METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING TIRES

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for manufacturing uncured green tires. The apparatus includes a tire building drum with a device for creating a ply turn-up, the device including a plurality of turn-up fingers. The turn-up fingers are coupled, via sliding rings, to a drive unit located outside the tire building drum. The drive unit and the turn-up fingers are coupled to each other in such a way that they can be coupled both when the tire building drum is at a standstill and when same rotates.

Claims

1-16. (canceled)

17. An apparatus for manufacturing tires, comprising: a tire building drum for manufacturing uncured green tires; a drive arranged outside the tire building drum, the tire building drum having a device for creating a ply turn-up, wherein the device for creating the ply turn-up includes a plurality of turn-up fingers that are couplable to the drive arranged outside the tire building drum; and two slide rings that couple the turn-up fingers to the drive, wherein the turn-up fingers are couplable to the drive and controlled thereby both in a stationary state of the tire building drum and during a rotation of the tire building drum.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the slide rings each have a rotatable bearing that provides the coupling of the turn-up fingers to the drive arranged outside the tire building drum.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the respective rotatable bearing of the slide rings is an anti-friction bearing by which radial and axial forces are absorbed.

20. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the tire building drum includes a drum shaft, an outboard drum half, an inboard drum half and a center part, wherein at least the drum halves are displaceable axially on the drum shaft.

21. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the drive for the turn-up fingers which is arranged outside the tire building drum is a servo drive.

22. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the slide rings each have a ring groove that couples the turn-up fingers to the drive arranged outside the tire building drum.

23. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the drive arranged outside the tire building drum includes a plurality of separately driven spindles that are mounted in a stationary tire building ring and run synchronously in opposite directions.

24. The apparatus for manufacturing tires, according to claim 17, further comprising a casing machine configured so that, by using different tire building drums, both green tires with a flat construction and green tires with a crown construction are producible.

25. The apparatus for manufacturing tires according to claim 24, further comprising a second drive unit arranged in the casing machine so as to enable a flexible production of green tires with a flat or crown construction.

26. The apparatus for manufacturing tires according to claim 23, further comprising radially displaceable drives that couple the drive in the stationary tire building ring to the slide rings.

27. The apparatus for manufacturing tires according to claim 17, further comprising a force guide that guides the turn-up fingers in terms of movement.

28. The apparatus for manufacturing tires according to claim 17, further comprising a core clamping apparatus, wherein the turn-up fingers are controlled so that at least one outer shoulder is at least temporarily realized thereby, via which, in addition to the core clamping apparatus, cores can also be fixed externally during a rotation of the tire building drum.

29. The apparatus for manufacturing tires according to claim 28, wherein a more efficiently usable material contact pressure force is achieved in that a core-setting distance is specified during a turn-up process so that the core-setting distance achieved is greater than or equal to a smallest core to core measurement reached in a further tire building process.

30. A method for manufacturing tires, comprising the steps of: driving a turn-up process of green tire material by a drive for turn-up fingers, the drive being mounted outside a tire building drum; and carrying out a turn-up of plies of the material of the green tire during rotation of the tire building drum.

31. The method according to claim 30, including synchronously controlling a turn-up mechanism on both drum halves of the tire building drum to provide an even turn-up of the plies of the green tire.

32. The method according to claim 30, including producing an advantageous force/angle ratio by a core setting with a core to core distance of greater than or equal to a smallest core distance reached in a further course of green tire manufacture to enable effective use of a material contact pressure force.

Description

[0043] Exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated schematically in the drawings, which show:

[0044] FIG. 1 a partial view of a longitudinal section through a tire building drum according to the invention, with a mechanical device for realizing a ply turn-up without material applied thereto;

[0045] FIG. 2 a longitudinal section through the tire building drum shown in FIG. 1, with sidewall material applied thereto;

[0046] FIG. 3 a longitudinal section through the tire building drum shown in FIG. 2 with inner liner material additionally applied thereto;

[0047] FIG. 4 a longitudinal section through the tire building drum shown in FIG. 3, with body ply material additionally applied thereto;

[0048] FIG. 5 an illustration of the transfer of the belt drum from the running strip server to the tire building ring in an apparatus according to the invention for manufacturing tires;

[0049] FIG. 6 a longitudinal section through the tire building drum shown in FIG. 4, positioned in the tire building ring with set cores;

[0050] FIG. 7 a longitudinal section through the tire building drum shown in FIG. 6, with an extended inner shoulder and aerated casing;

[0051] FIG. 8 a longitudinal section through the tire building drum shown in FIG. 7, with drivers positioned in the ring grooves of the slide rings;

[0052] FIG. 9 a longitudinal section through the tire building drum shown in FIG. 8, with turn-up fingers which are displaced for ply turn-up and for realizing an outer shoulder;

[0053] FIG. 10 a longitudinal section through the tire building drum shown in FIG. 9 before the turn-up process and with an illustration of the rolling apparatus for the belt package;

[0054] FIG. 11 a longitudinal section through the tire building drum shown in FIG. 10 with the belt package of the running strip additionally connected to the casing after rolling;

[0055] FIG. 12 a longitudinal section through the tire building drum shown in FIG. 11 after the ply turn-up for an SOT construction of the green tire has taken place;

[0056] FIG. 13 a schematic illustration of an apparatus according to the invention for manufacturing tires; and

[0057] FIG. 14 a schematic illustration of the core-setting distances and the resultant contact pressure forces.

[0058] The detail of a tire building drum (1) illustrated in FIG. 1 is arranged in the region of the center (L) of the ply server (21) and has an outboard drum half (3) and an inboard drum half (5) which are mounted on a drum shaft (2). In conjunction with a center part (4), the two drum halves (3, 5) form a cylindrical round body (drum body). The individual casing plies are processed on this round body and formed into a green tire.

[0059] Both drum halves (3, 5) can be locked on the drum shaft (2). An axial adjustment of the drum halves (3, 5) is realized by a drive which rotates a spindle, for example, and thereby generates an axial movement.

[0060] The drum halves (3, 5) each have a core clamping apparatus (6) and a shoulder support (7), which can be displaced in the radial direction relative to the drum shaft (2) of the tire building drum (1).

[0061] The drum halves (3, 5) furthermore each have a plurality of turn-up fingers (8) for realizing a ply turn-up. The turn-up fingers (8) are guided via a forced-guidance means (9) for an improved exertion of force on a green tire to be manufactured. The turn-up fingers (8) are located in longitudinal grooves within the tire building drum (1). To couple the turn-up fingers (8) to a drive (not illustrated) arranged outside the tire building drum (1), the drum halves (3, 5) each have a slide ring (10) to which the turn-up fingers (8) associated with the respective drum halves (3, 5) are connected in a rotatable manner.

[0062] A respective driver (11) coupled to the drive for the turn-up fingers (8), which is arranged outside the tire building drum (1), is displaced into the ring groove (10a) of the slide rings (10) so that a coupling of the turn-up fingers (8) to the drive is realized.

[0063] The slide rings (10) are each connected to the drum halves (3, 5) via a rotatable bearing (12), which is realized as a respective anti-friction bearing in the illustrated embodiment of the invention.

[0064] An inventive tire building drum (1) corresponding to FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2. A process step of the method according to the invention for manufacturing tires is furthermore illustrated. While the tire building drum (1) is located in the region of the center of the ply server (21) of the apparatus according to the invention for manufacturing tires, the different material plies are applied in succession. FIG. 2 shows the tire building drum (1) after the sidewall material (13) has been applied. The inner liner material (14) is then applied, which is shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 4, the tire building drum (1) is shown after the application of the body ply material (15), which is applied to the previously applied plies (13, 14).

[0065] FIG. 5 shows the next step of the method according to the invention for manufacturing tires. The belt drum (25) is transferred from the running strip server (24) to the tire building ring (16). The tire building ring (16) has a gripper (17), which receives the belt package (18) of the green tire from the belt drum (25) and holds said belt package. To this end, the belt drum (25) is positioned in the region of the center line (R) of the tire building ring (16). After the belt package (18) has been received by the gripper (17) of the tire building ring (16), the belt drum (25) is transferred back to the running strip server (24).

[0066] FIG. 6 shows the longitudinal section of a tire building drum (1) according to the invention, which has been transferred to the tire building ring (16) after the process step shown in FIG. 5. The cores (19) have been set and are fixed in position with the aid of the radially outwardly displaced core clamping apparatus (6).

[0067] The following step, illustrated in FIG. 7, of the method according to the invention for manufacturing tires is the displacement of the drum halves (3, 5) so that the core distance is realized in the shaping position. Furthermore, in the method step illustrated, the shoulder support (7) is extended and the casing is aerated under low pressure. The required internal pressure is realized pneumatically, for example.

[0068] FIG. 8 shows the subsequent step of the method according to the invention for manufacturing tires. The drivers (11) coupled to the drive arranged outside the tire building drum (1) are displaced into the ring grooves (10a) of the slide rings (10) with the aid of the drive, whereby a coupling of the turn-up fingers (8) to the drive is realized.

[0069] As shown in FIG. 9, the drivers (11) are then displaced in the axial direction towards the center part (4) of the tire building drum (1), whereby the turn-up fingers (8) are activated according to the movement specified by the forced-guidance means (9). When the drivers (11) are moved together, the turn-up fingers (8) rise against the cores (19) and form outer shoulders for a green tire to be manufactured.

[0070] In this case, the turn-up fingers (8), which are advantageously evenly distributed in the circumferential direction, firstly run up a ring-shaped mechanical surface (not illustrated) via rollers on their side facing the green tire, which mechanical surface is arranged at an angle.

[0071] Then, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the gripper (17) holding the belt package (18) is released. The tire building drum (1) is rotated about the drum shaft (2) and the internal pressure of the casing is increased. The outer shoulder realized by the turn-up fingers (8) fixes the casing, together with the shoulder support (7), on the tire building drum (1). As a result of the inventive rotatable bearing (12) of the slide rings (10), the drive arranged outside the tire building drum (1) and the turn-up fingers (8) remain coupled while the tire building drum (1) rotates. The belt package (18) is rolled along the casing with the aid of a rolling apparatus (20).

[0072] The method step of rolling the belt package (18) along the casing is illustrated further in FIG. 11. The rolling apparatus (20) has rolled the sides of the belt package (18) onto the casing. In this case, the tire building drum (1) rotates about its drum shaft (2), wherein the casing is further fixed in the region of the cores (19) by the turn-up fingers (8) and the shoulder support (7).

[0073] FIG. 12 illustrates the method step of rolling the sidewalls of the belt package (18) of the running strip onto the casing. The turn-up fingers (8) are moved upwards by moving the drivers (11) further together, whereupon the elastomer material of the previously placed plies is then raised and turned up around the core (19). In a further step, the rollers on the turn-up fingers (8) press the material against the casing.

[0074] Upon the subsequent withdrawal of the slide rings (10) by moving the drivers (11) apart, the turn-up fingers (8) are lowered back into the longitudinal grooves of the tire building drum (1). The drivers (11) are then moved back and release the ring grooves (10a) of the slide rings (10) again.

[0075] By retracting the core clamping apparatus (6) and shoulder support (7), the green tire is then released from the tire building drum (1).

[0076] An advantageous embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention for manufacturing tires is illustrated schematically in FIG. 13. The apparatus for manufacturing tires has a tire building drum (1), which is arranged in the region of the center (L) of the ply server (21) in the illustrated method step. A casing machine (22) is furthermore arranged near to the tire building drum (1) in the region of the ply server (21).

[0077] The illustrated embodiment of an apparatus for manufacturing tires furthermore has an insert server (23), by means of which reinforcing strips can be incorporated in a green tire to be manufactured.

[0078] The apparatus for manufacturing tires moreover has a tire building ring (16), in the region of which the drivers (11) and the roller (20) are arranged.

[0079] The apparatus additionally has a running strip server (24), by means of which the belt package (18) of a green tire to be manufactured can be produced on a belt drum (25).

[0080] FIG. 14 shows a depiction of the contact pressure force F occurring as a result of the inventive core setting in the turn-up process. The green tire has a contour which, compared to the prior art, is flatter or, at most, equal in height owing to the larger or at least equal distance of the set cores with respect to one another. With the same turn-up length I, the relevant horizontal force component F.sub.HF of the force vector in the inventive embodiment of an apparatus for manufacturing tires is greater than or at least equal to the horizontal force component F.sub.SdT according to the prior art.