Removable Tire Mold Inserts for Flexible Wall Geometry
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for manufacturing tire molds with thin, flexible walls for tread grooves face challenges in precision and fragility, especially when using casting techniques and accessing sculpture elements, leading to difficulties in achieving the required degree of precision and maintaining mold integrity.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of lining elements with integral inserts and slots oriented perpendicular to the groove's longitudinal direction, allowing for separate production and easy implantation or removal, facilitates the molding of thin flexible walls without the drawbacks of traditional methods, enabling precise geometry control and easy material evacuation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If casting techniques are used to manufacture tire molds with thin flexible walls, then the mold can be produced, but the elements become excessively fragile and precision is difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The mold is divided into separate components: rigid mold bodies and removable inserts that form the flexible walls. The inserts are separate pieces that can be independently manufactured with high precision using appropriate techniques, then assembled into the mold. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific manufacturing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible wall-forming elements are extracted from the main mold body as separate inserts. These inserts can be removed from the mold after use, allowing the mold to be maintained and the inserts to be replaced or serviced independently. This extraction solves the fragility problem by allowing the use of more robust insert materials and construction methods.
2Ease of manufacture
If cutting tools are used to create slots in finished molds, then slots can be formed, but the bulk of the tools makes it difficult to access sculpture elements
Solution Approach 1:
The slots are formed in the inserts during the insert manufacturing process, before the inserts are assembled into the final mold. This preliminary action allows the use of appropriate cutting tools and techniques during insert fabrication, without the space constraints of the finished mold assembly. The slots are created when full tool access is available.
3Reliability
If thin flexible walls are molded directly in the groove bottom, then water drainage is achieved, but the walls are excessively fragile and difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible wall-forming insert is a separate removable component from the mold body. This allows the insert to be constructed with materials and structures optimized for durability and ease of maintenance, rather than being constrained by the need to be integrated into the mold in a way that prioritizes thinness. The segmented design allows for easier replacement and maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The insert can be manufactured with optimized parameters for the flexible walls, including controlled thickness, material properties, and structural reinforcement, without being constrained by the mold-making process. This allows the flexible walls to achieve the right balance between thinness for drainage function and sufficient strength for durability.
Data Source
Figure 1~1d
Figure 2~3c
Figure 4~4c
AI summary
The invention relates to a tire baking mold including at least one filling member (21) for molding the tread of said tire, the filling member (21) including at least one bead (210) for molding a groove in the tread. The baking mold comprises at least one insert (10) defining a portion of the bead (210), said insert partially or totally defining a slot (1) extending into the depth of the bead. The slot (1) is oriented substantially perpendicularly to the bead. The slot (1) is adapted for molding at least one flexible wall having a reduced thickness resulting from the material of at least one wall of the groove molded by the bead.