Tyre Strip Extrusion Apparatus with Segmented Distributor Plates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tyre strip extrusion apparatuses face challenges with high complexity, difficulty in cleaning, and limited ability to produce complex tyre strips due to large extruders that increase shear loading and risk of premature vulcanization, while also being inefficient with high injection pressure.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a tyre strip extrusion apparatus with a generic design featuring a first and second distributor plate arranged upstream of the profile plate, allowing for easy cleaning and enabling the production of complex tyre strips by forming multiple material paths without premature vulcanization, using smaller extruders with varying screw diameters to achieve high throughput.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If large extruders with large screw diameter are used to achieve high throughput, then productivity is improved, but device complexity and difficulty of cleaning increase
Solution Approach 1:
The injection moulding tool is divided into multiple distributor plates (first distributor plate, second distributor plate, profile plate) that can be separated from each other. Each plate can be independently removed and cleaned, transforming a complex monolithic structure into manageable segments that maintain high throughput capability while significantly improving cleanability and reducing operational complexity.
2Productivity
If large extruders with large screw diameter are used to achieve high throughput, then productivity is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to difficulty in cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
The distributor plates are designed as separable components that can be easily detached from the head housing. This segmentation allows operators to access and clean each plate individually without disassembling the entire extruder system, maintaining high productivity while dramatically improving ease of cleaning operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The distributor plates are extracted as removable components from the injection moulding tool assembly. This extraction design allows the plates to be taken out for cleaning purposes and then reinserted, separating the cleaning operation from the extrusion process and making maintenance much easier while preserving high throughput capability.
3Reliability
If smaller extruders with smaller screw diameter are used to reduce shear loading and premature vulcanization risk, then reliability is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The extrusion system uses multiple smaller extruders (first extruder, second extruder, third extruder, fourth extruder) instead of a single large extruder. Each extruder feeds into separate feed openings in the head housing, allowing the system to achieve high overall throughput while each individual extruder operates at lower shear loading, reducing premature vulcanization risk and improving reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple extrusion streams from separate smaller extruders are merged together in the head housing and injection moulding tool to produce a single high-throughput output. This merging allows the system to combine the reliability benefits of smaller extruders with the productivity of a large extrusion capacity.
4Adaptability or versatility
If complex tyre strips are produced using known extrusion apparatus, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases and cleaning becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The injection moulding tool is segmented into multiple distributor plates that can be independently configured and removed. This segmentation allows for flexible arrangement of feed openings and material paths to produce complex tyre strip geometries, while the removable plates maintain simplicity in cleaning operations compared to integrated complex structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The distributor plates serve multiple functions: they distribute material from multiple feed openings, form complex cross-sectional shapes, and can be easily removed for cleaning. This multi-functionality allows the system to produce complex tyre strips without proportionally increasing device complexity or cleaning difficulty.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The apparatus achieves high throughput with reduced complexity and ease of cleaning, enabling the production of complex tyre strips without premature vulcanization, while maintaining efficiency and stability through the use of smaller extruders and distributor plates.
Implementation Method 1
a first extruder which has at least one first screw with a first screw longitudinal axis, a second extruder which has at least one second screw with a second screw longitudinal axis, a third extruder which has at least one third screw with a third screw longitudinal axis, and at least one fourth extruder which has at least one fourth screw with a fourth screw longitudinal axis
Data Source
AI summary
A tyre strip extrusion apparatus includes extruders and an extrusion head which includes a head housing having feed openings respectively connected to the extruders for feed of extrusion material. An injection moulding tool is connected to the head housing and includes a profile plate formed with an outlet opening which communicates with the feed openings for extrusion material to flow from the feed openings to the outlet opening for extruding a web from the extrusion material. Bearing against the head housing along a first parting surface is a first distributor plate. A second distributor plate is arranged upstream of the profile plate in flow direction of the extrusion material. The first distributor plate bears along a second parting surface against the second distributor plate. The first and second distributor plates are configured such that at least a majority of the material paths runs through the first and second parting surfaces.