Methods and apparatus for making tires and for converting an assembly line for making different types of tires
OwnerDavid Stahlinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tire manufacturing assembly line is disclosed which can be reconfigured for making different types of tires in shorter runs. The assembly line can interchangeably use components from centralized preparation or integrated preparation, and interchangeably use storage reels of any form from the centralized preparation.
Claims20
A tire building machine, comprising:
- a conveying system for conveying carriers sequentially along an assembly path;
- and
- a plurality of component-applying stations spaced apart along the path for applying green tire components to each carrier, the stations arranged on a support floor having an array of first positioning structures arranged throughout all of the stations, each station including:
- at least one mobile carriage having second positioning structures releasably coupled with respective first positioning structures,
- means for supplying a green tire component,
- a feed mechanism for unwinding the green tire component from the reel and feeding the unwound component toward a carrier disposed at the respective station, and
- a cutting mechanism for cutting the green tire component after a selected length thereof has been unwound.
A tire building machine, comprising:
- a drum-conveying system for conveying tire-building drums sequentially along an assembly path;
- and
- a plurality of component-applying stations spaced apart along the path for applying green tire components to each drum, the stations arranged on a support floor having an array of holes arranged throughout all of the stations, each station including:
- a plurality of mobile carriages having projections releasably coupled with respective holes of the support floor, the projections of the carriages being identical wherein each carriage is selectively positionable on the support floor, reels releasably mounted on respective carriages and carrying different respective green tire components, each
- reel enclosed in a mobile carriage including a mounting structure releasably coupled to a receiving structure of a respective carriage holder, wherein the mounting structures are substantially identical and the receiving structures are substantially identical so that the reels and respective carriage are mountable on any of the carriage holders,
- a feed mechanism for unwinding the green tire components sequentially from the reels and feeding the unwound components toward a tire-building drum disposed at the respective station, and
- a cutting mechanism comprising a plurality of different respective cutter devices for cutting the respective green tire components after a selected length thereof has been unwound.
A tire building machine, comprising:
- a drum-conveying system for conveying tire-building drums sequentially along an assembly path;
- a plurality of component-applying stations spaced apart along the assembly path for applying green tire components to each drum, each station comprising:
- a plurality of reels arranged one behind the other in a direction transversely of the assembly path, the reels carrying different respective green tire components,
- a feeding mechanism for sequentially unwinding the green tire components from the reels, and
- a cutting mechanism comprising a frame in which is disposed a plurality of different cutter devices for cutting respective green tire components that have been unwound, the cutter devices being movable within the frame for being selectively placed sequentially in a cutting position.
A method of converting a tire-making assembly line for making different types of tires, the assembly line comprising a plurality of stations for applying tire components to a drum conveyed sequentially past the stations, the stations arranged on a support floor having an array of first positioning structures arranged throughout all of the stations, each station including at least one carriage having second positioning structures releasably coupled to respective first positioning structures, wherein the green tire components of all of the stations define a first pattern of green tire components suited for making a first type of tire carcass, the method comprising replacing the first pattern of green tire components with a second pattern of green tire components for making a second type of tire carcass, different from the first type, by:
- disconnecting the second positioning structures from the respective first positioning structures to disconnect the carriages, and relocating the disconnected carriages,
- moving carriages carrying green tire components for forming the second pattern, and orienting those carriages to form the second pattern;
- and
- securing the carriages forming the second pattern by connecting second positioning structures thereof to respective first positioning structures.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.