US 5,179,806 AGranted

Method and apparatus for buffing a tire sidewall

AssigneeGeneral Tire, Inc.

InventorsRobert L. Brown, Thomas E. Codispoti, Kenneth W. Dunaway

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Abstract

An apparatus is provided for removing material from the sidewall of a tire. The apparatus may be used for removing the thin layer of black rubber that normally covers the white letters or white stripe of the sidewall of a newly cured tire, and for buffing the surfaces of such white letters or stripes to give them a smooth finish. The apparatus may also be used for buffing black portions of a tire sidewall to give those portions a smooth finish. The apparatus includes a cutting device and a sensor mounted on a moveable carriage. The sensor measures the distance between the cutting device and a portion of the tire sidewall adjacent to the portion to be buffed. As the tire rotates while it is being buffed, the carriage moves in response to the sensor's measurement toward or away from the tire sidewall, so that the cutting device removes material at a constant height relative to the adjacent portion of the sidewall.

Claims10

Dependent claims

An apparatus for removing material from a first portion of a sidewall surface of a tire, including a base for supporting the tire for rotation about an axis, drive means mounted on said base for rotating the tire about said axis, a carriage mounted on said base adjacent said sidewall surface and moveable toward and away from said sidewall surface in an axial direction, namely a direction substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the tire, and a cutting device mounted on said carriage for removing material from the said first portion of the sidewall surface, wherein the improvement comprises:

(a) a sensor device mounted on said carriage and spaced radially from said cutting device in relation to the axis of rotation of the tire and positioned to contact a second portion of the sidewall surface that is spaced radially from said first portion relative to the axis of rotation of the tire and to measure the axial distance between said second portion and said cutting device;
(b) a computer control device connected to said sensor device for detecting a difference between the axial distance measured by said sensor device and a desired axial distance, said computer control generating a command when said difference is detected,
(c) a drive device connected to said carriage for moving said carriage and the cutting device mounted on said carriage toward or away from said first portion of the sidewall surface, said drive device also being connected to said computer control device to receive commands from the computer control device and to move said carriage in response to said commands to maintain the axial distance between the cutting device and the second portion of the sidewall surface substantially equal to the desired axial distance, so that the cutting device cuts the first portion of the sidewall surface at a level that is spaced at said desired axial distance from the second portion of the sidewall surface.

A method of removing material from a first portion of a sidewall surface of a tire, including the steps of rotating the tire about an axis and moving a cutting device in an axial direction, namely a direction substantially parallel to said axis of the tire, into engagement with said first portion of the sidewall surface, wherein the improvement comprises the steps of:

(a) measuring with a sensor device having a fixed position relative to said cutting device the axial distance between said cutting device and a second portion of the sidewall surface of the tire that is spaced radially from said first portion relative to the axis of rotation of the tire;
(b) determining the difference between the distance measured by the sensor device and a desired distance;
(c) in response to the difference between the distance measured in step (b), moving the cutting device in said axial direction toward or away from said first portion of the sidewall surface, so that during the rotation of the tire the distance between the cutting device and the second portion of the sidewall surface is maintained substantially equal to the desired distance and the cutting device cuts the first portion of the sidewall surface at a level that is spaced at a constant axial distance from the second portion of the sidewall surface.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.