Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-21
2004-03-16
Knable, Geoffrey L. (Department: 1733)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S123000, C156S133000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06706134
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to the fabrication of laminated products like motor vehicle tires, more specifically to drum-transfer techniques for building such products, and still more specifically to drum-transfer techniques for assembling narrow components onto a building drum, particularly in the context of an automatic tire building system having a sequence of work stations,.
BACKGROUND ART
The manufacture of laminated rubber and synthetic rubber products like tires and drive belts is commonly accomplished using a drum-transfer building technique. This technique involves the use of a “building drum” on which components of the product are assembled, and a number of “measuring” or “measuring” drums from which components of the product are transferred to the building drum. Each component of the product is initially placed onto the surface of a measuring drum at a “work station” and is cut to the right length. The measuring drum is then moved towards the building drum until the component contacts the building drum. The rotation of the building drum with respect to the measuring drum causes the component to transfer from the measuring drum to the building drum. An example of a measuring drum is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,337. In an automatic tire building system, such as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application entitled METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING TIRES ON A FLEXIBLE MANUFACURING SYSTEM, Attorney's Docket No. DN2001166USA, the building drum travels from work station to work station, receiving one or more components at each work station until the product (or a subassembly thereof) is completed on the building drum. In this tire building system, a plurality of building drums are employed in “pipeline” fashion such that at any given time there are building drums in process at different work stations or in transit between stations, each drum serially acquiring product components.
This drum-transfer process is shown schematically in
FIGS. 1A-1C
.
FIG. 1A
shows a drum-transfer assembly portion
10
of a work station wherein a measuring drum
12
has had a tire component
14
placed on the surface thereof and the component
14
has been cut to length. A building drum
16
is in position, spaced away from the measuring drum
12
, awaiting transfer of the product component
14
. The measuring drum
12
and building drum
16
are placed in contact with each other, as shown in FIG.
1
B. The measuring drum
12
and the building drum
16
are rotated in coordination with one another to cause the component
14
to release from the measuring drum
12
and adhere to the building drum
16
. Once the transfer of the component
14
to the building drum
16
is complete, the measuring drum
12
and building drum
16
are spaced from each other in preparation for receiving a new component
14
, as shown in FIG.
1
C.
Typically, one or more tire components
14
are applied to the building drum
16
from the measuring drum(s) at each work station. When two of the same type but spaced tire components are assembled onto the tire building drum at the same work station, it has been difficult to apply them both at the same station, especially when the two spaced-apart narrow components
14
are close to each other. An example of applying two components is the assembly of two tire inserts of a runflat tire, wherein the two insert components are transferred to the building drum from two measuring drums at the same work station.
A two-component assembly technique of this type is illustrated schematically in FIG.
2
.
FIG. 2
shows a top view of a portion
10
A of a two-component work station comprising a pair of narrow measuring drums
12
A and
12
B positioned side by side, each having been prepared with a respective tire component
14
A and
14
B, such as tire insert components, for transfer to a waiting building drum
16
.
Two-component assembly at a single work station has at least two significant advantages over single component assembly: speed of assembly and conservation of manufacturing floor space. Multiple component assembly, however, is limited by the number of measuring drums that can be positioned side by side in a work station and by the position of the components within the product. If the components must be placed very close to one another on the building drum, it is not possible to position two measuring drums closely enough together in a side by side configurations to place both components in their correct positions.
It would be advantageous, however, if there were a way to assemble multiple, narrow, closely-spaced components of a tire construction onto a tire building drum at the same work station, since the size and cost of separate work stations and additional assembly time is disproportionate to the size, cost and value of some narrow components.
As an example, where several narrow components, such as a bead filler and a support strip are both located in the bead area of a vehicle tire are narrow, it is possible to assemble the two bead filler components at one work station and the two narrow support strips at another work station. Using prior-art techniques it is not possible, however, to assemble the both the support strips and the bead filler components at the same assembly station, since the bead filler component is assembled at least partially on top of the support strip component, preventing the use of side by side measuring drums.
In view of the aforementioned difficulty in assembling multiple, closely-spaced, narrow components at a single work station, and in light of the clear advantages of doing so, there is an ongoing need for improved drum-transfer assembly techniques.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, multiple components are assembled onto a building drum at a work station by providing measuring drums that are independently controllable in two dimensions: laterally (parallel with respect to the building drum axis of rotation) and longitudinally (perpendicular to the building drum axis of rotation). A first set of measuring drums is positioned laterally to the inside of a second set of measuring drums such that they can be moved independent of one another without collision. Generally speaking, the first and second sets of drums travel alternately between first and second transfer positions, respectively, adjacent the building drum, first and second ready positions slightly spaced from the building drum and first and second component loading positions, respectively. When the first set of measuring drums is at the first component loading position receiving new tire components, the second set of measuring drums is positioned at the second ready or second transfer position near the building drum. The first set of measuring drums is retracted (longitudinally) from the first transfer and first ready positions to the first component loading position while the second set of measuring drums travels outside of the first set of measuring drums to a second ready position and finally to a second transfer position adjacent the building drum to apply components onto the building drum. When the first set of measuring drums moves from the first ready position to the first loading position, new components are applied thereto. After transferring components from the second set of measuring drums to the building drum, the second set of measuring drums are retracted from the second transfer position to the second ready position and finally to the second loading position while the first set of measuring drums is moved back to the first transfer position as described before. After the components are applied to the tire building drum, it moves on to a next work station, a new building drum is moved into position in the work station, and the cycle begins again.
When a set of measuring drums (first or second set) arrives at the first or second ready position adjacent the building drum, they are positioned laterally to clear the other set of measuring drums, and must be repositioned laterally to assemble their tire components onto the building dru
Cohn Howard M.
Knable Geoffrey L.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
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