Process and apparatus to identify the presence of structural cavities in sleeves for the manufacture of driving belts
AssigneePirelli Prodotti Diversificati S.p.A.
InventorsFederico Mancosu, Roberto Sgnaolin, Roberto Zavaglio
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process and apparatus for identifying defects within the structure of a tubular sleeve used to make toothed belts, the sleeve, having a toothed inner surface 2a, is operatively mounted on rollers 5, 6 operable in rotation to move the sleeve transversely to the extension of the teeth 3. An ultrasonic emitting and receiving member 15 movable parallel to the rollers 5, 6 detects the presence of structural cavities 3a in the sleeve. An electronic processing unit 20 carries out the identification and memorization of the position of the structural cavities 3a on the longitudinal extension of the sleeve 2.
Claims18
A process for identifying the presence of structural cavities in elongated sleeves for the manufacture of driving belts, each sleeve having a longitudinal axis and at least one toothed surface with a plurality of generally axially extending shaped teeth which are disposed parallel to one another in side by side relation according to a predetermined spacing P, said process comprising the following steps:
- a) operatively mounting the sleeve on supporting and handling means;
- b) moving the sleeve in a direction transverse to its longitudinal axis;
- c) positioning an ultrasonic emitting and receiving member and a reading member in an operating position on one wall of the sleeve;
- d) moving the ultrasonic emitting and receiving member and the reading member in a helical manner and in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve, so that said emitting and receiving member and said reading member act on the sleeve at a first read point "X" and a second read point "Y" respectively;
- e) repeatedly reading a height "h" of the toothed surface passing under the second read point "Y" in order to identify an outline of individual teeth;
- f) measuring the interval of time between different detections of height value "h" carried out during the repeated reading step;
- g) identifying passage under the second read point "Y" of at least two characteristic points "K" of each outline of one of said teeth, said characteristic points "K" being spaced apart from each other by a known predetermined amount;
- h) measuring the interval of time between the passage of said characteristic points "K" under the second read point "Y", to which interval a displacement of the toothed surface equal to said known amount is correlated;
- i) assigning a corresponding distance value "L" from one of said characteristic points "K", to each height value "h" detected during step e), based on a time elapsing between a detection of a height value and the detection of the passage of said characteristic point K, as well as on a value of a space/time ratio resulting from step h);
- j) detecting and processing signals emitted from the ultrasonic emitting and receiving member in order to identify the presence of structural cavities in the sleeve;
- k) stopping step e) when the first read point X is located in a region of the toothed surfaced included between two contiguous teeth;
- l) detecting and storing the position of the ultrasonic emitting and receiving member on the longitudinal axis of the sleeve when the presence of structural cavities has been ascertained.
An apparatus for identifying the presence of structural cavities in elongated sleeves for the manufacture of driving belts, each sleeve having a longitudinal axis and at least one toothed surface having a plurality of generally axially extending shaped teeth which are disposed parallel to one another in side by side relation according to a predetermined spacing P, said apparatus comprising:
- supporting means for operatively engaging a sleeve;
- first motion-imparting means cooperating with said supporting means so as to impart a continuous movement to the sleeve in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis thereof;
- at least one ultrasonic emitting and receiving member positioned to operate through the sleeve at a first read point X, for detecting the presence of structural cavities within the sleeve;
- at least one reading member positioned to operate adjacent the toothed surface in order to identify an outline of the side extension of the individual teeth through repeated readings of a height h of the toothed surface, which is moving before a second read point Y;
- second motion-imparting means acting on the emitting and receiving member and the reading member to impart a translatory movement to said member in a helical manner and in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve, so that the first read point X and second read point Y move helically relative to said longitudinal axis;
- an electronic processing unit operatively connected to the ultrasonic emitting and receiving member as well as to the second motion-imparting means in order to identify the position, on a longitudinal surface of the sleeve, of structural cavities detected by said emitting and receiving member, said processing unit being also operatively connected to the reading member so as to disenable the ultrasonic emitting and receiving member when the first read point X is located in an area of the toothed surface included between two contiguous teeth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.