Tire Mold Segmentation for Flexible Tread Pattern Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
The mass production of tires is inflexible and costly, making it difficult to modify tire configurations and reduce raw material wastage, especially in the mold preparation phase, as existing methods do not adequately address the need for rapid product evolution and unique tire features.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the alignment of flexible basic linings to form a tread circumference portion, generating an intermediate support, and creating unfinished molding elements, which can be easily modified and adjusted to produce various tread patterns without replacing the entire mold, using a destructible or reusable material and optimizing space and accuracy through wedging and machining.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional mass production methods are used for tire manufacturing, then production efficiency is maintained, but flexibility to modify tire configurations is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The mold is divided into multiple interchangeable segments or modules, each representing a different tread pattern configuration. This allows selective assembly of mold segments to produce different tire designs without replacing the entire mold, thereby maintaining production efficiency while enabling configuration flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The mold system incorporates movable or adjustable components that can be reconfigured between production cycles. This dynamic capability allows the mold to adapt to different tire configurations while maintaining consistent production rates, resolving the contradiction between flexibility and productivity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If entire molds are replaced to modify tread patterns, then design flexibility is achieved, but raw material wastage and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of replacing entire molds, only specific modular segments needing modification are changed. This segmentation approach minimizes material wastage by retaining functional mold portions while allowing tread pattern updates through segment replacement or reconfiguration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables recovery and reuse of major mold components while only discarding or replacing minor segment elements. This selective replacement strategy significantly reduces raw material wastage compared to complete mold replacement, while still achieving the desired tread pattern modifications.
3Manufacturing precision
If complex mold preparation processes are used, then manufacturing precision is maintained, but process complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The mold preparation process is segmented into standardized, pre-fabricated modules that can be assembled with minimal customization. This reduces process complexity while maintaining precision through standardized manufacturing of segments, eliminating the need for complex custom preparation procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
Mold segments are pre-prepared and pre-positioned with precise features before final assembly. This preliminary action ensures manufacturing precision is achieved during the design and pre-fabrication phase, simplifying the actual production process and reducing on-site preparation complexity and time.
Data Source
AI summary
A Method for manufacturing molding elements for molds is provided herein. The molds are used for molding tires provided with a tread with a circumferential arrangement of tread pattern elements. The method includes: a step consisting in aligning a plurality of basic linings; a step consisting in generating, from the basic tread circumference portion, an intermediate support; and obtaining an unfinished molding element from the intermediate support.