Tire preparation ply manufacturing apparatus and method
AssigneeThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
InventorsChristopher David Dyrlund, Donald Chester Kubinski, Jeffrey Ford Bull, Frank A. Edwards
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for forming a continuous preparation ply of the type used to make vehicle tires from preparation ply sections having nonmetallic cords. An infeed conveyor successively feeds the preparation ply sections to a butt splicing machine that joins the ends of the two preparation ply sections to form a butt joint. A gum strip applier receives the continuous preparation ply from an outfeed conveyor and applies a gum strip over the butt joint. A method is provided for forming a continuous preparation ply by first automatically forming a butt joint, and thereafter automatically placing a gum strip on the butt joint.
Claims11
A method for forming a butt joint between ends of first and second plies to splice the first and second plies together, the method comprising:
- providing first and second plies;
- providing pairs of upper racks extending end-to-end having first upper racks pivotable with respect to nonpivotable second upper racks;
- providing pairs of lower racks extending end-to-end adjacent the pairs of upper racks, the pairs of lower racks having first lower racks pivotable with respect to nonpivotable second lower racks;
- positioning an end of the first ply on the first lower racks;
- positioning an end of the second ply on the second lower racks;
- clamping the first and second plies between the pairs of upper racks and the pairs of lower racks;
- pivoting the first upper racks to engage with the nonpivotable second upper racks and pivoting the first lower racks to engage with the nonpivotable second lower racks to move the end of the first ply against the end of the second ply while the second ply is held stationary by the nonpivotable second upper and lower racks, and to firmly press the first and second plies together to define a splice;
- and
- upon contact between the ends of the first and second plies with one another, sliding the first lower racks over a first surface of the first ply until the first lower racks fully engage with the nonpivotable second lower racks, and sliding the first upper racks over a second surface of the first ply until the first upper racks fully engage with the nonpivotable second upper racks.
A method of forming a continuous material ply of the type used to make vehicle tires, the continuous material ply being made by joining material ply sections to define a splice between them, the method comprising:
- providing pairs of upper racks having teeth, extending end-to-end, and having first upper racks pivotable with respect to nonpivotable second upper racks;
- providing pairs of lower racks having teeth and extending end-to-end adjacent the pairs of upper racks, the pairs of lower racks having first lower racks pivotable with respect to nonpivotable second lower racks;
- positioning an end of a first material ply section over teeth of the first lower racks;
- positioning an end of a second material ply section over teeth of the nonpivotable second lower racks by conveying the second material ply section in a travel direction toward the pairs of lower racks, the travel direction being substantially perpendicular to the splice;
- clamping the first and second material ply sections between the pairs of upper racks and the pairs of lower racks;
- pivoting the first upper and first lower racks to simultaneously engage
- teeth of all first upper racks with teeth of all nonpivotable second upper racks, and
- teeth of all first lower racks with teeth of all nonpivotable second lower racks to move the end of the first material ply section against the end of the second material ply section while the second material ply section is held stationary by the nonpivotable second upper and lower racks to splice the first and second material ply sections together;
- and
- upon contact between the ends of the first and second material ply sections with one another, sliding the first lower racks over a first surface of the first material ply section until the first lower racks fully engage with the nonpivotable second lower racks, and sliding the first upper racks over a second surface of the first ply until the first upper racks fully engage with the nonpivotable second upper racks.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.