Tire belt machine
AssigneeThe Steelastic Company
InventorsJeffrey F. Bull, Evan Smith
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tire belt machine comprises an extruder, a cooling drum, and a cutting station, such that the cooling drum draws a strip from the extruder. The cutting station is adapted to cut the strip into a plurality of plies that are laid adjacent one another to form a splice therebetween. A strip width sensor, a strip tracking system, and a strip temperature sensor are coupled to a central control unit to monitor the characteristics of the strip as it is processed. Based upon the monitored characteristics, the central control unit adjusts the operation of one or more of the components of the tire belt machine to maintain uniform splices between the strips.
Claims18
A tire belt machine comprising:
- an extruder adapted to form a strip of uncured elastomeric material having a plurality of cords, said strip having a variable width;
- a cooling drum located downstream of said extruder adapted to carry said strip while it cools;
- a cutting station including a belt conveyor, a cutter and a strip vacuum transport which are located downstream of said cooling drums, wherein said strip is drawn into said cutting station and positioned on said belt conveyor by said strip vacuum transport;
- said cutting station being adapted to cut said strip into plies after said strip is positioned on said belt conveyor, wherein said belt conveyor is adapted to advance an index distance after operation of said cutter such that successive plies are lain substantially adjacent to each other on said belt conveyor;
- a central control unit in communication with said extruder, said cutting station, and said conveyor assembly;
- a strip width sensor located upstream of said cutting station, said strip width sensor being adapted to monitor the change in the variable width of said strip prior to being cut into plies and communicates with said central control unit, wherein said central control unit adjusts said index distance of said belt conveyor based on the change in variable strip width, so as to move a previously laid ply to a position that allows a subsequently cut ply to be laid substantially adjacent thereto, so as to form a splice therebetween with uniform characteristics;
- a strip tracking system adapted to monitor the amount of said strip available for said cutting station and communicates with said central control unit, wherein said central control unit adjusts operation of at least one of said extruder or cooling drum to enable said cutting station to operate at maximum speed;
- and
- a strip temperature sensor to monitor the temperature of said strip downstream of said extruder and communicates with said central control unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.