Tire manufacturing method and tire manufacturing device

Abstract

To provide a tire manufacturing method and a tire manufacturing apparatus capable of uniformly inflating a bladder.SOLUTION: A tire manufacturing method using a bladder that contacts an inner surface of the tire when inflated, and a plurality of molds that contact an outer surface of the tire includes: a repetitive process of repeatedly inflating and deflating the bladder inside the tire; an expansion process in which the bladder is inflated so that it contacts an entire inner surface of the tire, after the repetitive process; and a moving process of moving the mold from a mold opening position for loading and unloading the tire to a mold closing position for molding the tire, after the repetitive process.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a tire building method and a tire building apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, for example, a tire manufacturing method uses a bladder that contacts the inner surface of the tire and multiple molds that contact the outer surface of the tire (for example, Patent Document 1).The bladder needs to be inflated evenly so that it contacts the tire in an appropriate state. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-226878 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a tire building method and apparatus that allows for uniform inflation of the bladder. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The tire manufacturing method uses a bladder that is inflated to contact the inner surface of the tire and a plurality of molds that are in contact with the outer surface of the tire, and includes a repeating process of repeatedly inflating and deflating the bladder inside the tire, an expanding process of inflating the bladder so that the bladder is in contact with the entire inner surface of the tire after the repeating process, and a moving process of moving the mold from a mold open position for loading and unloading the tire to a mold close position for molding the tire after the repeating process.

[0006] The tire building apparatus includes a bladder that inflates to contact the inner surface of the tire, and a plurality of molds that contact the outer surface of the tire, and performs the tire building method. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a tire manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment; [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the repeating process of the tire manufacturing apparatus. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the repeating process of the tire manufacturing apparatus. [Figure 4] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing an inflation process and a movement process of the tire building apparatus; [Figure 5] FIG. 1 shows the vulcanization process of the tire manufacturing apparatus. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] An embodiment of a tire manufacturing apparatus and a tire manufacturing method will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 5. Note that in each figure, the dimensional ratios in the drawing do not necessarily match the actual dimensional ratios, and the dimensional ratios between the drawings do not necessarily match either.

[0009] 1, the tire building apparatus 1 according to this embodiment may include a bladder 2 that expands to contact an inner surface 11 of a tire 10, a support unit 3 that supports the bladder 2, a plurality of molds 4, 5 that contact an outer surface 12 of the tire 10, and a loader 6 that loads and unloads the tire 10 into and out of the molds 4, 5. Although not particularly limited, the tire building apparatus 1 may be, for example, a tire vulcanizing apparatus as in this embodiment.

[0010] That is, the tire manufacturing apparatus 1 may be equipped with, for example, a fluid inlet / outlet mechanism (not shown) that injects and expels a fluid (e.g., gas, liquid, or a mixture of gas and liquid) into and out of the inside of the bladder 2, and a control device (not shown) that controls, for example, the mold 4, the loader 6, and the fluid inlet / outlet mechanism, etc.

[0011] Bladder 2 may be elastic and bag-shaped, as in the present embodiment, and may expand when the fluid inlet / outlet mechanism introduces fluid into bladder 2, and contract when the fluid inlet / outlet mechanism expels fluid from inside bladder 2.

[0012] The molds 4, 5 may include, for example, a first mold (upper mold) 4 disposed above and a second mold (lower mold) 5 disposed below, as in this embodiment. The molds 4, 5 are moved, for example, by a movement mechanism (not shown), between a mold open position (see FIG. 1) for loading and unloading the tire 10 and a mold closed position (see FIG. 5) for molding the tire 10.

[0013] As a result, when the molds 4, 5 are positioned in the mold open position, the interiors of the molds 4, 5 are open, whereas when the molds 4, 5 are positioned in the mold closed position, the interiors of the molds 4, 5 are closed, thereby forming a molding chamber for molding the tire 10. Note that, although not particularly limited, in the present embodiment, the first mold 4 moves in the vertical direction relative to the bladder 2 and the second mold 5.

[0014] The configuration of the tire building apparatus 1 according to this embodiment has been described above, and next, a tire building method using the tire building apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 5. Note that, for example, the control device may control each part of the tire building apparatus 1 to execute the following tire building method.

[0015] 1, with first mold 4 positioned at the mold open position, loader 6 takes in unvulcanized tire 10 into second mold 5 (taking-in step). At this time, for example, the center of unvulcanized tire 10 in the vertical direction (tire axial direction) may be aligned with a reference position (e.g., the center) of bladder 2 in the vertical direction.

[0016] 2 and 3, fluid is introduced into and discharged from the bladder 2, causing the bladder 2 to repeatedly expand and contract inside the tire 10 (repeated process). At this time, for example, the maximum value of the internal pressure of the bladder 2 is set to be a first pressure P1. As a result, in the repeated process, when the internal pressure of the bladder 2 reaches the first pressure P1, i.e., when the internal volume of the bladder 2 reaches a maximum, the bladder 2 is in contact with a part of the inner surface 11 of the tire 10 (see FIG. 3).

[0017] On the other hand, in the repeating process, when the bladder 2 contracts and the internal volume of the bladder 2 becomes a minimum, the bladder 2 is separated from the inner surface 11 of the tire 10 (see FIG. 2). This allows, for example, the bladder 2 to be sufficiently expanded or contracted. Also, for example, when the bladder 2 contracts, the portion of the bladder 2 that contacts the tire 10 is reset.

[0018] 4, the internal pressure of the bladder 2 is increased from the first pressure P1 to a second pressure P2, thereby further expanding the bladder 2 (expansion step). Although not particularly limited, the second pressure P2 may be, for example, 110% to 130% of the first pressure P1. After the internal pressure of the bladder 2 increases to the second pressure P2, the internal pressure of the bladder 2 is maintained at the second pressure P2. As a result, the bladder 2 comes into contact with the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10.

[0019] In this way, the repeated process of expanding and contracting the bladder 2 is performed in advance before the inflation process, thereby preventing uneven inflation of the bladder 2. This allows the bladder 2 to be uniformly inflated, for example, when the bladder 2 comes into contact with the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10. Therefore, for example, it is possible to prevent the bladder 2 from being damaged due to localized stretching (for example, the bladder 2 being unable to stretch uniformly and perform its required function).

[0020] Moreover, in the repeating step, the portion of the bladder 2 that contacts the tire 10 is reset, so that in the inflation step, after the bladder 2 has previously expanded and contracted, the bladder 2 expands based on the portion that contacted the tire 10, so that the bladder 2 contacts the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10. This allows, for example, the position where the bladder 2 contacts the tire 10 to be an appropriate position.

[0021] Then, first mold 4 moves from the mold open position to the mold closed position as shown in Fig. 5 (first movement step). At this time, after bladder 2 has come into contact with the entire inner surface 11 of tire 10, first mold 4 comes into contact with tire 10. This makes it possible to prevent tire 10 from shifting position relative to bladder 2 even if tire 10 moves relative to molds 4, 5 when first mold 4 comes into contact with tire 10.

[0022] The movement of the first mold 4 may start, for example, before the bladder 2 comes into contact with the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10, or may start, for example, after the bladder 2 comes into contact with the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10. In other words, the first mold 4 may move so that it comes into contact with the tire 10 after the bladder 2 comes into contact with the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10.

[0023] Then, for example, a heating medium (e.g., steam) is introduced into the interior of the bladder 2, thereby vulcanizing the tire 10 (vulcanization step). At this time, the pressure inside the bladder 2 is increased to a third pressure P3 that is higher than the second pressure P2. Thereafter, the first mold 4 moves to the mold opening position (second movement step), and the loader 6 removes the vulcanized tire 10 from the interior of the second mold 5 (removal step).

[0024] As described above, the tire manufacturing apparatus 1, as in this embodiment, is equipped with a bladder 2 that contacts the inner surface 11 of the tire 10 by expanding, and a plurality of molds 4, 5 that contact the outer surface 12 of the tire 10, and performs the tire manufacturing method.

[0025] Preferably, the tire manufacturing method is a tire manufacturing method that uses a bladder 2 that expands to contact the inner surface 11 of the tire 10 and a plurality of molds 4, 5 that contact the outer surface 12 of the tire 10, as in this embodiment, and includes a repeating process of repeatedly expanding and contracting the bladder 2 inside the tire 10, an expansion process of inflating the bladder 2 after the repeating process so that the bladder 2 contacts the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10, and a moving process of moving the mold 4 after the repeating process from a mold open position for loading and unloading the tire 10 to a mold closed position for molding the tire 10.

[0026] According to this method, after the bladder 2 is repeatedly inflated and deflated inside the tire 10, the bladder 2 inflates and comes into contact with the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10. This makes it possible to prevent the bladder 2 from inflating unevenly during the inflation process, thereby enabling the bladder 2 to inflate evenly.

[0027] In addition, in the tire manufacturing method, as in this embodiment, it is preferable that in the repeating process, the bladder 2 is inflated so that it contacts the inner surface 11 of the tire 10, and the bladder 2 is deflated so that it moves away from the inner surface 11 of the tire 10.

[0028] According to this method, when the bladder 2 contracts, the bladder 2 moves away from the inner surface 11 of the tire 10, and the position of the bladder 2 in contact with the tire 10 is reset. This allows the position of the bladder 2 in contact with the tire 10 to be an appropriate position when the bladder 2 comes into contact with the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10 during the inflation process.

[0029] In addition, in the tire manufacturing method, it is preferable that the maximum value of the internal pressure of the bladder 2 in the repeating step is smaller than the maximum value of the internal pressure of the bladder 2 in the expanding step, as in the present embodiment.

[0030] According to this method, the maximum value of the internal pressure of the bladder 2 during the repeating process is smaller than the maximum value of the internal pressure of the bladder 2 during the expanding process, so that during the repeating process, the bladder 2 comes into contact with a portion of the inner surface 11 of the tire 10. Then, during the expanding process, the bladder 2 expands based on that portion, so that the position where the bladder 2 comes into contact with the tire 10 can be set to an appropriate position.

[0031] In addition, in the tire manufacturing method, as in this embodiment, it is preferable that, after the bladder 2 comes into contact with the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10 in the expansion process, the moving mold 4 comes into contact with the tire 10 in the movement process.

[0032] According to this method, after the bladder 2 comes into contact with the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10, the mold 4 moves and comes into contact with the tire 10. This makes it possible to prevent the tire 10 from being displaced relative to the bladder 2 when the mold 4 comes into contact with the tire 10.

[0033] The tire building apparatus 1 and the tire building method are not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiments, and are not limited to the above-described effects. Furthermore, the tire building apparatus 1 and the tire building method can, of course, be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, it is of course possible to arbitrarily select one or more of the configurations, methods, etc. according to the various modified examples described below and employ them in the configurations, methods, etc. according to the above-described embodiments.

[0034] (1) In the tire building apparatus 1 and the tire building method according to the above embodiment, in the repeating process, the bladder 2 is inflated so that the bladder 2 contacts the inner surface 11 of the tire 10, and the bladder 2 is deflated so that the bladder 2 moves away from the inner surface 11 of the tire 10. However, the tire building apparatus 1 and the tire building method are not limited to this configuration.

[0035] For example, the bladder 2 may be configured to be inflated and deflated in the repeating process so that the bladder 2 is always in contact with the inner surface 11 of the tire 10. Alternatively, for example, the bladder 2 may be configured to be inflated and deflated in the repeating process so that the bladder 2 is always away from the inner surface 11 of the tire 10.

[0036] (2) Furthermore, in the tire building apparatus 1 and tire building method according to the above embodiment, the maximum value of the internal pressure of the bladder 2 during the repeating process is smaller than the maximum value of the internal pressure of the bladder 2 during the expanding process. However, the tire building apparatus 1 and tire building method are not limited to this configuration. For example, the maximum value of the internal pressure of the bladder 2 during the repeating process may be the same as the maximum value of the internal pressure of the bladder 2 during the expanding process.

[0037] (3) Furthermore, in the tire building apparatus 1 and the tire building method according to the above embodiment, the bladder 2 comes into contact with the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10 in the inflation step, and then the moving mold 4 comes into contact with the tire 10 in the first movement step. However, the tire building apparatus 1 and the tire building method are not limited to this configuration. For example, the tire building apparatus 1 and the tire building method may be configured such that the moving mold 4 comes into contact with the tire 10 in the first movement step before the bladder 2 comes into contact with the entire inner surface 11 of the tire 10 in the inflation step.

[0038] (4) Furthermore, in the tire building apparatus 1 and tire building method according to the above embodiment, the multiple molds 4, 5 are configured to include a first mold (upper mold) 4 and a second mold (lower mold) 5. However, the tire building apparatus 1 and tire building method are not limited to this configuration. For example, the multiple molds may be configured to include an upper mold and a lower mold that contact the sidewall of the tire 10, and lateral molds that are aligned in the tire circumferential direction and contact the tread of the tire 10.

[0039] (5) The tire 10 manufactured by the tire building apparatus 1 and the tire building method is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a bias tire or a radial tire. Compared to a radial tire, a bias tire generally expands more in the tire radial direction during vulcanization, and the force required for this expansion is also greater. Therefore, although not particularly limited, it is preferable that the tire 10 manufactured by the tire building apparatus 1 and the tire building method is a bias tire. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1... tire manufacturing apparatus, 2... bladder, 3... support portion, 4... first mold, 5... second mold, 6... loader, 10... tire, 11... inner surface, 12... outer surface

Claims

1. A tire manufacturing method using a bladder that is inflated to contact an inner surface of the tire and a plurality of molds that are in contact with an outer surface of the tire, the method comprising: a repeating step of repeatedly inflating and deflating the bladder inside the tire while the mold is positioned at a mold open position for loading and unloading the tire; an expanding step of expanding the bladder after the repeating step so that the bladder contacts the entire inner surface of the tire; a moving step, after the repeating step, of moving the mold from the mold open position to a mold close position for molding the tire.

2. 2. The tire building method of claim 1, wherein the repeating step includes inflating the bladder so that the bladder contacts the inner surface of the tire and deflating the bladder so that the bladder is separated from the inner surface of the tire.

3. 3. The tire manufacturing method according to claim 2, wherein a maximum value of the internal pressure of the bladder in the repeating step is smaller than a maximum value of the internal pressure of the bladder in the expanding step.

4. 4. The tire manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein, after the bladder comes into contact with the entire inner surface of the tire in the expanding step, the moving mold comes into contact with the tire in the moving step.

5. a bladder that inflates to contact the inner surface of the tire; a plurality of molds in contact with the outer surface of the tire; A tire building apparatus that carries out the tire building method according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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