Patent ID: 6854963

Claim:
A mold for a green tire comprising a tread, two beads each having a radially inward-facing bead base extending from an axially outer heel to an axially inner toe, and two sidewalls extending between the beads and the tread; the mold comprising: first and second sidewall plates for molding, respectively, an outer surface of each of the sidewalls plus an axially outer portion of each of the beads approximately in to the heel; first and second bead molding rings for molding at least the bead bases of the two beads; and an inflatable vulcanizing membrane for molding the inside surfaces of the tire; wherein at least a first bead molding ring is characterized in that: the first bead molding ring comprises a plurality of segments, half of the segments being first segments that are complementary to, and circumferentially alternated with second segments; the first segments are wedge shaped, having circumferentially lateral faces that converge towards a radially outward-facing bead molding surface of the first bead molding ring, the first segment lateral faces being planar and oriented in the axial direction; the second segments have lateral faces that are complementary to the first segment lateral faces; means are provided for radially expanding the first bead molding ring from a first outside diameter to a second outside diameter, thereby forming a circumferentially continuous radially outward-facing surface for molding one of the beads in cooperation with an adjacent first sidewall plate and the vulcanizing membrane; guide rods restrict first and second segments to radial movement only; each guide rod being mounted in a radially aligned mounting hole bored in a one of the first and second segments, and each mounting hole being aligned with a guide hole bored in the adjacent first sidewall plate such that the guide rod slides within the radially-aligned guide hole; and springs are preloaded to force radially-inward movement of the first and second segments; each spring residing in a radially aligned spring holding hole bored in the adjacent first sidewall plate and aligned with a spring pocket cut in an adjacent one of the first and second segments, so that a spring can be positioned with one end in the spring holding hole and the other end in an adjacent spring pocket.