US 6,581,448 B2Granted

Snug fitting apparatus for tire assembly and manufacturing method of tire assembly

AssigneesCentral Motor Wheel Co., Ltd., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorsToshiyuki Kimbara, Junichi Takeda, Takehiro Kawaguchi

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Abstract

A snug fitting apparatus for improving the finished quality of a tire assembly 1 without sacrificing productivity, including a first pressing member 25 (25a) adapted to be pressed against the ground contact surface F of a tire assembly 1 and a second pressing member 25 (25b) adapted to be pressed against the ground contact surface F to receive the radial reactional force of the ground contact surface F. Measuring device is provided to read variation in the reactional force. As a result, a large, expensive uniformity checking machine is made unnecessary, making it possible to assure quality for all the quantity of tire assemblies 1 on the production line and to fully automate the process.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A snug fitting apparatus for a tire assembly having a disk wheel and a tire fitted thereto and having a ground contact surface, comprising:

a rotary drive device for rotary driving the tire assembly supported on a work holding section,
a first pressing member axially aligned with the rotary device for performing a snug fitting process by pressing the ground contact surface of the tire assembly,
a second pressing member longitudinally aligned with the rotary device for coming into pressing contact with the ground contact surface of the tire assembly to receive a radial reactional force from the ground contact surface,
a transfer device connected to the first and second pressing members for transferring each of the first and second pressing members between a pressing contact position where the pressing member is in pressing contact with the ground contact surface of the tire assembly and a release position where the pressing member is released from the pressing contact,
pressure detecting means operatively coupled to the first and second pressing members for detecting the reactional force received by the second pressing member in the pressing contact position, and
process control means operatively coupled to the first and second pressing members for performing in succession the process of snug fitting by moving the first pressing member with the transfer device and pressing the first pressing member against the ground contact surface of the tire assembly being rotated by the rotary drive device, a process of measuring a variation in the reactional force by the pressure detecting means by moving the second pressing member by the transfer device and pressing the second pressing member against the ground contact surface of the tire assembly being rotated by the rotary drive device, and a process of performing an RFV judgment based on the reactional force.

3 more elements

A snug fitting apparatus for a tire assembly having a disk wheel and a tire fitted thereto and having a ground contact surface, comprising:

a rotary drive device for rotary driving the tire assembly supported on a work holding section,
a first pressing member axially aligned with the rotary device for performing a snug fitting process by pressing the ground contact surface of the tire assembly,
a second pressing member longitudinally aligned with the rotary device for coming into pressing contact with the ground contact surface of the tire assembly to receive the radial reactional force of the ground contact surface,
a transfer device connected to the first and second pressing members for transferring each of the first and second pressing members between a pressing contact position where the pressing member is in pressing contact with the ground contact surface of the tire assembly and a release position where the pressing member is released from the pressing contact,
pressure detecting means operatively coupled to the first and second pressing members for detecting the reactional force received by the second pressing member in the pressing contact position, displacement measuring means for measuring the displacement of a tire pressing section, and
process control means operatively coupled to the first and second pressing members for performing in succession the process of snug fitting by moving the first pressing member by the transfer device and pressing the first pressing member against the ground contact surface of the tire assembly being rotated with the rotary drive device, a process of measuring the displacement of the second pressing member by the pressure detecting means by moving the second pressing member by the transfer device and pressing the second pressing member with its pressing force held constant against the ground contact surface of the tire assembly being rotated with the rotary drive device, and a process of performing an RFV judgment based on the displacement.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.