Product Description
McNeil Akron — formally McNeil Machine & Engineering Company, later McNeil Corporation and part of the McNeil-Akron family — was one of the two dominant U.S. builders of tire curing presses (Bag-O-Matic and post-cure inflators) used by every major U.S. tire manufacturer. Plaintiffs have alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that McNeil Akron tire curing presses were manufactured with asbestos-block insulation slabs installed between the steam-heated platens and the press frame, and with asbestos-fabric pad insulation at the bag-mold interface where the inflatable curing bladder contacts the green tire.
According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, the asbestos pathway on McNeil Akron presses was allegedly the platen insulation blocks — which retained heat inside the mold cavity while shielding the press frame from the 300 F+ platen temperature — and the bag-mold pad insulation, both of which allegedly released respirable fibers during mold changes, platen rebuilds, and bladder replacement maintenance.
Workers Exposed
Plaintiffs allegedly identified as exposed to McNeil Akron curing press asbestos in publicly filed litigation include:
- Tire curing press operators and mold changers allegedly exposed while breaking down and rebuilding molds, handling asbestos platen blocks, and replacing bag-mold pad insulation
- Rubber plant millwrights and mechanical maintenance allegedly exposed while performing scheduled platen rebuilds, cutting new asbestos-block insulation to size, and installing replacement fabric pads
- Tire extruder operators and other tire-plant workers allegedly cross-exposed through shared curing-department ventilation
- Rubber plant Banbury mixer operators and two-roll mill operators and helpers allegedly cross-exposed in integrated tire plants where compound flowed from mixing to curing under one roof