Tire preparation ply manufacturing apparatus and method
AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
InventorsChristopher Dyrlund, Donald Kubinski, Jeffrey Bull, Frank Edwards
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for forming a continuous preparation ply of the type used to make vehicle tires from preparation ply sections having nonmetallic cords. An infeed conveyor successively feeds the preparation ply sections to a butt splicing machine that joins the ends of the two preparation ply sections to form a butt joint. A gum strip applier receives the continuous preparation ply from an outfeed conveyor and applies a gum strip over the butt joint. A method is provided for forming a continuous preparation ply by first automatically forming a butt joint, and thereafter automatically placing a gum strip on the butt joint.
Claims19
A method for forming a butt joint between ends of first and second plies to splice the first and second plies together comprising:
- providing pairs of upper racks extending end-to-end having first upper racks movable with respect to second upper racks;
- providing pairs of lower racks extending end-to-end adjacent the pairs of upper racks, the pairs of lower racks having first lower racks movable with respect to second lower racks;
- positioning an end of a first ply on the first lower racks;
- positioning an end of a second ply on the second lower racks;
- clamping the first and second plies between the pairs of upper racks and the pairs of lower racks;
- automatically engaging the first upper racks with the second upper racks and the first lower racks with the second lower racks to firmly press the end of the first ply against the end of the second ply to splice the first and second plies together.
A method of forming a continuous material ply of the type used to make vehicle tires, the continuous material ply being made by joining material ply sections, the method comprising:
- providing pairs of upper racks having teeth and extending end-to-end having first upper racks movable with respect to second upper racks;
- providing pairs of lower racks having teeth and extending end-to-end adjacent the pairs of upper racks, the pairs of lower racks having first lower racks movable with respect to second lower racks;
- positioning an end of a first material ply section over teeth of the first lower racks;
- positioning an end of a second material ply section over teeth of the second lower racks;
- clamping the first and second material ply sections between the pairs of upper racks and the pairs of lower racks;
- simultaneously engaging
- teeth of all first upper racks with teeth of all second upper racks, and
- teeth of all first lower racks with teeth of all second lower racks to firmly press the end of the first material ply against the end of the second material ply to splice the first and second material plies together.
An apparatus for applying a gum strip over a butt joint splicing ends of first and second preparation plies together comprising:
- a conveyor for providing a gum strip having a desired length;
- and
- a transfer device for automatically removing the gum strip from the conveyor and placing the gum strip on the butt joint.
An apparatus for applying a gum strip over a butt joint splicing ends of first and second preparation plies together comprising:
- a conveyor for supporting a gum strip;
- a first drive mounted above the conveyor and providing motion in a first direction;
- a second drive mounted to the first drive and providing motion in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction;
- a vacuum head mounted to the second drive;
- and
- a control connected to the conveyor and the first and second drives and operable to first command the conveyor to move the gum strip to a location adjacent a butt joint and thereafter command the first and second drives to move the vacuum head in the first and second directions to remove the gum strip from the conveyor and place the gum strip on the butt joint.
A method for applying a gum strip over a butt joint splicing ends of first and second preparation plies together comprising:
- providing a gum strip having a desired length;
- and
- automatically placing the gum strip on the butt joint.
An apparatus for forming a continuous preparation ply of the type used to make vehicle tires, the continuous preparation ply being made from preparation ply sections having nonmetallic cords, the apparatus comprising:
- an infeed conveyor for successively feeding the preparation ply sections;
- a butt splicing machine for receiving the preparation ply sections from the infeed conveyor and joining ends of two preparation ply sections to form a butt joint splicing the two preparation plies together to form a continuous preparation ply;
- an outfeed conveyor for feeding the continuous preparation ply from the butt splicing machine;
- a gum strip applier for automatically applying a gum strip on the butt joint of the continuous preparation ply.
A method of forming a continuous preparation ply of the type used to make vehicle tires, the continuous preparation ply being made from preparation ply sections having nonmetallic cords, the method comprising:
- automatically forming a first butt joint splicing two preparation plies together to form a continuous preparation ply having nonmetallic cords that extend in a direction substantially parallel to the butt joint;
- and
- automatically placing a gum strip on the first butt joint.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.