Laser lights the way to tire tread future; new technique of etching molds a big time-saver. (Falls Model and Pattern Inc.) (company profile)

Crain's Cleveland Business, July, 1986 by Datzman, Cynthia

Laser lights the way to tire tread future New technique of etching molds a big time-saver Charles Burkholder is waiting for the day when all tire makers see the value of his nearly three-year-old technique, which inscribes tread designs on tire molds by laser. Burkholder is president and owner of Falls Model & Pattern Inc.

in Cuyahoga Falls. The company is among eight or nine Akron-area makers of plaster models of tire designs for the industry. The difference between Burkholder and his competitors is his computer-driven laser device, which he developed with University of Akron professor Victor Burke. The device inscribes by laser tire tread designs into the curved surface of a tire-shaped plaster mold. So far, only Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and its...

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