Tire Mold Matrix With Backside-Bonded Fin Plates

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing tire mold matrices face challenges in cost-efficient production due to difficulties in attaching thin fin plates, which often result in incomplete bonding, air trapped between plates, and unwanted material residues on the tire tread, along with weak connections that cause fin plates to detach during tire removal.

Innovation Solution

A matrix design where fin plates are bonded to the mold shell from the mold back side, using slits that extend through the mold wall, allowing for strong attachment without internal welds or seams, enabling reliable fin plate retention and eliminating air pockets through controlled deaeration channels.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If fin plates are attached to the mold shell from the mold inside by welding or gluing, then the fin plates can be secured to the mold shell, but the confined space conditions make welding or gluing difficult or impossible and often leave unwanted traces on the tire tread

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefin plate attachment reliabilityVSAvoidmanufacturing difficulty of attachment

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent inverts the attachment approach by bonding fin plates to the mold back side instead of the mold inside. The slit extends from the mold inside through the mold wall to the mold back side, allowing fin plates to be inserted from the inside and bonded from the back side. This inversion resolves the confined space problem while achieving reliable attachment without traces on the tire tread.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent moves the bonding operation to another dimension (the mold back side) rather than attempting to perform it in the confined space of the mold inside. The slit provides a pathway that connects the mold inside to the mold back side, enabling the bonding process to occur in the more accessible back side dimension while still securing fin plates that extend into the mold inside.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Manufacturing precision

If thin fin plates (thinner than 0.5 mm) are used to form fine profile grooves, then the tread profile precision is improved, but the fin plates cannot be cost-efficiently produced by machining the mold shell

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetread profile precisionVSAvoidcost-efficiency of production

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the mold shell and fin plates as separate components. The mold shell is machined with slits, and thin fin plates are separately manufactured and then bonded to the mold back side. This segmentation allows the mold shell to be produced by cost-efficient machining while thin fin plates can be manufactured separately using more appropriate methods for thin-walled structures.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates a composite structure combining the mold shell and fin plates as separate materials joined together. The mold shell provides the structural framework while the thin fin plates provide the precise tread profile features. This composite approach allows each component to be manufactured using the most suitable method for its specific requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #40Composite materials

3Strength

If slits are formed in the mold shell and fin plates are inserted and bonded from the mold back side, then the connection strength is improved and no traces are left on the tire tread, but the fin plates must be precisely positioned in the slits

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefin plate connection strengthVSAvoidfin plate positioning precision

Core Design Contradiction:

StrengthVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses the slit as an intermediary element that facilitates the connection between the fin plate and mold shell. The slit extends from the mold inside through the mold wall to the mold back side, serving as a pathway and positioning guide. This intermediary structure enables precise positioning of the fin plate while allowing the bonding operation to occur from the more accessible back side.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS20230405952A1Matrix for a tire mold, mold insert for a tire mold, tire mold, and method for producing a matrix for a tire mold

Publication Date: 2023.12.21 MICHELIN & CO (CIE GEN DES ESTAB MICHELIN)

AI summary

The invention relates to a matrix for a tire mold for vulcanizing tire blanks, the matrix forming a negative mold of a profiled tread of a tire, the matrix having a mold shell and at least one fin plate disposed thereon, the mold shell forming a mold inside and the fin plate forming a web of the negative mold, a slit being formed in the mold shell, the fin plate being inserted into the slit and attached to the mold shell. The slit penetrates a mold wall of the mold shell and extends from the mold inside to a mold back side of the mold shell, the fin plate being bonded to the mold shell from the mold back side.