Abstract

A method of tire repair in which flexible heating pads are applied to both the inside and outside of a patch area of a tire casing, and held in place under equalized pressure against the patch area by inflatable means. An inner tube is the inflatable means to hold a first flexible heating pad against the inner wall of the casing and patch area, and an inflatable air bag is the inflatable means to hold a second flexible heating pad against the outer wall of the casing and patch area. A belt or girdle of flexible sheet material surrounds the inflatable air bag and casing to force the air bag against the second flexible heating pad when it is inflated. The flexible heating pad for use on the inside of the casing includes a structure which enables the heating pad to conform to the interior surface of the casing and patch area and maintain contact therewith throughout the heating surface area of the heating pad when the inner tube is inflated. Such structure includes a plurality of segments of electrical heat tape loosely supported in individual nylon pockets which allow the heat tape segments to move laterally and longitudinally as the heating pad is pressed into engagement with the patch inside of the tire casing. The electrical conductors leading from the inner or first heating pad to the outside are enclosed in a protective floating sheath which becomes tightly sandwiched between the tire casing and the rim at the point where the conductors exit from the inner heating pad for connection to an exterior electrical source. Such protective floating sheath permits the electrical conductors to move sufficiently as the tire grows during the heating process, and the inner heating pad is moved correspondingly under pressure of the inner tube to maintain close contact therewith. As this happens, the electrical conductors would otherwise be stretched to the breaking point in the absence of the protective floating sheath.