JP2003145601A - Method for producing rubber member - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for producing a rubber member which materializes desired properties form a plurality kinds of rubber compositions and an apparatus for the method. SOLUTION: In the method for producing a rubber article, the rubber compositions of different kinds are taken out from storage tanks storing the compositions, and after the compositions are extruded by an extruder while being kneaded, the extruded material is wound on a rotating support. The apparatus for producing the rubber article has the support, the extruder connected to the support, and the storage tanks connected to the extruder.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a rubber member, and more specifically, it takes out a rubber composition from each of a plurality of storage tanks containing two or more kinds of rubber compositions. The present invention relates to a method and a manufacturing apparatus in which a rubber member is extruded while kneading, and the extruded rubber composition is wound on a rotary support to form a rubber member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a composite having various rubbers requires a step of laminating various unvulcanized rubber members before vulcanization of the composite during manufacturing. When this composite is a pneumatic tire (hereinafter referred to as a tire), the tire includes a reinforcing member made of organic fiber or steel cord, and various rubber members. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare an unvulcanized tire in which an unvulcanized rubber member and a reinforcing member such as a cord are bonded to each other in a molding step before vulcanizing the tire.

However, today, the performance requirements for rubber composites including tires are becoming more sophisticated and diversifying. Therefore, the molding process is inevitably complicated and still requires manual work. However, if a manual process is performed in the molding process, the molding efficiency cannot be significantly improved, and the accuracy of sticking various materials is also reduced. In particular, in the case of a tire, the quality of the sticking influences the quality of the tire, and therefore it is strongly desired to improve the sticking accuracy as well as the molding efficiency.

Therefore, in order to meet these demands, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-94155, an outlet orifice of a constant volume extruder is positioned near a position where a rubber member is arranged on a rotating support, and a constant volume extruder is provided. It proposes a method and apparatus for directly extruding a rubber composition onto a support from an extruder via an exit orifice. Further, in JP-A-2000-79643, a plurality of unvulcanized rubber compositions are extruded by one extruder, the rubber compositions are directly extruded on a support while being mixed, and the physical property difference between the rubber compositions is increased. A method and an apparatus for eliminating the above are proposed. According to this method, it becomes possible to mold the rubber member while extruding it with only a small extruder.

On the other hand, as the market demands for rubber composites have diversified, even if the kind of rubber composition prepared in the factory is tread rubber alone, for example, tires produced in the factory Depending on the species, it may range from a dozen types to a few dozen types. Therefore, management of the rubber composition and securing of a large storage space have become a big problem.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to reduce the number of rubber compositions to be used, and to solve the problems such as management of the rubber composition and securing of a wide storage space, to obtain desired physical properties of several rubber compositions. An object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus for a rubber member that can be realized from an object.

[0007]

Means for solving the above-mentioned problems are as follows. That is, (1) A predetermined amount of a rubber composition is taken out from each of a plurality of storage tanks containing different kinds of rubber compositions, extruded by an extruder while kneading these, and then the extruded product is rotated on a support. The method for manufacturing a rubber member is characterized in that the rubber member is wound. (2) The method for producing a rubber member according to (1), wherein the rubber composition is taken out at a predetermined ratio according to the type and application of the rubber member. (3) The method for producing a rubber member according to (1), wherein the rubber composition is taken out while changing the taken-out amount. (4) The method for producing a rubber member according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the extruded rubber composition is spirally wound on a support.

(5) A rubber member manufacturing apparatus having a rotating support, an extruder connected to the support, and a plurality of storage tanks connected to the extruder. (6) The rubber member manufacturing apparatus according to (5), further including a rubber composition supply device that adjusts an outflow amount of the rubber composition from each of the storage tanks. (7) The rubber member manufacturing apparatus as described in (5) or (6) above, further comprising a computer control means capable of calculating blending of different rubber compositions according to desired performance.

(8) The manufacturing method according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the rubber member is tread rubber. (9) The manufacturing apparatus according to any one of (5) to (7), wherein the rubber member is tread rubber.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below.
Conventionally, it has been common sense to manufacture a large number of tires with the same specifications, and large equipment and factories have been required. In such a situation, even if the performance required for tires has diversified, it was possible to prepare a large number of rubber compositions corresponding to each of them and store them in space. However, the trend in the world is becoming a situation in which, along with the diversification of the required performance, it is necessary to consider the production in a place near the consumption place with a small facility, and the present invention takes this situation into consideration.

Conventional rubber members such as tread rubber members are
A large roll or a large extruder was used to extrude a product having a predetermined cross-sectional shape in advance, and the extruded rubber member was attached in the molding step. In contrast, Japanese Examined Patent Publication 7-9415
According to the molding method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-79643, the rubber member can be molded while being extruded with only a small extruder. However, in the contents disclosed in these publications, as the required performance of each tire is diversifying, it is necessary to stock dozens of types of rubber compositions to meet the diversification, which is a problem. there were.

In the present invention, a predetermined amount of a rubber composition is taken out from each of a plurality of storage tanks containing two or more different kinds of rubber compositions, and then the rubber compositions are extruded by an extruder while being kneaded. A rubber member is manufactured by winding the extrudate on a rotating support. Here, as the winding method, spiral winding is preferable.

The ratio of different rubber compositions taken out from a plurality of storage tanks is set to a predetermined ratio according to the kind and application of the intended rubber member, the compositions are taken out at the ratios, and these are kneaded. While extruding with an extruder, the extrudate is wound on a support to obtain a rubber member having predetermined physical properties.

On the other hand, when the ratio of different rubber compositions is changed during taking out from the storage tank, the compounding ratio of the rubber composition changes depending on the partial parts in the same member. Therefore, using a small number of rubber compositions, It is possible to achieve subtle changes in physical properties due to parts within the same rubber member. For example, when the required physical properties differ between the central region and the shoulder region of the tread,
By using such a rubber member, these physical properties can be easily exhibited.

Examples of rubber members to which the method and apparatus for manufacturing a rubber member of the present invention can be applied include tire members such as tread rubber and side rubber, but the present invention is not limited to these tire members, and composites containing other rubbers. Can adapt to the body. For example, even if only the tread rubber is taken, the required performance varies depending on the application of the tire used, the tire structure, and the tread pattern, but the present invention responds to these differences in required performance with a small number of rubber compositions. be able to.

As the rubber composition specialized for performance that can be used in the present invention, a rubber composition having a composition for low fuel consumption,
Examples thereof include a rubber composition having a composition for improving steering performance, and a rubber composition having a composition having excellent abrasion resistance. In order to specialize the performance of these rubber compositions, raw material rubbers, fillers, softening agents, vulcanizing agents, vulcanization accelerators, antioxidants, etc. have been selected and compounded in advance according to the desired performance. It is a thing. In the present invention, a rubber member having desired characteristics is manufactured by using at least two kinds of rubber compositions specialized in these properties.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the rubber member manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the support 1 is attached to a shaft 1a which is rotated by the drive of a rotary drive source (not shown). The support 1 is a molding drum, a molding intermediate body in which some unvulcanized rubber members, unvulcanized rubber-coated cords, and the like are wound around the molding drum, a retreading tire, and the like. The support 1 has a surface around which the unvulcanized rubber member is wound.

The extruder 2 is arranged so that the rubber member supply portion 2a of the extruder 2 is located near the surface of the support 1.
Here, the rubber member manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is a combined apparatus of the support 1 and the extruder 2. The supply unit 2a includes both a case where a normal extrusion die is provided and a case where a pair of upper and lower roller dies are provided instead of the extrusion die. Examples of the shape of the rubber member extruded from the supply unit 2a include a sheet shape, a ribbon shape, and a string shape.

The extruder 2 is a storage tank 3 for individually storing two or more types, in the illustrated example, three types of unvulcanized rubber compositions A, B and C.
a, 3b, 3c. Also, the rubber composition storage tank 3
Each of a, 3b, and 3c includes a rubber composition supply device 4 that individually adjusts the supply amounts of the rubber compositions A, B, and C.
The rubber compositions A, B and C that have passed through the rubber composition supply device 4 are
It is put into the main body of the extruder 2 through a hopper or a feeder 5.

In the present invention, the rubber composition storage tanks 3a, 3
Different rubber compositions A, B, whose performance is specialized in b, 3c,
By adding C to each and controlling the supply amount of each rubber composition by the rubber composition supply device 4 so that the composition is suitable for the desired performance, a pre-vulcanized rubber member having the desired performance is manufactured. To do. The extruder in the illustrated example has three storage layers, but the number of storage layers is not limited to this.
Having two or more storage layers can achieve the object of the present invention.

Further, the rubber composition supply device 4 may further include a computer control means 6 capable of calculating the blending of different rubber compositions according to desired performance. The computer control means 6 controls the timing of charging the rubber composition and the timing of stopping the charging of the rubber composition according to the replacement of the support. Further, the computer control means 6 can control the outflow ratio from the rubber composition supply device 4 according to the use / purpose of the support. Furthermore, the computer control means 6 can change the outflow ratio from the rubber composition supply device 4 within the same member to change the physical properties depending on the partial portions within the same member.

The extruder 2 also has a linear moving mechanism 7. The linear movement mechanism 7 linearly moves the extruder 2 along the central axis X of the rotation shaft 1a of the support 1. This move is
For example, a strip-shaped rubber member supplied from the supply unit 2a is sequentially wound around the winding surface of the support 1 in a spiral shape. Further, instead of the linear moving mechanism 7, the support 1 may include a linear moving mechanism (not shown).

Further, when the winding surface of the support 1 is a curved surface having a large curvature, the extruder 2 includes the linear moving mechanism 7
In addition, a turning movement mechanism (not shown) is provided. The turning movement mechanism turns the tip of the supply unit 2 a along the winding curved surface of the support 1.

The rubber member manufacturing apparatus of the present invention has a guide roller 8 in front of the feeding section 2a of the extruder 2. The guide roller 8 guides the strip-shaped rubber supplied from the supply unit 2a to a predetermined position on the winding surface of the rotating support 1.

[0026]

The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples, but the scope of the present invention is not limited by these examples.

Examples 1 to 4 According to the formulations shown in Table 1, rubber members used for electric vehicle tires, general vehicle tires, sporty vehicle tires, and circuit running tires were manufactured. For the production, the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 was used, and as the rubber composition, a rubber composition A (for low fuel consumption) and a rubber composition B (for steering performance) were used. Since two rubber compositions were used in Examples 1 to 4, the rubber composition A was added to the rubber composition storage layer 3a, and the rubber composition B was added to the rubber composition storage layer 3b. No rubber composition was added to the composition storage layer 3c.

After charging the rubber composition, the rubber composition supply device 4 controls the supply ratios of the rubber composition A and the rubber composition B so that the compounding ratios shown in Table 1 are obtained. A rubber member in which the rubber composition A and the rubber composition B were mixed at a predetermined ratio was extruded on the surface of the support 1. The extruded rubber member was guided by the guide roller 7 to a predetermined position on the winding surface of the rotating support 1.

[0029]

[Table 1]

According to Example 1, a rubber member used for an electric vehicle tire with emphasis on low fuel consumption could be manufactured. According to the second embodiment, the rubber member used for the tire for a general vehicle in which both low fuel consumption and steering stability are balanced can be manufactured. According to Example 3, a rubber member used for a tire for sporty vehicles, which has low fuel consumption and emphasizes steering stability rather than that for general vehicles, could be manufactured. According to Example 4, a rubber member used for a tire for a circuit running vehicle, which emphasizes steering stability, could be manufactured.

Conventionally, four types of rubber compositions, that is, rubber compositions used for electric vehicle tires, general vehicle tires, sporty vehicle tires, and circuit running tires, are stored and managed, respectively, and rubber is manufactured each time. Although the composition had to be replaced according to the purpose, according to Examples 1 to 4, the rubber composition for fuel economy A and the rubber composition for steering performance B were replaced without replacing the rubber composition. It was possible to manufacture the rubber member used for the above-mentioned four kinds of tires with two kinds of rubber compositions, and it was possible to reduce the number of steps for managing the rubber composition and the storage space.

[0032]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The performance required for rubber members has been diversified depending on the use of rubber articles. However, by changing the way of thinking and blending rubber compositions with specialized blends, it is possible to handle many types of tires. It is possible to reduce the number of types of rubber composition required. This reduces the number of rubber composition management processes (such as vulcanization speed and guarantee of vulcanized rubber physical properties) and storage space for the rubber composition, and realizes a production system suitable for "small equipment and small factories". it can. Also,
With this system, rubber members such as tread rubber,
Since it can be manufactured with arbitrary performance, it is possible to realize manufacturing that is close to build-to-order manufacturing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a rubber member manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 support 1a rotating shaft 2 extruder 2a Supply section 3a, 3b, 3c Rubber storage tank 4 Rubber composition feeder 5 hopper (feeder) 6 Computer control means 7 Linear movement mechanism 8 guide rollers X center axis

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Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A rubber composition is taken out from each of a plurality of storage tanks containing different kinds of rubber compositions, extruded by an extruder while kneading these, and then the extruded product is wound on a rotating support. A method for manufacturing a rubber member, comprising: 2. The method for producing a rubber member according to claim 1, wherein the rubber composition is taken out at a predetermined ratio according to the type and application of the rubber member. 3. The method for producing a rubber member according to claim 1, wherein the rubber composition is taken out while changing the taken-out amount. 4. The method for producing a rubber member according to claim 1, wherein the extruded rubber composition is spirally wound on a support. 5. A rubber member manufacturing apparatus having a rotating support, an extruder connected to the support, and a plurality of storage tanks connected to the extruder. 6. The rubber member manufacturing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a rubber composition supply device for adjusting an outflow amount of the rubber composition from each of the storage tanks. 7. The rubber member manufacturing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a computer control means capable of calculating blending of different rubber compositions according to desired performance. 8. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the rubber member is tread rubber. 9. The manufacturing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the rubber member is tread rubber.