Manufacturing method and manufacturing device for green tires using pre-structure

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing a green tire using a pre-structure. According to the present invention, the individual layers of the pre-structure are cut to size before being assembled into the pre-structure and are supplied separately for assembly of the pre-structure. This allows the manufacture of pre-structures having layers of different lengths and offset with respect to each other.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a green tire manufacturing apparatus using a pre-structure.

[0002] Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a green tire using the pre-structure. [Background technology]

[0003] In the production of green tires (uncured tires) using a tire building machine, strips of material for the various layers used in the tire construction are fed by one or more layer servers and wound onto a tire building drum. The positioning of each layer on the tire building drum is crucial to the various constructions of the green tire. In addition to positioning the layers relative to each other, it is also necessary to ensure that the length of each layer is accurate to achieve overlap and / or butt joints.

[0004] In known manufacturing methods, the individual layers that make up a green tire are cut to the required length and then applied sequentially to a tire building drum. This procedure allows for different edge regions to be formed for each individual layer. For example, the same layer can have a lap joint for the inner layer and a butt joint (flush) for the sidewall material, or a combination of both. However, feeding the material to the tire building drum in such a method is complex and costly.

[0005] According to other known manufacturing methods, to reduce the labor involved in feeding material to the tire building drum, a prestructure consisting of at least two different layers is prepared in the form of an endless strip before each layer is placed on the tire building drum, and the strip is cut to size before being fed to the tire building drum. For example, a strip of sidewall material in the prestructure is connected to an inner layer. The cut ends of the prestructure are joined as a splice on the tire building drum. However, these manufacturing methods do not allow the different layers of the prestructure to be arranged differently relative to one another and / or cut to different lengths, such as to overlap the inner layer at a seam and lay flush after the sidewall is applied to the tire building drum. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the type mentioned at the outset which combines at least some of the advantages of a pre-structure with the flexibility of applying the individual layers separately to a tire building drum. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] This object is achieved according to the present invention by a green tire manufacturing apparatus using the pre-structure described in claim 1.

[0008] A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of the type mentioned in the introduction which combines at least some of the advantages of a pre-structure with the flexibility of applying the individual layers separately to a tire building drum.

[0009] This object is achieved according to the invention by a method for producing a green tire using a pre-structure as claimed in claim 11.

[0010] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims.

[0011] The features of the apparatus for manufacturing a green tire using a pre-structure and the method for manufacturing a green tire using a pre-structure disclosed below are part of the present invention, both individually and in all possible combinations.

[0012] According to the present invention, an apparatus for manufacturing a green tire using a pre-structure includes at least a first layer supply device for supplying strip-shaped material for a first layer and a second layer supply device for supplying strip-shaped material for a second layer, and also includes a pre-structure supply device for supplying a pre-structure from at least one material strip for the first layer supplied by the first layer supply device and at least one material strip for the second layer supplied by the second layer supply device.

[0013] Each of the first and second layer feeders has a corresponding cutting device for cutting the respective layer strip of material to length.

[0014] In an embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for manufacturing a green tire using a pre-structure comprises at least three layer supply devices different from the pre-structure supply devices, each layer supply device having a corresponding cutting device for cutting the material strip of the respective layer to a predetermined length.

[0015] According to the invention, the device for manufacturing green tires with pre-structures comprises at least one control unit for controlling the individual layer supply devices and the functional elements of the pre-structure supply device.

[0016] The control unit is preferably designed so that the length of the individual material strips of each layer can be adjusted by the cutting device and the positioning of the material strips in the pre-structure can be adjusted by time delay control of the layer supply device and the pre-structure supply device.

[0017] This allows pre-assemblies to be created in which the material strips of different layers have the same or different lengths and / or are longitudinally arranged with or without an offset relative to each other.

[0018] Offset in this specification means that the leading and / or trailing edges of the material strips of each layer in the pre-structure are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction.

[0019] The flexibility in producing a pre-structure from at least two different layers for a green tire allows the seams of the different layers in the green tire to be separated by providing an offset between the individual layers. The shape of the material seam on the tire building drum can be determined by the respective cut lengths of the material strips of the individual layers. This allows for greater tire uniformity.

[0020] The use of a pre-structure reduces the time required for the green tire manufacturing process on the tire building drum, allowing for a reduction in overall process time and therefore a higher throughput in the manufacture of green tires.

[0021] Each layer supply device has a supply device for the strip material of each layer, at least one conveying device for the strip material of each layer, at least one cutting device for cutting the strip material of each layer to the required length, and a detection device for detecting the leading edge of the cut strip material of each layer.

[0022] The detection devices are arranged in the end regions of each layer supply device in the conveying direction and are connected to the control unit in order to obtain information about the cut material strips located in the end regions of the conveying device, so that the drives of the various layer supply devices and of the conveying devices of the pre-structure supply devices can be synchronized with one another and the various layers can be placed on the pre-structure with or without an adjustable offset in the longitudinal direction.

[0023] In a preferred embodiment, at least one of the layer supply devices has at least one centering device for centering and aligning the material strip in the layer supply device, thereby ensuring that the material strip is aligned parallel to the conveying direction. Accurate positioning and alignment of the material strip is extremely important, especially when connecting material strips of different layers to a pre-structure.

[0024] In an embodiment of the invention, at least one cutting device of at least one layer supply device can be adjusted to cut the material strip of the individual layer at an angle of 90° to the longitudinal edge of the material strip or at another angle, which also allows for an oblique cut on the short side of the material strip.

[0025] An embodiment of the invention features a measuring device that measures the length of the material strip of each layer in a corresponding layer supply device.

[0026] In an embodiment of the present invention, the measuring device is designed as an indirect measuring device that does not directly measure the length of the material strip, but rather is able to calculate the length of the material strip by measuring the number of rotations of the drive parts of each conveying device of the layer supply device.

[0027] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the pre-structure supply device comprises pressure rollers for pressing together the material strips of the individual layers of the pre-structure.

[0028] In an embodiment of the present invention, the first layer feeder is designed as a sidewall feeder and the second layer feeder is designed as an inner layer feeder.

[0029] In an embodiment of the present invention, the sidewall feeder has two parallel processing paths for processing both sidewall strips in parallel. In an embodiment, the sidewall feeder is implemented by two separate parallel feeders.

[0030] In an embodiment of the invention, at least one tire building drum is arranged in the area of ​​a prestructure supply device, and a prestructure comprising at least two different layers can be transferred directly or via a further supply device to the tire building drum of the tire building machine.

[0031] The tire building machine includes at least one first tire building drum, preferably rotatable about a single support axis by a drive device for receiving the strip of material. The tire building drum can be designed according to various known embodiments. Typically, the tire building machine further includes a core setting device for setting a carcass core on the tire building drum, at least one wrapping device for winding individual layers of material around the core, and at least one pressing roller for pressing the material layers onto the tire building drum.

[0032] Furthermore, tire building machines often include a belt drum for laminating belts. The belt package thus formed is usually transferred via a transfer ring to the carcass area formed on the first tire building drum, where it is connected to the carcass to form a finished green tire.

[0033] In an embodiment of the invention, the tire building drum is designed as a carcass drum.

[0034] In an embodiment of the invention, the tire building drum is designed as a carcass drum for building a green tire in one step.

[0035] The present invention comprises both an entire tire building machine and an apparatus for manufacturing a pre-structure, which includes at least two layer feeders and a pre-structure feeder.

[0036] According to the present invention, the method for manufacturing a green tire using a pre-structure comprises at least the following process steps: - feeding at least one first material strip of a first layer of a green tire using a first layer feeding device; - feeding at least one second material strip of a second layer of the green tire using a second layer feeding device; - joining at least one first strip of material of the first layer to at least one strip of material of the second layer to form a pre-structure before applying the strips of material to the tire building drum; Equipped with -The material strips of the different layers are cut to the required length before being joined together to form the pre-structure.

[0037] In an embodiment of the invention, strips of material from at least three different layers are bonded together to form a pre-structure.

[0038] In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, material strips of at least two different layers are joined to one another with a longitudinal offset to form a pre-structure.

[0039] In an embodiment of the invention, strips of material for at least two different layers are cut to different lengths so that the individual layers can be flush or overlapping after the pre-structure is applied to the tire building drum.

[0040] For example, a first layer is cut to overlap at the initiation and end regions after the prestructure is applied to the tire building drum, and a second layer is cut to be flush with the short sides of the initiation and end regions.

[0041] In an embodiment of the method according to the invention, the material strips of at least two different layers are connected to the tire carcass longitudinally offset relative to one another and the material strips of the at least two different layers are cut to different lengths.

[0042] In an embodiment of the method according to the invention, the manufactured pre-structures are transferred from the pre-structure supply device directly or via a transfer device to a tire building drum, which is rotated by a drive device and receives the material.

[0043] In an embodiment of the method according to the invention, after the prestructure at least one further layer is applied to the tire building drum.

[0044] In an embodiment of the invention, the at least one further layer is at least one carcass layer (body ply).

[0045] In an embodiment of the invention, the material strips for the individual layers are cut at a 90° angle to the longitudinal edges of the material strip, or at another angle so that the short sides of the material strip can also be beveled.

[0046] In an embodiment of the invention, at least one material strip of each layer is centered in the layer feeder area by at least one centering device.

[0047] In an embodiment of the invention, the leading edge of the material strip in the end region of the at least one layer supply device is detected by a detection device.

[0048] In an embodiment of the invention, the conveying devices of the layer supply device and the pre-structure supply device are controlled by a control unit such that the material strips of the individual layers are arranged longitudinally offset relative to one another.

[0049] In an embodiment of the invention, the conveying devices of the layer supply device and the pre-structure supply device are controlled by a control unit such that the material strips of the individual layers are arranged without longitudinal offset relative to one another.

[0050] In an embodiment of the present invention, the individual layers of the pre-structure are pressed together and bonded together using a pressure roller before being placed on the tire building drum.

[0051] In an embodiment of the present invention, the first layer is formed as a sidewall (SW) and the second layer is formed as an inner layer (IL), where the sidewalls are two separate strips of material that are provided in parallel by a layer feeder designed as a sidewall feeder and cut to size.

[0052] In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, an apparatus for manufacturing green tires using the pre-structure according to the invention is used.

[0053] According to the present invention, the method for manufacturing a green tire using a pre-structure realizes the following possibilities:

[0054] The leading edge of the pre-structure can be straight (leading edges of the individual layers line up) or offset by any amount. The length of material in each layer of the pre-structure can be different or the same, and the length of material is determined before the pre-structure is formed. The shape of the material seam on the tire building drum is determined or influenced by the cut length of the material strip for each layer. The pre-structure also allows for the separation of the seams of the different layers with a selectable offset.

[0055] One advantage of this method is that the seam overlap width for each layer can be adjusted to different values ​​depending on the materials used in the pre-structure. A reduction in winding time is also achieved by combining the materials of the pre-structure layers. The benefit to the tire is improved tire uniformity when the impact overlap of the pre-structure materials is not aligned, or offset.

[0056] In an embodiment of the invention, the cutting to length is not performed by direct length measurement, but rather by indirectly detecting the distance traveled by the conveying devices of the individual layer supply devices by evaluating measurements of the motor rotation speed of the drive of the respective conveying device (e.g. encoder signals of servo motors).

[0057] The following figures illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0058] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a layer supplying device and a pre-structure supplying device of a green tire manufacturing apparatus using a pre-structure according to the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a top view of a sidewall supply device and a pre-structure supply device of a green tire manufacturing apparatus using a pre-structure according to the present invention. FIG. [Figure 3] 1 is a top view of an inner layer supplying device and a pre-structure supplying device of a green tire manufacturing apparatus using a pre-structure according to the present invention. [Figure 4] 1 is a top view of a green tire pre-structure that can be made according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0059] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of layer supplying devices 20, 21, 23 and a pre-structure supplying device 22 of an apparatus 30 for manufacturing a green tire using a pre-structure 40 according to the present invention.

[0060] The direction of material flow in each section of the device is indicated by arrows.

[0061] The apparatus 30 for manufacturing a green tire using the pre-structure 40 comprises a first layer supply device 21 designed as a sidewall supply device and a second layer supply device 20 designed as an inner layer supply device. Furthermore, the apparatus 30 for manufacturing a green tire using the pre-structure 40 comprises a third layer supply device 23 designed as a carcass layer supply device. The third layer supply device 23 may be provided optionally in embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, the apparatus 30 for manufacturing a green tire using the pre-structure 40 comprises a pre-structure supply device 22 on which the cut material strips provided by the first layer supply device 21 and the second layer supply device 20 are joined to form the pre-structure 40.

[0062] To press the material strips of the different layers of the pre-structure 40 together, the pre-structure supply device 22 has a pressure roller 4 which can be designed, for example, as a lap pressure roller.

[0063] Furthermore, the pre-structure supply device 22 comprises a conveying device 3, which in the illustrated embodiment of the invention is designed as a conveyor belt.

[0064] The prestructure 40 or further layers (e.g. at least one carcass layer) required for building a green tire can be applied to the tire building drum 1 from the prestructure supply device 22. To press the layers onto the tire building drum 1, the illustrated device comprises a second pressure roller 2, designed for example as a multi-zone pressure roller.

[0065] The second layer supply device 20 comprises a second material supply device 19, a supply device 11, a pre-centering device 10 and a supply conveying device 8. The supply conveying device 8 is designed, for example, as a conveyor belt, by means of which the strip material for the second layer can be transported to the processing conveying device 6 of the second layer supply device 20 for further processing.

[0066] The strip material can be cut to length using a cutting device 7. The cutting device 7 has, for example, a heated cutting blade.

[0067] The first layer supply device 21 comprises a first material supply device 18, a supply device 17, a pre-centering device 16 and a supply conveyor device 15. The supply conveyor device 15 is designed, for example, as a conveyor belt, by means of which the strip material for the first layer can be transported to the processing conveyor device 12 of the first layer supply device 21 for further processing.

[0068] A cutting device 14 allows the strip material to be cut to length, and a centering device 13 allows the strip material to be finally aligned within the first layer feeder 21 .

[0069] In an embodiment of the invention, the cutting device 14 of the first layer supply device 21 is designed as an ultrasonic cutting device.

[0070] A detection device 5 for detecting the leading edge of each material strip is arranged in the end region of the processing conveyor 6, 12 of the layer supply device 20, 21, so that the position of each material strip on the respective processing conveyor 6, 12 can be determined.

[0071] In an embodiment of the invention, at least one of the conveying devices designed as a conveyor belt is designed as a toothed conveyor belt.

[0072] 2 is a top view showing a schematic diagram of the structure of a first layer supply device 21 designed as a sidewall supply device of a green tire manufacturing apparatus 30 using a pre-structure 40 according to the present invention, together with a pre-structure supply device 22 and a tire building drum 1. The arrows at the bottom of the drawing indicate the direction of material flow.

[0073] Two parallel processing paths SW1 and SW2 are shown, each with a separate conveying device 12, 15 for each side wall. Each processing path has a detection device 5 for detecting the leading edge of the corresponding material strip, and a centering device 13.

[0074] The pressure roller 4 is designed to be axially movable.

[0075] FIG. 3 shows a top view of a second layer supply device 20 designed as an inner layer supply device with a prestructure supply device 22 and a tire building drum 1 .

[0076] 4 is a top view of a green tire pre-structure 40 that can be produced according to the invention, comprising a first layer 42 and a second layer 41. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the second layer 41 is designed as an inner layer IL and the first layer 42 is designed as a sidewall (SW1 and SW2).

[0077] An offset X is provided between the first layer 42 and the second layer 41 so that the edges of the layers 41, 42 of the pre-structure 40 on the tire building drum 1 are at different positions in the circumferential direction of the green tire and are not on the same straight line.

[0078] In the illustrated embodiment, the side walls (SW1 and SW2) are located below the inner layer (IL), however, pre-structures 40 in which the side walls (SW1 and SW2) are above the inner layer (IL) are also possible according to the present invention.

[0079] 1 tire building drum 2 Second pressure roller 3. Conveyor equipment 4 Pressure roller 5. Detection device 6, 12 Processing conveying device 7, 14 Cutting device 8, 15 Supply conveying device 9, 13 Centering device 10, 16 Pre-centering device 11, 17 Feeding device 18 First material supply device 19 Second material supply device 20 Second layer supply device 21 1st layer supply device 22 Pre-structure supply device 23 Third layer supply device 30 Green tire manufacturing equipment 40 Pre-structure 41 2nd layer 42 1st layer IL Inner layer SW1, SW2 side wall X Offset

Claims

1. A green tire manufacturing apparatus (30) using a pre-structure (40), at least one first layer feeder (21) for feeding strip-shaped material of the first layer (42); at least one second layer supply device (20) for supplying strip-shaped material of the second layer (41); a pre-structure supply device (22) for supplying a pre-structure (40) from at least one material strip of a first layer (42) supplied by the first layer supply device (21) and at least one material strip of a second layer (41) supplied by the second layer supply device (20); Equipped with 1. An apparatus (30) for manufacturing green tires, characterized in that both the first layer supply device (21) and the second layer supply device (20) have corresponding cutting devices (7, 14) for cutting the material strips of each of the layers (41, 42) to predetermined lengths before the layers (41, 42) are joined to form a pre-structure (40).

2. 2. The apparatus (30) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least three layer supply devices (20, 21) different from the pre-structure supply device (22), each layer supply device having a corresponding cutting device (7, 14) for cutting the material strip of the respective layer (41, 42) to a predetermined length.

3. 3. Apparatus (30) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises at least one control unit for controlling the functional elements of the individual layer supply devices (20, 21) and the pre-structure supply device (22).

4. 4. The device (30) according to claim 3, characterized in that the control unit is designed to be able to adjust the length of the individual material strips of each of the layers (41, 42) by means of the cutting devices (7, 14) and to adjust the positioning of the material strips in the pre-structure (40) by means of time delay control of the layer supply devices (20, 21) and the pre-structure supply device (22).

5. Each of the layer supply devices (20, 21) comprises: a supply device for strip-shaped material for each of said layers (41, 42); at least one conveying device for the strip-shaped material of each of said layers (41, 42); at least one cutting device (7, 14) for cutting the strip material of each of said layers (41, 42) to the length required for said pre-structure (40); a detection device (5) for detecting the leading edge of the cut strip material of each of said layers (41, 42) in the conveying direction; 5. The device (30) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises:

6. 6. The device (30) according to claim 5, characterized in that the detection device (5) is arranged in the end region of each of the layer supply devices (20, 21) in the conveying direction and is connected to a control unit so as to obtain information about the cut material strips located in the end region of the conveying device.

7. 7. The apparatus (30) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that at least one of the layer supply devices (20, 21) comprises at least one centering device (9, 13) for centering and aligning the material strip in the respective layer supply device (20, 21).

8. 8. The device (30) according to claim 1, further comprising a measuring device for measuring the length of the material strip of each layer (41, 42) in the corresponding layer supply device (20, 21), the measuring device being designed as an indirect measuring device, which allows the length of the material strip to be calculated from the measurement of the rotational speed of the drive of the conveying device of each of the layer supply devices (20, 21).

9. 9. The device (30) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the pre-structure supply device (22) comprises a pressure roller device (4) for pressing the material strips of the individual layers of the pre-structure (40) against each other.

10. 10. The apparatus (30) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the first layer supply device (21) is configured as a sidewall supply device and the second layer supply device (20) is configured as an inner layer supply device.

11. A method for manufacturing a green tire using a pre-structure (40), comprising at least the following method steps: - supplying at least one first material strip of a first layer (42) of a green tire using a first layer supply device (21); - feeding at least one second material strip of a second layer (41) of the green tire using a second layer feeding device (20); - joining at least one first material strip of said first layer (42) to at least one material strip of said second layer (41) to form a pre-structure (40) before said material strips are placed on the tire building drum (1); At least - A method for manufacturing a green tire, characterized in that the material strips of the different layers (40, 41) are cut to the required length before being joined together to form the pre-structure (40).

12. 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein material strips of at least three different layers (41, 42) are bonded together to form a pre-structure (40).

13. 13. Method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the material strips of at least two different layers (40, 41) are joined to the pre-structure (40) with a longitudinal offset (X) relative to one another.

14. 14. Method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that at least two different layers (40, 41) for the pre-structure (40) are cut to different lengths.

15. 15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that in the region of the layer supply device (20, 21) at least one material strip of each layer (41, 42) is centered by at least one centering device (9, 13).

16. 16. Method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that in the end region of at least one layer supply device (20, 21) the leading edge of the material strip is detected by a detection device (5).

17. 17. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that the individual layers (41, 42) of the pre-structure (40) are pressed against each other and thereby bonded together by a pressure roller device (4) before being placed on the tire building drum (1).

18. 18. A method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, characterized in that the first layer (42) is configured as a side wall and the second layer (41) is configured as an inner layer.

19. Method according to any one of claims 11 to 18, characterized in that it uses a device (30) according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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