METHOD OF FORMING AIR PASSAGEWAY IN AIR MAINTENANCE TIRE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To incorporate an air maintenance feature within a tire that re-inflate the tire in order to compensate for normal air diffusion over time without the need of driver intervention.SOLUTION: A method of forming an air passageway 238 in an air maintenance tire carcass includes: embedding an elongate strip 104 within a pre-cured flexible tire component 70 of a pre-cured tire carcass, the elongate strip extending in a longitudinal direction between an air inlet cavity 132 and an air outlet cavity 134 in the flexible tire component 70; curing the pre-cured tire carcass including the flexible tire component 70; extracting the elongate strip 104 longitudinally end-to-end, the elongate strip 104 occupying in the flexible tire component 70; and defining the air passageway 238 in the flexible tire component 70 by the space occupied previously by the withdrawn elongate strip.