Rubber-Coated Tire Cord Fabric Cut Lines for Precise Slitting
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Solution Overview
Problem
The tire industry faces challenges in minimizing waste during the manufacturing of rubber-coated tire cord fabrics, particularly in cutting the materials into precise widths for cap plies, due to the small diameter of warp cords, which requires accurate counting to ensure the correct number of cords in each strip, leading to potential errors and scrap material.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a cut line in the rubber-coated woven fabric that separates warp cords into predetermined groups, allowing for precise cutting without the need to count individual cords, using a slitter aligned with the cut line to ensure the correct number of cords in each strip, and treating the fabric to close the gaps formed during loom setup, resulting in a visible cut line for accurate cutting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If individual cords are counted to ensure correct number of cords in each strip, then manufacturing precision is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to time-consuming counting process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-grouping warp cords into predetermined sets during the fabric weaving process. These groups are separated by cut lines that are formed before the fabric is coated with rubber composition. This allows the fabric to be cut into strips with the correct number of cords simply by following the cut lines, eliminating the need for time-consuming cord counting during the cutting process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces cut lines as an intermediary visual guide between the warp cords and the cutting process. These cut lines are created by removing or spacing out specific warp cords during weaving, creating visible gaps that serve as markers for where to cut the fabric. This intermediary system translates the complex task of counting individual cords into a simple visual alignment task.
2Measurement precision
If rubber coating is applied thinly to maintain cord visibility, then measurement precision is improved, but the coating quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the taking out principle by removing specific warp cords at predetermined locations to create cut lines. These removed cords create visible gaps or spaces in the fabric structure that serve as cutting guides. By extracting these specific elements, the patent creates natural visual markers without requiring thin rubber coating, thus maintaining both cord visibility and coating quality.
3Manufacturing precision
If fabric is cut into precise widths for cap plies, then manufacturing precision is improved, but waste increases due to material loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the wide fabric into predetermined groups of warp cords during the weaving process itself. Each group is separated by cut lines, effectively segmenting the fabric into manageable sections before cutting. This pre-segmentation ensures that when the fabric is cut, each strip contains the exact number of cords needed, minimizing material waste while maintaining precise width accuracy.
Data Source
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AI summary
In a rubber-coated fabric, a plurality of warp cords is included with a spacing d between, sides of adjacent warp cords, each of the warp cords being coated with a layer of rubber compound, A cut line may further be included thai separates groups of the warp cords, each group having a predetermined number of the warp cords. The cut line, may be formed by between 2 and 6 adjacent cut line warp cords, wherein a distance dc, between any two sides of adjacent cut Hue warp cords may be no.more than. 50 % of d. The layer of rubber compound that coats- the rubber-coated fabric is thin enough to outline the cut line on a surface of the rubber- coated woven fabric.