Custom pre-cured retread

Abstract

The invention includes a retread tire and methods and apparatus for its manufacture, the retread tire including: a tire carcass having a bonding surface arranged along a base layer, the base layer being positioned between the bonding surface and a belt reinforcement package and including at least one base groove open to the bonding surface and a thickness that is variable and asymmetrical; a bonding layer having a thickness that is variable and asymmetrical; and a precured tread band bonded to the tire carcass, the precured tread band comprising a back face bonded to the bonding layer, a front face forming a ground-engaging surface and at least one tread groove extending through at least a portion of the tread band thickness and the back face having a discontinuity associated with the at least one tread groove, which is aligned with one of the at least one base groove.

1 . A retreaded tire, comprising:
 a tire carcass having a bonding surface forming an outer surface of the tire carcass extending both circumferentially and laterally about the tire, the bonding surface being arranged along a base layer and comprising one or more desired profiles extending laterally along a portion of the tread width, the bonding surface extending both circumferentially around the tire and laterally across a width of the tire, the base layer comprising a worn, pre-existing tread layer positioned between the bonding surface and a belt reinforcement package, where the base layer has includes at least one base groove open to the bonding surface, the base layer having a thickness that is variable and asymmetrical;   a bonding layer arranged along the bonding surface of the tire carcass, the bonding layer having a thickness that is variable and asymmetrical about a centerline of a tread width of the tire; and,   a precured tread band bonded to the tire carcass by way of the bonding layer, the precured tread band comprising a back face bonded to the bonding layer, a front face forming a ground-engaging surface and at least one tread groove extending through at least a portion of the tread band thickness and the back face having a discontinuity associated with the at least one tread groove, the tread band being arranged relative the tire carcass such that the at least one tread groove is aligned with one of the at least one base groove.   
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . The retreaded tire of  claim 1 , where a portion of the bonding surface is a surface of the pre-existing tread layer of the tire carcass. 
     
     
         4 . The retreaded tire of  claim 3 , where the pre-existing tread surface extends about a circumference of the tire. 
     
     
         5 . The retreaded tire of  claim 1 , where the back face of the tread band has a surface profile that is generally symmetrical about a centerline of the tread width, and where the bonding surface of the base layer has a surface profile that is arranged a variable distance from the back face surface profile. 
     
     
         6 . The retreaded tire of  claim 1 , where a first portion of the bonding surface extends laterally along a first linear or curvilinear path and where a second portion of the bonding surface extends laterally along a second linear or curvilinear path, the first path being different than the second path, each of the first and second portions of the bonding surface extending about a circumference of the tire. 
     
     
         7 . The retreaded tire of  claim 1 , where the at least one base groove is a groove of the pre-existing tread of the tire carcass. 
     
     
         8 . The retreaded tire of  claim 1 , where the bonding layer comprises a plurality of bonding layer sections spaced laterally across the tire and the tread band comprises a plurality of tread band sections spaced laterally across the tire, the plurality of sections being separated by a tread groove and each of the plurality tread band sections being positioned atop one of the plurality of bonding layer sections, where one of the plurality of bonding layer sections has a thickness greater than a thickness of another bonding layer section of the plurality of bonding layer sections. 
     
     
         9 . (canceled) 
     
     
         10 . The retreaded tire of  claim 5 , wherein a portion of the bonding layer is positioned within the at least one base groove. 
     
     
         11 . The retreaded tire of  claim 1 , wherein the precured tread band includes a tread groove and a tread groove bottom portion extending below the back face of the tread band, the at least one base groove arranged in the base layer of the tire being open to the bonding surface of the tire, where the tread groove bottom portion is arranged within the base groove. 
     
     
         12 . The retreaded tire of  claim 1 , wherein the precured tread band has a total thickness that is laterally symmetrical relative to a centerline of the tread band width. 
     
     
         13 . A method for retreading a tire, the method comprising:
 providing a tire for retreading, the tire having a tread area with an associated tread width and a pre-existing tread layer of variable thickness extending at least partially across the tread width, the pre-existing tread layer including a front face forming a ground-engaging surface of the tire;   providing a bonding surface along a base layer of the tire, the bonding surface comprising one or more desired profiles extending laterally along a portion of the tread width, the bonding surface extending both circumferentially around the tire and laterally across a width of the tire, the base layer comprising a worn, pre-existing tread layer and having a thickness that is variable and asymmetrical and at least one base groove open to the bonding surface;   providing a bonding layer atop the bonding surface, the bonding layer having a thickness that is variable and asymmetrical;   providing a precured tread band comprising a back face, a front face forming a ground-engaging surface of the tire, and at least one tread groove extending through at least a portion of the tread band thickness, the back face including a discontinuity associated with the at least one tread groove; and,   arranging the precured tread band along the bonding layer, where the back face engages a tread band bonding surface of the bonding layer and where the at least one tread groove is laterally aligned with the at least one base groove, the bonding layer being interposed between the precured tread band and the bonding surface of the base layer.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of providing a bonding layer includes removing a desired amount of tread material from the pre-existing tread layer along at least a portion of the tread width to a desired base groove depth for the at least one base groove. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of providing a bonding layer comprises:
 forming the at least one base groove into the bonding surface and within the base layer.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of providing a bonding layer comprises:
 measuring a distance from a reference location associated with the tire to the top of the bonding surface of the base layer;   determining a thickness of the bonding layer by subtracting the distance measured in the prior step of measuring from a corresponding desired distance between the reference location and the back face of the tread band in the retreaded tire;   repeating the previous two steps at one or more different locations across a width of the bonding surface;   forming a bonding layer having the thicknesses determined in the previous three steps.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the desired distance between the reference location and the back face of the tread band in the retreaded tire is determined by subtracting the tread band thickness from a corresponding desired distance between the reference location and the front face of the tread band. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the reference location is the bottom of the at least one base groove, the top of the reinforcement package, or the rotational axis of the tire. 
     
     
         19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 13 , where the bonding surface formed in the step of providing a bonding surface comprises a plurality of different profiles extending laterally along a portion of the tread width, where each of the plurality of profiles are either linear or curvilinear. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 13 , where the base layer includes a first portion having an associated portion of the bonding surface formed to a first profile and a second portion having an associated portion of the bonding surface formed to a second profile, the second portion being thinner than the first portion and being associated with a portion of the pre-existing tread that was thinner than a pre-existing tread portion associated with the first portion. 
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 13 , where the step of providing a bonding layer comprises forming a portion of the bonding layer along a portion of the bonding surface and repeating along another one or more portions of the bonding surface until the bonding layer is completed, the step of providing a bonding layer further including arranging one or more plies of bonding layer material along each portion of the bonding surface to form the bonding layer. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 13 , where the step of providing a bonding layer comprises forming a portion of the bonding layer along a portion of the bonding surface and repeating along another one or more portions of the bonding surface until the bonding layer is completed, where forming a portion of the bonding layer is performed by extruding the bonding layer onto the bonding surface using an extruder having a die, the die including one or more longitudinal members extending across at least a portion of a bonding layer material outlet of the die, where each of the one or more longitudinal members are positioned within one of the base grooves of the tire as the bonding layer is being extruded, the longitudinal members extending longitudinally within the corresponding base groove. 
     
     
         27 . (canceled) 
     
     
         28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . (canceled)