Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-21
2004-06-08
Knable, Geoffrey L. (Department: 1733)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S131000, C156S133000, C156S396000, C156S403000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06746557
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to building tires and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for loading beads on green tire carcasses, particularly in the context of an automatic tire building system having a sequence of work stations, and also in cases that the carcass has bumps resulting from insert components and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is known that in making vehicle tires, for example for automobiles, that manufacture of a so-called carcass is first achieved by successively assembling several different components. In other words, the different carcass types included in a production range can be distinguished from one another depending on the presence thereon of the various accessory components and/or the typology of the accessory components themselves.
By way of example, when carcasses for tubeless tires are to be produced, that is tires that in use do not require the presence of an inner tube, the main components can be considered to include a so-called inner liner that is a layer of elastomeric air-impervious material, a carcass ply, a pair of annular metal elements, commonly referred to as bead cores (or simply “beads”), around which the opposite ends of the carcass ply are folded, as well as a pair of sidewalls made of elastomeric material, extending over the carcass ply at laterally opposite positions. The accessory components may in turn comprise of one or more additional carcass plies, one or more reinforcing bands for overlying the carcass ply or plies at the areas turned up around the bead cores (chafer strips), and others.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,242, two stage tire building with a first stage tire building drum in combination with a second stage tire building drum is well known and established in the art with the building drums being both in line and offset from each other. It is further known to have two-stage tire building with a single drum swinging between the first stage position and second stage position where a band builder is in line with the first stage building drum. For this system, individual breaker application and single piece tread rubber are applied at the second stage while components such as apex chafers and shoulder wedges are applied at the first stage. The above components are made in separate operations and stored for use as needed in the two-stage building process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,404 discloses a system for assembling green tires with a two stage process where the assembly is automatic and requires a small amount of floor space.
It has been known in the prior art, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,319,643, to manufacture tires on a line with a plurality of building drums that are chucked up at each station.
Also, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,818,955, tires can be manufactured on a line with a plurality of building drums “arranged in a train or series and connecting means is provided for translating the cores from one device to the next.” The connectivity between the tire cores leads to the inability to change the machine to accommodate various sized tire constructions.
In modern production processes, the assembling of the different components is carried out in automated plants including a plurality of assembling drums moved following a precise working sequence in accordance with the manufacturing process to be executed. For example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,626, these plants can consist of a plurality of work stations disposed consecutively in side by side relation, each of which lends itself to carry out the application of a predetermined component onto the assembling drums that in turn are brought in front of it.
EPO 0,105,048 discloses a tire assembly means employing a conveyor to transport a plurality of tire building drums to a plurality of applicator stations wherein various components are applied to the tire building drums at the various applicator stations in order to fabricate a tire when the tire building drums have made a complete transversal of the conveyor, wherein the tire building drums are maintained in an angled relationship with respect to the conveyor and the applicator stations.
In particular there are primary work stations intended for application of the main components, which are always active, irrespective of the carcass type being produced. Alternated with the various primary work stations there are one or more auxiliary, work stations, intended for application of accessory components, if required. The activation or deactivation state of these auxiliary stations depends on the carcass type in progress of manufacture.
Typical tire building machines comprise a tire build drum around which the tire components are wrapped in successive layers including, for example, an innerliner, one or more carcass plies, optional sidewall stiffeners and bead area inserts (e.g., apex), sidewalls and bead wire rings (beads). After this layering, the carcass ply ends are wrapped around the beads, the tires are blown up into a toroidal shape, and the tread/belt package is applied. Typically the tire build drum is in a fixed location on the plant floor, and the various layers of components are applied manually or automatically using tooling registered to reference points on the fixed drum in order to ensure component placement with the desired degree of precision. The tooling is generally fixed relative to the tire build drum, for example a guide wheel on an arm extending from the same frame (machine base) which supports the tire build drum.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, a method is provided for mounting two beads on a tire carcass which is being laid up on tire building drum, wherein the drum has a free end and an opposite end which is supported by a drum support (or comparable impediment to installing a bead from the opposite end of the drum), and the drum has a first area on its surface where the tire carcass will be laid up. The method comprises disposing a first of the two beads on the drum in an area which is between the carcass layup area and the drum support. The bead is moved into this position from the free end of the drum, and this is done before the process of laying up the carcass has resulted in ihere being bumps in the outer surface of the tire carcass. This may be prior to any carcass components have been laid up, or after an inner liner has been laid up, or after an inner liner and inserts and a ply have been laid up on a drum having pockets (recesses) to alleviate bump formation. With the bead “parked” on the drum, yet out of the way of laying up the carcass, the carcass may be laid up. After laying up the carcass the bead is moved into position on the carcass. Then, additional tire components may be laid up on the tire carcass and/additional steps performed in the formation of the carcass. The other bead is installed onto the carcass in a conventional manner. In this manner, both beads may be installed from a one free end of a drum.
The present invention is particularly useful in conjunction with a system for simultaneously building a plurality of tire carcasses, such as is disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. patent Application Ser. No. 09/957,785 entitled METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING TIRES ON A FLEXIBLE MANUFACURING SYSTEM, and described hereinbelow with respect to
FIGS. 1A
,
1
B,
1
C,
1
D and
2
. The method disclosed therein generally comprises the tire building steps of establishing a sequence of at least three and up to ten work stations; advancing at least three disconnected tire building drums along a working axis extending through the at least three work stations; and applying one or more tire components to the tire building drums at each of the work stations. Then the resulting green tire carcass is removed at the last of the work stations. Finally, the tire building drum is advanced from the last work station after the green carcass has been removed to the first work station.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent in light of the following description thereof.
BRIEF
Cornet Francis
Durand Jean-Marie
Weaver Douglas Raymond
Cohn Howard M.
Knable Geoffrey L.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
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