DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention may take physical form in certain parts and arrangement of parts, used to form the belt of the invention that is herein shown as a preferred embodiment and will be described in detail in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof:
FIG. 1 shows a top plan view of a woven section of material that is a weave of Rayon warp and cotton fill cords or filaments and is shown as being cut or separated with a round blade that travels along broken lines A, behind an application of a layer of an adhesive, shown as a brush, that is in contact with the belt sections , with the formed belt sections ends at the sides of the woven section shown as having like opposing angles with each belt section for joining into a continuous belts section;
FIG. 2 shows an enlarged side elevation view of a section of a belt section showing the separate parallel Rayon warp cords or filaments and a continuous cotton fill cords or filaments of the invention as having received an application of an adhesive, as shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an end elevation view of the enlarged side elevation view of the section of a belt section shown in FIG. 2:
FIG. 4 is a side elevation perspective view of a pair of belt sections of FIG. 1, with the one belt section shown positioned beneath a tire core build mandrel that is shown in broken lines, with the one belt section for positioning over the other and has been rotated one hundred eighty (180) degrees along its longitudinal axis, with the belt section shown aligned for bending around a top or crown surface of the tire core build mandrel, and showing connecting pads that are each aligned over one belt- section end for connecting to the other belt section end forming continuous belt sections, forming a continuous belt, where the connected belt section ends are on opposite sides of the tire core build mandrel;
FIG. 5, shows the tire core build mandrel as was illustrated in broken lines of FIG. 4, that a plies sleeve and beads have been fitted to, and shows a top of the pair of belt sections of FIG. 4 as having been connected at its ends, with the two belt sections forming a continuous belt;
FIG. 5A shows an enlarged sectional view taken within the curved line 5A of FIG. 5, showing the crossing angle of the Rayon cords or filaments as being from forty eight (48) to fifty two (52) degrees;
FIG. 6 shows an exploded end side elevation perspective view of a section of a tire core that includes a stack of a pair of belt sections of the invention that encircles the tire core build mandrel of FIG. 5, and is maintained above the plies; and
FIG. 7 shows a profile sectional view of a section of and elastomeric tire that has been cast, molded, vacuum formed, or otherwise fabricated to contain the tire core of FIG. 6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The invention is in a belt 24 that, as shown in FIG. 5, is installed onto a top or crown 41 of a tire core build mandrel 40. The belt 24 is fabricated from a pair of like belt sections 21 that are each a weave of Rayon and cotton warp and fill cords 25 and 26, respectively, as shown in FIG. 5A, with the belts section 21, as shown in FIG. 1, cut or formed from a section of the woven material 20. The belt sections 21 are cut, or otherwise formed, on a bias across the woven material 20, as illustrated by broken lines A, and, during, before, or after which cutting, an adhesive is applied along the cut, broken lines A, stabilizing the weave. Which application of an adhesive is illustrated as a brush 28 shown ahead of a cutting blade 29, shown as a disk, that is turned to travel along the broken lines A, cleanly cutting the woven material 20 into belt sections 21. It should be understood, that the adhesive layer 28a is preferably a starch based adhesive that is compatible with the Rayon and cotton cords or filaments, and with the polyurethane material as used to cast a tire containing the tire core, and which adhesive layer 28a may be applied before the woven material 29 is cut or during or after cutting, within the scope of this disclosure, for stabilizing the belt section 21 edges.
The width of the woven material 20 is selected to allow for the belt sections 21 to be cut on a bias angle of from twenty four (24) to twenty six (26) degrees to the side of the woven material 20, and to a width and length to fit across and around a top or crown 41 of a tire core build mandrel 40, that is illustrated in broken lines in FIG. 4. Also, the belt sections 21 may be of slightly different length and width to compensate for the one belt section being fitted over the other, within the scope of this disclosure. Which belt sections 21 have ends 22a and 22b that have like opposing angles to fit together into continuous belt 24, where the belt section warp and fill cords or filaments, 25 and 26 respectively, at the ends 22a and 22b, will align. To maintain which alignment, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, joining sections of material 27 can be installed across the belt section ends 22a and 22b junctions. Which sections of material 27 are preferably thin sections of a cotton material where the surfaces of the cotton filaments making up the section of material 27 will grip the surfaces of the cotton fill cords or filaments 26 when the sections of material are pressed into the belt section 21 ends 22a and 22b. The belt section ends 22a and 22b are thereby coupled, providing a coupling that will resist separation with the addition of a second belt or belts 24 and a winding of the belted tire core build mandrel with tire cord. While such section of material 27, formed from a thin cotton section of material, can be used as described for holding abutting edges of the belt section ends 22a and 22b, it should be understood that other coupling arrangement could be so used, such as a tape having an adhesive on one surface, within the scope of this disclosure.
As shown in FIG. 4, to form the belt 24, a pair of belt sections 21 are stacked over one another with the one belt section 21 rotated one hundred eighty (180) degrees along its longitudinal axis to the other and each belt section 21, in turn, is bent around the top or crown surface 41 of the tire core build mandrel, and the belt section ends 22a and 22b are fitted together and receive the section of material 27 pressed onto which junction, forming a continuous belt section 21. In which belt section mounting, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the ends of each belt section are spaces approximately an equal distance around the tire core build mandrel 41 from one anther. Whereafter, the second belt section 21 is installed over the first, forming the belt 24, as shown in FIG. 5. In which belt section mounting, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the ends 22a and 22b of each belt section 11 are preferably spaces approximately an equal distance around the tire core build mandrel 41 from one another.
The belt 24, as shown in FIG. 5A, has Rayon warp cords or filaments 25 that cross at a crossing angle of from forty eight (48) to fifty two (52) degrees. FIGS. 2 and 3 show the cotton fill cords or filaments 26 as providing for lateral separation of the Rayon cords or filaments 25. Additionally, which cotton fill cords or filaments, as shown in FIG. 5A, provide also for vertical separation of the Rayon warp cords or filaments 25 in the one belt section 21 from those in the other belt section 21. So arranged, the cotton fill cords or filaments 26 provide, along with the application of an adhesive layer 28a, as illustrated by brush 28 in FIG. 1, along the belt section 21 edges, for maintaining a desired spacing distance between and holding the Rayon warp cords or filaments 25 straight in the formation of the belt 24. Further, in practice, a weave of the invention incorporates Rayon cords or filaments 26 having a diameter of approximately point zero three zero (0.030) inches, and cotton fill cords 26 having a diameter of approximately point zero zero eight to point zero one zero (0.008/0.010) inches. It should, however, be understood the respective Rayon warp and cotton fill cords or filaments can be from (0.025) to (0.035) inches and (0.008) to (0.020) inches, respectively, within the scope of this disclosure. In practice a weave density of fourteen (14) of the Rayon warp cords or filaments per inch and ten (10) to fifteen (15) of the cotton fill cords or filaments per inch have been used in weaving the section of woven material 20 of FIG. 1. It should, however, be understood that the woven material 20 can contain from ten (10) to eighteen (18) Rayon warp cords or filaments per inch, and four (4) to fourteen (14) per inch of the cotton fill cords or filaments, within the scope of this disclosure. Which diameter of Rayon warp and cotton fill cords or filaments 25 and 26, respectively, at their preferred density, produces a section of woven material 20 that can be cut along the broken lines A, as shown in FIG. 1, into the belt sections 21 and, with an application of the adhesive to the best section 21 cut edges, that is preferably starch based, the belt section edges will each retain their dimensional integrity after cutting. The belt sections are then wrapped, as shown by arrows B in FIG. 4, around the mandrel 40 top or crown surface 41 and the junctions of the belt sections ends 22a and 22b are maintained by the application of sections of cotton material 26, or the like, applied thereover, and are located opposite sides of the mandrel 40 top or crown surface, forming a continuous belt 26, as shown in FIG. 5.
FIG. 6 shows an exploded view of a tire core 50 having a separator layer 53 between a tire core build mandrel 40, shown in broken lines in FIG. 4, and in FIG. 5, whereon a plies sleeve 51 is fitted whose ends 51a have been wrapped around beads 52, and incorporates belts 24 aligned over the plies sleeve. Which tire core 50 has been removed off from the tire core build mandrel 40 of FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 6 illustrates that, with the belt or belts 24, assembled as set out above, separator layers, such as thin sections of cotton matt material as have been used in the core systems set out in the Prior Art cited above, are not required. Rather, the utilization of cotton cords as the fill cords or filaments 26 and their density in the weave of the woven material 20 provides for both maintaining the positioning of the Rayon warp cords or filaments 25 and for their lateral separation in the weave, within the stack of the belt sections 21, and between the plies 51, belt or belts 24 and a tire cord wrap 58. With the installation of the tire cord wrap 58, the tire core 50, that includes one or more belts 24, is ready for installation into a cavity of a mold as is used to form an elastomeric tire.
The elastomeric tire incorporating the invention is preferably formed from a polyurethane material in a molding, casting, vacuum forming or other process, and is shown as tire 65 in FIG. 7. Which tire 65 shows the single belt 24 formed by overlaying two belt sections 21 that are each a weave of individual Rayon warp cords or filaments 25 and a continuous cotton fill cord or filament 26, and shows the polyurethane material as having flowed through and saturated the tire core, providing a mechanical lock to the plies sleeve material, belt or belt material, and beads, forming a homogeneous finished tire 65 that, additional to the tire core 50, includes the polyurethane surface 65 wherein a tread 66 is formed around the top or crown. Which mechanical lock of the polyurethane material to the belt 24 warp and fill cords 25 and 26 is a result of a use of Rayon as the warp cords or filaments 25 and cotton as the fill cords or filaments 26 where the cords or filaments surfaces tend to absorb the selected polyurethane material and provide a very strong mechanical bond therebetween.
While a preferred embodiment of our invention in a tire belt for use in forming a tire core for casting, molding, vacuum forming or otherwise manufacturing a transport tire around a core, has been shown and described herein, it should be understood that variations and changes are possible to belt and belt sections and the belt manufacture on a tire core and the core's use in the formation of a tire, as well as the materials used in tire fabrication, without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims, and a reasonable equivalency thereof, which claims we regard as our invention.
Patent Application
20070287347
