JP2007190808A - Method and apparatus of cooling vulcanized tire - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and an apparatus of cooling a vulcanized tire which permit further shortening a post-cure time and uniformizing a quality of each part. <P>SOLUTION: The method of cooling the vulcanized tire using a post-cure inflator is characterized by cooling by means of contacting metal cooling bodies 6, 7 to an inner face and/or an outer face of the vulcanized tire T fitted with rims to a pair of support plates 3 of the post-cure inflator 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for cooling a vulcanized tire, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for cooling a vulcanized tire that can shorten post-curing time and uniform quality.

  In a pneumatic tire manufacturing process, a vulcanized tire that has been vulcanized and removed from a vulcanization mold may be naturally cooled, and the organic fiber cord of the tire member may shrink and the tire shape may be deformed. There is. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the vulcanized tire is attached to a post-cure inflator and is subjected to a post-cure inflation process in which the vulcanized tire is inflated and naturally cooled.

  However, in the conventional post-cure inflation process, the cooling rate is slow, and it takes a long time to cool down to a predetermined temperature or less, and the productivity is low, and the air inside the vulcanized tire moves up and down over time. The temperature difference between the parts causes a difference in the degree of vulcanization, and there is a problem that uniform quality cannot be obtained.

As a countermeasure against the above-described problem, Patent Document 1 proposes a method of cooling by bringing a rubber bladder filled with a cooling medium into contact with an inner surface of a tire. However, since the rubber bladder has a low thermal conductivity, the shortening of the cooling time and the uniform quality of each part of the tire are not always sufficient, and further improvement is necessary.
JP 2003-320538 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for cooling a vulcanized tire that can further shorten the post-curing time of the vulcanized tire and make the quality of each part uniform.

  In order to achieve the above object, a method for cooling a vulcanized tire according to the present invention is a method for cooling a vulcanized tire in which the vulcanized tire is cooled using a post-cure inflator. Alternatively, cooling is performed by bringing a metal cooling body into contact with the outer surface.

  The vulcanized tire cooling device of the present invention is a post-cure inflator having a pair of support plates for assembling a vulcanized tire with a rim, the inner surface of the vulcanized tire assembled with the support plate, The metal cooling body is arrange | positioned on the outer surface.

  The method and apparatus for cooling a vulcanized tire according to the present invention cools a metal cooling body in contact with the inner surface and / or outer surface of a vulcanized tire set in a post-cure inflator. The heat absorption and cooling by the body can increase the cooling rate, shorten the cooling time, and uniformly cool each part of the tire to reduce the difference in the degree of vulcanization.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view in the tire meridian direction schematically showing a post-cure inflator for carrying out the method for cooling a vulcanized tire of the present invention.

  The post-cure inflator 2 has disk-like support plates 3 at both upper and lower ends of the central shaft 1, and a rim 4 is formed on the outer periphery of the support plate 3. The vulcanized tire T is assembled on the rim 4 of the support plate 3 and filled with compressed air from the gas supply port 5 provided on the central shaft 1 so that the vulcanized tire T is inflated. ing.

  An inner metal cooling body 6 and an outer metal cooling body 7 are provided on the inner cavity and the outer side of the rim-set vulcanized tire T, respectively. It is divided into a cooling part 7t facing the tread of the vulcanized tire T and a cooling part 7s facing the sidewall. These inner and outer metal cooling bodies 6 and 7 are each divided into a plurality of blocks along the circumferential direction of the vulcanized tire T.

  Of these, the inner metal cooling body 6 is reciprocated in the tire radial direction by an expansion / contraction means comprising a pantograph mechanism, and the outer metal cooling body 7 is similarly moved by a moving means (not shown) to In addition to reciprocating in the tire radial direction, the cooling portion 7s reciprocates in the direction perpendicular to the tire radial direction so as to contact or separate from the inner and outer surfaces of the vulcanized tire T, respectively. It has become.

  The inner metal cooling body 6 and the outer metal cooling body 7 are provided with jackets 8 and 9 inside. A supply pipe 10 such as a rubber tube is connected to the jackets 8 and 9, and the cooling medium circulates in the jackets 8 and 9 through the supply pipes 10.

  The post-cure inflation process (cooling process) of the vulcanized tire T by the post-cure inflator 2 described above can be performed as follows.

  First, the vulcanized tire T vulcanized in the vulcanization process is assembled on the support plate 2 and inflated with compressed air supplied from the gas supply port 5. At the same time, the inner metal cooling body 6 and the outer metal cooling body 7 are moved to contact the inner and outer surfaces of the vulcanized tire T, respectively, and a cooling medium is applied to these metal cooling bodies 6 and 7. The vulcanized tire T is cooled by circulating it. In this cooling process, since the metal cooling bodies 6 and 7 have high thermal conductivity, heat exchange with the vulcanized tire T is fast, and the cooling time to a predetermined temperature can be shortened. Moreover, since each part of the tire is uniformly cooled, the difference in the degree of vulcanization can be reduced, and the tire can be made excellent in quality.

  In the present invention, the metal material constituting the metal cooling body is not particularly limited because a metal generally has a high thermal conductivity. For example, iron, aluminum, copper, etc. can be mentioned. Of these, copper and its alloys are preferred materials because they have a higher thermal conductivity than other metals.

  The metal cooling body is preferably disposed on both the inner surface side and the outer surface side of the vulcanized tire as in the above embodiment, but only one of them may be provided. Further, it is preferable that the cooling medium is circulated in the metal cooling body as in the embodiment, but only the metal cooling body may be contacted without circulating the cooling medium.

  When circulating the cooling medium, the set temperature of the cooling medium is preferably in the range of 40 to 100 ° C, more preferably in the range of 40 to 80 ° C. If the set temperature of the cooling medium is less than 40 ° C., the temperature of the tire will drop too quickly and the vulcanization reaction in the post cure inflator process will be insufficient, and if the set temperature exceeds 100 ° C., the cooling efficiency will be lowered and the post cure inflator The tire temperature in the process is not sufficiently low, which is not preferable. For controlling the temperature of the cooling medium, known means and methods can be used.

  The kind of the cooling medium is not particularly limited, and a known cooling medium can be used. For example, water, an organic medium, or an inorganic medium can be used. Examples of the organic medium include glycols such as ethylene glycol, and examples of the inorganic medium include calcium chloride and ammonia. Further, a mixture of water and an organic medium and / or an inorganic medium may be used as a cooling medium.

  For the cooling medium used in the present invention, for example, calcium chloride is preferably mixed with water. Since calcium chloride has a high heat capacity, the cooling efficiency can be improved by blending it. The concentration of calcium chloride is preferably 10 to 35% by weight.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to examples, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereby.

  As the post-cure inflator, the device shown in FIG. 1 (example) and the device shown in FIG. 2 (conventional example) are respectively used. After vulcanizing a pneumatic tire of tire size 215 / 45R17, the vulcanized tire is It was cooled. In the examples, water was used as a cooling medium and the set temperature was controlled at 60 ° C.

  In the cooling process, as a result of measuring the time required for the temperature of the belt cover portion of the vulcanized tire to be cooled from the initial temperature of 160 ° C. to 100 ° C., the cooling time of the example is half of the cooling time of the conventional example. there were.

  Further, the temperature of the left and right ends of the belt portion of the pneumatic tire after cooling was measured, the equivalent vulcanization degree was calculated from the Arrhenius equation obtained in advance, and the difference in the vulcanization degree between the belt portion both ends was calculated. However, the difference in the degree of vulcanization at both ends of the pneumatic tire of the example was one-tenth of the difference in the degree of vulcanization in the pneumatic tire of the conventional example.

It is sectional drawing of the tire meridian direction which shows typically an example of the post-cure inflator used for the cooling method of the vulcanized tire of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the tire meridian direction which shows the conventional post-cure inflator typically.

Explanation of symbols

T vulcanized tire 1 central shaft 2 post-cure inflator 3 support plate 4 rim 5 gas supply port 6 inner metal cooling body 7 outer metal cooling body 7s, 7t cooling section 8, 9 jacket 10 supply pipe

Claims (7)

In the method for cooling a vulcanized tire in which the vulcanized tire is cooled using a post-cure inflator,
A cooling method for a vulcanized tire in which a metal cooling body is brought into contact with an inner surface and / or an outer surface of the vulcanized tire for cooling.   The method for cooling a vulcanized tire according to claim 1, wherein a cooling medium is circulated through the metal cooling body.   The method for cooling a vulcanized tire according to claim 2, wherein a temperature of the cooling medium is controlled within a range of 40 to 100 ° C.   The method for cooling a vulcanized tire according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the cooling medium is cooling water containing calcium chloride.   A post-cure inflator having a pair of support plates for assembling a vulcanized tire with a rim, and a vulcanized product in which a metal cooling body is arranged on the inner surface and / or outer surface of the vulcanized tire assembled on the support plate. Tire cooling device.   The cooling of the vulcanized tire according to claim 5, wherein the metal cooling body is divided into a plurality of blocks along a circumferential direction of the vulcanized tire and is movable in a radial direction of the vulcanized tire. apparatus.   The vulcanized tire cooling device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein a jacket for circulating a cooling medium is provided on the metallic cooling body.

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