Mold and method for vulcanizing tires

1. A tire vulcanizing mold adapted to cooperate with a curing press, said mold comprising:

two shells, each one molding a sidewall of the tire, and

a ring of sectors for molding the tread of the tire, wherein each sector comprises:

a support, and

a molding lining situated radially on the inside of the support, and having a plastic threshold

wherein the sectors of the ring, when the mold is in the closed position, are all in circumferential contact one with the next via the molding linings and in radial contact on the shells via front ends of the molding linings, each of which forms a face for contact with the shell,

wherein said supports and linings are produced in such a way that each support is able to take up a clamping force applied to the lining coming into contact with the shell when the mold is in the closed position when said clamping force at said contact face exceeds a given threshold that is lower than the plastic threshold of the lining, wherein a predetermined clearance (j) is provided between a lower front face of the shell and a lower front end of the support, and wherein this clearance (j) is cancelled out when the mold is in the closed position.

2. The mold according to claim 1 , wherein said support comprises a lower front end situated in an extension of the front end of the lining, said lower front end being produced in such a way that it comes into contact with the lower front face of the shell when the clamping force at said contact face exceeds a given threshold.

3. The mold according to claim 1 , wherein the support is produced from a material with a compression strength greater than that of the material of the lining.

4. The mold according to claim 1 , wherein each support comprises a segment and means for affixing said segment to said support.

5. The mold according to claim 4 , wherein each segment has a lower front face produced in such a manner as to come into contact with the lower front face of the shell when the clamping force at said contact face exceeds a given threshold.

6. The mold according to claim 1 , wherein a radial clearance “j” is provided between the shell and the lower front end of the support, or between the shell and the lower front face of the segment, which clearance is between 0.05 and 0.1 mm.

7. A tire vulcanizing method using a mold according to claim 1 , said mold comprising two shells each one molding a sidewall of the tire and a ring of sectors for molding the tread of the tire, each sector comprising a support and a molding lining situated radially on the inside of the support, in which ring the sectors, when the mold is in the closed position, are all in circumferential contact one with the next in the circumferential direction via the molding linings and in contact on the shells via their front ends, said mold being able to collaborate with a curing press in order to move from a position in which the mold is open, in which the sectors are separated from one another and separated from the shells, to said position in which the mold is closed, characterized in that closure of the mold is achieved in two steps:

a first step of placing the front face of the lining in contact with the front face of the shell;

a second step of applying the clamping force, in which the lining is elastically compressed and allows the force to be taken up by the support, a predetermined clearance (j) being provided between the lower front face of the shell and the lower front end of the support, this clearance (j) being cancelled out when the mold is in the closed position.