Tire Drum Rotation Inversion for Ribbon Stacking Speed

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing tire production methods face issues such as energy loss, risk of device failure, and feed deficiency due to heavy equipment and speed restrictions when winding and stacking ribbon strips around a core.

Innovation Solution

A tire production device configuration where the supply unit is fixed, and the drum is aligned with the sticking position, allowing high-speed rotation and improved stacking pattern freedom, reducing the need for abrupt movements along the X-Y axes.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the supply unit is moved against the rotating core, then the ribbon strips can be supplied to the core, but the heavy weight of the extrusion molding machine causes energy loss, device failure risk, and feed deficiency

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedevice reliabilityVSAvoidenergy consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of moving the heavy supply unit (extrusion molding machine) against the rotating core, the invention inverts the approach by keeping the supply unit fixed and moving the core (via turning table and moving table) to the supply position. This eliminates the need to move heavy equipment, thereby reducing energy consumption and improving device reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

2Adaptability or versatility

If the core is made turnable and moved along X-Y axes to wind ribbon strips, then the stacking angle can be changed, but high-speed movement along X-Y axes is required which creates speed restrictions

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestacking pattern flexibilityVSAvoidmovement speed
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The invention inverts the conventional approach by keeping the supply unit fixed and rotating the core on a turning table. This allows the core to achieve high-speed rotation for rapid stacking while the turning table provides adaptability for different stacking angles and patterns, eliminating the need for high-speed linear movement along X-Y axes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention introduces dynamic elements including a rotatable drum for high-speed rotation, a turning table for angular positioning, and a moving table for X-Y axis positioning. This dynamic configuration allows the system to adapt to different stacking patterns while maintaining high stacking speeds through rotational motion rather than linear movement.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Productivity

If the drum rotates at high speed with aligned turning center axis, then the stacking speed improves and freedom of stacking pattern increases, but the configuration complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestacking speedVSAvoiddevice configuration complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention segments the positioning and stacking functions into separate modules: a turning table for angular positioning, a moving table for linear positioning, and a rotatable drum for high-speed stacking. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, achieving high productivity while managing overall system complexity through modular design.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP4194190B1Tire production device and tire production method
Publication Date: 2025.06.18 BRIDGESTONE CORP
  • EP4194190B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4194190B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4B
  • EP4194190B1 patent drawingFigure 5A~5B

AI summary

In order to provide a tire production device and a tire production method capable of reducing energy loss, risk of device failure or feed deficiency trouble, and increasing a stacking speed of ribbon strips, the tire production device is provided with a supply unit configured to supply, as a member constituting a tire, a ribbon strip molded into a ribbon shape; and a tire molding unit configured to stick the ribbon strip onto an outer periphery of a drum having, as an outer shape thereof, an inner peripheral shape of a product tire, while rotating the drum, in which the supply unit has a sticking position at which the ribbon strip is sticked onto the outer periphery of the drum, in which the tire molding unit includes: the drum with a rotation axis thereof being made horizontal; a turning table that makes the drum to turn around an axis line vertically penetrating the sticking position while maintaining a horizontal state of the rotation axis of the drum; and a parallel movement mechanism that is provided on the turning table and configured to move the drum in parallel along a horizontal surface set to the turning table, and in which the rotation axis extends in a tangential direction of a circle centered on the axis line about which the turning table turns.