Tubeless Tire having a Slitted Inner-Liner, and Process for its Manufacture

1 . A tubeless tire, adapted to be inflated with an inflation gas, comprising:

a crown comprising a crown reinforcement surmounted by a tread;

two sidewalls extending the crown radially inwards;

two beads radially inside the sidewalls and each comprising at least one annular reinforcement structure;

a carcass reinforcement anchored in each of the beads; and

an inner-liner impermeable to the inflation gas, covering the inner surface of the tire;

wherein, in each sidewall of the tire, the inner-liner comprises at least one slit, situated radially between:

(i) the annular reinforcement structure that is radially outermost, and (ii) the radius RE at which the carcass reinforcement, when the tire is fitted to the rim and inflated to its operating pressure, has its largest axial width; and

wherein the slit has a maximum radial height HR of between 0.5 and 5 mm and extends over at least half of the circumference of the tire.

2 . The tire according to claim 1 , wherein the slit extends over at least three quarters of the circumference of the tire.

3 . The tire according to claim 1 , wherein the slit extends over the whole circumference of the tire.

4 . The tire according to claim 1 , wherein the radial height of the slit tends towards zero at its ends.

5 . The tire according to claim 1 , wherein the slit is continuous.

6 . The tire according to claim 1 , wherein the slit includes an alignment of holes in the inner-liner.

7 . A process for manufacturing a tire according to claim 1 , with the inner-liner of the tire being produced by placing a strip of rubber compound, that is gastight to the gas intended for the inflation of the tire, on a rigid core rotated about an axis at a selected angular speed ψ, the strip of width L being placed on the rigid core with the aid of a placement tool, wherein the process comprises the steps of:

moving the placement tool during the placement operation in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the rigid core at a selected speed of movement v such that, due to the angular speed ψ and the speed of movement V of the placement tool, a portion of the strip placed at the end of a revolution of the rigid core comes into contact with, but does not overlap a portion of the strip placed at the start of the same revolution of the rigid core, or the contact therebetween also involves an overlap; and

momentarily modifying the speed of movement of the placement tool and/or the angular speed of the rigid core so that a portion of the rigid core is not covered by the strip, wherein such speed modification occurs during placement of a portion of the inner-liner that is situated radially between:

a radial position in which, after completion of the tire manufacturing process, the radially outermost annular reinforcement structure will be situated, and

(ii) a radial height at which the carcass reinforcement, when the tire, after completion of the tire manufacturing process, is mounted on the rim and inflated to its working pressure, will have its largest axial width.