Process and molding element for molding a groove in a tire tread

A molding element of a mold for molding a groove pattern in a rubber tread, said groove being defined by at least two main opposite walls joined by at least one rubber connecting element, said molding element having at least one opening for molding each of said connecting elements during molding of the tread, the molding element comprising an assembly of a first part forming a support of the element intended to project from a molding surface of a piece of the mold and of a second part constituted by one or more pieces, each forming a key, the molding element being characterized in that each key is removable from the support of the element in order to permit stripping of the mold.

A molding element for a mold depending from the mold to form a groove defined by a pair of walls and a connecting element molded across the pair of walls, said molding element comprising a support including a plurality of parallel members depending from the mold, keyways formed in the depending members and at least one slidable key extending across the depending members and accommodated in the keyways, the depending members and at least one key defining in molding position openings across the molding element to mold the connecting elements between opposite walls of the grooves, the keys being slidably removable from the keyways to permit withdrawal of the depending members out of the grooves and away from molding position after molding without interference by the molded connecting elements.

A process for molding a groove defined by a pair of walls and a connecting element across the pair of walls using a molding element comprising a support including a plurality of parallel members depending from the mold, keyways formed in the depending members and at least one slidable key extending across the depending members and accommodated in the keyways, the depending members and said at least one slidable key defining in molding position openings across the molding element to mold the connecting elements between opposite walls of the grooves, the keys being slidably removable from the keyways to permit withdrawal of the depending members out of the grooves and away from the molding position after molding without interference by the molded connecting members, the process comprising moving the molding element into molding position, flowing the molding material through passages defined by the at least one key and depending members to form the connecting elements, slidably removing the at least one key from the keyways and moving the molding element away from the molding position.