JP2016019938A - Tire line coater and tire line coating method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tire line coating technology which has no risk of causing trouble that an ink cannot be fed, the intrusion of air into a marker, and the deterioration of productivity accompanied by the washing of a worker.SOLUTION: A tire line coater which applies the marking of a line by continuously coating an ink on a surface of a tire material while transferring the tire material which is extrusion-processed comprises: an ink feed tank in which the ink is accommodated; a marker which marks the line on the surface of the tire material; and a pump which pressure-sends the ink supplied from the ink feed tank to the marker. A tube pump is used as the pump, and an accumulator which absorbs a pressure variation of the ink which is generated by the pulsation of the tube pump is arranged at a transfer passage which connects the pump and the marker.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a tire line coating apparatus and a tire line coating method for marking material identification markings on the surface of a tire material extruded from an extruder.

  In the tire manufacturing process, a tire material such as a tread rubber extruded from a molding machine is conveyed, and a marker (coating gun) is used to continuously mark the identification line with ink on the surface. Generally performed (for example, Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of an example of a conventional tire line coating apparatus (hereinafter also simply referred to as “line coating apparatus”) used for this marking. As shown in FIG. 3, a conventional line coating apparatus 31 includes an ink replenishing tank 32 that contains ink, a pump 33 that pumps ink from the ink replenishing tank 32, and tires that apply ink for marking the line A1. A marker 34 to be applied to the surface of the material A, a switching valve 36 (electromagnetic valve) for switching the supply destination of ink pumped from the pump 33, and a pipe 35 for transporting ink are provided.

JP 2009-184218 A

  However, the conventional line coating apparatus has the following problems.

  That is, in the conventional line coating apparatus, since it is necessary to perform marking of a uniform line with a constant narrow width, a diaphragm type pump with a small ink flow rate and small pulsation has been adopted. However, due to the principle of this diaphragm pump, foreign matter (ink residue and solid matter) easily enters the ink, and this foreign matter adheres to the diaphragm, causing a problem that ink cannot be sent suddenly. .

  Next, the marker has a through-hole that allows ink to pass through. However, because the surface tension of the ink accumulated in this through-hole is weak, when the marker is not in use, it touches the peripheral equipment or people touch it by mistake. In such a case, the ink may drip from the ejection port of the marker due to the impact or vibration, and air may enter the marker. In this case, the ink is not ejected until the air is discharged at the next use, and a defective product (reject) may occur.

  Also, ink may solidify inside the marker, and in that case, it is necessary for the operator to clean the inside from the discharge port at the tip of the marker using a thin stick, which causes a decrease in productivity. It was.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a tire line coating technique that does not cause a trouble that ink cannot be sent, intrusion of air into the marker, and a decrease in productivity due to cleaning by an operator.

  The inventor has intensively studied to solve the above problems, and found that the above problems can be solved by the invention described below, and has completed the present invention.

The invention described in claim 1
A tire line coating device that applies line marking by continuously applying ink to the surface of a tire while conveying the extruded tire material,
An ink supply tank containing the ink;
A marker for marking the line on the surface of the tire material;
A pump that pumps the ink supplied from the ink supply tank to the marker;
A tube pump is used as the pump,
The tire line coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an accumulator that absorbs pressure fluctuations of ink caused by pulsation of the tube pump is provided in a conveyance path that connects the pump and the marker.

The invention described in claim 2
The marker is
The torso,
A tip provided on one end side of the body part;
An ejection port that is formed at the tip of the tip and ejects the ink;
It has a through-hole that leads from the body part to the discharge port through the tip part,
2. The tire line coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a diameter of the discharge port is 0.8 to 3 mm, and a diameter of the through hole in the body portion is 0.8 to 4 mm.

The invention according to claim 3
The tire switching device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a switching valve capable of adjusting a switching speed is provided on a downstream side of the accumulator in a conveyance path connecting the pump and the marker. It is a line coating device.

The invention according to claim 4
A tire line coating method for continuously marking lines on the surface of an extruded tire material using the tire line coating apparatus according to claim 3,
During the operation of the pump, when the switching valve is switched to start the pumping of the ink from the pump to the marker, the switching operation of the switching valve is delayed until the pressure inside the accumulator rises. This is a tire line coating method.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the tire line coating technique which does not have a possibility of causing the trouble that ink cannot be sent, the penetration | invasion of the air into a marker inside, and the fall of productivity accompanying a worker's washing | cleaning can be provided.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a tire line coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which compares the marker of the conventional tire line coating apparatus with the marker of the tire line coating apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the conventional tire line coating apparatus.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments with reference to the drawings.

1. Basic Configuration FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a tire line coating apparatus according to the present embodiment. The basic configuration of the line coating apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is the same as that of a conventional line coating apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, an ink supply tank 2, an electromagnetic valve (an example of a switching valve) 4, , A pump TP, a marker 5, and tubular pipes 20-23. Hereinafter, the basic configuration of the line coating apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be specifically described.

  The ink supply tank 2 contains ink therein, and the outflow port 2 b is connected to the pump TP via the pipe 20. Further, the pump TP is connected to the ink supply tank 2 through the pipe 21, the electromagnetic valve 4, and the pipe 23, and is also connected to the marker 5 through the pipe 21, the electromagnetic valve 4, and the pipe 22.

  And the solenoid valve 4 has the inflow port 4a, the 1st outflow port 4b, and the 2nd outflow port 4c, and the outflow port of the pump TP is connected to the inflow port 4a via the piping 21, and the 1st flow The outlet 4 b is connected to the inlet 2 a of the ink supply tank 2 via a pipe 23, and the second outlet 4 c is connected to the inlet 5 a of the marker 5 via a pipe 22.

  At the time of marking, the ink fed from the pump TP is switched by switching the electromagnetic valve 4 so that the inlet 5a of the marker 5 passes through the pipes 21 and 22 as shown by arrows F4, F1 and F2 in FIG. The ink is discharged from the discharge port at the tip of the marker 5 and applied to the tire material A, and the marking of the line A1 is applied.

  On the other hand, when the marking is stopped, the pressure fed from the pump TP is returned to the ink supply tank 2 via the pipes 21 and 23 as shown by arrows F4, F1 and F3 in FIG. Then, the ink circulates in the order of ink replenishment tank 2 → pump TP → ink replenishment tank 2 → pump TP.

2. As described above, the basic configuration of the line coating apparatus of the present embodiment is the same as that of the conventional line coating apparatus. However, as described above, in the conventional line coating apparatus, (1) Troubles that ink could not be sent, (2) intrusion of air into the marker, and (3) a decrease in productivity due to worker washing. The line coating apparatus according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the above-described problems are solved by the following configurations.

(1) Solution of “Trouble that Ink Can Not Be Sent” In the line coating apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, a tube pump is used as the pump TP in order to solve “Trouble that Ink Can Not Be Sent”. Specifically, the tube TP1 of the tube pump is connected to the pipes 20 and 21 by the outer diameter conversion joint J.

  Since the tube pump is configured to squeeze the elastic tube TP1 with a roller and pressure-feed the ink in the tube TP1, the tube pump is more resistant to foreign matter mixing than the conventional diaphragm pump and cannot feed ink. Can solve the problem.

  However, on the other hand, the tube pump has the property that the pulsation is large, and it is difficult to mark a uniform line with a constant narrow width.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, an accumulator (pulsation preventer) that absorbs ink pressure fluctuations in the transport path caused by large pulsations of the pump TP is further transported to the transport path connecting the pump TP and the marker 5. 3 is provided.

  Specifically, the accumulator 3 is connected to the pipe 21 as the above-described transport path. As a result, the pressure of the ink inside the pipe 21 can be kept substantially constant, and even if a tube pump with a large pulsation is adopted as the pump TP, the pressure fluctuation of the ink inside the pipe 21 due to the pulsation is suppressed. Thus, it is possible to suppress a variation in the amount of ink discharged from the discharge port at the tip of the marker 5 and to mark a uniform line with a constant narrow width.

  Thus, in this Embodiment, the tube pump strong against mixing of a foreign material is used as the pump TP, and the accumulator 3 is installed in order to suppress the pulsation of this tube pump. As a result, it is possible to perform uniform line marking with a constant narrow width while preventing the trouble that ink cannot be fed.

  Such an accumulator 3 is produced by branching the pipe with cheese T, providing a tube having an inner diameter of 4 mm, an outer diameter of 6 mm, and a length of about 150 to 300 mm at the branch destination, and providing a plug P (mekura) at the tip of the tube. can do. It is preferable that the accumulator 3 is always installed upward because the ink enters the interior when the accumulator 3 is directed downward. In the above description, the length of the tube is set to about 150 to 300 mm, but the pulsation preventing function is reduced as the length is shortened, and is increased as the length is increased.

(2) Solution of “intrusion of air into the marker” In order to prevent the above-mentioned “intrusion of air into the marker”, the diameter of the through hole in the body portion of the marker is made thinner than before. Hereinafter, description will be made based on FIG. 2 while comparing with a conventional marker.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view comparing a conventional marker with a marker used in the tire line coating apparatus according to the present embodiment, where (a) is a marker of the conventional line coating apparatus, and (b) is the present embodiment. The marker of the line coating apparatus which concerns on this form is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 2, each of the markers 5 and 34 has cylindrical body portions 52 and 34a and conical tip portions 54 and 34c. Discharge ports 56 and 34d for discharging ink are formed at the tip portions 54 and 34c. In addition, through holes 53 and 34b that are tapered toward the discharge ports 56 and 34d are provided in the body portions 52 and 34a and the tip portions 54 and 34c of the markers 5 and 34, respectively.

  Here, in the conventional marker 34 shown in FIG. 2A, since the surface tension of the ink accumulated in the through hole 34b is weak, the marker 34 hits the peripheral equipment when not in use or the person touches it by mistake. Due to the impact and vibration of the ink, the ink drips from the discharge port 34d, and air easily enters the marker 34 and accumulates.

  On the other hand, in the marker 5 shown in FIG. 2B, the diameter of the through hole 53 in the body portion 52 is set to be smaller than the diameter of the through hole 34b of the conventional marker 34. The surface tension of the ink accumulated in the holes 53 becomes larger than before.

  As a result, even if an impact or vibration is applied to the marker 5, it is difficult for the ink to drip from the ejection port 56, and it is possible to prevent air from entering and collecting inside the marker 5. And the occurrence of defective products can be prevented appropriately.

  In addition, in FIG.2 (b), although the diameter of the through-hole 53 in the trunk | drum 52 is 2 mm, it should just be 0.8-4 mm. In FIG. 2B, the diameter of the ejection port 56 is 1 mm in consideration of the thickness of the ink and the ejection amount, but it may be 0.8 to 3 mm. However, the diameter of the through hole is set to be larger than the diameter of the discharge port.

(3) Solution of “Degradation of productivity due to worker cleaning” Next, in order to prevent “Degradation of productivity due to worker cleaning”, the solenoid valve is used in the above-described stoppage of marking and switching of execution. The switching operation by 4 is delayed. As a result, a large amount of ink can be temporarily flowed to the marker 5 to clean (flush) the inside of the marker 5.

  Specifically, the solenoid valve 4 provided on the downstream side of the accumulator 3 is used as the solenoid valve 4 capable of adjusting the switching speed from the stop of the marking to the execution of the marking, and the switching operation by the solenoid valve 4 is performed. Is temporarily caused to cause no time for ink to flow into either the marker 5 or the ink supply tank 2.

  Even during this time period, the operation of the pump TP is continued, so that the pressure inside the accumulator 3 rises as the pressure inside the pipe 21 rises. In this state, when the electromagnetic valve 4 is switched to the marker 5, a large amount of ink temporarily flows to the marker 5 due to the increased pressure in the accumulator 3, so that the through hole and the discharge port inside the marker 5 are washed. The Thereby, an operator's washing | cleaning can be abbreviate | omitted and productivity can be improved.

1. Examples and Comparative Examples (1) Examples Marking was performed on the extruded tire material using the tire line coating apparatus according to the present embodiment shown in FIG.

(2) Comparative Example As a comparative example, marking was performed on the tire material in the same manner as in the example using the conventional tire line coating apparatus shown in FIG.

(3) Difference between Example and Comparative Example Table 1 shows a configuration changed from the tire line coating apparatus used in the comparative example when marking the example.

  In Table 1, the main contents changed from the comparative example to the example are as follows.

(A) As a pump for pumping ink from the ink replenishing tank, a tube pump which is resistant to foreign matters and causes less trouble that ink cannot be fed is used.

(B) Since the tube pump has a large pulsation, an accumulator was installed in the pipe between the pump and the solenoid valve so that the pulsation can be absorbed.

(C) In order to increase the surface tension of the ink accumulated in the through hole of the marker, the diameter of the through hole of the marker was changed from 6 mm of the conventional marker to 2 mm (see FIG. 2). The diameter of the discharge port at the tip of the marker was 1 mm as in the conventional case.

(D) Using an electromagnetic valve that can adjust the switching speed so that the solenoid valve can be switched slowly in the stop and execution of marking, a time zone in which ink does not flow is generated for 4 to 10 seconds, and the accumulator The internal pressure was increased.

2. Evaluation Evaluation was made on the influence of foreign matter mixed in the ink in the marking, the dripping of the ink from the marker outlet, and the necessity of the cleaning operation of the marker outlet. The evaluation results are shown below.

(A) In the embodiment, the use of a tube pump that is strong against foreign matter mixing as a pump for pumping ink appropriately prevents occurrence of trouble that prevents ink from being fed due to foreign matter mixed in the ink. Was confirmed.

(B) Further, by arranging an accumulator capable of absorbing pulsation in the pipe between the pump and the electromagnetic valve, the pressure fluctuation of the ink inside the pipe accompanying the large pulsation of the tube pump is suppressed, and the marker It has been confirmed that uniform line marking can be performed with a constant narrow width while suppressing fluctuations in the amount of ink discharged from the nozzles.

(C) Also, by setting the diameter of the through hole of the marker to 2 mm, which is smaller than the conventional one, the surface tension of the ink accumulated in the through hole is increased, and the ink is prevented from dripping from the discharge port of the marker. It was confirmed that air could be prevented from entering the through hole of the marker.

(D) When switching between the stop and execution of marking, the operation of the solenoid valve can be slowed and switched slowly, so that a large amount of ink is temporarily supplied to the marker at a high pressure, and the flushing effect As a result, the inside of the marker can be cleaned, and it has been confirmed that the conventional manual cleaning operation becomes unnecessary.

  While the present invention has been described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various modifications can be made to the above-described embodiment within the same and equivalent scope as the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,31 Tire line coating device 2,32 Ink supply tank 2a Inlet port of ink supply tank 2b Outlet port of ink supply tank 3 Accumulator 4 Solenoid valve 4a Inlet port of solenoid valve 4b First outlet port of solenoid valve 4c Electromagnetic Valve second outlet 5, 34 Marker 5a Marker inlet 20-23, 35 Piping 33, TP pump 34a, 52 Body 34b, 53 Through hole 34c, 54 Tip 34d, 56 Discharge port 36 Switching valve A Tire Material A1 Line F1 to F4 Arrows indicating ink flow direction J Outer diameter conversion joint P Plug T Cheese TP1 Tube

Claims (4)

A tire line coating device that applies line marking by continuously applying ink to the surface of a tire while conveying the extruded tire material,
An ink supply tank containing the ink;
A marker for marking the line on the surface of the tire material;
A pump that pumps the ink supplied from the ink supply tank to the marker;
A tube pump is used as the pump,
A tire line coating apparatus, wherein an accumulator that absorbs pressure fluctuations of ink caused by pulsation of the tube pump is provided in a conveyance path that connects the pump and the marker. The marker is
The torso,
A tip provided on one end side of the body part;
An ejection port that is formed at the tip of the tip and ejects the ink;
It has a through-hole that leads from the body part to the discharge port through the tip part,
2. The tire line coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a diameter of the discharge port is 0.8 to 3 mm, and a diameter of the through hole in the body portion is 0.8 to 4 mm.   The tire switching device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a switching valve capable of adjusting a switching speed is provided on a downstream side of the accumulator in a conveyance path connecting the pump and the marker. Line coating device. A tire line coating method for continuously marking lines on the surface of an extruded tire material using the tire line coating apparatus according to claim 3,
During the operation of the pump, when the switching valve is switched to start the pumping of the ink from the pump to the marker, the switching operation of the switching valve is delayed until the pressure inside the accumulator rises. A tire line coating method.

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