Production device and method for cylindrical tire member

Abstract

Provided are a production device and method for a cylindrical tire member that make it possible to accurately ascertain how well a belt-shaped tire material is positioned when the tire material is wound so as to be positioned at a reference position on a forming drum body as a result of the forming drum body being moved in the width direction and that also make it possible to reduce the space needed for a sensor used for the ascertainment. A connection part that moves a sensor 10 with a forming drum body 6 in a drum width direction has an extending portion L that extends upward from the drum body 6 away from a conveyor 16a at an inclination angle S of 30°–60° relative to the horizontal direction. The sensor 10 is provided to the extending portion L as seen from the side. A control unit 17 calculates the position in the width direction over the entire length of the tire material M1 relative to a reference position in the width direction on the forming drum body 6 on the basis of data about the position in the width direction of the tire material M1 on the forming drum body 6 that is sequentially detected by the sensor 10 and data about the installation position in the width direction of the sensor 10 relative to the forming drum body 6.

Description

Apparatus and method for manufacturing tubular tire components

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for manufacturing cylindrical tire components, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for manufacturing cylindrical tire components that, when a strip-shaped tire material is supplied in a flat state by a conveyor, is positioned at a reference position in the width direction of the forming drum by moving the forming drum in the drum width direction and wound around the material, can accurately determine the degree of positioning and can compactly store the space required for a sensor used for this determination.

[0002] Tires are manufactured by vulcanizing green tires. Green tires are formed by stacking various types of tire materials. When a strip of tire material, supplied flat by a conveyor, is wound around a building drum to form a cylindrical tire, various proposals have been made to prevent the tire material from meandering by aligning the widthwise center of the supplied tire material with the widthwise center of the building drum (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Conventionally, as proposed in Patent Document 1, the widthwise center of the tire material is sequentially calculated based on widthwise position data of the tire material placed on the conveyor detected by a measuring instrument (sensor). The difference between the calculated widthwise center of the tire material and the widthwise center of the building drum is then sequentially calculated, and the conveyor is moved widthwise to reduce this difference to zero.

[0003] When moving the building drum in the width direction instead of moving the conveyor in the width direction to eliminate the difference between the widthwise center positions of the two, it is necessary to sequentially calculate the widthwise center position of the tire material and the widthwise center position of the building drum, as described above. This makes the calculation process complicated, and if there is an error in calculating either of the widthwise center positions, it is not possible to eliminate the difference between the two and accurately wind the tire material. Even if the tire material is wound by controlling the widthwise movement of the building drum in this way, unless the position of the tire material on the building drum is detected, it is impossible to determine how accurately the widthwise center position of the tire material is positioned relative to the widthwise center position (reference position) of the building drum and how accurately it is wound.

[0004] To install a sensor above the building drum to determine the degree of positioning, a sensor frame must be constructed on the ground or suspended from the ceiling, and the sensor must be attached to the frame. The sensor must then be positioned on the building drum in a location that allows it to accurately detect the widthwise position of the tire material. This requires a large amount of space for the sensor frame. Therefore, there is room for improvement in accurately determining the degree of positioning when a strip of tire material, supplied flat by a conveyor, is positioned at a reference position in the widthwise direction of the building drum and wound around it, and in reducing the space required for the sensor used for this determination.

[0005] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-127986

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for manufacturing cylindrical tire components that can accurately determine the degree of positioning when a strip-shaped tire material supplied in a flat state by a conveyor is wound around the forming drum by moving the forming drum in the drum width direction and positioning it at a reference position in the width direction of the forming drum, and that can compactly store the space required for a sensor used for this determination.

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a manufacturing apparatus for cylindrical tire components, which includes a conveyor that supplies a strip-shaped tire material in a flat state, a forming drum around which the tire material supplied by the conveyor is wound to form a cylindrical shape, and a drum movement mechanism that moves the forming drum in a drum width direction, the manufacturing apparatus for cylindrical tire components further includes a sensor that detects the tire material on the forming drum, a control unit to which width direction position data of the tire material on the forming drum detected by the sensor is sequentially input, and a connecting unit that connects the forming drum and the sensor and moves the sensor in the drum width direction together with the forming drum, and the connecting unit is arranged to move the sensor in a drum width direction together with the forming drum from the forming drum at an angle of 30° with respect to the horizontal toward the opposite side of the conveyor. and a sensor lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the sensor, the sensor being raised and lowered along the extended portion by the sensor lifting mechanism and fixed at a desired height relative to the forming drum body, the forming drum body being moved in the drum width direction by the drum movement mechanism, whereby the tire material is wound onto the forming drum body while suppressing meandering, and the control unit is configured to calculate the width direction position of the tire material over the entire length relative to a reference position in the width direction of the forming drum body based on width direction installation position data of the sensor relative to the forming drum body and the width direction position data successively input to the control unit.

[0008] In the method for manufacturing a cylindrical tire component of the present invention, when a strip-shaped tire material supplied in a flat state by a conveyor is wound around a building drum body to form it into a cylindrical shape, the building drum body is moved in the drum width direction by a drum movement mechanism to suppress meandering, and the tire material is wound around the building drum body; the building drum body and a sensor are connected by a connecting part, and the sensor is moved together with the building drum body in the drum width direction by the drum movement mechanism, and the connecting part has an extending part that extends upward from the building drum body toward the opposite side of the conveyor at an inclination angle of 30° to 60° with respect to the horizontal direction. the sensor is disposed on the extended portion in a side view, and when the tire material is wound around the forming drum body and formed into a cylindrical shape, the sensor is raised and lowered along the extended portion by a sensor lifting mechanism and fixed at a desired height position relative to the forming drum body, and width direction position data of the tire material on the forming drum body detected by the sensor is sequentially input to a control unit, and the control unit calculates the width direction position of the tire material over the entire length relative to a reference position in the width direction of the forming drum body based on the width direction installation position data of the sensor relative to the forming drum body and the width direction position data sequentially input to the control unit.

[0009] According to the present invention, when winding the tire material onto the building drum, moving the building drum in the drum width direction is advantageous for suppressing meandering and positioning the tire material at a reference position in the width direction of the building drum. Furthermore, because the sensor and the building drum are connected and move together in the drum width direction, the sensor's widthwise installation position data relative to the building drum remains unchanged regardless of whether the building drum moves in the width direction, and the difference from the reference position of the building drum is a known value that has been determined in advance. Therefore, based on the sensor's widthwise installation position data relative to the building drum and the widthwise position data sequentially input to the control unit, it is advantageous for accurately calculating the widthwise position of the tire material over its entire length relative to the reference position of the building drum. In other words, the degree to which the widthwise position of the tire material wound onto the building drum matches (or deviates from) the reference position can be accurately determined, ensuring quality.

[0010] The connecting portion has an extension portion that extends upward from the building drum toward the opposite side of the conveyor at an inclination angle of 30° to 60° relative to the horizontal, and the sensor is located on the extension portion in a side view, eliminating the need for a frame on the ground or ceiling for installing the sensor. The sensor is raised and lowered along the extension portion by a sensor lifting mechanism and fixed at a desired height relative to the building drum. However, because the extension portion extends at an inclination angle of 30° to 60°, the sensor can be positioned at a location where it can accurately detect the widthwise position of the tire material on the building drum, even without excessively extending the extension portion in the up-down or front-to-back directions. This is advantageous for reducing the space required for the sensor.

[0011] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an embodiment of an apparatus for manufacturing a cylindrical tire component in a plan view. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 1 in a front view. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 1 in a side view. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the drum unit of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which the drum unit of FIG. 1 has been moved to one winding position in a plan view. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a side view of the drum unit of FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which a tire material is being wound around a building drum body at the winding position of FIG. 5. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a side view of the drum unit of FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a plan view of the drum unit of FIG. 7 in a state in which the drum unit of FIG. 7 has been moved to the other winding position. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a side view of the drum unit of FIG. 9.

[0012] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An apparatus and method for manufacturing a cylindrical tire member according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings.

[0013] Using the embodiment of the cylindrical tire component manufacturing apparatus 1 illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, strip-shaped tire materials M1, M2 supplied by conveyors 16a, 16b are wound around a building drum 6 to manufacture a cylindrical tire component M. For example, inner liner and carcass materials are used as the tire materials M1, M2 and sequentially supplied to the building drum 6, and an inner liner layer and a carcass layer are manufactured and laminated as the cylindrical tire component M. A green tire G is molded using these inner liner layers and carcass layers. The molded green tire G is vulcanized to manufacture a tire T.

[0014] The manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a drum unit 2 including a forming drum body 6, conveyors 16a and 16b, and a control unit 17. The drum unit 2 is divided into an upper structure 3 and an upper structure 4, and the base section 3 and the upper structure 4 are connected by a vertical movement mechanism 9. The drum unit 2 is the entire structure including the base section 3, the upper structure 4, and the vertical movement mechanism 9. The X, Y, and Z arrows in the figure indicate the width direction, front-rear direction, and height direction of the manufacturing apparatus 1 (drum unit 2 and forming drum body 6), respectively, and are directions that are perpendicular to each other. In the drawing, the direction from the conveyors 16a and 16b toward the forming drum body 6 in the front-rear direction (Y direction) is the forward direction.

[0015] The conveyors 16a, 16b are belt conveyors or similar conveying means that supply the tire materials M1, M2 in a flat state to the building drum body 6. A plurality of conveyors 16a, 16b are arranged in parallel in the width direction. Each conveyor 16a, 16b is basically fixed at a certain position on the ground and does not move. In this embodiment, the front ends of the conveyors 16a, 16b are set at substantially the same positions in the front-to-rear direction, and are set at slightly different positions in the up-to-down direction. The front ends of the conveyors 16a, 16b may be set at different positions in the front-to-rear direction, or may be set at substantially the same positions in the up-to-down direction.

[0016] The base unit 3 is placed on a guide rail 2a that extends in the width direction on the ground. A drive motor and other components that constitute a slide movement mechanism 8 are installed on the base unit 3. Various known mechanisms that move the base unit 3 along the guide rail 2a can be used as the slide movement mechanism 8. When the base unit 3 is moved along the guide rail 2a by the slide movement mechanism 8, the drum unit 2 moves in the width direction as a unit.

[0017] The upper structure 4 includes a mounting plate 5a, a slide plate 5b, a forming drum body 6, a rotary drive unit 6a, a drum movement mechanism 7, sensors 10a and 10b (collectively referred to as sensors 10), a sensor slide mechanism 12, and a sensor lift mechanism 13. A vertical movement mechanism 9 is connected to the underside of the mounting plate 5a, and the slide plate 5b and the drum movement mechanism 7 are installed on top of the mounting plate 5a.

[0018] The slide plate 5b is moved in the width direction relative to the mounting plate 5a by a drum moving mechanism 7. The slide plate 5b is engaged with, for example, a groove formed in the mounting plate 5a and extending in the width direction. Various known mechanisms can be used as the drum moving mechanism 7, such as a rod moved forward and backward by a fluid cylinder or a servo motor. The drum moving mechanism 7 is a separate mechanism from the slide moving mechanism 8.

[0019] A forming drum 6 and a rotation drive unit 6a are installed on the slide plate 5b. Tire materials M1 and M2 supplied by conveyors 16a and 16b are wound around the forming drum 6 to form it into a cylindrical shape. A drum axis C of the forming drum 6 extends in the X direction. The forming drum 6 is rotated about the drum axis C by the rotation drive unit 6a.

[0020] A support pillar 14 is erected on the rotation drive unit 6b, and a cross beam 14a extending in the width direction is connected to the support pillar 14. A gate-shaped support frame 15 is fixed to this cross beam 14a. A sensor support beam 11 extending in the width direction is spanned across the support frame 15. As illustrated in FIG. 3 , the support pillar 14 is inclined upward at a midpoint in the height direction toward the opposite side of the conveyors 16a and 16b, with an inclination angle S relative to the horizontal being set to approximately 45° (e.g., 30° to 60°). The support frame 15 is also inclined at this inclination angle S. That is, a portion of the support pillar 14 and the support frame 15 form an extension portion L that extends upward from the forming drum body 6 toward the conveyor 16a at an inclination angle S of 30° to 60° relative to the horizontal.

[0021] Two sensors 10a and 10b are installed on the sensor support beam 11 with a gap between them in the width direction. The sensors 10a and 10b are moved to desired positions in the width direction along the sensor support beam 11 by respective sensor slide mechanisms 12 and fixed there. Various known mechanisms such as a rod moved back and forth by a servo motor or a fluid cylinder can be used as the sensor slide mechanism 12. The sensor 10 can be rotatably supported on a support shaft extending in the width direction and can be swiveled up and down, allowing the detection direction to be changed.

[0022] The sensor support beam 11 is raised and lowered at an inclination angle S along the support frame 15 by the sensor lifting mechanism 13 and fixed at a desired position in the height direction. In this embodiment, the sensor lifting mechanism 13 is installed on the cross beam 14a, and its advancing and retreating rod is connected to the sensor support beam 11. Various known mechanisms can be used as the sensor lifting mechanism 13, such as a rod that advances and retreats using a fluid cylinder or a servo motor. When the sensor support beam 11 is raised and lowered by the sensor lifting mechanism 13, the sensor 10 is raised and lowered at an inclination angle S and fixed at a desired position in the height direction.

[0023] The sensor 10 is disposed above the building drum 6 and detects the presence and position of the tire materials M1 and M2 being supplied to the building drum 6. Various known non-contact detection sensors can be used as the sensor 10. In this embodiment, in order to comprehensively detect the entire widthwise range of each of the tire materials M1 and M2, sensors 10a and 10b are disposed at two locations spaced apart in the widthwise direction (X direction). By moving each of the sensors 10a and 10b in the widthwise direction, it is possible to accurately obtain widthwise position data of the tire material M1 of any width dimension. Note that if a single sensor 10 can comprehensively detect the entire widthwise range of each of the tire materials M1 and M2, it is also possible to use only one sensor 10. Detection data from the sensor 10 is sequentially input to the control unit 17. This detection data includes widthwise position data of the tire materials M1 and M2 on the building drum 6.

[0024] The control unit 17 performs arithmetic processing using input data, stored data, etc., and controls various components of the manufacturing apparatus 1. As the control unit 17, various known computers can be used.

[0025] The vertical movement mechanism 9 moves the upper structure 4 up and down relative to the base 3. Various known mechanisms such as a fluid cylinder or a rod moved back and forth by a servo motor can be used as the vertical movement mechanism 9. In this embodiment, the vertical movement mechanism 9 is interposed between the base 3 and the mounting plate 5a.

[0026] Therefore, the upper structure 4 moves up and down integrally by the vertical movement mechanism 9. Furthermore, the various components directly and indirectly connected to the slide plate 5b move integrally in the width direction by the drum movement mechanism 7. That is, the forming drum body 6 and the sensor 10 move synchronously by the same amount in the width direction by the drum movement mechanism 7.

[0027] In this embodiment, the slide plate 5b, the rotation drive unit 6a, the support pillars 14, the cross beams 14a, the support frame 15, and the sensor support beam 11 function as a connecting unit that connects the forming drum 6 and the sensor 10 and moves the sensor 10 in the width direction together with the forming drum 6. As shown in FIG. 3, this connecting unit has an extension L that extends upward from the forming drum 6 toward the opposite side of the conveyor 16a at an inclination angle S. The sensor 10 is disposed in this extension L in a side view. It is also possible to indirectly connect the forming drum 6 and the sensor 10 by providing the support pillars 14 directly on the slide plate 5b instead of on the rotation drive unit 6a, and to dispose the sensor 10 in the extension L in a side view.

[0028] Next, an example of a procedure for manufacturing a cylindrical tire member M using this manufacturing apparatus 1 will be described.

[0029] In this embodiment, tire materials M1, M2 are supplied in a flat state to the building drum 6 and wound thereon by a plurality of conveyors 16a, 16b arranged in parallel in the width direction relative to the building drum 6. When each tire material M1, M2 is supplied, the building drum 6 is moved and set near the tip end (winding positions P1, P2) of the conveyors 16a, 16b that supply the tire materials M1, M2.

[0030] First, as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, the building drum 6 is moved and set to a winding position P1 near the front end of the conveyor 16a that supplies the tire material M1 to the building drum 6. To this end, as illustrated in Figure 5, the drum unit 2 is moved as a unit in the width direction by the slide movement mechanism 8 to be aligned with the winding position P1 (X direction position). Also, as illustrated in Figure 6, the upper structure 4 is moved in the vertical direction by the vertical movement mechanism 9 to be aligned with the winding position P1 (Z direction position). The winding position P1 is an appropriate position that allows the tire material M1 to be smoothly transferred from the conveyor 16a to the building drum 6.

[0031] The position (X-direction, Y-direction, and Z-direction positions) of the front end of the conveyor 16a is set in advance, and the Y-direction position of the forming drum 6 is also set in advance. Therefore, a pre-test is conducted in which the tire material M1 is transferred from the conveyor 16a to the forming drum 6 while the positions (X-direction and Z-direction positions) of the forming drum 6 are changed in various ways, and the winding position P1 is determined in advance. Similarly, the winding position P2 is determined for the other conveyor 16b.

[0032] By determining the winding position P1 in advance in this manner, when supplying the tire material M1 to the building drum 6, the widthwise position of the building drum 6 is adjusted using the slide movement mechanism 8, and the vertical position of the building drum 6 is adjusted using the vertical movement mechanism 9, so that the building drum 6 is placed at the winding position P1. Specifically, to place the building drum 6 at the winding position P1, the control unit 17 controls the slide movement mechanism 8 to adjust the widthwise position of the building drum 6 based on the widthwise position of the tip of the conveyor 16a that supplies the tire material M1. Furthermore, the control unit 17 controls the vertical movement mechanism 9 to adjust the vertical position of the building drum 6 based on the vertical position of the tip of the conveyor 16a. By controlling in this manner, the building drum 6 can be automatically placed at the winding position P1. In order to more quickly install the forming drum body 6 at the winding position P1, it is advisable to use the slide movement mechanism 8 to move the forming drum body 6 (drum unit 2) in the width direction toward the winding position P1, while using the vertical movement mechanism 9 to move the forming drum body 6 in the vertical direction to align it with the height position of the winding position P1.

[0033] The sensors 10 are moved in the width direction by the respective sensor slide mechanisms 12 and are raised and lowered by the sensor lifting mechanisms 13 to detection positions where they are fixed. The detection positions are appropriate positions where the sensors 10 can accurately detect the widthwise positions of both ends of the tire material M1 on the building drum 6. These detection positions vary depending on the arrangement of the conveyor 16a relative to the building drum 6 and the widthwise size of the tire material M1, among other factors. Therefore, the detection positions are determined in advance by conducting pre-tests in which the sensor 10 is positioned (in the X, Y, and Z directions) to detect the tire material M1 on the building drum 6 in various ways. Detection positions are similarly determined for the other conveyor 16b and the tire material M2. It is advisable to move the sensors 10 to the detection positions while the building drum 6 (drum unit 2) is moved in the width direction toward the winding position P1 by the slide movement mechanisms 8. These detection positions are stored in the control unit 17.

[0034] The sensor 10 moves up and down along the extending portion L that is inclined at the inclination angle S, and this up and down movement allows the position of the sensor 10 in the height direction (Z direction) and the front-rear direction (Y direction) to be adjusted at the same time. By setting the inclination angle S to approximately 45°, between 30° and 60°, and more preferably between 40° and 50°, it is advantageous to move and fix the sensor 10 to a detection position that corresponds to the arrangement of the conveyor 16a with respect to the building drum 6 and the width direction size of the tire material M1, without making the extending portion L excessively long.

[0035] Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 , the building drum 6 is rotated around the drum axis C at the winding position P1, and the tire material M1 supplied by the conveyor 16a is wound around it. The tire material M1 placed on the conveyor 16a tends to meander in the width direction. Therefore, the width direction position of the tire material M1 on the conveyor 16a is detected by known sensors, and based on this detection data, the control unit 17 controls the drum movement mechanism 7 to move the building drum 6 in the width direction. In this way, the tire material M1 is wound around the building drum 6 while suppressing meandering and positioning it at a reference position Px in the width direction. This reference position Px can be set to any position. For example, the width direction center position of the building drum 6 is set to the reference position Px in advance, and the tire material M1 is positioned so that the width direction center position is aligned with this reference position Px, and then the tire material M1 is wound around the building drum 6 and formed into a cylindrical shape.

[0036] Even if the tire material M1 is positioned in this way and wound around the building drum 6, it is unclear to what extent the widthwise center position of the actually wound tire material M1 coincides (misaligns) with the reference position Px. Therefore, in this embodiment, the control unit 17 calculates the widthwise position of the tire material M1 over its entire length relative to the reference position Px of the building drum 6 based on widthwise installation position data of the sensor 10 relative to the building drum 6 and widthwise position data of the tire material M1 on the building drum 6 detected by the sensor 10 which is sequentially input to the control unit 17.

[0037] More specifically, the widthwise center position of the building drum 6 (i.e., reference position Px) is calculated based on widthwise installation position data of the sensor 10 relative to the building drum 6. Furthermore, based on widthwise position data of the tire material M1 successively detected by each of the sensors 10a, 10b between the start and end of winding the tire material M1 around the building drum 6, the control unit 17 sequentially calculates the widthwise center position of the tire material M1 on the building drum 6 over the entire length. Then, the difference Dx in the width direction between the calculated reference position Px and the calculated widthwise center position of the tire material M1 is calculated over the entire length of the tire material M1.

[0038] Here, since the sensor 10 and the building drum 6 are connected and move together in the width direction, the width direction installation position data of the sensor 10 relative to the building drum 6 remains unchanged regardless of whether the building drum 6 moves in the width direction. The positions of each sensor 10 are stored in the control unit 17 and are known, so the width direction distance between each sensor 10 and the reference position Px of the building drum 6 is also a known value. In other words, the reference position Px is accurately determined based on the position of each sensor 10. Therefore, to calculate the difference Dx, it is sufficient to use the reference position Px accurately determined based on the position of each sensor 10. That is, the above-mentioned difference Dx can be calculated by calculating the width direction center position of the tire material M1 on the building drum 6 over the entire length of the tire material M1 based on the width direction position data of the tire material M1 successively detected by the sensor 10, and then calculating the difference between the calculation result and the reference position Px accurately determined based on the positions of each sensor 10 stored in the control unit 17.

[0039] Therefore, although this manufacturing apparatus 1 has a simple configuration in which the sensor 10 is connected to the building drum 6 and moved in the width direction together with the building drum 6, it is advantageous for accurately calculating the width direction position of the tire material M1 over its entire length relative to the reference position Px, even when the building drum 6 is frequently moved in the width direction. In other words, it is possible to accurately determine to what extent the width direction center position of the tire material M1 wound around the building drum 6 coincides (misaligns) with (is offset from) the reference position Px in the width direction, thereby ensuring the quality of the manufactured tubular tire component M.

[0040] In this manufacturing apparatus 1, the sensors 10a, 10b sequentially detect width direction position data of the tire material M1 from the start to the end of winding the tire material M1 around the building drum 6, eliminating the need for a separate process (time) for calculating the width direction position of the tire material M1 over the entire length relative to the reference position Px. In other words, after the tire material M1 is formed into a cylindrical shape, it is not necessary to rotate the building drum 6 again about the drum axis C and detect the degree of width direction deviation of the cylindrical tire component M with the sensor 10. This is therefore advantageous for improving the productivity of the tire component M.

[0041] Next, as illustrated in Figures 9 and 10, in order to manufacture a cylindrical tire component M from tire material M2 supplied from the other conveyor 16b, the forming drum 6 is moved to a winding position P2 near the front end of the other conveyor 16b. The procedure for placing the forming drum 6 at the winding position P2 is the same as the procedure for placing it at the winding position P1 described above. That is, as illustrated in Figure 9, the drum unit 2 is moved as a unit in the width direction by the sliding mechanism 8. Furthermore, as illustrated in Figure 10, the upper structure 4 is moved up and down by the vertical movement mechanism 9.

[0042] The procedure for moving and fixing the sensors 10a and 10b to the detection positions is the same as the procedure performed at the winding position P1. That is, the sensors 10a and 10b are moved in the width direction by the sensor slide mechanism 12, raised and lowered by the sensor lifting mechanism 13, and fixed to the detection positions corresponding to the conveyor 16 and the tire material M2.

[0043] Next, using the same procedure as in the case of the tire material M1 described above, the building drum 6 is moved in the width direction by the drum movement mechanism 7, and the tire material M2 is wound while suppressing meandering and positioning it at a reference position Px in the width direction of the building drum 6. Because a cylindrical tire component M has already been manufactured and wound around the building drum 6, the tire material M2 is wound around the outer peripheral surface of this tire component M at the winding position P2. Therefore, at the winding position P2, the tire component M formed into a cylindrical shape using the tire material M2 is manufactured in a stacked state on the tire components M already manufactured on the building drum 6. Since shifting in the width direction of each stacked tire component M1 is suppressed, a high-quality stack of tire components M is manufactured. Then, for the tire material M2, as with the tire material M1, the widthwise difference Dx between the reference position Px and the calculated widthwise center position of the tire material M2 is calculated over the entire length of the tire material M2.

[0044] According to this manufacturing apparatus 1, as described above, the sensor 10 is disposed on the extending portion L in a side view, and the sensor 10 is indirectly connected to the forming drum 6. Therefore, there is no need to provide a frame or the like on the ground or ceiling for mounting the sensor 10, which is used to detect the widthwise position of the tire materials M1, M2 on the forming drum 6. Furthermore, since the extending portion L extends from the forming drum 6 toward the opposite side of the conveyors 16a, 16b at an inclination angle S of 30° to 60° with respect to the horizontal, it is easy to dispose the sensor 10 in a position where it can accurately detect the widthwise position of the tire materials M1, M2 on the forming drum 6 without excessively extending the extending portion L in the up-down and front-to-back directions. As a result, this is advantageous in reducing the space required for the sensor 10.

[0045] This is advantageous in ensuring a larger space for operating and maintaining the manufacturing apparatus 1. Furthermore, even if the space for installing the manufacturing apparatus 1 is narrow, it becomes easier to arrange the sensor 10 at the detection position.

[0046] In this embodiment, by moving the forming drum 6 in the width direction at the winding positions P1 and P2 by the drum movement mechanism 7, it is possible to correct variations in the width direction positions of the tire materials M1 and M2 while winding them around the forming drum 6. The drum movement mechanism 7 moves the components of the drum unit 2 that are installed on the slide plate 5 in the width direction, rather than the drum unit 2, and is therefore advantageous compared to the drum unit 2 in terms of moving the forming drum 6 to a desired width direction position quickly and frequently.

[0047] 1, a conveyor 16a is arranged at one of two positions spaced apart in the width direction, and a conveyor 16b is arranged at the other position, but the conveyors 16a, 16b at each position are not limited to one, and multiple conveyors (e.g., two to four) may be arranged in a vertical line. When multiple conveyors 16a are arranged in a vertical line at one position, multiple tire materials M1 are sequentially and continuously supplied to the building drum 6 by each of the vertically arranged conveyors 16a, and each is formed into a cylindrical shape and stacked. As in the embodiment described above, by moving the building drum 6 in the width direction relative to each conveyor 16a fixed at a predetermined position, the tire material M1 sequentially and continuously supplied is prevented from meandering, and is wound on the building drum 6 while being positioned at a reference position Px in the width direction. That is, when each of the plurality of tire materials M1 supplied sequentially is centered and wound around the building drum body 6, the position of each of the conveyors 16a arranged in a vertical row is fixed, so that each of the tire materials M1 can be continuously supplied to the building drum body 6 through each of the conveyors 16a.

[0048] On the other hand, in a system in which the building drum 6 is fixed in a predetermined position and the conveyor 16a immediately preceding the building drum 6 is moved in the width direction to center and wind each sequentially supplied tire material M1 around the building drum 6, while the conveyor 16a immediately preceding the building drum 6 is being moved in the width direction, the tire material M1 cannot be transferred from the rear conveyor 16a to the conveyor 16a immediately preceding the building drum 6. As a result, the supply of the tire material M1 to the building drum 6 is delayed, and extra waiting time occurs until the centering process by the immediately preceding conveyor 16a is completed. This results in a decrease in productivity of cylindrical tire components M. Therefore, as described above, in a system in which the forming drum 6 is moved in the width direction relative to each conveyor 16a fixed at a predetermined position, thereby suppressing meandering of the tire material M1 supplied continuously and positioning it at the reference position Px in the width direction of the forming drum 6, the extra waiting time until each tire material M1 is supplied to the forming drum 6 is suppressed, which is advantageous for improving the productivity of cylindrical tire components M. The same applies when multiple conveyors 16b are arranged in tandem at another position, and the forming drum 6 is moved in the width direction relative to the conveyors 16b fixed at a predetermined position and arranged in tandem, and each of the multiple tire materials M2 supplied in sequence is centered and wound around the forming drum 6, which is advantageous for improving the productivity of cylindrical tire components M.

[0049] In the embodiment, the leading ends of the conveyors 16a, 16b are set above the forming drum 6, but they can also be set below. The leading end of one conveyor 16a can be set above the forming drum 6, and the leading end of the other conveyor 16b can be set below the forming drum 6. The number of conveyors 16a, 16b is not limited to two, and this manufacturing apparatus 1 can also be applied to a single conveyor or a case where three or more conveyors are arranged in parallel. When there is one conveyor, there is no need to move the drum unit 2 as a whole in the width direction, so unnecessary components such as the slide movement mechanism 8 can be omitted.

[0050] The forming drum body 6 is not limited to various commonly known forming drums, and may be, for example, a so-called rigid core having an outer surface substantially the same as the inner surface of the tire T to be manufactured.

[0051] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Manufacturing device 2 Drum unit 2a Guide rail 3 Base portion 4 Upper structure portion 5a Placement plate 5b Slide plate 6 Forming drum body 6a Rotation drive portion 7 Drum movement mechanism 8 Slide movement mechanism 9 Up and down movement mechanism 10 (10a, 10b) Sensor 11 Sensor support beam 12 Sensor slide mechanism 13 Sensor lifting mechanism 14 Support 14a Cross beam 15 Support frame 16a, 16b Conveyor 17 Control portion L Extension portion M1, M2 Strip-shaped tire material M Tire member

Claims

1. A cylindrical tire component manufacturing device equipped with a conveyor for supplying strip-shaped tire material in a flat state, a forming drum around which the tire material supplied by the conveyor is wound to form a cylindrical shape, and a drum movement mechanism for moving the forming drum in the drum width direction, the device having a sensor for detecting the tire material on the forming drum, a control unit to which data on the width direction position of the tire material on the forming drum detected by the sensor is sequentially input, and a connecting unit for connecting the forming drum and the sensor and moving the sensor in the drum width direction together with the forming drum, the connecting unit having an extension portion that extends upward from the forming drum toward the opposite side of the conveyor at an inclination angle of 30° to 60° with respect to the horizontal, the sensor being disposed on the extension portion in a side view, a sensor lifting mechanism for moving the sensor up and down, the sensor being raised and lowered along the extension portion by the sensor lifting mechanism and fixed at a desired height position relative to the forming drum, The tire material is wound onto the forming drum body while suppressing meandering by moving the forming drum body in the drum width direction using the drum moving mechanism, and the control unit calculates the width direction position of the tire material over the entire length relative to a reference position in the width direction of the forming drum body based on the width direction installation position data of the sensor relative to the forming drum body and the width direction position data successively input to the control unit. This manufacturing device for cylindrical tire members is configured as follows.

2. A manufacturing device for cylindrical tire components as described in claim 1, further comprising a sensor slide mechanism for moving the sensor in the drum width direction, the sensor being moved to a desired position in the drum width direction by the sensor slide mechanism and fixed there.

3. The manufacturing apparatus for cylindrical tire components according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sensors are disposed at two locations spaced apart in the width direction of the drum.

4. A manufacturing method for a cylindrical tire component in which, when a strip-shaped tire material supplied in a flat state by a conveyor is wound around a forming drum body to form it into a cylindrical shape, the forming drum body is moved in the drum width direction by a drum movement mechanism to suppress meandering and wind the tire material around the forming drum body, the forming drum body and a sensor are connected by a connection part, and the sensor is moved in the drum width direction together with the forming drum body by the drum movement mechanism, the connection part has an extension part that extends upward from the forming drum body toward the opposite side of the conveyor at an inclination angle of 30° to 60° with respect to the horizontal direction, and the sensor is disposed on the extension part in a side view, when the tire material is wound around the forming drum body to form it into a cylindrical shape, the sensor is raised and lowered along the extension part by a sensor lifting mechanism and fixed at a desired height position with respect to the forming drum body, and width direction position data of the tire material on the forming drum body detected by the sensor is inputted to a control unit sequentially, A manufacturing method for a cylindrical tire component, in which the control unit calculates the width direction position of the tire material over the entire length relative to a reference position in the width direction of the forming drum body, based on width direction installation position data of the sensor relative to the forming drum body and the width direction position data sequentially input to the control unit.

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