A method for producing a tread for a tire having a plurality of contacting element delimited by a plurality of grooves and a connecting member. The method includes depositing at least one connecting member on a surface of an unvulcanized green tread, introducing the unvulcanized green tread with the connecting member into a mold having at least one molding element having a plurality of rib for forming the groove on the tread, at least two rib side faces and a molding surface, at least one rib having at least one notching portion receiving a guiding member including a guiding slit, moving the connecting member to a predetermined position in the guiding slit through the guiding slit by green tread, molding and vulcanizing the green tread with the connecting member in the mold, and taking a molded and vulcanized tread out from the mold.

A tyre mold for curing and molding a tyre includes a plurality of tread segments for molding a tread rubber of the tyre. The plurality of tread segments, upon being connected with one another in a mold circumferential direction, forms a tread molding-surface that is substantially continuous in the mold circumferential direction through parting lines that appear between adjacent tread segments. The parting lines include one or more inclined parting lines inclined with respect to a mold axial direction, and the inclined parting lines extend straightly between ends in the mold axial direction of the tread molding-surface.

The molding element has a plurality of contacting elements delimited by a plurality of grooves and has a molding surface for forming a contact face and a groove forming rib portion for forming the groove. The groove forming rib portion provides a space opening to one of the rib side faces and/or to the rib top face and an insert that is received in the space for forming a portion of the groove and a closing device in the groove. The insert is composed of thin plates stacked with one another. The forming plate assembly also comprises at notched plates of thickness t1, and each notched plate includes a notch for forming a flexible fence, and the notched plate has no area overlapping to the notch in the other notched plated adjacent thereto in sectional view in a direction along which the groove forming rib portion extends.

A tire vulcanizing method includes a tire removal step for removing a vulcanized tire from a mold. The tire removal step includes a stage in which upper and lower side molds are moved inward in a tire axial direction so as to deform the vulcanized tire in a direction in which a bead width of the vulcanized tire is decreased, and a stage in which, in the deformed state of the vulcanized tire, the segments are moved outward in a tire radial direction so that the segments are removed from the vulcanized tire.

The molding element has a molding surface forming a contact face and a groove forming rib portion forming the groove comprising two opposed rib side faces and a rib top face connecting two rib side faces. The groove forming rib portion provides at least one cavity opening to the rib top face and to at least one of the rib side faces. The cavity has two opposed cavity faces. The molding element comprises at least one cutting means extending and/or projecting in a direction the groove forming rib portion extends for cutting a material filled in the cavity during demolding.

The present invention includes tire treads (10) and a method for forming tire treads (10) having a sipe (18) with a length extending between opposing terminal ends of the sipe and having a height and a thickness which is variable across the length and height of the sipe. The thickness of the sipe (18) includes a sipe portion arranged between the opposing terminal ends defining the sipe length and having a thick portion extending at least partially around a perimeter of a thin portion. The thin portion is substantially 0.2 millimeters or less thick and forms at least 40% of the surface area along each of the opposing sides of the sipe, the opposing sides being arranged on opposing sides of the sipe thickness.

A tire vulcanizing mold comprises a sidewall ring for molding a sidewall portion of a tire. The sidewall ring is composed of a main body provided with a circumferentially extending groove, and mold pieces mounted in the groove so as to be adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction. Between the mold pieces and/or between the main body and the mold pieces, there are formed micro-gaps for discharging gas existing in the tire vulcanizing mold so as to communicate with exhaust flow paths extending from the groove toward the outside of the mold.

An adjustable tire mold for use with molds of various diameters and widths is provided. In one embodiment, an adjustable tire molding system is provided, the adjustable tire molding system, comprising: an annular mold assembly including at least one mold segment; an adjuster ring assembly including at least one adjuster engaged with the at least one mold segment, wherein the adjuster ring assembly is oriented radially outwardly of the annular mold assembly; and an outer side plate, wherein the at least one mold segment and the adjuster ring assembly are operatively connected to the outer side plate.

Mould for moulding a tread of a tire, this tread having a thickness of material to be worn away and a tread surface intended to come into contact with the road surface when the tire is running, this mould having a moulding surface intended to mould the tread surface of the tread, and having a moulding element formed of a blade and a bar, the blade being attached to the moulding surface to mould a sipe in the tread, the bar, borne by the blade to form an enlarged part of maximum width D, being intended to mould a channel in the tread, this channel itself being intended to form a new groove when the tread becomes part worn. Each blade is delimited by two lateral faces forming between them a mean angle of between 6 degrees and 18. The blade width decreasing from the mould surface when new, as far as the connection with the bar, the blade width meets the bar being at least equal to between 0.2 and 0.4 times the maximum width D.

A tire vulcanizing mold includes an upper and lower pair of side molds having side shaping surfaces. Each of the side molds includes: a side mold main body including plural recesses, each being opened to corresponding one of the side shaping surfaces at spaced intervals; plural pieces, each of which is fitted into the recess; and clearances provided between the side mold main body and each of the pieces. Each of the recesses includes: an outer-side inner wall surface defining an outer side in a tire radial direction; an inner-side inner wall surface defining an inner side; a pair of radial inner wall surfaces that are located between the outer-side inner wall surface and the inner-side inner wall surface and define one side and the other side in the tire circumferential direction; and a curved surface that connects the outer-side inner wall surface and the radial inner wall surface.