"Understanding the process of how a tyre is made"
"Toyo Tyres Shipley, Tyres Shipley (650 Words)"
[ ";Understanding the process of how a tyre is made;Tyre pressure;The tyre is wound out into a cylinder under heatand pressure in the tyre curing press. The finished product is called a"green" tyre because it's still green with uncured rubber, has noneof the grooves that will be cut into it for traction or any other featureTyre builderA mechanized nozzle sprays liquid latex onto two layersof cloth material as they tumble together. This newly fabricated "green"tyre now consists of three layers: steel cords embedded in rubber on theinside; fabric plies applied spirally on the outside and another layer ofrubber them bothTyre cutter & grinderA worker grabs a green tyre with one hand and runs thecutting wheel of a grinder along its length to create an even edge on eitherside. This step forms the groove in the tread that channels water away from thesurface to grip wet roads better. Now trimmed for tread, this tyre weighsnearly 300 pounds. Next, workers drill holes in each sidewall for safety valvesthat will prevent over-inflation during use. Once these Toyo tyres Shipley are mounted onrims at a later production stage, they will not need to be filled with airTyre calendaring pressOnce the "green" tyre has been trimmed, it isready for the next stage: calendaring. This machine presses grooves into eitherside of a green tyre to improve traction and uniformity and impart uniformsidewall thickness and even weight distribution. The finished tyre, still flaton both sides, weighs about 400 pounds and is six inches thick.At each stage, workers must keep an eye out forflaws such as holes or inadequate wall thickness that could indicate adefective part that should not move forward in productionTyre mounting & balancing pressA worker attaches a green tyre to a steel drum or"tyre" to be rotated as it is pressed against the surface of aspinning balancing wheel. The balancing machine weighs the finished tyre, whichis now complete except for tread and sidewall lettering, and places weightsinside to eliminate any imbalanceTyre airless builderA worker presses a lever to release the airless buildingmaterial from an airless tyre machine. These machines are very much likegumball machines, but instead of dispensing candy, they dispense long strandsof a rubber compound that are then wrapped around a steel drum or"tyre" in layersTraction graderWorkers test for uneven wear on a going-out-of-businessautomobile salvage lot. Once they determine which tyres have life, they use aninstrument called a traction grader to certify the tread depth.The machine also applies heat for about five minutes at200 degrees Fahrenheit (93 degrees Celsius). The heat is necessary to testsummer-type tyres because tests have shown that heat can cause failures if atyre gets too hot.For winter tyres, workers apply ice for five minutes atminus 25 degrees Fahrenheit (-31 degrees Celsius)Outgoing quality controlA worker inspects the tread wear on a new tyre todetermine its grade before installation. He uses an instrument called theDICTRAQUE Tread Depth Gauge to measure the depth of grooves in each three-inchsection of tire tread.Tyre sidewall lettering machine manufacturerThe finished TyresShipley is automatically transferred into an open-sided chamber whereworkers place sidewall lettering on each unit using a state-of-the-art machinecalled an oven conveyor. The lettering comes from sheets of coloured polymerresin containing about 8,500 letters and numeral samples per sheet, and all thetyres are then named accordingly." ]