| abstract |
A tire having a pair of bead portions for mounting on a rim, a tread portion radially outward of said bead portions and connecting sidewalls is cast and cured from different liquid elastomer forming materials in a three-stage process. First, the inner layer of the tire is molded of high modulus material on a collapsible core in a mold with an outer shell. Second, the first outer shell is removed and a second outer shell of a second mold is mounted around the core and cast inner layer. The tread portion of the tire is then molded by centrifugal casting from a low modulus material. Third, the sidewalls are molded of low modulus, optionally microcellular, material by injection of the liquid elastomer forming material into the sidewall spaces between the molded inner layer and the second outer shell. |