Pneumatic tire carcass construction

Claim 1

The method of making a carcass ply for radial tires comprising: moving a planar collecting surface in a generally horizontal direction, depositing on said collecting surface a continuous length of an elongate flexible strand comprising a gathered-together plurality of glass filaments in repeating loops characterized in that the minor axes of said loops are coincident with the longitudinal axis of movement, whereby the central regions of said repeating loops are normal to the central axis of said continuously formed carcass ply of said repeating loops conforming to the tread region of the ultimate tire, while the lateral regions conforming to the sidewall regions of the ultimate tire are characterized by an angular relationship of the strand with respect to said central axis, combining the thusly formed continuous nonwoven sheet with a pair of vulcanizable elastomeric sheets coextensive in area with the pattern of the nonwoven looped or oval-configurated deposited strand. cutting said composite into separate segments, each having a central tread region in which the strands are radially disposed and adjoining lateral regions in which the strands are angularly or bias disposed, and removing marginal edges of said repeating oval, said edges being characterized by a concentration of strand overlap.

Claim 2

The method of making a carcass ply for radial tires comprising: moving a planar collecting surface in a generally horizontal direction, depositing on said collecting surface a continuous length of an elongate flexible strand comprising a gathered-together plurality of glass filaments in repeating loops characterized in that the minor axes of said loops are coincident with the longitudinal axis of movement, whereby the central regions of said repeating loops are normal to the central axis of said continuously formed carcass ply of said repeating loops conforming to the tread region of the ultimate tire, while the lateral regions conforming to the sidewall regions of the ultimate tire are characterized by an angular relationship of the strand with respect to said central axis, combining the thusly formed continuous nonwoven sheet with a pair of vulcanizable elastomeric sheets coextensive in area with the pattern of the nonwoven looped or oval-configurated deposited strand. cutting said composite into separate segments, each having a central tread region in which the strands are radially disposed and adjoining lateral regions in which the strands are angularly or bias disposed, and removing marginal edges of said repeating oval, said edges being characterized by a concentration of strand overlap.