Patent ID: 7276196

Claim:
A process for manufacturing a track formed from a circumferentially continuous belt made of elastomeric material comprising at least one reinforcement armature whose reinforcements, in the form of wires or cables, are arranged parallel to each other and are substantially aligned with the circumference of the track, the belt having an inner surface and an outer surface, the outer surface being provided with a tread design formed from components in relief intended to come into contact with the ground, the inner surface being provided with a plurality of drive blocks uniformly arranged on the circumference, the process comprising the steps of: (a) assembling an inner mold formed by first and second coaxial cylindrical die-halves, said two die-halves being able to be moved relative to each other in the axial direction to come into contact with each other along a joint surface and to form a laying surface radially external to the inner mold intended for molding the radially internal surface of the track, said laying surface being provided with a plurality of uniformly spaced cavities for molding the drive blocks of the track, each cavity being delimited in the axial direction by first and second side walls, the first side wall belonging to the first die-half and the second side wall belonging to the second die-halve, said joint surface of the two die-halves being, on the laying surface, axially closer to the first side wall than to the second side wall; (b) filling the cavities with at least one suitable elastomer blend to form the drive blocks; (c) forming the belt by laying at least one elastomer blend and at least one reinforcement armature on the inner mold and radially external to the drive blocks to ensure contact between the belt blend and the block blend; (d) laying the track tread blend radially external to the belt to form a track blank; (e) transferring the track blank carried by the inner mold to an outer mold formed by a plurality of sectors, said sectors having, in the molding position, a radially internal molding surface to mold the track tread design; (f) closing the outer mold by radially bringing the sectors of the outer mold towards the axis of rotation, to mold and vulcanize the track; (g) after molding and vulcanizing, radially opening the sectors of the outer mold; (h) transferring the inner mold carrying the molded and vulcanized track to a stripping device; (i) axially immobilizing the first of the die-halves of the inner mold and moving the second of the die-halves in the axial direction to distance it axially from the immobilized first die-half until completely separated, with the track remaining attached to the second die-half; and (j) axially immobilizing the track and moving the second die-half axially so as to strip out the track by sliding it relative to the second die-half.