Patent ID: 6332999
Filing Date: 2001-12-25
Classification: B29C,B29D

Abstract:
A method of moulding and curing tires for vehicle wheels, comprising the steps of:directly manufacturing a tire on a rigid toroidal support having an outer surface a shape of which substantially matches an inner surface of the tire;closing the tire and the rigid toroidal support in a moulding cavity defined by a vulcanization mould, the moulding cavity having walls conforming in shape to an outer surface of the tire when vulcanization has been completed;pressing the outer surface of the tire against the moulding cavity walls; andadministering heat to the tire in order to cause a molecular cross-linking of the tire;wherein the pressing step takes place concurrently with an expansion imposed to the tire by admission of a fluid under pressure to at least one fluid-diffusion interspace between the outer surface of the rigid toroidal support and the inner surface of the tire, the fluid under pressure passing through feed channels in the rigid toroidal support and opening onto the outer surface of the rigid toroidal support.