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US 10,377,101 B2Granted
Process and apparatus for assembling types
AssigneePirelli Tyre S.p.A.
InventorsGianni Mancini, Maurizio Marchini, Michele Ballabio, Stefano Boracco
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In an assembly station, a carcass sleeve and an outer sleeve manufactured along respective building lines are mutually coupled. Integrated into the assembly station are engagement devices that can be alternatively-coupled to an auxiliary drum carrying an outer sleeve and to a building drum carrying a carcass sleeve. The building drum is engaged on the assembly station before removal of the auxiliary drum. A grip unit picks up the outer sleeve from the auxiliary drum associated with the engagement devices in order to position it around the carcass sleeve carried by the building drum.
Claims34
An apparatus for assembling a tyre, comprising:
- engagement devices, wherein said engagement devices are a mandrel and a footstock, the footstock configured to couple to a first end of a central shaft of an auxiliary drum carrying an outer sleeve comprising a belt structure and a tread band, and each of the mandrel and the footstock are configured to couple to a respective end of a central shaft of a building drum carrying a carcass sleeve comprising at least one carcass ply and a pair of annular anchoring structures;
- a first transfer unit comprising a first robotic arm having at least six axes of movement and a head, the head of the first robotic arm couples with a second end of the central shaft of the auxiliary drum to connect the first end of the central shaft of the auxiliary drum to the footstock;
- a second transfer unit comprising a second robotic arm comprising a shaped terminal, the shaped terminal of the second robotic arm couples with the central shaft of the building drum to connect the building drum to the mandrel;
- and
- a grip unit comprising an annular support structure that supports a plurality of radially contractible plates, the grip unit configured to pick up and remove the outer sleeve from the auxiliary drum while the auxiliary drum is coupled to the footstock and position the outer sleeve at a radially external location to the carcass sleeve carried by the building drum,
- wherein the mandrel and the footstock are further configured to couple to the building drum while the building drum is carrying the carcass sleeve and the carcass sleeve is positioned coaxially within the outer sleeve while the outer sleeve is at the radially external location, and
- wherein the mandrel is configured to couple to the building drum while the footstock is coupled to the auxiliary drum when the building drum is spaced apart from the auxiliary drum by an axial amount greater than the axial bulkiness of the auxiliary drum.
4 more elements
A compact apparatus for assembling a tyre, comprising:
- a mandrel;
- a footstock;
- a first robotic arm comprising at least six axes of movement and a head;
- a second robotic arm comprising a shaped terminal;
- and
- a grip unit comprises an annular support structure that supports a plurality of radially contractible plates;
- wherein the apparatus is configured so that:
- the footstock is engaged with a first end of a central shaft of an auxiliary drum carrying an outer sleeve comprising a belt structure and the mandrel is engaged with a first end of a central shaft of a building drum carrying a carcass sleeve comprising at least one carcass ply with the building drum spaced apart from the auxiliary drum by an axial amount greater than the axial bulkiness of the auxiliary drum;
- each of the mandrel and the footstock is engaged with a respective end of the central shaft of the building drum, while the building drum carries both the carcass sleeve and the outer sleeve with the outer sleeve at a radially external location;
- the head of the first robotic arm couples with a second end of the central shaft of the auxiliary drum to thereby facilitate the engagement of the first end of the central shaft of the auxiliary drum with the footstock;
- the shaped terminal of the second robotic arm couples with the central shaft of the building drum to thereby facilitate the engagement of the first end of the central shaft of the building drum with the mandrel;
- and
- the grip unit picks up and removes the outer sleeve from the auxiliary drum when the footstock is engaged with the first end of the central shaft of the auxiliary drum, and the grip unit re-positions the outer sleeve at the radially external location on the building drum when the mandrel is engaged with the first end of the central shaft of the building drum.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.