Hot press and method for vulcanizing vehicle tyres in hot press

Abstract

The invention relates to a hot press (1) for vulcanizing vehicle tyres, comprising a hot press top part (2) and a hot press bottom part (3), a container (4) having a heated upper wall housing (5) and a heated mould section (10) being arranged on the hot press top part (2), the hot press bottom part (3) having a heated lower wall housing (13). The lower tire wall shell (13) is heated by means of a lower container plate (14) and the upper tire wall shell (5) is heated by means of an upper container plate (7), the lower tire wall shell (13) is directly heated by means of the lower container plate (14) and / or the upper tire wall shell (5) is directly heated by means of the upper container plate (7). A heat flow is generated in the lower container plate (14) and / or the upper container plate (7), the heat flow in the lower container plate (14) and / or the upper container plate (7) being a heat flow converted from electrical energy. The invention also relates to a method for operating such a hot press.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a hot press and a method for vulcanizing vehicle tires. The hot press has a top portion and a bottom portion, wherein a container with a heated upper sidewall shell and a heated mold section is arranged in the top portion, and the bottom portion has a heated lower sidewall shell. Background Technology

[0002] Hot presses that use steam to heat their mold sections and sidewall shells are known. These hot presses exhibit high heat loss and low thermal efficiency due to their design and the way their heat is supplied. Simultaneously setting different temperatures at different locations within the hot press is either impossible or only achievable to a limited extent. Hot presses with electrically heated mold sections and sidewall shells are also known. These hot presses similarly exhibit low thermal efficiency due to their design, particularly the positioning of the electric heating element. Furthermore, such hot presses always have disadvantages in terms of production costs, as well as operating and setup costs. They are also known to have disadvantages in terms of container compatibility between different plants. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In this context, the objective of this invention is to design a hot press and a method that exhibit particularly high thermal efficiency and can achieve different temperature control zones within the hot press, thereby enabling lower production costs, operating and setup costs, and high compatibility of containers.

[0004] The objective is achieved by a hot press according to the features of claim 1 and by a method according to the appended independent claim. The dependent claims relate to particularly advantageous improvements of the invention.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention provides a hot press for vulcanizing vehicle tires, the hot press having a top portion and a bottom portion, wherein a container having a heated upper sidewall shell and a heated mold section is arranged in the top portion of the hot press. The bottom portion of the hot press has a heated lower sidewall shell, wherein the lower sidewall shell is heated by means of a lower container plate, and the upper sidewall shell is heated by means of an upper container plate. The lower sidewall shell is heated by means of the lower container plate and / or the upper sidewall shell is heated by means of the upper container plate, wherein a heat flow is generated in the lower container plate and / or the upper container plate, wherein the heat flow in the lower container plate and / or the upper container plate is a heat flow converted from electrical energy.

[0006] In at least one of these container plates, heat flow is generated by supplying an electric current to the container plate and converting it into heat within the plate. The conversion of current into heat can be achieved, for example, by means of a resistor arranged in the container plate. Alternatively, an electric current can be induced in the container plate, for example, by an induction coil, such that the current flows through at least a sub-region of the container plate itself and is converted into heat therein. The generated heat flow is conducted from the container plate to the sidewall shell because the container plate and the sidewall shell are preferably in surface contact with each other. Devices for improving heat transfer can be arranged between the container plate and the sidewall shell.

[0007] By generating heat flow through an electric current in the container plate, different areas of the hot press can be heated independently of each other. Furthermore, the path of the heat flow to the heated tire is exceptionally short, resulting in high thermal efficiency and allowing for heating of different areas of the tire with significant temperature differences between them.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment, the heat flow in the container plate and / or mold section is generated by means of a resistor, particularly by means of a heating coil. In this way, a cheap and reliable conversion of current to heat is achieved.

[0009] Another preferred embodiment provides that the heat flow is generated by means of eddy currents induced in the lower and / or upper container plates and / or in the mold section by means of an induction coil. Induction coils have proven to be a particularly low-maintenance method for converting electrical energy into heat.

[0010] Another preferred embodiment provides that the induction coil is spaced apart from the lower and / or upper container plates by means of a heat insulation body. The heat insulation between the induction coil and the heated container plates reduces the temperature of the induction coil during operation, thereby increasing its durability. Needless to say, the material surrounding the induction coil, arranged on the same side of the heat insulation body as the induction coil, is selected such that electrical energy is not converted into heat energy, or is converted into heat energy only to a very small extent.

[0011] Another preferred embodiment provides that the induction coil is positioned in the upper and / or lower pressure plates and / or in a closed loop. This positioning of the induction coil has proven particularly advantageous because, in this manner, when changing containers within the hot press, the induction coil remains within the hot press, thereby reducing the effort required to change settings. Another advantage is that only the induction coil needs to be supplied to the hot press, not to the containers. This also improves container compatibility, as, for example, different voltages of different hot presses are irrelevant to container replacement. Furthermore, since the number of containers is much larger compared to the number of hot presses, the number of induction coils required can be reduced.

[0012] Another preferred embodiment provides that the resistor and / or induction coil are subdivided into at least two, preferably at least three, and more preferably at least four coaxially arranged sub-regions that can be used independently of each other. This allows only the area of ​​the container plate that requires heating for the current tire size to be heated.

[0013] This invention provides a method for operating a hot press for vulcanizing vehicle tires, particularly a hot press according to the invention, the method comprising the following steps:

[0014] - A heat flow is generated in the lower container plate and / or the upper container plate, wherein the heat flow in the lower container plate and / or the upper container plate is a heat flow converted from electrical energy.

[0015] - Position the vehicle tires in the hot press.

[0016] - Vulcanize the vehicle's tires.

[0017] - End the vulcanization process and remove the vehicle tire. Attached Figure Description

[0018] This invention allows for numerous embodiments. To further illustrate its basic principles, two embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings and will be described below. In the drawings:

[0019] Figure 1 A hot press with a container plate heated by means of a resistor is shown;

[0020] Figure 2 A hot press with induction heating of a container plate is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0021] Figure 1 A hot press 1 for vulcanizing vehicle tires is shown, the hot press having a top portion 2 and a bottom portion 3. A container 4 is arranged in the top portion 2, which houses a heated upper sidewall shell 5, heated by means of a resistor 6 arranged in an upper container plate 7. The upper container plate 7 is insulated from an upper pressure plate 9 by means of a heat insulator 8.

[0022] The container 4 further has mold sections 10, which are indirectly heated via section mounts 12 by means of resistors 6 arranged in the closed loop 11. The closed loop 11 has a heat insulation 8, which is arranged such that the resistors 6 are thermally linked to the section mounts 12 and thermally separated from the radially outer region of the closed loop 11.

[0023] The bottom portion 3 of the hot press has a heated lower sidewall housing 13, which is heated by means of a lower container plate 14. For this purpose, the lower container plate 14 has a resistor 6 and a heat insulation body 8. The heat insulation body 8 is arranged such that the resistor 6 is thermally linked to the lower sidewall housing 13 and thermally decoupled from the radially outer region of the lower container plate 14 and the lower pressure plate 15.

[0024] Figure 2 A hot press 1 with induction-heated container plates 7 and 14 was demonstrated, which is compatible with the heating of the sidewall shells 5 and 13 and the mold section 10. Figure 1 The embodiments described below differ from those in the present invention. The additional components of the hot press 1 correspond to... Figure 1 The components of the embodiment are described. The hot press 1 has induction coils 16 arranged in the lower pressure plate 15 and the upper pressure plate 9. The induction coils 16 are separated from the lower container plate 14 and the upper container plate 7 by heat insulation 8, in which the induction coils generate eddy currents and thus provide heat. In the closed loop 11, additional induction coils 16 are arranged, which are also thermally decoupled from the areas of the closed loop 11 heated by these induction coils by heat insulation 8. This arrangement of the induction coils 16 allows them to be placed in the cooler areas of the hot press 1, thereby achieving greater durability of the induction coils 16.

[0025] List of reference numerals

[0026] 1 Hot press

[0027] 2. Top part of the hot press

[0028] 3. Bottom part of the hot press

[0029] 4 containers

[0030] 5 Upper tire sidewall shell

[0031] 6 resistors

[0032] 7 upper container plate

[0033] 8 heat insulation

[0034] 9. Upper pressure plate

[0035] 10 mold sections

[0036] 11 closed loops

[0037] 12-section boot seat

[0038] 13 Lower tire sidewall shell

[0039] 14 lower container plate

[0040] 15 Lower pressure plate

[0041] 16. Induction coil.

Claims

1. A hot press (1) for vulcanizing vehicle tires, the hot press having a top portion (2) and a bottom portion (3), wherein, A container (4) having a heated upper sidewall shell (5) and a heated mold section (10) is arranged at the top part (2) of the hot press, wherein the bottom part (3) of the hot press has a heated lower sidewall shell (13), wherein the lower sidewall shell (13) is heated by means of a lower container plate (14) and / or the upper sidewall shell (5) is heated by means of an upper container plate (7), characterized in that, Heat flow is generated in the lower container plate (14) and / or the upper container plate (7), wherein the heat flow in the lower container plate (14) and / or the upper container plate (7) is heat flow converted from electrical energy.

2. The hot press (1) as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The heat flow in these container plates (7, 14) and / or mold sections (10) is generated by means of resistors (6), and in particular by means of heating coils.

3. The hot press (1) as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The heat flow is generated by means of the induction coil (16) through the eddy current induced in the lower container plate and / or the upper container plate and / or in these mold sections (10).

4. The hot press (1) as described in claim 3, characterized in that, These induction coils (16) are spaced apart from the lower container plate (14) and / or the upper container plate (7) by means of a heat insulation body (8).

5. The hot press (1) as described in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, These induction coils (16) are positioned in the upper pressure plate (9) and / or the lower pressure plate (15) and / or in the closed loop (11).

6. The hot press (1) as described in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, These resistors (6) and / or these induction coils (16) are subdivided into at least two, preferably at least three, and more preferably at least four coaxially arranged sub-regions that can be used independently of each other.

7. A method for operating a hot press (1) for vulcanizing vehicle tires, particularly a hot press (1) as described in any one of the preceding claims, the method comprising the steps of: - Heat flow is generated in the lower container plate (14) and / or the upper container plate (7), wherein the heat flow in the lower container plate (14) and / or the upper container plate (7) is a heat flow converted from electrical energy. - Position the vehicle tires in the hot press (1), - Vulcanize the vehicle's tires. - End the vulcanization process and remove the vehicle tire.

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