Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus – Reshaping – resizing or vulcanizing means for tire – tire...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-03
2001-07-24
Mackey, James P. (Department: 1722)
Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus
Reshaping, resizing or vulcanizing means for tire, tire...
C072S379200, C076S101100, C152SDIG003, C419S066000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06264453
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to blades for the curing mold. More particularly to a composite type blade which has rounded ends and a method of fabricating such composite blades.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Blades for tire curing molds are well known in the art of tire manufacture. Such blades are conventionally made from a running length or strip of a metallic material such as steel, stainless steel or brass. The strip is generally about 0.020 inches (0.5 mm) to 0.040 inches (1 mm) thick and has a width of about one half to 1½ inches. Sometimes the strips are of solid form other times perforated strips are used to form the blade.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,020 a method and apparatus for making blades is disclosed which enables small quantity lots of a multiplicity of different styles of blades to be made rapidly and economically. The method and apparatus permits blades to be blanked out from the stack of material by a plurality of punch and die sets while the stock remains securely attached to an endless loop carrier. The invention uses a plurality of suppresses for forming bends in the blade if desired.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,535 a similar method and apparatus for making blades is disclosed. The method and apparatus for making blades for use in tire molds includes piercing, notching, bending or otherwise altering the shape of a free end of strip material by successively positioning the free end and a plurality of shape altering tools in operative engagement and cutting off the formed blade from the free end.
The reader can appreciate or visualize finished blades of a given style falling into a large box after being formed and cut from the strip of blade stock.
The complexity of this automated blade forming apparatus make it abundantly clear that the formed blade must be rather simple in construction as shown in the appended prior art
FIGS. 8 through 13
. Bends, cuts, notches and holes are possible. What has not been possible to date was the employment of more complex shapes or varying the thickness of the blade at a specific location.
In French Patent 2,137,309 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,736,924 the features found in the preamble of claim
1
is shown.
The blade creates a sipe, which is a narrow groove or incision in the tread. The lateral ends of the blade, even if polished or ground round is a subsequent deburring operations, are sufficiently narrow to initiate crack propagation at this highly stressed region of tread.
To avoid this problem it has been an objective of the present invention to create blade ends and blade bends that are effective at stress relieving the tread elements adjacent the resultant sipe.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A blade for use in a tire mold is formed from blade blanks having at least two ends and at least one end cap having a substantially enlarged cross-section relative to the blade blank. Each end cap is attached to one end of the blade blank.
Preferably the end cap is of a second material, most preferably being a powdered metal. To facilitate attachment of the end cap at least one of the ends is crimped, notched or perforated so that when the end of the blade blank is placed in the mold for forming the end cap the crimped notched or perforated end is encapsulated by the material used to form the end cap. Preferably the enlarged end cap has a rounded cross section.
The blank may include one or more bends between the two ends. A bend cap having a substantially enlarged cross-section is attached to the blade blank at a bend, the bend cap being attached in a similar way as the end cap and preferably has a rounded cross-section.
Preferably the blade blank is metal, of brass, steel or stainless steel.
The method of fabricating a composite blade for use in a tire mold has the steps of forming a blade blank having at least two ends, placing one or more ends of the blade blank in a die and molding a second material around the one or more ends forming a rounded end at least partially encapsulating the one or more ends of the steel blade blank. The method may further have the step of crimping, notching or perforating the blade blank ends prior to molding thus encapsulating the crimp, notch or perforated end. The method may further include bending the blade blank and then molding a second material around the bend similar to the method of making the end cap.
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Jacobs Bernard Byron
Loney Gregory Lee
Root Richard Allen
King David L
Mackey James P.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
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