Sculptured drum for groove support in retread finishing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10603756-B2
Application number	US-201716081656-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 20, 2017
Priority date	Mar 31, 2016
Publication date	Mar 31, 2020
Grant date	Mar 31, 2020

Abstract

A sculptured drum for a retread process that has an inner radial section with a central axis that extends in an axial direction. The sculptured drum has a plurality of support members that extend outward from a drum outer surface in a radial direction and that are located outward from the inner radial section in the radial direction. A tread that has a plurality of grooves is supported by the sculptured drum during a brushing process and pass across the sculptured drum such that some but not all of the grooves have one of the support members disposed therein. The support members when disposed within the grooves do not completely fill the grooves, and when disposed within the grooves engage a lower surface of the tread.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sculptured drum for a retread process, comprising:
an inner radial section that has a central axis, wherein the central axis extends in an axial direction;
a drum outer surface;
a plurality of support members that extend outward from the drum outer surface in a radial direction of the sculptured drum, wherein the support members are located outward from the inner radial section in the radial direction;
wherein the sculptured drum is configured for supporting a tread that has a plurality of grooves, wherein the tread is configured such that some but not all of the grooves are configured for having one of the support members disposed therein, wherein the support members are configured for not completely filling the grooves, wherein the support members are configured for engaging a lower surface of the tread;
wherein every one of the individual support members has a length in the axial direction that is less than the length of the drum outer surface in the axial direction.

2. The sculptured drum as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the tread has a plurality of tread blocks that have tread block outer surfaces and tread block walls, wherein the grooves into which the support members are disposed are defined by the lower surface of the tread and the tread block walls, wherein the support members when disposed within the grooves do not engage the tread block walls.

3. The sculptured drum as set forth in claim 2 , wherein the tread block outer surfaces engage the drum outer surface.

4. The sculptured drum as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the grooves into which the support members are disposed are the largest grooves of the tread.

5. The sculptured drum as set forth in claim 1 , wherein some of the grooves of the tread are sipes, wherein the support members are not disposed within any of the sipes, wherein the lower surface of the tread is located farther from the central axis in the radial direction than the sipes are located to the central axis in the radial direction.

6. The sculptured drum as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the tread has a machine direction that is the direction the tread is passed across the sculptured drum, wherein the tread has a longitudinal direction that extends in the machine direction, wherein the tread has a lateral direction that extends along a width of the tread, wherein the tread has a vertical direction, wherein the grooves into which the support members are disposed have at least one end in the lateral direction that is open.

7. The sculptured drum as set forth in claim 1 , wherein all of the grooves into which the support members are disposed are lateral grooves that extend in a lateral direction of the tread, wherein at least some of the grooves into which the support members are not disposed are circumferential grooves that extend in a circumferential direction of a tire into which the tread is incorporated.

8. The sculptured drum as set forth in claim 7 , wherein the lateral grooves into which the support members are disposed extend at least 5 millimeters in the lateral direction.

9. The sculptured drum as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a shaft onto which the inner radial section is disposed, wherein the position of the inner radial section is adjustable along the shaft in the axial direction.

10. A sculptured drum for a retread process, comprising:
an inner radial section that has a central axis, wherein the central axis extends in an axial direction;
a drum outer surface;
a plurality of support members that extend outward from the drum outer surface in a radial direction of the sculptured drum, wherein the support members are located outward from the inner radial section in the radial direction;
wherein the sculptured drum is configured for supporting a tread that has a plurality of grooves, wherein the tread is configured such that some but not all of the grooves are configured for having one of the support members disposed therein, wherein the support members are configured for not completely filling the grooves, wherein the support members are configured for engaging a lower surface of the tread;
wherein the inner radial section, the drum outer surface, and the plurality of support members are arranged into a first component and a second component that are separate from one another, wherein the distance from the first component to the second component is adjustable in the axial direction.

11. The sculptured drum as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the inner radial section is a solid member with a through hole located at the central axis.

12. A sculptured drum for a retread process, comprising:
an inner radial section that has a central axis, wherein the central axis extends in an axial direction;
a drum outer surface;
a plurality of support members that extend outward from the drum outer surface in a radial direction of the sculptured drum, wherein the support members are located outward from the inner radial section in the radial direction;
wherein the sculptured drum is configured for supporting a tread that has a plurality of grooves, wherein the support members are configured for being disposed within the grooves such that none of the grooves are configured for being completely filled by the support members;
wherein every one of the individual support members has a length in the axial direction that is less than the length of the drum outer surface in the axial direction.

Assignees

• Michelin & Cie

Inventors

• Pan Chinglin
• Burgess Mike Leon

Classifications

• B29D30/52

  Unvulcanised treads, e.g. on used tyres; Retreading (apparatus for forming {treads by extrusion B29C48/00; apparatus for} vulcanising treads B29C35/02; apparatus characterised by the means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00) · CPC title

• B29D30/54

  Retreading · CPC title

• B29D30/56

  Retreading with prevulcanised tread {(B29D30/542 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B24B41/06

  Work supports, e.g. adjustable steadies (B24B37/27 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B24B5/366 Primary

  for grinding tyres · CPC title