Apex Strip Cutting Alignment for Accurate Tire-Bead Splicing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing cutting devices for tire building apex strips result in meandering and warping, leading to inconsistent lateral positions and orientations of the cut ends, which cause 'dog ears' and air inclusions, negatively affecting tire quality.
Innovation Solution
A cutting device with a positioning device that aligns the strip transversely to a reference line, using movable positioning elements to ensure accurate cutting and splicing of apex strips, minimizing deviations and air pockets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the strip is conveyed at high speeds, then productivity is improved, but the strip tends to meander and warp causing lateral position deviations
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning device pushes the strip to align with the reference line before the cutting operation occurs. This preliminary positioning ensures that even at high conveyance speeds, the strip is correctly positioned laterally when it reaches the cutting knife, preventing meandering and warping effects during the critical cutting phase.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning device acts as an intermediary between the conveyor system and the cutting device. It corrects lateral deviations of the strip during conveyance by pushing it back to the reference line, thereby mediating the conflict between high-speed conveyance and positioning accuracy.
2Manufacturing precision
If the lateral position of the strip varies at the cutting line, then cutting precision deteriorates, but adding positioning mechanisms increases device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning device applies localized correction only at the critical lateral position where the strip needs alignment with the reference line before cutting. Rather than controlling the entire strip throughout the conveyance path, it focuses positioning effort only where needed, simplifying the overall system while maintaining cutting precision.
3Reliability
If the strip is not accurately positioned, then splice quality deteriorates with dog ears and air inclusions, but positioning requires additional device components
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning device ensures the strip is correctly aligned with the reference line before the cutting and subsequent splicing operations. This preliminary positioning prevents lateral misalignment that would cause dog ears and air inclusions during splicing, thereby improving splice quality without requiring complex real-time adjustment mechanisms during the splicing process itself.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a cutting device for cutting a continuous length of a strip, in particular an apex for tire building, wherein the cutting device comprises a conveyor for conveying the strip in a transport direction in a support plane and a knife for cutting through the strip along a cutting line transverse to the transport direction, wherein the cutting device further comprises a positioning device for pushing the strip in a positioning direction up to a longitudinal reference line at or near the cutting line.