A method of manufacturing a tire curing bladder, the method includes the steps of (i) providing a cured tire curing bladder; and (ii) applying an air barrier composition to the cured tire curing bladder to form an air barrier layer. A method of restoring the air retention of a tire curing bladder, the method includes the steps of (i) providing a used tire curing bladder; and (ii) applying an air barrier composition to the used tire curing bladder to form an air barrier layer.

The curing bladder for a tire has a shape of revolution around a central axis and comprises a flexible wall made of crosslinked rubber. The surface of the wall is covered with a coating film made of a non-stick composition. When the bladder is non-inflated, the coating film has a variable thickness over the surface.

The curing bladder for a tire comprises a body made of a flexible material suited to being inserted in the drawn-in position inside a pneumatic tire in a curing mould and which is capable of being expanded so as to flatten the tire against the internal surface of the mould. The body is produced based on a film made of a thermoplastic polymer and has a cylindrical tube shape when the bladder is in the drawn-in position.

A pneumatic tire is vulcanized by using a bladder provided with a coating layer formed by a release agent, and the release agent has a thickness, detected by an electron microscope, of 0.1 m to 100 m on an inner surface of a tread portion 1.

A method of manufacturing a pneumatic tire includes placing a bladder device including a vulcanization bladder at a holding position outside a mold; inserting the vulcanization bladder in a green tire with a tire axis central position of the green tire and a shaft central position of the vulcanization bladder aligned; aligning a central position in a tire width direction of the green tire and a central position in a shaft direction of the vulcanization bladder; supporting the green tire with the vulcanization bladder by inflating the vulcanization bladder to a predetermined green tire supportable internal pressure; bringing the vulcanization bladder in contact with an inner surface of the green tire; transporting the green tire together with the bladder device to the vulcanization device; setting the green tire with the bladder device in the mold; inflating the vulcanization bladder to a predetermined vulcanization internal pressure; and vulcanizing the green tire.

A bladder control assembly for a tire curing press includes an upper and lower clamp rings for clamping a bladder therebetween. The bladder is shaped with curing media to cure a tire enclosed between a top and bottom mold. An upper ring cylinder and one or more lower ring cylinders actuates the upper clamp ring and at least the lower clamp ring, respectively. A curing media supply and drain arrangement includes an outer pipe telescopically engaged to an inner pipe and the inner pipe is configured to supply the curing media to the bladder. The inner pipe moves within the outer pipe during actuation of the lower ring cylinders. The outer pipe is fixed to a cylinder guide by an outer pipe flange which is configured to house a seal provided at the area joining the outer pipe and the inner pipe.

Disclosed is an elastomeric bladder tool and related systems and methods. In one embodiment, the elastomeric bladder tool comprises an elastomeric inner layer substantially defining an inner cavity of the elastomeric bladder tool, an elastomeric outer layer substantially defining an outer surface of the elastomeric bladder tool, and a permeable middle layer positioned between the elastomeric inner layer and the elastomeric outer layer. The permeable middle layer has greater permeability than both the elastomeric outer layer and the elastomeric inner layer to allow for evacuating of gases that have entered the permeable middle layer.

A method of detecting tire mold (10) bladder (14) leakage is provided that includes placing an uncured tire (12) into a mold (10), and inflating a bladder (14), that has a fluid (22), within the mold. Sufficient heat and pressure are applied to at least partially cure the tire when the uncured tire is in the mold (10). The mold (10) is opened and electronic smelling is conducted on the at least partially cured tire (12). The electronic smelling is performed in order to determine whether the bladder (14) is leaking the fluid (22).

A tire curing bladder and associated method of forming same includes an elastomeric body and a radio frequency identification device (RFID) tag chemically bonded to the elastomeric body.

A release agent for being coated onto a tire bladder made of a zinc-oxide-incorporated butyl rubber during pneumatic-tire molding, the release agent containing (A) organopolysiloxane, which contains a carboxy group indicated by the general formula (1) below ##STR00001##
(in the formula, R.sup.1 is a substituted or unsubstituted C1-C30 monovalent hydrocarbon group excluding R.sup.2, R.sup.2 is a carboxy-group-substituted C1-C30 monovalent organic group, R.sup.3 is R.sup.1 or R.sup.2, and n is an integer of 3 to 2000.). This release agent produces a longer service life of a tire bladder and leads to reduced tire production cost because the amount of silicone that migrates to the tire side is low when the tire is released, and repeated mold-release performance is enhanced.