Expandable Forming Drum Sector Coupling for Tire Building
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current expandable forming drums for building tires face challenges in managing the distribution of semifinished products due to the impossibility of arranging a light and manageable drum for transfer and movement, leading to risks of deformation or breakage, especially in tires with high curvature ratios.
Innovation Solution
An expandable toroidal forming drum with radially movable sectors that transition between contracted and expanded conditions, featuring circumferentially consecutive sectors with circumferential projections and cavities, and extended support wings to ensure proper distribution and support of semifinished products during the spiraling process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the forming drum is made expandable to accommodate high curvature ratio tires, then the ability to build tires with high curvature ratios is improved, but the risk of deformation or breakage of semifinished products increases due to stress during expansion and contraction
Solution Approach 1:
The forming drum is divided into multiple movable sectors that can expand and contract independently. Each sector is separated by radial gaps that allow controlled movement, reducing stress concentration and preventing deformation of the semifinished products during the expansion and contraction cycles
Solution Approach 2:
The radial gaps are strategically positioned between sectors to allow localized movement and stress relief. The gaps are larger in regions where expansion and contraction occur most intensely, providing targeted stress relief where needed most to prevent product deformation
2Manufacturing precision
If the drum sectors are made movable between contracted and expanded conditions, then the precision of semifinished product distribution is improved, but the complexity of the drum structure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drum sectors are designed to be dynamically movable between contracted and expanded positions rather than fixed. This dynamic capability allows precise adjustment of the drum's internal volume and shape to match the specific requirements of different tire types, improving product distribution precision while maintaining manageable complexity through controlled movement mechanisms
3Manufacturing precision
If support wings are extended from the projections to overlap adjacent projections, then the support and distribution of semifinished products is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support wings are designed to overlap with adjacent projections, merging multiple support functions into a unified continuous support surface. This integration provides enhanced and more uniform support for the semifinished products during the spiraling process, improving distribution precision while avoiding the need for separate, complex support mechanisms
Data Source
AI summary
A process for building tyres employing a forming drum having circumferentially consecutive sectors that are radially movable between a contracted condition and an expanded condition in which the sectors are radially moved away from a geometric axis in order to define a radially external abutment surface. Each sector has circumferentially opposite coupling portions each having circumferential projections alternated with circumferential cavities. The projections of each sector are slidably engaged in the respective cavities of circumferentially adjacent sectors. From at least one of the projections, at least one support wing is extended having a first side and a second side that are respectively opposite. The first side coincides with a portion of the abutment surface and the second side at least partially overlaps one of the projections belonging to an adjacent sector.