Tire mold

This application claims the benefit of, and incorporates by reference, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/015,369 filed Dec. 20, 2007.

The present invention relates to a mold for a pneumatic radial tire, and more particularly, to a segmented tire mold.

Tire molds for molding pneumatic tires are typically constructed of steel or aluminum, and heated by steam platens or by placing the molds in potheaters. Thermal conduction is usually relied upon to transfer the heat from the heat source to the tread and sidewall forming surfaces. It is desirable to maximize the heat conduction to the tread and sidewall forming surfaces. If the thermal conduction is less than optimum, it will require additional cure time and energy costs resulting in reduced production capacity for the mold and higher operating costs. Inefficient thermal conduction can also result in temperature non-uniformity in the mold. The time to cure a tire is limited by the point of least cure on the tire, which is typically located on the undertread or in the bead area. Thus if this area could be cured quicker, the entire time of the process may be reduced. Thus an improved mold is desired which can heat the tire more quickly, uniformly and efficiently.

The invention provides in a first aspect a segmented mold comprising a plurality of segments arranged to form an annular cavity to mold a tire, the segments comprising an inner face for molding the tread, and an outer radial surface; the mold further comprising a plurality of slide blocks located radially outwards of the segments; wherein or more channels are provided between each segment outer surface and the adjacent slide block inner surface forming a fluid passageway, wherein each fluid passageway is joined together by a fluid connector to form a fluid manifold for circulating a fluid medium.

The invention provides in a second embodiment a segmented mold comprising a plurality of segments arranged to form an annular cavity to mold a tire, the segments comprising an inner face for molding the tread, and an outer radial surface; the mold further comprising a plurality of slide blocks located radially outwards of the segments; wherein or more fluid passageways are provided internally within each segment, wherein each fluid passageway is joined together by a fluid connector to form a fluid manifold for circulating a fluid medium.