Molded article extractor and method
AssigneeBridgestone Bandag, LLC
InventorsJason Len Gridley, Troy Allen Kost
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tire tread extractor used in the manufacture of treads includes a frame, a first nip roller rotatably associated with the frame, and a second nip roller rotatably associated with the frame. The first and second nip rollers are adapted to engage a tire tread at least partially resident in a mold. A driving mechanism associated with the first and/or second nip rollers operates to impart rotational motion thereto. The frame is configured for longitudinal movement along a substantial portion of a longitudinal length of the mold while maintaining the first and second nip rollers in a spaced relation to the mold.
Claims15
A manufacturing assembly capable of manufacturing tire treads, comprising:
- a molding press;
- a mold apparatus disposed within the molding press, the mold apparatus including a mold having a molding cavity and a platen disposed in opposed relationship to the molding cavity, wherein the mold apparatus is configured to be capable of holding a tread preform within the molding cavity in the forming of a tire tread and wherein the platen and the mold are separable to provide an opening therebetween;
- a tread extractor longitudinally traversing the mold in spaced relation, the tread extractor comprising:
- a frame;
- a pair of nip rollers rotatably associated with the frame, wherein the pair of nip rollers comprises a first nip roller and the second nip roller that are configured to be capable of engaging the tire tread while at least a portion of the tire tread remains in the molding cavity, wherein driving the rotation of at least one of the nip rollers such that the rotational motion of the at least one of the nip rollers engages the tire tread in a rotational direction, wherein the rotational direction is in a direction substantially opposite to the longitudinal movement of the frame along the longitudinal length of the mold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.