Abstract: An apparatus (10) for producing green tyres (13) consisting of a carcass or inner section (13?) coupled with a belt package or outer section (13?), comprising a first tyre processing assembly (12) for manufacturing the carcass or inner section (13?), a second tyre processing assembly (14) for finishing said carcass (13?), a third tyre processing assembly (16) for manufacturing a belt package or outer section (13?) and for coupling said carcass or inner section with said belt package or outer section (13?, 13?) to form a tyre (13), and an unloading station (60) for unloading said tyre (13), said tyre processing assemblies comprising interface means for transferring the product being manufactured from one tyre processing assembly to another one and for moving said product being processed internally to said individual tyre processing assemblies in a fully automatic manner.

Abstract: A single sheet-like belt 8b, from which a single tire component can be formed, is held on an outer circumferential surface of a winding cylinder 12. The sheet-like rubber member 8b, which is held by the winding cylinder 12, is removed from the winding cylinder 12 by rotation of a drum 22 and adhered to an outer circumferential surface of the drum 22, so as to manufacture a tire component 8c. At the time, the sheet-like belt 8b is moved from the winding cylinder 12 to the drum 22 via a removing roller 14 that is arranged above a common tangent Q between the drum 22 and the winding cylinder 12.

Abstract: Disclosed is a tire building drum and a method for building a tire, wherein the tire building drum includes a crown section and a bead-lock section, wherein the bead-lock section defines a bead-lock position, wherein the crown section includes crown segments movable with respect to the base from a crown-down position into a crown-up position in a crown-up direction, wherein the crown segments together form a crown surface, a leading edge and a shoulder, wherein the tire building drum further includes a sleeve that extends around the crown segments in the circumferential direction, wherein the sleeve includes a first circumferential edge that is fixed to the crown segments at a side of the shoulder facing away from the bead-lock section, a second circumferential edge that is located between the shoulder and the bead-lock position, wherein the second circumferential edge is unfixed at least when the crown segments are in the crown-down position.

Abstract: A tire having a rubber assembly including a first rubber member, a second rubber member, and a third rubber member which are arranged in series in the cross-section including the tire rotational axis. The method includes: extruding the unvulcanized rubber assembly as two separate parts which are a first extrusion rubber portion and a second extrusion rubber portion divided at a division surface passing through the unvulcanized first rubber member; winding the first extrusion rubber portion into a base annular body; and forming the unvulcanized rubber assembly by winding the second extrusion rubber portion so that only the first rubber member included in the second extrusion rubber portion overlaps with the first rubber member included in the base annular body.

Abstract: During manufacturing of a tire component that includes a process of adhering a sheet-like rubber member 8b that is held by a supply section 30 to a drum 22, positions of ends 7d1, 7d2 n a width direction of the sheet-like rubber member 8b are detected by using sensors 52, 54 provided between the supply section 30 and the drum 22, and the supply section 30 is moved in a width direction X of the sheet-like rubber member 8b in accordance with the detected positions, so as to adhere the sheet-like rubber member 8b to a specified position on the drum 22.

Abstract: A tire uniformity correcting drum comprises: a lower drum to be in contact with a portion of an inner circumferential surface of a tire; an upper drum provided to be movable up and down with respect to the lower drum and configured to press another portion of the inner circumferential surface of the tire which is not in contact with the lower drum; and a hydraulic driving unit configured to connect the lower drum and the upper drum and move up and down the upper drum with respect to the lower drum. A contact area of the upper drum with the inner circumferential surface of the tire is smaller than a contact area of the lower drum with the inner circumferential surface of the tire.

Abstract: A method and/or article is used for repairing of a worn, damaged, punctured or sliced but otherwise functional vehicle tire, for example on the sidewall of the tire. An external patch includes a layer of adhesive applied directly to the slice or puncture and a patch portion that is applied to an exterior surface of a vehicle tire. A separate adhesive affixes the patch portion to the exterior surface of the tire. The adhesive is in contact with a contact surface of the patch portion and also with the exterior surface of the tire. The adhesive may not form a continuous layer, but may hold the patch to the tire by discrete anchor points of adhesive, the anchor points being separated by adhesiveless areas.

Abstract: A carcass sleeve including a carcass ply and a pair of annular anchoring structures is fitted around a toroidal forming drum arranged in a first radially contracted operational condition. The carcass sleeve is toroidally shaped against a radially inner surface of an annular contrast element. The forming drum is positioned inside the carcass sleeve and is concurrently expanded towards a second operational condition. Upon reaching the second operational condition, the toroidally shaped carcass sleeve is coupled to the forming drum. The forming drum, coupled to the carcass sleeve, is adapted to be transferred in proximity of an application device of additional components externally to the carcass sleeve.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method and an assembly for applying a tire component onto a receiving member. The method includes the steps of: receiving the tire component on the apply member; detecting a plurality of leading endpoints at the leading edge and detecting a plurality of trailing endpoints at the trailing edge in-line with the leading endpoints in the longitudinal direction; determining the distance in the longitudinal direction between the leading endpoint and the trailing endpoint for each pair of endpoints; driving the apply member at an apply speed in a transfer direction to transfer the tire component onto the receiving member while driving the receiving member at a receiving speed; and adjusting the ratio between the apply speed and the receiving speed during the transfer of the tire component in the order in which the pairs of endpoints are spliced to improve the relative positioning of each pair of endpoints for splicing.

Abstract: A process for retreading a tire, the process comprising the steps of providing a tire casing; providing a cured rubber component having first and second planar surfaces, where the first planar surface includes a tread pattern; providing a cushion gum, wherein the cushion gum is a composition including a functional polymer including at least one functional group, and a crosslinking agent including at least two moieties that will react with the functional group of the functional elastomer; applying the cushion gum to the tire casing; applying the second planar surface of the cured rubber to the cushion gum to form a tire composite; and treating the tire composite to thereby form a retread tire.

Abstract: A tire includes a central region configured to be mounted to a wheel and a crown region including a circumferential tread and a shear element disposed below the circumferential tread. The shear element includes an upper reinforcement layer, a lower reinforcement layer, and an elastic region disposed between the upper reinforcement layer and the lower reinforcement layer. A radial distance between the upper reinforcement layer and the lower reinforcement layer varies along an axial width of the tire. The tire also includes an intermediate region extending from the central region to the crown region.

Abstract: A pneumatic tire includes a plurality of protrusions that are provided in a range that includes the tire maximum width position of the tire side portion, and that extend in a direction intersecting the radial direction. The plurality of protrusions are separated from each other in the tire circumferential direction by spacings, pass through the center of rotation of the tire, and extend in the tire radial direction. In a case where a first straight line and a second straight line with different tire circumferential direction positions each cross the protrusions, a ratio of a sum of masses per unit length of the protrusions the first straight line crosses to a sum of masses per unit length of the protrusion the second straight line crosses is not less than 0.8 and not greater than 1.2.

Abstract: A tire comprises an inner surface defining and facing an inner hollow space, an outer surface pointing away from the inner hollow space. A method of processing the tire comprises identifying the position of a first feature on the outer surface and cleaning a surface portion of the inner surface of the tire, wherein the surface portion has a first predetermined position relative to the position of the first feature on the outer surface. A separate element is attached with its attachment surface to the surface portion, wherein a ratio of a size of the surface portion over a corresponding size of the attachment surface is smaller than 10.

Abstract: A method of making a tire includes placing substantially circular sheets of polymeric material on top of each other until a tire is built to a predetermined width. A predetermined tread shape is formed along a circumference of the substantially circular sheets of polymeric material.

Abstract: Additive manufacturing device for manufacturing a three dimensional object, having a foil substrate (2) and a resin depositor (4) for depositing a layer of curable resin (6) on a first side (2a) of the foil substrate (2), wherein the resin depositor (4) comprises an input side resin storage unit (5). A radiation source (10) is present for radiation curing the resin layer (6) on the first side (2a) of the foil substrate (2), wherein a cured resin layer (6) represents a cross sectional slice of a three dimensional object (12). A stage (9) is configured to hold a stacked arrangement of one or more cured resin layers representing at least in part the three dimensional object (12), and a positioning system is provided for relative positioning the foil substrate (2) and the stage (9). A resin conditioning unit (16) is provided upstream from the input resin storage unit (5).

Abstract: A belt forming system may include an upstream conveyor, a downstream conveyor located downstream of the upstream conveyor, and a belt assembly system in communication with the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor. The belt assembly system may also include an arm, an actuator for moving the arm, and/or a holding component coupled to the arm and adapted to move a strip section from the upstream conveyor to a desired position on the downstream conveyor such that the strip section is oriented at a predetermined angle on the downstream conveyor. In one embodiment, the belt forming system comprises a belt cutter. The present disclosure also relates to a method for manufacturing at least a portion of a tire belt.

Abstract: Provided is a tire building drum and a method for shaping tire components on the tire building drum, wherein the tire building drum has an annular sleeve that extends over turn-up arms in the longitudinal direction of the turn-up arms. The sleeve is elastic in the circumferential direction and fits elastically around the turn-up arms. The sleeve is provided with inelastic reinforcement elements extending in at least a part of the sleeve in a reinforcement direction transverse to the circumferential direction of the tire building drum, and has a fixed end that is retained in the axial direction and a movable end that is movable over the turn-up arms in their respective longitudinal directions.

Abstract: A method of building a tire carcass is disclosed. The method of building the tire carcass includes the steps of applying one or more tire building components onto a drum forming a cylindrically shaped tire carcass. A first and second bead is placed onto a respective bead pocket. Then the carcass is inflated under low pressure into engagement with a belt and tread package while the bead pockets are moved axially inward. The beads are continued to move axially inward to the axial width of the widest breaker position. Then the outer lateral ends of the cylindrically shaped tire carcass are turned up about a respective first and second bead.

Abstract: Disclosed is a tire building drum and method for operating the tire building drum, which tire building drum include a left section, a right section, a center section, and a support member for supporting the center section in the radially outward direction. The support member is movable together with the center section in the radially outward direction. The tire building drum further includes a blocking device for blocking the support member against movement in a radially inward direction when the center section is in the expanded position.

Abstract: A method for arranging stud pins in a pneumatic tire is a method for arranging stud pins in a tread portion at intervals in a tire width direction so as to form a plurality of rows. This method includes specifying an inner region, an intermediate region, and an outer region by virtually partitioning the tread portion into equal three parts from a center line extending in a tire circumferential direction to a ground contact end in the tire width direction outward. The method also includes arranging the stud pins such that among numbers of stud pins per row in the inner region, the intermediate region, and the outer region, the number in the outer region is the largest, the number in the intermediate region is the second largest, the number in intermediate region is the smallest.