Tire curing bladder
First Claim
1. An expandable bladder for shaping a pneumatic tire to be mounted inside a tire curing machine, the expandable bladder having a toroidal configuration and comprisinga pair of opposing annular beads and an expansion portion located between the pair of annular beads, the expansion portion comprising a central portion, shoulder portions, and sidewall portions, the central portion having a generally constant thickness,wherein, when the bladder is in a mounted but uninflated mode, the bladder being characterized by:
- beginning at a distance (x) from each end of the central portion, and between the opposing annular beads, the shoulder portions and sidewall portions have a gradually increasing thickness.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An expandable bladder for shaping a pneumatic tire to be mounted inside a tire curing press has a pair of opposing annular beads and an expansion portion located between the pair of annular beads. The expansion portion of the bladder has a central portion, shoulder portions, and sidewall portions. When the bladder is in a mounted but uninflated mode, the shoulder portions have a radius of curvature less than infinity. At a distance (x) from each end of the central portion, the bladder has an increased thickness in the shoulder and upper sidewall portions.
19 Citations
13 Claims
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1. An expandable bladder for shaping a pneumatic tire to be mounted inside a tire curing machine, the expandable bladder having a toroidal configuration and comprising
a pair of opposing annular beads and an expansion portion located between the pair of annular beads, the expansion portion comprising a central portion, shoulder portions, and sidewall portions, the central portion having a generally constant thickness, wherein, when the bladder is in a mounted but uninflated mode, the bladder being characterized by: beginning at a distance (x) from each end of the central portion, and between the opposing annular beads, the shoulder portions and sidewall portions have a gradually increasing thickness. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An expandable bladder for shaping a pneumatic tire to be mounted inside a tire curing machine, the expandable bladder having a toroidal configuration and comprising
a pair of opposing annular beads and an expansion portion located between the pair of annular beads, the expansion portion comprising a central portion, shoulder portions, and sidewall portions, the central portion having a generally constant thickness, wherein, when the bladder is in a mounted but uninflated mode, the bladder being characterized by: beginning at a distance (x) of 5 to 30% of the width (F) of the central portion, from each end of the central portion, the shoulder portions and the upper portion of the sidewall portions have a localized increased thickness in comparison to the central portion of the bladder. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
Specification