CA1068908A - Tire buffing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

"TIRE BUFFING APPARATUS"
ABSTRACT
Apparatus for preparing the peripheral surface of a tire casing to receive tread material for recapping or retread-ing the tire casing. The apparatus has two or more buffing wheels, a first being a rough cutter for removing, say, 90 per-cent of the old rubber, and one or more others which have finer cutting or grinding means on their surfaces, called "texturizing"
wheels and/or "finishing" wheels to so buff the surface of the casing, or selected parts thereof, that the new tread stock will adhere satisfactorily to the buffed crown and shoulder areas of the casing and also to produce a finer surface finishing at the junction of the new tread and the old casing for the sake of good appearance. The apparatus also has a power driven mandrel mechanism or rim upon which the casing is mounted for rotation on its normal axis. The rim is carried on an articulated frame which is pivotable or swingable on or about an axis or axes extending normally to the casing axis and which is movable to translate the casing toward and away from the cutting wheels.
The movement of the casing into and during engagement with the cutting wheels is controlled by a tire profile template for the particular size and shape of the casing to be retreaded, as modified by the style or type of the tread to be applied. The template engages a guide surface which normally lies in a plane that is tangential to the surface of the cutting wheels. The guide surface may be shifted radially of the of the cutting wheels as needed in order to further enable the finer textur-izing wheels to finish the shoulder areas of the casing as they blend into the sidewalls of the casing, or to enable the casing to be buffed further, for example, to remove more than the usual thickness of old rubber from the surfaces of a casing which has been damaged or to finish a casing of less than standard cross-sectional width.

Description

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Methods and apparatuses for the removal of the remainder of tread stock on tire casings being prepared for recapping or retreading have been developed and are widely utilized i~ the industry. However, because of the great variety of sizes of tire cas~ngs~ me~surlng in outside diameter all the way) for example, from 18 inches to 48 inches or more, and because of the differing shapes and cross-sectional profiles of the casings both because of their constructions and beca~ e of the surface which must be prepared for the ~dhesion thereto of txeads of dlfferent configurations, many problems have not been solved. ;~
The Rubber Manufacturers Association has established criteria or identific~tion of the buffed profile of casings which involve four measurements. There are the crown rad~us which may vary~ say9 from 5 inches to 36 inches; shoulder radius which may vary from, say, l/2 inch to 2 inches; crown width whlch may vary from, say, 3-112 in~hes to 18 inches;
sidewall angle, usually in the range of 45 to 60, measured relative to the axis of the tire casing.
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In discussion, the term "buffing" wi11 be used to ldentify the removal of old rubber from the casing whether ~t is done by cutting wheels~ texturi~ing wheels or inishing - wheelsO -2-, . .. ~,. . .. ~

10689~11B
In order to shape the buffed surfaces of casingshaving such widely varying measurements previous au~omatic apparatuses have been able to function only to per~orm some of the necessary bufflng operations and the "eye" and manual actions o~ ~he operator have been utilized to prepare the "flnished" portions of the sid~ walls ad~acent the edges o the retread material.
It ls therefore the principal ob~ect of the instant invention to pxovide a tire bu~fing appara~us which is so de~igned as to enable the utilizatlon of any profile ~emplate to control the buffed and finished surfaces of the casing, the ~:
template being selected according to the mentioned criterLa for the particular casing being treated.
It is yet another object of the instant invention to provide a template guided buffing apparatus for shaping the surface, including the crown, the shoulder and the side wall -:
of a tire according to a template selected by the four crlteria mentioned and, in addition, as modifled according to the type of tread to be adhered to the b~ffed casing, for example, snow tires, road tires, circumfere~ grooved tires, lugged ~ires, etc~
- Another important object of the Ins~a~t lnvent~on is to provide a ~ire buffing apparatus having an articula~ed rame for mounting the tire to be ~uffed so designed and constructed as to ena~e ~he tire ~irs~ to be trea~ed by a rough cut~ing wheel ln order to remos7e, say, 90% ~ 95~/0 or more o the old rubber and then to be treated by one or more texturizing and/or finishing wheels, ~he profile of the tire being bu~f2d or cut , , 1()68~08 away being controlled by a template selected according to i~5 speciic deslgnation in accordande with the criteria mea~ioned above, Yet another object of the instant Invention is to ;~
provide a tire bufflng apparatus ~aving 2 or 3 bu~ing wheels, for examples, rough cuSting~ and/or tex~urizing and/or finish~
ing wheels which successi~ely may be u~ilized for shaping the surface of the tire casing to i~s desired profileia~d i~s surfaces to desired textures~
Ye~ another ob~ect of ~he instan~ invention is to provide a tire buffing apparatus in whi h the ma~or portion of the buffing me~hod is performed under the control of an appro-priately selected template, which has mean~ for over-rid~ng the template profile by shifting the casin~ radially relative to the buffing wheels when desired, in order to permit the full treatment of the sidewall/tread ~unction areas of the casing ~.
which, for one reason or another~ are not adequately finished under the control of the appropriate template.
A still further ob~ec~ of the ins~ant invention is to provlde a tire buffing apparatus on which casings of very ~' different sizes and cross-sectional shapes may be mounted and their surfaces completely buffed without removal from the apparatus, with.easy ad~ustment of the appsratus to accomodate the varying slzed casinLgs and templateg for ~he control o ~hêir profiles~ the appara~u~ also having ad~ustable and floating pivot means in order to ena~le the re~pective profile template :~
to correctly p~sltion any par~icular c~sing being buffed, , . ,. ~
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BRIEF ~ESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 ls a somewhat simplified view in perspective of an a7 aratus embodying the lnven ion;
Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view, partly in elevation and with parts shown in phantom, taken genarally from the right side o~ the apparatus show in Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is an 0nlarged, ~ragmentary, vertical sectional view taken along the line 3~ Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, hori~ontal, sectional view taken along ~he llne 4-4 of Fig. 3;
Fig. 5 is a ver~cal sectional view taken ~long the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;
Fig. 6 is a fragmentary, vertical sectlonal view taken along the line 6-6 of Flg. 3;
Fig. 7 is a fragmentary, horizontal sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of Figo 2;
Fig. 8 is a fragmentary subs~antlally top plan view taken from the position indicated a~ e 8-8 of Fig. 2, Fig. 9 is a fragmentary, v~rtical sectional view taken along the line 9-9 of Fig. 8 and show in an enlarge~
scale;
Flgo 10 ls a similar enlarged view ~aken along the line 10-10 of Fig~ 8;
Fig. 11 is a view ~imilar ~o Fig. 10 but taken along the line 11-11 of Flgo 8;
Fig. 12 is a simplified, diagrammatic~ fragmen~ ry ~ plan view of the apparatus shown in Flg. 1 illustrsting how ; the template control of the tlre is provi~ed and how the :

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~ ~ 6 8 ~ ~ 8 flo~ting pivot means are utillzed in order to ~-~r~ t~ insur2 proper contact of the surface of the casing wi~h the buffillg wheels, Fig~.13,14, and 15 are simp~ified views illustrating how casings of greatly d~fferent ~izes all can be buffed on an apparatus according to the inventlo~;
Figs. 16 and 17 are fragmentary, partial views illustrating the positions of a casing ~ubstantiallyl~identical with the casi~g shown in Fig. 13 as It is swung by apparakus 10 according to the invention for texturizing and/or fin~shing its surfaces;
Fig, 18 is a view similar to Figo 17 but illustrating the casing of Fig. 14 swung over for finlshing i~s side wa~
- Fig. 19 is a view similar to Fig. 18 but showing the casing o~ Fig. 15 as swung in~o posi~on for fini~h~ng its side waLl; and ~.
Fig~ 20 is a view illustra~ how an apparatus accord- :
ing to the invention may be shifted in order to flnish the side wall of a tire, in ~his case the tire of Figs. 14 a~ 18, when 20 i s profile sh~e is slightly modified from that corresponding to a template for the particular tire size and shape being :.~ buffedO

A preferred embod1ment of the ~nventio~ ~s shown in the : drawings and as will be described in this specificatio~, makes posslble the complete buffing o~ the peripheral surface, : shoulders and portions of the side wall of tire casings of m~ny sizes in accordance with any of a selec~ed very l.arge number of iLq~689 predetermined pro~iles and also makes possible an adjustment, :~
when necessary, to enable t~e fine finishing of shoulder or side wall poDtions of a cas:Lng which is slightly smaller, for example, than the standard slze of a ca~ing accordlng to its particular designation.
In conventional apparatuses a heavy rasp usually has been employed both for removing the majority of the old rubber tsay 90%-~%) and for texturizing the surface of the crown as well as the shoulders. This has disad~antages becau~e a rasp o~ sufficient 1neness to leave a proper surface for adherence of the new tread stock removes the rubber at such a slow rate that it requires high horsepower to effectively remove a large volume of rubber in a short period of time~ This also generates a large smoke and fire hazard which is unde$irable with the eurrent emphssis on occupational safety and environmental condi-tions.
Therefore, an apparatus embo~ying the invention has a rough cutting wheel lO and, in this embodiment, has mounted - coaxially therewith a rasp or texturizing wheel ll and two inishing wheels 12 and 13. By mounting the three types of -wheels on the ~pparatus in the way to be described below, a rou~h cut may firat be made to remove a large volume of rubber ~ a~ re~atively hlgh speed with comp~ratively low horsepo~er re-: quirements and virtually no produc~ion of smoke, fine rubber dust or other enviromental hazard; the crown surface may be rasped or texturized to ~he proper condition for ~he adhesion o the new tread stock thereto and t~e sids walls~of the cssing may be smoothed off or finished to eliminate the rough cuts left ; . .
~ ,. . ', .', ~, ~ 8 behind by ~he rasp. This results in the entire buffing operat-ion relative to ahy par~icular tire casing bein~ accomplished on the same appara~us in a single operation without the necess- :
ity for an additional appara~us and a second operation, as of~en is necessary in prior art operations.
In an apparatus embodying the invention all of the whe~!~s 10-13~ inclusive, are mounted on a spiddle 14 s,uitably 30urnalled on a stationary housing or structure 15 which encloses a drive motor (no~ shown) for ~he spindle 14, controls, electrical elements, etc.
A casing to be buffed is indicat~d in F~g. 1 b~ the reerence number 16, as an example the casing shown being of a medium sized pass~nger tire~ say, 26 inches in i s ou~side diameter or having a radius of 13 inches from its central ~xis ~o the periphery of i~s crown. In fur~her discussion such a medium size passenger tire, the dimensions of ~hich are shown in Flg. 14, will be utilized for explaining the oper~tions of the apparatus and will be indicated by the reference number 16-M for ~Imedlum~. Similarly, in further d~scussions a much

2~ larger tire such as a truck tire having, ~or example, an out-side diameter of 48 inches or a radius of 24 inches around its no~mal ~xis, as shown in Fig. 13, will be indicated by the ref~rence number 16~L and a much smaller casing such as ene having an 18 inch outside~ meter of a radius o~ 9 inches around i~s normal axis, as shown in Fig. 15~ will be indica~ed by the reference number 16-S.
Any casing to be buffed is mounted upon an expansible mandreL mechanlsm 17, herein~fter cal~ed a "rim", which ls a .

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conven~lonal devlce well known in the art and which therefore will not further be described except to state that lts effect~ve diameter can be reduced or expanded in order to accom~date ~ires of varylng sizes, such as those discussed herein, or even largex or smaller if necessary. The rim 17 is mounted for ~tation on an axis 18 (Fig. 2) which is parallel to and spaced from the spindle 1~, The axis of the rim 17 is aligned with the spindle 14 so that the surfaces of the wheél~ 10~14 engage ~he suraces of the ca~ings being buffed along a line connecting the axes of the r~m 17 and casing and the cutting wheels 10-13 as can best be seen in Fig, 2.
The ri~ 17 and its ~haft (not shown~ exteQd horizontal-ly from a drive ~otor and transmission located interiDrly of a drive housing 19 which, in turn, i9 positioned at the upper end o~ a post 20~ The post 20 is carried on an articulated frame gcnerally indicabed by the reference number 21. The frame 21 (see also Fig. 8) consists of the arm 22, a second ar~ 23 to ~ :
which the arm 24 is pivotally connected and which~ in turn~ is pivotally moltnted by a heavy vertical pin 25 that~ j ournalled:: :
in ears 26 at the base of ~he structure 15. The articulated frame 2~ provide~ for movements of the post 20 and any particular tire casing 16 supported thereby both in a transitor~ manner toward and ~way from the wheels 10-13 and angularly relative :. :
thereto to provide for treatment of the entlre profile area of a cas~ng 16 and, in a larger angular and transitory manner in order to remove a casing from the rim 17 or to put a new casing on the ~ , rim 17~ The way of movement of the articulated fr~me 21 to `~
accompllsh these necessary objectives will be further de~cribed` `
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10~ 8 below, The arm 22, near its end which is pivotally colmected to the arrn 23, carries a bracket ~7 (se~ also Fig. 8 and 9).
The bracket 27 moun~s one end of a sl ide frame 28, the other end of which is ri~idly connected to a hollow casing 290 The casing ~9 extends upwardly and angularly to a control box generally indicated by the reference number 30, that ~s, in turn, mounted on the end of a horizont~l strut 31 rigidly assembled with the.dkive house 19 and the post 20. By reason of this con~truction, the framework comprising the post 20, arm 22, bracket 27, side frame 28, cas~ng 29, con~rol box 30 a~ strut ~ -31 is a r~gid struc~ure which moves as a unit and maintains its configuration as illustrated in Flg~ 1. This ent~re structure -compris~ng the parts ~ust e~umerated pivots wi~h the articulated ~ -fram~ ar~ 22 to move the casing r~lative to the wheels 10-13 in both transitory and angular movements. Handle 32 is util~zed by : ~:
the operator of the apparatus to move this fram~work relative to ~ the wheels 10-13. ;
.` The slide frame 28 mounts a template slide~ generally ::
indicated by the reference number 33, which is guided for move-: ment i~ the frame 28 by a guide rod 34, the guide rod 34 extend- :
lng through two vertical blocks 35 and 36 ~see Figs. 8 and ~0, parcicularly ). A nut 37 (Fig. 11) also ls mounted on the slide 33 and is engaged wi~h a threaded shaft 38 extending parallel to ~e gulde rod 34 from one end of the slide rame 28 to the other. A sprocket 39 (Fig. 8) is pinned on the end o the threaded sh~t 38 and is engaged with a chaln 40 extending up~
wardly interiorly of the caslng 29, the other end of the chain ~ :

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being engaged with a second sprocket (not shown) moun~ed ~n a shaft for a eeding wheel 4L located at the upper end of the casing 29 nea~ the control box 30 (Fig. 13, The template slide 33 removably mounts any s~lected one of a plurality of tire proile templates, such as a template 42 shown irl the dre~wings, particulary in Fig. 19 2~ and 7. The template 42 shown is that which would be employed for a standard passenger tire of the type havlng dimenslons such as those illustrated in Fig. 14. The template 42 ~Fig. 7) is positioned on the template slide 33 by three shoPt dowel pins 43 and lock-ed in place by a hand knob and screw 4~ (see also Fig. 2) whi~h ;
extends upwardly thr~ugh an opening in the sllde 33 and is threaded into the particula~ template 42.
As can bes~ be seen in Figs. 2 and 7, the template 42 bears agains~c the surface of a template guide block 45 which is ; ad~ustable moun~ed on a massive suppor~ tube 46 whi~h extends horizontally from the structure 15.
The template 42 and its slide 33 are urged toward and mainta~ned in cont~ct with the template gui~e block 45 during ~he buffing operation by a pneumatic cylinder 47, wh~ch has a rod 48 on the end of which there is a yoke 49. The yoke 49 extends arou~d a stub shaft 50 (Fig. 8) ~or a roller 51. The stub shaft SO is pinned in ~he end of a movable plate 5~ that is supp~rted on two short posts 53 whlch pro'c~ude upwardly from the template slide 33 and which are allgned along its center line, A pair of hand knobs 54 have s~ems which extend through an elongated slot 55 cut in the plate 52 so that the plate 52 be moved relative to the slide 33 and locked Ln its selected ~`

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posi~ion. Suitable indicia i~dicated by the reference number ~`
56, are inscribed along the slot 5S and an indicator 57 (Fig, 9) is mounted on the plate 52 so that the position of the plate 52 and thus the roller 50 properly can be determined for any particular size of tireO
The roller 51 extends between the arms of a bifurcated guide 58 that ls mounted in and extends forwardly from a cross frame generally indicated by the reference number 59.
The roller 51 functlons as a floating pivo~ about which the articulated frame and the casing are swung under control of the repective template 42~ By comparing, ~or example, Figs o 13, 16~ and 17, it will be seen that the center of the roller 51 moves as the casing 16-L is swung ~hrough the positions illustrated i~ Figs. 13, 16, and 17, from a distance ::
of 9-1/2 inches from the surface of the wheels 10-13 to a dis-tance of 8-1/8 inches to maintain the ~emplate ln contact with the template guide block 45 and to maLn~ain the surace of the casing in proper contact wi~h the respective ones of the wheels 10-13 in order that it will be cut, texturized and flni~hed to a profile determined by the respective template 42.
In order to move the caslng 16 axially so tha~ its surface can be brought against ~he rough cutting wheel 10 and9 thereater, lnto contact with the texturizing wheel or rasp 11 and the finishing wheels 12 and 13, the entire articulated frame 21 is shi~ted axlally of the casing 16 by energizing a pneumatic cylinder 60 (Fig~. l;a~d'8) that is mounted on the s~ructure 15, The cylinderl60 ~as a rod 61 and, on the end of the rod 61 there is a clevis 62 (see also Fig. 3) that grasps and is , , ~ 1~689~18 secured to one side of the bifurcated plate 58. When the cylinder 60 is energiæed, it pulls in its rod ~1 and, through the connections just descrlbed, shits the entire artIculated frame 21 la~erally a sufficient dlstanee to bring the rough cutting whe~l 10 into position for cutting away the majority of the old tread stock on the surface of the casing 16. This l~t-eral transilatory movement of ~he art~culated frame 21 and the casing 1~ and, as best can be seen in Figs. 3 and 4, of the template 42, moves the ~emplate 42 into engagement with the per~
iphery of a guide roller 63 tangential to the vertical plane of the front face of the template guide block 45 in Its normal position (see Fig. 4, par~icularly) where the template 42 ls .
shown in solld lines in engagement with the guide block 45 and ; in broken line~ in engagement with the guide roller 63.
The movement of the template 42, the bifurcated guide 58, the asso~iated cylinder 47 and its rod 48 and, th~s~ the articulated frame 21 and the casing 16 are all guided in this -lateral movement by a horizontal guide rod 64 which extends be-. tween end plates 65 of the cross frame 59 a~d through spaced side plates 66 which also function to gu~de the move~ent of the bifurcated plate 58 at its outermost end~
When the operator wishes to buff the surface of a particular casing, he deactivates the cylinder 47 or, if it Is double-acting, he switches the air valve so b~at the cylinder 47 extends its rod 48, pushing the pivot roller 51 to the for-ward end of the slot between the arms of the bifurc~ed plate 58 (to the left in Fig. 23. He then swings the articulated frame 21 around in a counter-clockwise direction (Figs. 1 and..~2) -~0689~8 ~ ~
pivoting the frame 21 around the roller 51. The particular casing to be buffed is then mounted on ~he expandible hub 17 and locked in place. The proper one of the various templates 42 for the particular tire profile which is to be buffed ls selected according to the speclfica~ions establ~shed by the Rubber ... ;~
M~nufac~urers Association criteria.as mentioned earlier.
For examples, the several casings of dlfferent sizesof which cross-sect~ons..are shown in Fig. 13~ 14, and lS have rather dramatically different dimensions. These particular sizes ant the dimensions given therein of course are merely illustrative and, by reason of the ad~ustments provided by ~he various control features of an apparatus accnrding to the invention, cassmgs o many siæes and profiles readily can be buffed by the selection of appropriate templates and the ad-justment of the various position~ of the plate 52 and thus the pivot roller 51 and the template slide 33.
Afte~ selection of the proper template, the operator places lt in the position illustrated in Fig. 7, particularly, and swings the articulated frame 21 back into position shown in Fig. lO. While he is moving the frame 21 to the position shown in Fig. 1 he "backs off" the casing 16 relative to the template 42 by rotating the hand wheel 41 and the treaded shaft 38 to move the template slide 33 and the template 42 toward the template block 45 ~elative to the casing 16. He then activa~es the cyli~der 47 to pulL the template 42 into contact wi~h the template gulde block 45. The cgllnder 60 is activated to ~hit the entire articulated frame 21 laterally ~o the left, bringing the templa~e 42 into engagement with the guide rolLer 63.
~14-' ' ~ ~ 6 ~ 9 ~ ~ -This centers the casing 16 relative to ~he rough cutting wheel 10 The motors to rotate the cutting wheels 10-13 and the casing are then energized. The operator turns the feeding wheel 41 to move the casing 16 into engagement with the rough cutting wheel 10, con~inuing this movement in a direction normal to the axis of the cutting wheel 10 and the casing 16, un~il he has cut into the remaining tread stock on the casing 16 to a depth to r remove the necess~ry excess rubber.
The rough cutting wheel 10 is shown as having a plural-ity of protruding, hollow circular cutters 67 which have been proven to be very effective for removing old rubber at high speed and wl~h little, if any, smoke or rubber dust. Bu~ the `~
particular coniguration thereof is no~ a part of the instant . ;
invention It should be noted, however, that the maxium dia-meter~ of the roug~ cutting wheel 10 aad the wheels 11-13 are the same and that the template contacting surface of the template guide block 45 and the template guide roller 63 each has the same conf~guration as the wheels 11~13 and wheel-10, respect-ively, beneath whi.eh it is pos~ioned.
After the casing 16 has been moved over to the rough cuttl~ng wheel position, and the feeding wheel 41 ro ated to feed the casing into the rough cutti~g wheel 1~ to its initial depth, the operator swings the articulated frame 21 aroun~ the floating pivot roller 51 w1th the eylinder 47 actua~ed to hold the template 42 ~gainst the surface of the tempLate guide roller 63 to remove the excess rubber from crown portlon of the caslng:~:
to the desired profile. After removal o~ the ma;ority of the 1(~6139~8 old tread rubber from the casing 16, the operator actuates the cylinder 60 to extend its rod 61 and shif~ ~he articulated frame 21 laterally to the position actually depicted in Figs. 1 and 2 snd in solid lines in Fig. 12~ so that the casing surface is aligned with the rasp or texturizing wheel lL, It will be appre-clated that the cuttlng peripheriesi of the cutting wheels 10 and 11, as well as the finishing wheels 12 and 13, all are tangential to the same vertic~l plane in which the suraces of the template ~:
guide block 45 and the template guide roller 63 also lieO
The operator then swings the articulated frame 21 aroun~ the pivot roller 51 as guided by the template 42 to texturize the ~rown of the casing~ the adjacent shoulder radii portions and, perhaps, the immediately adjacent portions of the sidewalls of i~he casing, This movem~nt of the articulated frame 21 with the casing in contact winh the rasp or texturiæing wheel 11 would be from the solid line position of Fig. 12 to appro~imately the dotted line position of Fig. 12 or perhaps to a slightly greater angle on both sides of the center position.
A rasp or texturizing wheel 11 usable in an apparatus ~20 according tQ the invention may b~ a conventional buffing rasp having a plurality o short circum:Eerentially extending cutting bla~esi, tack-like points or other slmilar abrading means, which "texturizes" or suitably roughens a generally smooth contoured surface in order to provide for adequate adhesion between the tire casing and the materiaL o the new tread stock.
As can be seen, particularly ln Figs. 12, 13~ - 15 and 16, the rasp or texturizing wheel 11 is employed to prepare the ~ 9 ~ 8 surface of the crown and the short shoulder radii portions of the casirlg, The actual pro~ile of these portions of a tire casing is of course cut roughly by the cutting wheel 10 as controlled by the particular template 42 and texturized to a flnished contour by the wheel 11 a~so under the con~.rol of the particular template 42 selected for that casing.
After the articulated frame 21 and the casing 16 have been swun~ to the posltion illustrated in broken lines in -Fig. 12 and; for example, in Fig. 16~ the frame 21 ~nd casing -~
16 are s~ung in a counter-clockwlse direction around the eenter line (Figs. 12 and 16~ to texturize the opposite portions of the ~ ~:
crown and the opposite shoulder radius, It may al50 be n~ted ~ ;;
by comparing, for example, Figs. 13 and 16, that as the casing - is swung from the central position illustratad in Fig. 13 to ~:
the angular position illustrated in Fig. 16 and in dotted lines in Fig. 12, the 10ating pivot 51 moves in its slot in the :~
bifurcated gulde 58 as controlled by the template 42, :
Thereafter, the articulated frame ~1 and the ca~ing 16 are swung to a greated angular degree to one side and the other ;~
of the eenter in order to engage the sidewall portions of the caslng with first one and then the other one of the finishing ..
wheels 12 and 130 This smooths off or ~Ifinishes~ the casing sidewall surfaces so that when the new t~ead stock is adhered to the casing the appearance of the sidewalls at the edge of the new tread stock will be identical with that of the original casingO The fln~.shing wheels 11 and 13 often are merely grindlng wheels having relatively fine abrading partlcles ol7_ ~L068908 r imbedded in thelr surfaces, or s~milar wheels, which are capable o~ a fine~ smooth, surace treatment. ~ :
In some lns~ances, when a partlcular casing has a cross-sectional width less than s~andard or has been damaged so tha~ it i9 necessary to remove more rubber from its surface than ordinarily would be removed by the successive trea~men~s described above, the operator is glven the opportunity to move the casing radially relacive to the wheels 10-13 in order that the extra rubber may be buffed away and the ~njury smoothed 0uta The mechanism enabllng the operator thus to accomplish this result consist~ o~ structure by which ~he ~emplate guide block 45 and the template gu~de roller 63 both may be shifted xadially inwardly rel~tive to the vertical plane to which the surfaces of the wheels 10 - 13 are tangent~a~, As can best be seen in Figs. 3 and 4, the template guide block 45 and the guide roller 63 are both mounted on a slide plate 68 which is guided in the cross frame 5g by ways 69 The slide plate 68 ordinarily is held at its forward position (solid lines Figs. 5 and 6) by a bell crank 70 which has spaced lower arms 71 tha~ normally are engaged with the rear sid~ of the slide plate 68 and are thus shown in solid lines in Figso 5 and 6 (See also Figs. 3 and 4)~ The bell crank 70 i5 carried by a shaft 72 which extends across the cross ~rame 59 paralle~ :
to the guide rod 64 and is mounted in the end plates 65~ The bell crank 70 also has an upper arm 73 (Fig~ 6) connected to the end of a cable 74, the other end ~ cable extending up~ardly -:~
to near the control bo~ 30, but not being shown in the drawingsO

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: 1 0 6 ~ 9 ~ 8 It will be reme~bered that the template 42 is continou~ly urged against the template guide block 45 or the guide roLler 639 as the case may be, by the action of the cylinder 47 which is yoked to the pivot roller 51 and thus t~ ~he articu~ated ~rame 210 The bell cxank 70 normally is held in its upper positlon (Fig. 5~ with iks lower arms 71 agaiQ~t an overlying stop 75 to prevent the slide plate 68 from be~ng moved inwardly (to the left in Figs. 5 and 6). , When the operator wi~hes to buff more deeply into any of the surfaces of the casing being treated~ he pulls the cable 74, swinging the bell crank 70 in a clockw~se direction from ~.
its solid line position in Fig. 6 to its broken line position in that figure. Thi~ allows the:~amplate 42 and the casing 16 to move closer to the axes of the wheels 10-13, the cylinder : ;
47 pulling the articulated frame 21 inwardly to maintain the template 42 in contact with the guide bl~ck 45 in its inner posltion (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6) or with the guide roller 63 wh~Qh also is moved inwardly when the bell crank 70 :~
is swung downwardlyO
After this unusual step the template guide block 45 and the guide roller 63 automatically move to their outer normal position, The cylinder 47 either ~s deenergized or ~ts air controls reversed so that lt extends its rod 48 and pushes the articulated frame 21 outwardly to the limit of movement as determined by the engagement of the f loating pivot roller 51 with the outer end of th0 slot in the bifurcated guide plate 58.

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The action just described is illustrated in Fig. 20 where the template 42, floating pivot roller 51 and the casing 16 are all show~ in solid lines in their normal position and in broken lines in their inner position relative to the wheels 11-13, as may be re~uired to deal with an under-size casing or remove an lnjury or blemish which i8 not present in a usual caslng.
As c~n be best u~derstood by reference to Figo 12~
an apparatus according ~o the invention has an advantage which results from the retractible template guide block 45 and gulde roller 63. It ~s apparent that the casing 16 coul~ be moved along the lines of the template slide 33 by rotating the tread-ed shaft 38 in order to mo~e~the casing 16 closer to the wheels 10~13 when necessary. However, if thls were done, the wheels .:
10-13 would have to be much wider so that they would extend over to the points where the side walls of ~he casing 16 could be brought into engagement. By moving the template guide block 45 and guide roller 63 as describe~ the wheels can be narrow and all sur~aces of the casing 16 be cut more deeply than normal if necessaryO

~2~_

Claims (12)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a tire buffing apparatus including in combination:
a housing movable frame means supported with respect to said housing said movable frame means adapted to receive and mount a tire casing for rotation on a normal axis, said axis of rotation of said tire casing being movable within a plane, a texturizing wheel and one finishing wheel on each side of said texturizing wheel, said wheels being rotatably mounted on said housing on an axis substantially within the plane of the axis of rotation of the tire casing.
cam means mounted to said housing, said cam means corresponding to the shape of said texturizing and said finishing wheels, linear guide means mounted to an extending out-wardly from said housing and lying in a plane which bisects and is perpendicular to the rotational axis of the said texturizing wheel, template guide means mounted to said movable frame, said template guide means corresponding to the desired profile of a buffed tire casing, and cooperating means mounted to said movable frame and engageable with said linear guide means wherein the movement of said movable frame engages said template guide means with said cam means while said cooperating means and said linear guide means maintains a predetermined point which is substantially on the bisector of the tire casing perpendicular to the axis of the rotation of the tire casing on a line in a plane which bisects and is perpendicular to the rotational axis for said texturizing wheel and substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said wheel thereby permitting engagement of said texturizing wheel with the crown of the tire casing and permitting engagement of said finishing wheels with pre-determined portions of the sidewalls of the tire casing.

2. The tire buffing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 further including actuating means for moving said template guide means and said movable frame in a direction normal to the axis of said wheels, whereby the tire casing may be moved radially closer to said texturizing wheel and said finishing wheels during the buffing operation.

3. The tire buffing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 further including a rough cutting wheel mounted adjacent said texturizing wheel and said finishing wheels, said rough cutting wheel being rotatably mounted on said housing on said axis substantially within the plane of the axis rotation of the tire casing and cam roller means mounted to said housing and corresponding to the shape of said rough cutting wheel.

4. The tire buffing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 further including means for urging said movable frame and said template guide means towards said cam means mounted on said housing for maintaining said template guide means in contact with said cam means.

5. The tire buffing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 further including indicator means on said movable frame for positioning said template guide means relative to the axis of said casing rim according to the outside diameter of said tire casing being buffed.

6. The tire buffing apparatus in accordance with claim 3 further including resilient means on said housing for moving said movable frame and said tire casing thereon in a direction parallel to the axis of said rough cutting and said texturizing and finishing wheels for predeterminely positioning said casing for selective engagement with one of said cutting wheel or said texturizing and finishing wheels.

7. The tire buffing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said texturizing and said finishing wheels are mounted to a motor driven spindle rotatably journaled to said housing.

8. The tire buffing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said cooperating means includes a pivot member adjustably mounted on said movable frame and movable along said linear guide means.

9. The tire buffing apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said frame means is an articulated frame.

10. A method of completely buffing a tire carcass including the steps of:
mounting a tire casing on a motor driven spindle attached to a movable frame for rotation thereof, said movable frame supported with respect to a housing, said housing including a cam corresponding to the shape of a texturizing wheel and a finishing wheel on each side of said texturizing wheel, all of said wheels rotatably mounted on said housing on an axis substantially within the plane of the axis of rotation of said tire casing, selecting template guide means corresponding to the desired profile of a buffed tire casing and mounting the same to said movable frame, and engaging said template guide means with said cam, maintaining a predetermined point which is substantially on the bisector of said tire casing perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said tire casing on a line in a plane which bisects and is perpendicular to the rotational axis of said texturizing wheel and substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said wheel thereby texturizing the crown of said tire casing and finishing predetermined portions of the sidewalls of said tire casing.

11. The method in accordance with claim 10 further including the step of moving said cam with respect to said wheels thereby overriding the limiting position of said template guide means.

12. The method in accordance with claim 10 further including the steps of shifting the movable frame and engaging the template guide means with a cam roller corresponding to the shape of a rough cutting wheel rotatably mounted on said housing on said axis substantially within the plane of the axis of rotation of the tire casing to permit the rough cutting wheel to engage the tire carcass.