5) opening said outer shell of said mold for removal of said tire from said mold;
- (6) finally curing said tire;
- and
- (7) removing said collapsible core member from said tire.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.