Heating press and method for vulcanizing a vehicle tyre in a heating press

Abstract

The invention relates to a heating press (1) for vulcanizing a vehicle tyre, comprising a heating-press upper part (2) and a heating-press lower part (3), wherein a container (4) having a heated upper sidewall shell (5) and heated mould segments (10) is located on the heating-press upper part (2), the heating-press lower part (3) having a heated lower sidewall shell (13). The lower sidewall shell (13) is heated by means of a lower container plate (14) and the upper sidewall shell (5) is heated by means of an upper container plate (7), the lower sidewall shell (13) being heated directly by means of a lower container plate (14) and / or the upper sidewall shell (5) being heated directly by means of an upper container plate (7). A heat flow is generated in the lower container plate (14) and / or the upper container plate (7), the heat flow in the lower container plate (14) and / or upper container plate (7) being converted into a heat flow from electrical energy. The invention also relates to a method for operating such a heating press.

Description

[0001] Description

[0002] HEATING PRESS AND METHOD FOR VULCANISING A VEHICLE TIRE IN A HEATING PRESS

[0003] The invention relates to a curing press and a method for vulcanizing a vehicle tire. The curing press comprises an upper curing press part and a lower curing press part. A container having a heated upper sidewall shell and heated mold segments is arranged on the upper curing press part, and the lower curing press part has a heated lower sidewall shell.

[0004] Heating presses are known whose mold segments and sidewall shells are heated by steam. Due to their design and the way their heat energy is supplied, these heating presses exhibit high thermal losses and low thermal efficiency. The simultaneous setting of different temperatures at different positions on the heating press is not possible or only possible to a limited extent. Furthermore, heating presses with electrically heated mold segments and sidewall shells are also known. Due to their design, particularly the positioning of the electrical heating elements, these heating presses also exhibit low thermal efficiency. Furthermore, such heating presses regularly have disadvantages with regard to their manufacturing costs, as well as operating and setup costs. Disadvantages of such heating presses with regard to the compatibility of containers in different plants are also known.

[0005] Against this background, the object of the invention is to design a heating press and a method in such a way that they have a particularly high thermal efficiency and differently tempered areas are made possible in the heating press, whereby low manufacturing costs as well as operating and setup costs as well as high compatibility of containers are made possible.

[0006] This object is achieved by a heating press according to the features of patent claim 1 and a method according to the independent claim. The subclaims relate to particularly useful developments of the invention.

[0007] According to the invention, a heating press for vulcanizing a vehicle tire is provided, comprising an upper heating press part and a lower heating press part, wherein a container having a heated upper sidewall shell and heated mold segments is arranged on the upper heating press part. The lower heating press part has a heated lower sidewall shell, wherein the lower sidewall shell is heated by means of a lower container plate and the upper sidewall shell is heated by means of an upper container plate. The lower sidewall shell is heated by means of the lower container plate and / or the upper sidewall shell is heated by means of the upper container plate, wherein a heat flow is generated in the lower container plate and / or the upper container plate, wherein the heat flow in the lower container plate and / or the upper container plate is converted from electrical energy into a heat flow.

[0008] The heat flow in at least one of the container plates is generated by supplying electrical current to the container plate and converting it into heat in the container plate. The conversion of the electrical current into heat can occur, for example, by means of an electrical resistor arranged in the container plate. Alternatively, the electrical current can be induced in the container plate, for example with an induction coil, so that an electrical current flows through at least partial areas of the container plate itself and is converted into heat therein. The generated heat flow is conducted from the container plate into the side wall shell, preferably by the container plate and the side wall shell being in surface contact with one another. A means for improving heat transfer can be arranged between the container plate and the side wall shell.

[0009] By generating a heat flow from an electric current in the container plate, different areas of the heating press can be heated independently of one another. Furthermore, the heat flow path to the heated tire is particularly short, achieving high thermal efficiency and allowing tire areas with large temperature differences to be heated.

[0010] A preferred embodiment provides that the heat flow in the container plates and / or the mold segments is generated by means of electrical resistors, in particular by means of a heating coil. This achieves a cost-effective and reliable conversion of electrical current into heat.

[0011] Another preferred embodiment provides for the heat flow to be generated by means of induction coils through an inductively generated eddy current in the lower container plate and / or upper container plate and / or the mold segments. Induction coils have proven to be a particularly low-maintenance option for converting electrical energy into heat.

[0012] A further preferred embodiment provides that the induction coils are spaced from the lower container plate and / or upper container plate by means of a thermal insulator. The thermal insulation of the induction coils from the heated container plates reduces the temperature of the induction coils during operation, thereby increasing their durability. It is understood that the materials surrounding the induction coils, which are arranged on the same side of the thermal insulator as the induction coils, are selected such that no or only a very small conversion of electrical energy into thermal energy takes place within them.

[0013] A further preferred embodiment provides that the induction coils are positioned in an upper press platen and / or a lower press platen and / or in the closure. This positioning of the induction coils has proven to be particularly advantageous since, when a container is changed in a heating press, the induction coils remain in the heating press, thereby reducing the effort required for conversion. A further advantage is that only the heating presses need to be equipped with induction coils and not the containers. This also increases the compatibility of the containers since, for example, different voltages on different heating presses are irrelevant for a container change. Furthermore, due to the higher number of containers compared to heating presses, the required number of induction coils can be reduced.

[0014] A further preferred embodiment provides that the electrical resistors and / or the induction coils are divided into at least two, preferably at least three, and more preferably at least four independently usable, coaxially arranged sub-areas. This makes it possible to heat only the area of ​​the container plates that requires heating for the given tire size.

[0015] According to the invention, a method is provided for operating a heating press for vulcanizing a vehicle tire, in particular a heating press according to the invention, comprising the steps:

[0016] - generating a heat flow in the lower container plate and / or the upper container plate, wherein the heat flow in the lower container plate and / or the upper container plate is converted from electrical energy into a heat flow,

[0017] - Positioning a vehicle tire in the heating press,

[0018] - Vulcanizing the vehicle tire,

[0019] - End the vulcanization process and remove the vehicle tire.

[0020] The invention permits numerous embodiments. To further clarify its basic principle, two of them are shown in the drawings and are described below. These show in

[0021] Fig. 1 a heating press with container plates heated by electrical resistors;

[0022] Fig. 2 shows a heating press with inductively heated container plates. Figure 1 shows a heating press 1 for vulcanizing a vehicle tire, comprising an upper heating press section 2 and a lower heating press section 3. A container 4 is arranged on the upper heating press section 2, which accommodates a heated upper sidewall shell 5, which is heated by electrical resistors 6 arranged in an upper container plate 7. The upper container plate 7 is thermally insulated from an upper press plate 9 by a thermal insulator 8.

[0023] The container 4 further comprises mold segments 10, which are heated indirectly by segment shoes 12 by means of electrical resistors 6 arranged in a closure 11. The closure 11 comprises a thermal insulator 8 arranged such that the electrical resistors 6 are thermally connected to the segment shoes 12 and thermally separated from the radially outer region of the closure ring 11.

[0024] The heating press lower part 3 has a heated lower side wall shell 13, which is heated by a lower container plate 14. For this purpose, the lower container plate 14 has electrical resistors 6 and a thermal insulator 8. The thermal insulator 8 is arranged such that the electrical resistors 6 are thermally connected to the lower side wall shell 13 and are thermally decoupled from the radially outer region of the lower container plate 14 and from a lower press plate 15.

[0025] Figure 2 shows a heating press 1 with inductively heated container plates 7, 14, which differs from the embodiment of Figure 1 with regard to the heating of the side wall shells 5, 13 and the mold segments 10, as described below. The other components of the heating press 1 correspond to the components of the embodiment of Figure 1. The heating press 1 has induction coils 16, which are arranged in the lower press plate 15 and the upper press plate 9. The induction coils 16 are each separated by a thermal insulator 8 from the lower container plate 14 and the upper container plate 7, in which they generate an eddy current and thus heat it. Further induction coils 16 are arranged in the locking ring 11, which are also thermally decoupled from the area of ​​the locking ring 11 heated by them by a thermal insulator 8.This arrangement of the induction coils 16 ensures that the induction coils 16 are arranged in the colder area of ​​the heating press 1, thereby achieving a longer service life of the induction coils 16.

[0026] List of reference symbols

[0027] heating press

[0028] Heating press upper part

[0029] Heating press base container upper side wall shell electrical resistance upper container plate thermal insulator upper press plate mold segment

[0030] closure

[0031] Segment shoe lower side wall shell lower container plate lower press plate

[0032] Induction coil

Claims

AMENDED CLAIMS received by the International Bureau on 18 December 2024 (18.12.2024) 1. Heating press (1) for vulcanizing a vehicle tire, comprising a heating press upper part (2) and a heating press lower part (3), wherein a container (4) having a heated upper sidewall shell (5) and heated mold segments (10) is arranged on the heating press upper part (2), wherein the heating press lower part (3) has a heated lower sidewall shell (13), wherein the lower sidewall shell (13) is heated by means of a lower container plate (14) and / or the upper sidewall shell (5) is heated by means of an upper container plate (7), characterized in that a heat flow is generated in the lower container plate (14) and / or the upper container plate (7), wherein the heat flow in the lower container plate (14) and / or upper container plate (7) is converted from electrical energy into a heat flow.

2. Heating press (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the heat flow in the container plates (7, 14) and the mold segments (10) is generated by means of electrical resistors (6), in particular by means of a heating coil.

3. Heating press (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the heat flow is generated by means of induction coils (16) by an inductively generated eddy current in the lower container plate and / or upper container plate and / or the mold segments (10).

4. Heating press (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the induction coils (16) are spaced from the lower container plate (14) and / or upper container plate (7) by means of a thermal insulator (8).

5. Heating press (1) according to one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the induction coils (16) are positioned in an upper press plate (9) and / or a lower press plate (15) and / or in the closure (11). AMENDED SHEET (ARTICLE 19) 6. Heating press (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrical resistors (6) and / or the induction coils (16) are divided into at least two, preferably at least three and more preferably at least four independently usable sub-areas arranged coaxially to one another.

7. A method for operating a heating press (1) for vulcanising a vehicle tyre, in particular a heating press (1) according to one of the preceding claims, comprising the steps of: - generating a heat flow in the lower container plate (14) and / or the upper container plate (7), wherein the heat flow in the lower container plate (14) and / or upper container plate (7) is converted from electrical energy into a heat flow, - Positioning a vehicle tyre in the heating press (1 ), - Vulcanising the vehicle tyre, - End the vulcanization process and remove the vehicle tire. AMENDED SHEET (ARTICLE 19)

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