Belt forming system
AssigneeThe Steelastic Company
InventorMark Marabito
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A belt forming system may include an upstream conveyor, a downstream conveyor located downstream of the upstream conveyor, and a belt assembly system in communication with the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor. The belt assembly system may also include an arm, an actuator for moving the arm, and/or a holding component coupled to the arm and adapted to move a strip section from the upstream conveyor to a desired position on the downstream conveyor such that the strip section is oriented at a predetermined angle on the downstream conveyor. In one embodiment, the belt forming system comprises a belt cutter. The present disclosure also relates to a method for manufacturing at least a portion of a tire belt.
Claims14
A belt forming system, the belt forming system comprising:
- an upstream conveyor having a working area extending in a first plane;
- a downstream conveyor located downstream of the upstream conveyor, wherein an entirety of a working area of the downstream conveyor is in the first plane or a second plane that is parallel to the first plane;
- and
- a belt assembly system in communication with the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor, the belt assembly system comprising:
- an arm that is rotatable with respect to at least one of the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor during a belt forming process;
- an actuator for rotating the arm;
- and
- a holding component adapted to engage a strip section located on the upstream conveyor to remove the strip section from the upstream conveyor and place the strip section at a desired position on the downstream conveyor such that the strip section is oriented at a predetermined angle on the downstream conveyor,
- wherein the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor are offset, run in the same direction, and are parallel, and
- wherein a length of the upstream conveyor at an end of the upstream conveyor extends along a length of the downstream conveyor.
A belt forming system, the belt forming system comprising:
- a first conveyor having a working area extending in a first plane;
- a second conveyor located downstream from the first conveyor, wherein an entirety of a working area of the second conveyor is in the first plane or a second plane that is parallel to the first plane, and wherein the first conveyor and the second conveyor are offset, run in the same direction, and are parallel;
- a belt cutting system adapted to cut a strip section from a strip, the belt cutting system positioned at least partially in-between the first conveyor and the second conveyor, wherein the belt cutting system comprises a belt cutter that is rotatable independent of, and with respect to, the first conveyor and the second conveyor;
- an arm that is rotatable with respect to at least one of the first conveyor and the second conveyor during a belt forming process via a first actuator, the arm being adapted to move the strip section from the second conveyor to a third conveyor that is parallel to the second conveyor and offset relative to the second conveyor;
- and
- a holding component, wherein the holding component is mounted to an end of the arm and is rotatable relative to the arm opposite the first actuator,
- wherein a downstream end of the second conveyor extends along an upstream end of the third conveyor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.