CZ340099A3 - Process for producing pneumatic tyre - Google Patents

Abstract

In a method of manufacturing a tire (10) in a non-membrane a tire mold (12) comprising sealing rings (16, 18; 70) for easy and quick installation tires within the mold (12) so that the pressurized gas or a fluid used to inflate and vulcanize the tire (10) does not leak around the tire bead portions (44, 46) and does not leak into the mold cavity (60), the assembly (10) is raw insert the tires into the lower part (24) of the mold at a distance the upper mold part (22). Pushing through the second foot section (46) the tires through the sealing rings (16, 18; 70) with these bending downwards and their free ends (16b, 18b) being extend beyond the path of the bead section (46). After sealing a second tire bead section (46) against the bottom the bead ring (42) closes the mold (12).

Description

The present invention relates to an improved tire mold design and an improved tire building method that includes the advantages achieved by using a new tire mold design. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved tire mold design for molding and curing tires without a tire hardening membrane and an improved method of assembling tires with an improved tire mold.

This patent application is related to International Patent Application No. PCT / US97 / 04859 entitled Elastomeric Interleaver, a method for its manufacture, a method for manufacturing a tubeless tire and a method of retreading a tire, with an international filing date of March 25, 1997, filed by the same applicant.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In order to better understand the advantages and improvements achieved by the present invention, a brief description of the tire construction and tire assembly procedures is given first. The tire is usually constructed by applying various components, or layers or inserts, of a flat material to a rotatable tire building drum to form a hollow, annular shaped, raw or uncured tire. The sequence of application of the components is as follows: first, an intermediate liner is wrapped on the tire building drum; the interlining is followed by carcass layers (inserts) that contain the tire reinforcement, carcass inserts are followed (not necessarily in the following order) by the beads, tops, bands, φ φ φ φ φ φ φ φ side walls, belts and tread. The components are then expanded and formed into an annularly shaped green tire assembly in a manner generally known in the art. The green tire assembly is then removed from the tire building drum and placed in a molding and vulcanizing mold having the shape of a finished tire. The mold is sealed and the annular molded green tire assembly is heated and expanded radially outwardly into the mold perimeter by injecting pressurized gas or liquid into a curing membrane mounted inside the mold and located within the green tire assembly. As the curing membrane expands, the tread and sidewalls of the green tire assembly contact the heated mold walls to mold and vulcanize the green tire assembly into a fully vulcanized tire. During radial expansion of the green tire assembly within the molding and vulcanizing mold, the annular inserts expand radially outwards to dimensions slightly beyond those of the original green tire assembly. Thus, the membrane is usually made of a stretchable elastomeric material, usually a vapor resistant butyl rubber.

During tire production on the assembly line, the curing membrane within the molding and vulcanizing mold periodically wears or fails. It has been verified that this problem is very difficult to overcome due to the harsh environment and the harsh operating conditions to which the elastomeric membrane is subjected and which are part of an assembly line working all day long throughout the year. For example, the membrane is placed in a heated form and is constantly expanded and contracted each time a tire is formed.

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In addition, the membrane is exposed to high temperatures and a pressurized gas or liquid, such as steam, that is used to expand the membrane.

The high speed of tire assembly processes on the assembly line is limited by the time required to mold and vulcanize each green tire in a tire mold. Tire molds are very expensive and usually several tire molds are provided for each tire drum. However, the primary cause of assembly line failures is the need to replace damaged or worn diaphragms in tire molds. This, combined with the cost of buying and maintaining each tire mold, results in a concerted effort by the tire industry to keep the tire mold in working order. This effort is very costly due to the limited production of tires during considerable outages when the tire mold is not in operation, the cost of labor required to install a new curing membrane and to put the tire mold back into service, and the cost of manufacturing and purchasing the membranes themselves.

The tire industry has already tried to eliminate the need to use a curing membrane used in tire manufacturing. For example, U.S. Patent No. 3,143,449 discloses a diaphragm-free tire mold for curing and shaping a green tire. The green tire has an unvulcanized, non-bonded (seamless) cask-shaped intermediate liner for complete sealing within the green tire against leakage of pressurized fluid into the tire body during a vulcanizing operation in a tire vulcanizing mold. This patent describes that through

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In order to eliminate the joint in the tire intermediate liner, the inflatable fluid in the membrane-free form was prevented from escaping through the joint into the raw tire body, which is molded and vulcanized in this tire vulcanizing mold.

However, mounting a green tire in a mold requires a complicated mold design that allows inflatable fluid to be injected into the molded tire body in a diaphragm-free mold to the desired shape.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,883 discloses a diaphragm-free tire cure mold which is also related to the problem of the present invention. The bead sealing ring is inserted between the beads of the tire before closing the tire mold and serves as a flat gasket. This ring, which is typically made of steel or other hard elastomeric material, may include extensions that are pushed inwardly by the tire as the tire mold is closed to shape the bead and form a tight seal as illustrated in Figure 7 of this patent. No. 4,166,883. The sealing ring is typically made of steel or other hard material that is resilient to the extent that it can push inwardly on the tire to shape the bead and form a tight seal when the tire mold is closed. The problem with this tire mold design is the degree of mechanical complexity required to insert a sealing ring between the beads of the tire after the green tire has already been inserted inside the tire mold but before closing the mold, another important design feature relating to the sealing ring of the tire. No. 4,166,883, that the extension allows the outer surface of the member (29) to be deflected from the position shown in dashed lines to the position shown in solid lines as shown in Fig. 7 and the description in column 5 of lines 13-18 of Patent No. 4,166,883. In essence, although Patent No. 4,166,883 has removed the curing membrane from the mold, it still requires a rather complicated mechanism for sealing the tire during molding and vulcanization, which increases the complexity and limits the speed of operation of the tire mold.

US Patent No. 4,181,483 discloses a device for vulcanizing pneumatic blanks including an elastomeric ring for sealing against a tire bead.

Another construction, which is described in US Patent No. 1,982,674, is to provide a sealing ring with resilient side members that seals against the bead portions of the tire to prevent leakage of pressurized gas or fluid. As in U.S. Patent No. 4,166,883, the seal ring construction described in U.S. Patent No. 1,982,674 is cumbersome because it is mounted in the green tire prior to placing the green tire and seal ring assembly in the tire mold. This assembly procedure is labor intensive and is not suitable for modern technicians using automated assembly lines. The side members are also an integral part of the rather complex sealing ring, as shown in Figure 3 of this specification, which is more susceptible to failure due to the demanding environment in which it is operated.

Thus, it is clear that there is still a need for new diaphragm mold designs for tires and methods of operation for manufacturing tires on high-speed assembly lines, which will reduce: a) the time and / or labor costs for fitting a green tire · • »* * * *. 9 9

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99 into a molding and vulcanizing mold; (b) idle when the tire mold is out of service; and c) labor and material costs for installing a new curing membrane and putting the tire mold back into service.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a diaphragm-free tire mold construction and to provide a method for inserting a green tire into and removing a vulcanized tire from a tire mold as defined in one or more of the appended claims, thereby achieving one or more of the following complementary

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One further object of the present invention is to provide an improved tire mold and vulcanization mold that includes sealing rings that allow the tire to be easily and quickly installed within the tire mold so that the pressurized fluid used to inflate the green tire does not leak around the bead portions. and does not pass into the cavity of the tire mold.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a diaphragm-free tire mold structure in which the sealing rings used to prevent leakage of pressurized fluid from the interior of the green tire into the space between the tire and the cavity walls of the tire mold are relatively cheap to manufacture and install.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method of mounting a green tire in a tire mold and vulcanizing mold in which the tire can simply be inserted from the top of the open tire mold and then pulled out in the opposite direction without the need to move

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ΦΦΦΦ any part of the tire mold into or out of the opening between the beads of the tire.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, there is described an improved tire mold having first and second tire mold sections, each having first and second bead support sections that form a mold cavity. The first and second bead support sections are spaced apart when the first and second mold sections are sealed to form a central opening into the mold cavity. The first and second clamping rings protrude into the central opening through the first and second mold sections. The first and second sealing rings are secured at one end to the first and second clamping rings, respectively, to seal the bead ring sections of the tire against the first and second bead support sections.

Also according to the present invention, the first and second sealing rings are annularly shaped, resilient elements, each having one annular end forming an inner peripheral portion of the sealing ring which may be weaker than the opposite annular end forming an outer peripheral portion of the sealing ring being clamped. to the clamping rings.

The sealing rings may also have a conical intermediate portion extending from the thicker inner peripheral portion to the weaker outer peripheral portion.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an improved method for manufacturing a tubeless tire using the improved diaphragm mold for a sealing ring tire described above. The method according to the invention comprises the following steps: first, the green tires are beaded

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9 9 • 9 * ·· ** 99 places the sections in the annular cavity of the tire mold that is formed by first and second tire mold sections having annular bead support sections adjacent to the central opening formed through the first and second annular tire mold sections . The annular bead sections of the tire are pressed against the first and second annular bead support sections with the first and second sealing rings secured to the first and second sealing clamping support members, respectively, which project into the central opening through the first and second sections of the tire mold. Thereafter, the annular bead sections of the tire are sealed against the first and second annular bead support sections with the first and second sealing rings by introducing pressurized gas or liquid through the central opening into the tire. Further, the green tire is inflated with pressurized gas or liquid to press the tire assembly against the wall of the tire mold to form and vulcanize the green tire assembly.

In the following description, some exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a partial, exploded side cross-sectional view showing a green tire assembly after its initial insertion into an open, diaphragm-free tire mold that includes sealing rings according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial, exploded side cross-sectional view showing the green tire assembly *

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Fig inside the open diaphragm-free tire mold after the lower sealing ring has been moved into engagement with the bead section of the green tire;

2A is a view showing a sealing ring with dashed lines in its normal position;

is a partial, exploded side cross-sectional view showing a green tire assembly inside a closed, diaphragm-free tire mold that includes the sealing rings of the present invention before introducing pressurized gas to shape and vulcanize the tire;

is a partial, exploded side cross-sectional view showing a green tire assembly inside a closed, diaphragm-free tire mold that includes the sealing rings of the present invention after the pressurized gas has already formed and vulcanized the tire;

is a partial, exploded, cross-sectional side view showing the upper sealing ring bent down as the bead section of the green tire is pushed over the sealing ring during assembly of the green tire into a tire mold;

is a partial, exploded, cross-sectional side view showing the lower sealing ring bent down as the lower bead section is flfl flfl flfl flfl flflflfl flflflfl flflflfl flflflfl The tire is pushed over this sealing ring during removal of the finished vulcanized tire from the tire mold;

Giant. 7 is a top view of a sealing ring according to 5 of the present invention; and

Giant. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of a sealing ring having a recessed metal support ring.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

For the best illustration of the present invention, Fig. 1 shows a green tire assembly 10 after it has been first inserted into an open, diaphragm-free tire mold 12 which includes a sealing ring assembly 14 according to the present invention. An important aspect of the present invention is that the tire mold 12 as shown in Fig. 1 does not require the use of a curing membrane to mold the tire assembly 10. The tire mold 12, except the sealing ring assembly 14, which includes, but is not limited to, the sealing rings 16 and 18 and the mounting structure 20 for these sealing rings is constructed in any conventional manner and does not form part of the present invention.

Form construction

The tire mold 12 is shown with a first tire mold section and a second tire mold section 24 that aligns with the first section. Although the tire mold 12 is illustrated with the first tire mold section 22 as the upper tire mold section and directly above the matching lower second tire mold section 24, the tire mold 12 is illustrated. It is within the scope of the present invention to orient the tire mold sections in any other preferred orientation as long as the green tire assembly may be inserted into the tire mold and the molded vulcanized tire can. be pulled out of this mold for the tire.

The present invention relates to an O-ring assembly 14 both in construction and in the manner in which the assembly enables improved tire manufacturing processes, including increased manufacturing speeds, improved tire quality, reduced tire mold complexity, reduced tire mold downtime, and reduced labor costs in the maintenance of the tire mold. The O-ring assembly 14 includes the O-rings 16 and 18, the O-ring mounting assembly 20, and any equivalent structure that performs the function of the O-ring assembly as defined herein. The centering mechanism 26, which moves longitudinally in both directions along the central axis 28, carries two support arms 30 and 32. Although both support arms 30 and 32 are illustrated as mounted on the centering mechanism 26 such that the arms move together, it is completely within the scope of the present invention to mount these arms such that they move independently of each other. One end 30a and 32a of the support arm 30 and 32, respectively, is secured to the centering mechanism 26. Opposite ends 30b and 32b have projecting clamping rings 34 and 36, respectively, for securing the sealing rings 16 and 18, respectively. It can be seen in the figure that the clamping rings 34 and 36 each have a clamping base portion 34a and 36a, respectively, integrally fixed to the support arms 30 and 32., and a removable seal (sealing ring), a fixing portion 34b and 36b respectively.

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φ φ φ φ φ φ φ φ zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště zajiště The seals of the fastening portion 34b and 36b have mating surfaces 34c and 36c, respectively, which abut the corresponding mating surfaces 40a and 42a (see Fig. 1) of conventional foot rings 40 and 42, which are further secured to the upper (first) and lower (second) sections 22 and 24, respectively, of a tire mold.

The sealing rings 16 and 18 are substantially identical and are preferably constructed of a resilient, elastomeric material such as butyl rubber. The sealing rings 16 and 18 typically have a shape similar to the sealing washer as generally shown in Figure 7, illustrating only the sealing ring 16, with a thicker end 16a and 18a, respectively, shaped to securely secure between the clamping support portion 34a and 36 and removable. the gasket fastening portion 34b and 36b, respectively. Opposite free ends 16b and 18b of the sealing ring 16 and 18, respectively, are illustrated as being substantially weaker than the fixed ends 16a and 18a, respectively. However, the thickness of the sealing rings 16 and 18 may be constant or may be even thicker at the outer free ends 16b and 18b than in the intermediate section between the two ends. It should be noted that the thickness of the sealing rings 16 and 18 affects the time required to cure the bead sections 44 and 46 of the tire. After the sealing rings 16 and 18 are supported against the bead sections 44 and 46, respectively, the curing fluid can easily push the sealing rings against the inner surface of the tire assembly, as discussed in more detail below. Between the ends 16a, 18a and 16b, 18b of the sealing rings 16 and 18, these sealing rings 16 and 18 are formed with curved outwardly facing surfaces 16c, 18c. Radius of curvature of surfaces

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16c and 18c for the sealing rings 16 and 18, respectively, is generally determined such that the curved surfaces 16c and 18c are located in a molded region comprising the bead sections of the tire, as illustrated by the dashed lines in Fig. 2A. The sealing rings 16 and 18 can be easily formed against the inner curved surface of the bead sections 44 and 46 of the tire assembly 10, respectively. The curved shape of the sealing rings 16 and 18 creates the natural mechanical tension of the elastomeric material, i.e. the material is moved away from its natural position when the bead sections of the green tire are inserted against the beads 40 and 42 and the sealing rings 16 and 18. Then, the pressure exerted by the vulcanizing fluid and pushing the sealing rings 16 and 18 against the inner curved surface of the bead sections 44 and 46 of the tire assembly 10 creates an effective seal to prevent leakage of the vulcanizing fluid between these components.

Method of production

The process begins with an open tire mold 12, i.e., an upper (first) tire mold section 22 spaced from the lower (second) tire mold section 24, and a centering mechanism 26 positioned such that the lower sealing ring (gasket) 18 is away from the bead ring 42. The green tire assembly 10 including the tire carcass 50 with the tread portion 52 disposed around it, the uncured, partially cured or fully cured intermediate liner 54 aligned and detected within the tire carcass 50, and the two tire beads 56 and 58 that are located within the bead sections 44 and 46, respectively, is inserted downwardly into the lower (second) tire mold section 24. The ease and speed with which the assembly 10.

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9, the tire may be inserted into and removed from the tire mold, being an important aspect of the present invention and a direct consequence of the improved O-ring assembly 14.

During the initial movement of the tire assembly 10 into the lower (second) tire mold section 24, the tire bead section 46 (the first bead section of the tire to be introduced into the open tire mold) is pushed over the sealing ring 16, causing the sealing ring to bend. downwardly, the sealing ring surface 16c extends beyond the path of the bead section 46 as shown in FIG. 5. As the bead section 46 continues to move downwardly toward the lower (second) tire mold section 24, the bead section 4.6 pushes the sealing ring 18 to bend downward (not to the extent that the sealing ring 16 is bent back) since the natural curvature of the surface 18c allows it to be more easily bent over itself. This expansion is done equally easily due to the elasticity of the sealing ring 16. The ability of the sealing rings 16 and 18 to bend in the opposite direction from their natural curvature is an important aspect of the present invention in allowing the tire assembly to be both inserted and removed extremely fast and without the need (as required by prior art diaphragm molds) to use any complex mechanism or procedure to insert a sealing mechanism into the green tire assembly to prevent molding and vulcanizing pressurized media such as steam from escaping into the mold cavity 60 for a tire between the tire assembly and the inner wall of the tire mold.

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The process of inserting the tire assembly 10 into the tire mold 12 continues, as shown in Fig. 2, as the centering mechanism 26 moves downward in the direction of the central axis 28. During the process step illustrated in Fig. 2, the clamping ring 36 abuts the bead ring 42 so that the sealing ring 18 pushes against the intermediate insert 54 of the tire assembly 10. It can be seen that the end 18b of the sealing ring 18 is positioned inwardly from the tire bead 58 towards the tire tread 52. Due to its natural curvature, the sealing ring 18 forms a mechanical seal with the inner surface 62 (intermediate lining 54) of the tire assembly 10. When the bead portion 46 of the tire is supported against the bead ring 42, the bead portion 44 of the tire of the tire assembly 10 is positioned on and spaced apart from the seal ring 16.

Referring to Fig. 3, it is seen that the upper (first) tire mold section 22 is further lowered into sealing engagement with the lower (second) tire mold section 24 to form a tire mold cavity 60 that surrounds the tire assembly 10. . As the upper tire mold section 22 moves toward the lower tire mold section 24, the bead ring 40 engages such a tire section 44 that includes the tire bead 56 and moves the bead section 44 downward until the bead ring 40 is not. The sealing ring 16 then forms a mechanical seal against the inner surface 62, i.e. the intermediate lining 54, of the tire assembly 10 in the same manner as described in connection with the sealing ring 18.

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Referring now to Fig. 4, a closed tire mold 12 will be illustrated with a tire assembly 10, wherein a pressurized curing and shaping fluid or liquid is passed through the inlet passage 64, located between the support arms 30 and 32. The compressed air molding is shown in FIG. This pressurized liquid pushes the tire assembly 10 against the walls of the tire mold. It will be appreciated that the pressure of the fluid or liquid, which is typically the pressure of steam or hot gas, pushes the gaskets 16 and 18 against the inner surface 62 of the bead sections 44 and 46 to form a very strong seal that prevents any leakage. fluid or fluid into the tire mold cavity 60 between the tire assembly 10 and the inner surface of the tire mold.

After the green tire assembly 10 has been formed and vulcanized, the curing and shaping fluid is discharged through the outlet port (not shown), which is typically located between the support arms 30 and 32. Then, the upper (first) tire mold section 22 is displaced up and off track. Again, the centering mechanism 26 is also displaced along the central axis 18 away from the lower (second) tire mold section 24 such that the sealing ring 18 is disengaged from the bead section 46 of the now cured tire.

However, as the cured tire is removed from the tire mold by conventional means, the sealing ring 18 is bent rearward as shown in Figure 6, with the end 18b being pushed upward so that the bead section 46 of the tire is moved upward and it may move freely from the bead ring 42 as the tire is removed from the tire mold 12. As the tire continues to move further out of the tire mold, the bead section 46 of the tire also

However, due to the resilience of the sealing ring 16, the bead section 46 of the tire moves beyond this upper sealing ring 16 without any major inconvenience.

The ability of the sealing rings 16 and 18 to operate in the harsh environment of a heated tire mold with tires continuously moving over the sealing rings as these tires are inserted into and removed from the tire mold is an essential feature of the present invention. That is, the sealing rings 16 and 18 are flexible enough to allow the tire to be simply and quickly inserted down into the tire mold and then removed from the tire mold without requiring any adjustment when placing the sealing rings, up to a small Ί vertical size Moreover, when the sealing rings 16 and 18 are worn by constant bending from the moving bead sections 44 and 46 of the tire assembly 10 through these sealing rings, the failure for their 7 Ω replacement is minimal because The sealing rings can be easily and flexibly removed and replaced between the clamping rings 34 and 36 and the support arms 30 and 32, respectively, as discussed above.

Alternative embodiments

Although the sealing rings 16 and 18 effectively seal against the bead portions of the tire, it is also entirely within the scope of the present invention form metal layer 22. ^{In the} form of pad which is inside the sealing ring 70 as one illustrated in FIG. 8. The metal insert 72 provides •

additional reinforcement with weaker parts of otherwise elastomeric sealing rings.

The sealing ring 70 can generally be constructed entirely according to the principles discussed above in connection with the sealing rings 16 and 18, i.e. of the same material and shape, except for the embedded metal insert 72. This modified sealing ring 70 can replace the sealing rings 16. and 18. if desired. The recessed washer-shaped metal liner 72 may be made of a resilient metal, such as spring steel, that allows the sealing ring 70 to be bent so that the bead sections of the tire of the tire assembly can move over the sealing ring 70 in the manner described. above. The metal liner 72 provides increased tension to the sealing ring 70 during initial contact with the inner surface of the bead portions of the tire to prevent pressurized molding and vulcanizing media such as steam from escaping between the sealing ring 70 and the inner surface of the tire assembly during initial injection of pressurized medium into the assembly. tires. Although this metal insert 72 is illustrated as extending from one end 70a of the sealing ring 70 to a location near the opposite end 70b of the sealing ring 70, it is also within the scope of the present invention to lengthen or shorten this metal insert 72 to balance good sealing properties and the elasticity required for bending as the bead sections of the tire assembly of the tire assembly move over the sealing ring 70.

Obviously, according to the present invention, a diaphragm-free tire mold has been created and a method of operating a tire mold that meets the objectives has been proposed.

means and advantages set forth herein above. According to the present invention, the diaphragm-free tire mold includes sealing rings that allow the tire to be easily and quickly installed inside the tire mold, so that the pressurized gas or fluid used to inflate and vulcanize the green tire assembly does not leak around the bead parts of the tire and do not leak into the mold cavity. The method of mounting a green tire in a diaphragm-free tire mold allows the tire to be quickly and easily inserted into and removed from the tire mold without having to move any mold components into or out of the space between the beads of the tire.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art

Numerous alternatives, modifications and variations will readily appear in the art in light of the foregoing description. The present invention covers all such alternatives, modifications and variations within the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims (3)

A method of manufacturing a tire in a mold (12) for a tire having an upper and a lower mold section (22, 24) that form a mold cavity (60), each of the upper and lower mold sections (22, 24) having upper and lower mold sections. a shoe ring (40, 42) adjacent to an opening in the mold cavity; a sealing ring assembly (14) comprising first and second clamping rings (34, 36) protruding into the mold cavity opening and having first and second elastomeric sealing rings (16, 18) secured to the first and second clamping rings respectively so that the free ends ( 16b, 18b) of these sealing rings extend into the mold cavity for sealing the bead sections (44, 46) of the tire assembly (10) against the upper and lower bead rings (40, 42), comprising the steps of: inserting the tire assembly (10) into the lower mold section (24) while being spaced into the upper mold section (22) by pushing the second bead section (46) of the tire over the sealing rings (16, 18), causing these sealing the rings bend downwards, expanding the free ends (16b, 18b) outside the path of the bead section (46) of the tire until the bead section (46) is supported against the bottom bead ring (42); sealing the bead section (46) against the bottom bead ring (42) by resting the second sealing ring (18) against the bead section (46); and lowering the second mold section (24) into sealing engagement with the lower mold section (24), while the upper bead ring (40) engages the bead section (44) of the tire and moves the bead section of the tire down until the sealing ring (16) forms a seal. against the bead section (44) of the tire. 9 9 99 99 99 99 999 9 9 99 9 9 99 9 9 9 9 9 9 · 999 999 999 9999 999 99 99 9999 The method of manufacturing a tire according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: moving the upper mold section (22) up and away from the lower mold section (24) so that the first sealing ring 5 (18) moves out of engagement with the bead section (46) of the tire; removing the tire from the tire mold (12) such that the first sealing ring (18) is bent rearward with the end (18b) pushed upwards such that the bead section (46) of the tire is moved upwardly and released from the bead ring (42), how 10, the tire is removed from the tire mold (12); and moving the tire further out of the tire mold (12), causing the bead section (46) of the tire to pass over the upper sealing ring (16). The method of manufacturing a tire according to claim 2, further comprising the step of: moving the upper and lower sections (22, 24) away from the first and second sealing rings (16, 18) to allow the further tire assembly to be simply and quickly inserted downwardly into the tire mold (12) and then removed from the tire mold without sliding the upper and lower sealing rings into and out of the mold cavity. Represented by: