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US 5,089,077 AGranted
Apparatus for manufacturing multiple-ply tire carcasses
AssigneeWyko Corporation
InventorMark S. Byerley
Life of this patent
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AssigneeWyko Corporation
InventorMark S. Byerley
Estimating the term…
A multiple-ply tire carcass building apparatus is described. A collapsible/expandable tire band applier is used to sequentially apply a plurality of cylindrical tire bands onto a collapsible tire building drum to form the multiple-ply tire carcass. An air nozzle or a plurality of air jets are longitudinally extend over a portion of the longitudinal surface of the tire building drum and any tire bands thereon and is spatially separated therefrom for facilitating the placing of the tire band onto the tire building drum. Preferably, a selectively positionable light sensing means carried by an expandable with the band applier is utilized to automatically and accurately provide the band applier with an outer diameter slightly less to slightly greater than that of the tire building drum and any tire band thereon so that the tire band can be displaced from the band applier onto the tire building drum. The light sensing means is also selectively positionable to provide the leading end of the air nozzle with an initial clearance from the tire building drum during the positioning of the band applier in a working relationship with the tire building drum and provide the air nozzle or air jets with the desired spatial separation from the surface of the drum and any tire bands already thereon.
Apparatus for building a multiple-ply tire carcass incorporating a plurality of tire bands and employed in combination with an elongated cylindrical drum means rotatable about a longitudinal axis for sequentially receiving about the peripheral surface thereof a plurality of concentrically disposed cylindrical tire bands, comprising an elongated radially expandable and collapsible band applying means positionable along the longitudinal axis for supporting thereabout a tire band of an elongated cylindrical configuration and for displacing the tire band therefrom over the peripheral surface of the cylindrical drum means and any tire band thereon, first drive means for radially expanding the band applying means circumferentially away from the longitudinal axis, second drive means for displacing the band applying means towards said drum means along said longitudinal axis for positioning an end of the band applying means at a location contiguous to one end of the drum means, sensing means coupled to said second drive means for stopping the displacement of the band applying means along said longitudinal axis when said end of the band applying means is at a said location contiguous to said one end of the drum means, and signal beam sensing means disposed at said end of the band applying means and radially expandable therewith and coupled to the first drive means for providing signals thereto in response to a signal beam oriented at a preselected angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of said drum means such that during the axial displacement of the band applying means towards the drum means the signal beam is periodically interrupted by the peripheral surface of the drum means and any tire band thereon for controlling the radial expansion of the band applying means during the displacement of the band applying means towards said drum means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.