A lining element (16) of a curing mold (10) for a tire forms a molding surface (14), the molding surface comprising recessed and protruding patterns, at least one first protruding pattern (30) being formed by a first sipe blade (32) with a cross section in the form of a fork (34), and at least one second protruding pattern (36) being formed by a second sipe blade (38) and by a bulge (40) extending along a radially internal contour (42) of the second sipe blade, at least one recessed pattern being partially delimited by at least one first protruding pattern (30) and at least one second protruding pattern (36).

A venting device and a tire mold are disclosed for use in a tire vulcanization process. The venting device includes a core shaft and a sleeve sleeved over the core shaft, a venting passage is formed between the sleeve and the core shaft, the core shaft includes a shaft body, one end of the shaft body is connected to a shaft head, the other end of the shaft body is connected to a shaft end piece provided with a groove extending through the shaft end piece, and an end of the groove facing away from the shaft head is closed. The shaft end piece is used for axially stopping the shaft body, and the shaft end piece is further used for assembling the sleeve and the core shaft by contracting and springing back.

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.

Assemblies and methods for fabricating one or more molded tire treads are provided along with systems for manufacturing a plurality of tread mold configurations from interchangeable elements.

In the production of tyres for vehicle wheels in which at least one colored label (200) is provided on at least one of the sidewalls of the tyre, a green tyre is arranged inside a vulcanization mold comprising a first half-shell (50), a second half-shell opposite to the first half-shell (50) and a crown of circumferential sectors configured to air-tightly couple with the first half-shell (50) and with the second half-shell when the vulcanization mold is closed. Each label (200) comprises a layer of colored cross-linkable elastomeric material. Each label (200) is arranged in a predetermined position on a first support surface (50a) defined in at least one of the aforementioned first and second half-shell. The green tyre is arranged inside the vulcanization mold so that one of the sidewalls of the green tyre rests on such a support surface (50a). The mold is then closed and the co-vulcanization of the green tyre and of the label(s) (200) inside the vulcanization mold starts, holding in position the labels (200) on the first support surface (50a) during at least one initial part of the vulcanization.

A tire vulcanization mold in which a surface roughness in the groove molding portion of the tread molding surface is made smaller than a surface roughness in the land portion molding portion, in which a surface roughness in the groove molding portion is minimized to 0.12 μm or less in a range including at least a main groove molding portion, and in which a surface roughness in the land portion molding portion is made to be 3.2 μm or more, is used to manufacture a tire, and when cleaning the tread molding surface, the tread molding surface is irradiated with a laser beam to remove contaminant adhered to the tread molding surface.

Tire vulcanizing mold able to cooperate with a curing press, said mold comprising two shells each one molding a sidewall of the tire and a ring of sectors for molding the tread of the tire, each sector comprising a support and a molding lining situated radially on the inside of the support, in which ring the sectors, when the mold is in the closed position, are all in circumferential contact one with the next via the molding linings and in radial contact on the shells via the front ends of the linings each of which forms a face for contact with the shell, said supports and linings being produced in such a way that each support is able to take up the clamping force applied to the lining coming into contact with the shell when the mold is in the closed position when said clamping force at said contact face exceeds a given threshold that is lower than the plastic threshold of the lining. A predetermined clearance (j) is provided between the lower front face of the shell and the lower front end of the support, and in that this clearance (j) is cancelled out when the mold is in the closed position.

A tire curing mold comprises a plurality of vent holes provided on a side forming surface coming into contact with a side wall portion of a tire. The side forming portion is provided with a recess portion which is recessed toward an outer side in a tire width direction from a profile of the side forming surface. A diameter of a vent hole which is open within the recess portion is set to be larger than a diameter of a vent hole which is open on the profile of the side forming surface.

The disclosure provides a process for manufacturing a tread molding element configured to mold at least a portion of a tire tread, the process comprising the steps of modeling a three-dimensional shape of a tread molding element through a modeling program that can be recognized by a 3D printer; providing one or more plastic compositions comprising one or more thermoplastic polymers having a melting point of at least 180° C.; forming a tread molding element by 3D printing from the one or more plastic compositions; and optionally annealing the tread molding element.

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.