Patent ID: 6387311
Filing Date: 2002-05-14
Classification: B29C

Abstract:
A method for manufacturing a support to be mounted on a vehicle rim, said support having an axis of rotation, a base defined by a substantially cylindrical radially inner face designed to be mounted around said rim, a crown designed to support the weight and a body connecting said base to said crown, said base including a substantially inextensible circumferential reinforcement, the radially outer face of said crown having a shape departing from the cylindrical shape, the body having a plurality of axial recesses emerging from said support on at least one side,said method of using a mold having an axis corresponding to said axis of rotation, said mold comprising: an inner core for the molding the radially inner face, a crown molding ring, said ring having at least two parts radially separable from each other, said separable parts making it possible to mold said radially outer face of said crown, at least one shell containing a plurality of axial fingers for laterally molding said body and said recesses, said core, said ring and said shell cooperating to define, at least partially, a closed cavity for molding said support, said core comprising at least two components and being capable of assuming a molding configuration in which its components form a circumferentially continuous molding surface for molding said radially inner face, the molding surface being defined by a reference diameter &PHgr; corresponding generally to the inner diameter of said support, said core also being capable of taking a mold stripping configuration different from the molding configuration, defined by an overall length E around said molding surface less than the product of &pgr; and reference diameter &PHgr;, said method of manufacture comprising the following steps: prefabricating a ring including said circumferential reinforcement; establishing the mold stripping configuration of said core; installing said ring on said core; establishing the molding configuration of said core; closing the mold and then force feeding into the mold an injectable material which is elastic in final state; axially separating said shell containing axial fingers, at least partially, in relation to at least one of the components that include molding ring and the core; then establishing the mold stripping configuration of said core and radially separating said parts from the crown molding ring; discharging said support.