Loading patent…
AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
InventorsMichael L. Becker, Klaus Beer, Kenneth D. Conger
Estimating the term…
Tire components are assembled on a tire building drum by laying a first liner on a surface of the drum, positioning first sidewall inserts below the cylindrical surface of the drum and around the drum at insert locations spaced from each end of the drum, laying a first carcass ply around the drum, positioning second inserts over the first ply at the insert locations, laying a second carcass over the first ply and the second inserts, positioning beads at each end of the drum, expanding the drum to increase the diameter of the cylindrical surface of the drum and provide shoulders at each end of the drum, turning edges of the first ply and the second ply over each of the beads, positioning a belt and tread assembly around the second ply, and contracting the drum for removal of the assembled tire components from the drum. The inserts are positioned in grooves extending radially inwardly in the outer surface of the building drum. The grooves enable thick inserts to be built into the tire sidewall while still maintaining a generally flat outer surface of the tire while on the building drum, thereby decreasing the possibility of air trapped between components of the uncured tire.
A method of building an extended mobility tire with inserts on a tire building drum, said inserts being significantly thicker than other adjacent tire components;
A tire building apparatus for assembling tire components including inserts for extended mobility capabilities, said apparatus comprising a drum having a cylindrical surface, circular grooves in said cylindrical surface at insert locations spaced from each end of said drum for positioning of first inserts below said surface, means for applying said first inserts, inflatable circular bodies in said circular grooves, means for selectively inflating or deflating said circular bodies away from or toward said cylindrical surface, means for applying a first ply over said cylindrical surface, means for applying second inserts over said first ply and said first inserts, means for applying a second ply over said first ply and said second inserts, means for expanding said drum providing shoulders at each end of said drum for applying bead rings, means for turning up ends of said first ply around said beads, means for applying a belt and tread assembly around said second ply and means for contracting said drum to remove said assembled tire from said drum.
A method of building an extended mobility tire with inserts on a tire building drum, said inserts being significantly thicker than other adjacent tire components;
A tire building apparatus for assembling tire components including inserts for extended mobility capabilities, said apparatus comprising a drum having a cylindrical surface, circular grooves in said cylindrical surface at insert locations spaced from each end of said drum for positioning of first inserts below said surface, compressible circular bodies in said grooves for resiliently supporting said first inserts radially inwardly below said cylindrical surface;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.