A tread mold includes a securable region at an outer circumferential portion thereof which is capable of being secured to a jig at a machining apparatus, and a positioning surface at the outer circumferential portion thereof which is capable of making surface contact with a reference surface at the jig so as to permit positioning to be carried out relative to the jig, the positioning surface is arranged so as to face in the tire circumferential direction so as to permit the tread mold to be positioned relative to the jig in the tire circumferential direction.

A dual mold spacer for use with a dual mold assembly is provided that includes a first side portion configured to engage a first side rail of the dual mold assembly. A second side portion is configured to engage a second side rail of the dual mold assembly. A body portion extends from the first side portion to the second side portion and is configured to be located between a press of the dual mold assembly and first and second molds of the dual mold assembly. The body portion is configured for being spaced from and free from engagement with the first and second molds.

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 ?m 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 ?m 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.

Provided are a cleaning device and a method for cleaning a vulcanization mold. At the time of cleaning a molding surface of a vulcanization mold by irradiating with a laser beam from a laser head, an inert gas is supplied from a supply nozzle and an irradiation range of the molding surface irradiated with the laser beam is brought into an atmosphere of the inert gas.

When cleaning a mold using a mold cleaning system, three-dimensional image data of a molding surface of the mold is acquired by a camera, movement of arms is controlled by a control device based on the acquired image data, and a laser head is moved along the molding surface while a laser beam provided from a laser oscillator is irradiated to remove contamination adhered to the molding surface. Cleaning is performed on a specific site, using a relatively small laser head, or also using a relatively large laser head, or cleaning is performed using a laser head having a variable laser irradiation width and setting an appropriate laser irradiation width for each site to be cleaned.

A vent hole cleaning system is disclosed. The cleaning system is comprised of a housing containing a work table and a support column. The system further comprises a robotic arm mounted on the support column. Further, a subsystem is mounted at an end, opposite to the support column, of the robotic arm. The subsystem may comprise a scanner configured to generate a contour profile of a mold. Further, a vision system may be mounted on the subsystem. The vision system may be communicably connected to the scanner. Further, the system may comprise a cleaning head communicably connected to the vision system and the scanner to enable precision positioning on the mold.

A method for cleaning a vulcanization mold for tires in a curing press uses device having a collaborative mobile robot and incorporating a computer program. The robot includes an autonomous mobile platform mounted on drive wheels and having batteries supplying electricity, a dry ice dispenser, sensors for identifying the location of the mold to be cleaned, and motors ensuring its displacement between a storage location of the device and the mold to be cleaned and the displacement of an articulated mobile arm of the robot. The robot bears a nozzle for spraying dry ice from the dispenser. The device comprises means for communication with a control unit. The control unit sends a mission instruction to the device, which navigates between a storage location and the location of the mold and automatically cleans the vulcanization mold.

Invention is a cleaning robot for cleaning the inner surfaces (5) of the half mold (4) of tire curing molds comprising a basket (10) wherein a lifting arm (50) placed in a manner pivotal on a proximal end (52), the lifting arm (50) pivoted on a distal end (54) of a support arm (70). The cleaning robot fits completely into the basket (10) when the positioned as close and comprising a movable head (80) having a nozzle (82) coupled in a manner to establish fluid communication to the dry ice inlet (84) and located at the distal end (76) of the support arm (70) and a free end which is configured movably closer to the inner surface (5) such as at a vicinity of the inner surface (5) along the contour of its when the positioned as open.

A tread mold includes a securable region at an outer circumferential portion thereof which is capable of being secured to a jig at a machining apparatus, and a positioning surface at the outer circumferential portion thereof which is capable of making surface contact with a reference surface at the jig so as to permit positioning to be carried out relative to the jig, the positioning surface is arranged so as to face in the tire circumferential direction so as to permit the tread mold to be positioned relative to the jig in the tire circumferential direction.

Methods, apparatuses and systems can be provided to remove vulcanized rubber contamination and other process related residues, such as sulfur-based residues from a vulcanization mold. A vulcanization mold can be placed in a reactor where solid vulcanized rubber contamination can be turned into its base substances on a particle level by reversing the vulcanization and breaking the sulfur-bonds of the contamination. The reactor can be filled with a process liquid that interacts with the devulcanized particles. Energy can be applied to the process liquid to set it into motion to transport devulcanized particles away from the mold surface and from mold cavities such as air venting systems, of which can include then a combination of devulcanization and then a nucleation process to remove the contaminants from the mold.