Method and apparatus for providing a tire with an informative label, and tire provided with such a label

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for providing a tire with an informative label. The method comprises supporting a tire, supplying a banding material to the tire and wrapping it in a loop around a part of the tire, holding the banding material at the neck of said loop, and connecting opposed areas of the banding material at said neck to form a label wrap. The invention further relates to an apparatus for carrying out the method and to a tire provided with the label. The informative label is easily removed by a mechanic and shows an improved processability and printability. The informative label further does not leave any adhesive or other residuals on a tire.

Claims

1. Method for providing a tire with an informative label, the method comprising supporting a tire, supplying a banding material to the tire and wrapping the banding material in a loop around a part of the tire, holding the banding material at the neck of said loop, and connecting opposite ends of the banding material at said neck, wherein the banding material is guided around the part of the tire by guiding the banding material along a loop shaped guiding structure comprising a loop.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the part of the tire is brought within the boundaries of the loop shaped guiding structure by opening the loop of the guiding structure and reclosing the loop.

3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the loop of the guiding structure has a permanent opening through which a tire is introduced.

4. Method according to claim 1, wherein the loop of the guiding structure defines a plane, a means for supporting the tire is planar, and the plane of the loop extends perpendicular to the plane of the means for supporting the tire.

5. Method according to claim 1, wherein the tire is provided on its side to a means for supporting the tire.

6. Method according to claim 1, wherein a label is tensioned around the part of the tire after the label has been wrapped around that part.

7. Method according to claim 1, wherein a label is tensioned around the part of the tire by compressing the tire in a transverse direction, wrapping the label around the tire in the tire's compressed state, connecting the opposite ends of the banding material, and removing the compression.

8. Method according to claim 1, wherein the connecting is carried out by contacting the banding material with a hot wire or hot beam.

9. Method according to claim 1, wherein the part of the tire comprises a radial section of the tire.

10. Apparatus for providing a tire with an informative label, the apparatus comprising means for supporting a tire, means for supplying a banding material to the tire and wrapping the banding material in a loop around a part of the tire, clamps for holding the banding material at the neck of said loop, and a device for connecting opposite ends of the banding material at said neck, wherein the means for supplying a banding material to the tire and wrapping the banding material in a loop around a part of the tire comprises a loop shaped guiding structure for the banding material, the loop shaped guiding structure comprising a loop.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the guiding structure is adapted to open the loop of the loop shaped guiding structure.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the guiding structure comprises at least two parts that can be separated to open the loop of the loop shaped guiding structure.

13. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the loop of the guiding structure defines a plane, a means for supporting the tire is planar, and the plane of the loop extends perpendicular to the plane of the means for supporting the tire.

14. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the means for supporting the tire are adapted to support a tire on its side.

15. Apparatus according to claim 10, comprising means for tensioning a label after the label has been wrapped around the part of the tire.

16. Apparatus according to claim 10, comprising compression means for compressing the tire in a radial direction to obtain a smaller cross-sectional surface area than an uncompressed tire.

17. Apparatus according to claim 10, the connecting device thereof comprising a hot wire or hot beam.

Description

(1) The invention will now be explained in more detail by a description of the accompanying figures, without however being limited thereto. In the figures:

(2) FIG. 1 schematically shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 schematically shows a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 schematically shows a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 with the tire removed and the guiding means in open position;

(5) FIG. 4 is a view taken in the direction of arrow IV of FIG. 2 on a different scale;

(6) FIG. 5 schematically shows views of a tire provided with a label in accordance with the invention;

(7) FIG. 6 schematically shows a perspective detailed view of an embodiment of a label in accordance with the invention;

(8) FIG. 7 schematically shows a side view of another embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention; and

(9) FIG. 8 schematically shows a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 7 after the banding material has been looped around a tire.

(10) Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an apparatus 1 for providing a tire 2 with an informative label 3 is shown. The apparatus 1 comprises means for supporting a tire 2 on its side in the form of roller conveyor 4, which progresses in the direction 5. The tire defines an axial direction 20 and a transverse or radial direction 21. Tires 2 that need to be provided with a label 3 are thus fed in the direction 5 whereby the roller converter 4 halts when a tire 2 has arrived in the vicinity of means for supplying a banding material 8 to the tire 2. The halting of the conveyor belt 4 may be achieved by any means known in the art, such as by an optic device. The means for supplying a banding material 8 to the tire 2 in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprise a guiding structure 7 that forms a loop in the closed position, shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 and guides banding material 8 to be wrapped around the tire 2. The guiding structure 7 is adapted to open its loop by comprising two parts (7a, 7b) that can be separated to open the loop, as shown in FIG. 3. Opening of the loop is accomplished by translating movable part 7a along the vertical direction 9 upwards, for instance by connecting movable part 7a to a driven translating device 10, and allows a tire 2 to enter the loop formed by parts (7a, 7b). In the closed position, as shown in FIG. 4, movable part 7a is brought in its lowest position to form a substantially closed loop with fixed part 7b. The loop of the guiding structure 7 defines a vertical plane, that extends perpendicular to the plane of the roller conveyer 4 which extends substantially horizontal.

(11) The apparatus 1 is further provided with means 11 for supplying banding material 8 under some tension. These means 11 typically comprise a supply reel 12 for banding material 8 (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) and a number of smaller rollers (13a, 13b) for guiding the banding material 8, and of which some 13b may be translatable in the vertical direction 9 to regulate the tension in the banding material 8.

(12) As schematically shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the guiding means 7 comprise a number of advancing conveyors 14 that are adapted to lead incoming banding material 8 around the loop formed by guiding parts (7a, 7b) in the closed position. When a complete loop of banding material has been formed around a part of a tire 2, preferably a radial part thereof (see FIG. 5), the opposite ends of the loop formed by the banding material 8 are held at the neck of said loop by the action of a clamping and welding device 15 (not shown in detail). Welding device 15 preferably comprises a hot wire or hot beam that, when contacting the banding material 8 melts or softens this material to fuse the opposing ends of the banding material loop. After welding, a label 3 is formed around the radial section of the tire in the form of a closed loop of banding material 8, and the tire can be removed out of the loop formed by the guiding means 7 by a forward movement of the roller conveyor 4 and by an upward movement of part 7a of the guiding means 7 to open the loop.

(13) As schematically shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, another embodiment of the guiding means 7 comprises one guiding part 7a only, leaving a permanent gap 6 between the lower edge of guiding part 7a and the top surface of conveyor 4. The advancing conveyors 14 in the form of toothed belts for instance, transport the banding material 8 such that the banding material 8 is made to adhere to the toothed belts by providing a vacuum pressure between the surface of the belt and the banding material. The banding material 8 is made to close the gap 6 after a tire has been introduced through the gap 6, as shown in FIG. 8. Please note that the tire is not shown in FIG. 8 for clarity. The stiffness of the banding material 8 should be high enough in order to be able to close the gap 6 freestanding. When a complete loop of banding material has thus been formed around a part of a tire 2, the other steps are performed as already described above in the context of the description of FIGS. 3 and 4.

(14) It is possible to tension a label after the label has been wrapped around the part of the tire and before welding it, for instance by the action of the rollers (13a, 13b) of supply means 11, or by other tensioning means. A preferred embodiment comprises compressing the tire 2 in a transverse plane (a plane parallel to the plane of the guiding means 7) before actually wrapping the banding material 8 around the tire 2. After welding the banding material 8, the compression is released which tensions the banding material 8 around the tire 2 in the transverse plane.

(15) A tire 2, provided with an informative label 3 in accordance with the above described invention is shown in FIG. 5. The informative label 3 comprises banding material 8 wrapped in a loop around a radial section of the tire 2 and welded at the neck 30 of said loop. As shown in FIG. 5, the label 3 may extend further than the neck 30 to comprise a protruded part 31 for easy handling or better visibility. The informative label 3 is essentially free of adhesives and the front (visible) side of the informative label 3 comprises information such as represented by a printed film 32. The label 3 may have a relatively loose fit in which embodiment it is easily turned around the tire 2 radial section to bring a hidden part of the label 3 to the front side of the tire 2, as shown in the rightmost drawing of FIG. 5.

(16) As shown in FIG. 6, the front side of the informative label 3 may also comprise a pocket 33 for receiving a printed information carrier 34, which carrier 34 may easily be removed from the label 3 or interchanged with another information carrier 34, carrying different information.