JP3281826B2 - Inflation unit - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transportable inflation unit having a bladder, which is used in both a tire forming step and a vulcanizing step.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a tire manufacturing technology in which a transportable inflation unit equipped with a bladder is used, and a green tire formed by a forming device is taken out of the forming device together with the inflation unit and supplied to a vulcanizing device. ing. This tire manufacturing technology is still used in the manufacture of large OTR (off-the-road) tires that use an autoclave to vulcanize the tires. However, in the manufacture of mass-produced tires for passenger cars, trucks, and buses, the tire manufacturing technology is used. The mainstream method is to take out only unvulcanized tires from the apparatus and transport and supply them to the vulcanizing apparatus.

[0003]

However, in the tire manufacturing technology, only the unvulcanized tire is taken out of the molding apparatus and is fed to the vulcanizing apparatus, and the tire is transported due to residual stress generated in the green tire during molding and the weight of the raw tire. Since the raw tire is deformed in the middle, particularly in the case of a radial tire having a large influence, it has become impossible to meet the recent demand for improvement in tire uniformity (tire uniformity). For this reason, the tire manufacturing technology for transporting raw tires together with the inflation unit has begun to be reviewed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object the purpose of the present invention is to produce tires of a mass-production size. It is to provide an inflation unit. The present invention also proposes another type of structure of a tire manufacturing unit used for assembling and vulcanizing a tire disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-314573.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention provides an unvulcanized tire including a step of expanding a cylindrically bonded tire component into a toroidal shape. One end of the bladder is sandwiched in an inflation unit equipped with a bladder, which is shared by a molding step and a vulcanization step of performing vulcanization by inserting a molded unvulcanized tire into a mold and heating the same. An outer shaft to which a gripper is fixed, and a middle shaft to which a gripper for holding the other end of the bladder is fixed, and which is slidably inserted in the outer shaft in the axial direction, are provided at one end of the outer shaft. While forming the locking claw, the center shaft is rotatably assembled with a claw flange having a claw that locks or passes with the locking claw of the outer shaft according to a rotation angle, and the claw flange is attached to the center shaft. From one end of the center shaft A rotating means for rotating the unvulcanized tire against the pressure of the pressure fluid introduced into the bladder by locking the locking claw of the outer shaft and the claw of the flange with the claw. It is configured to maintain.

[0006] The present invention has the following functions because of the above-mentioned means. (1) An empty inflation unit without a raw tire is suspended in a molding device, and the outer shaft and the central shaft are connected to a corresponding shaft having a driving means of the molding device. (2) After rotating the flange with the pawl to allow the pawl to pass through, the center shaft and the outer shaft are relatively moved in the axial direction, and the bladder is decompressed as necessary to extend the bladder. (3) Thereafter, a cylindrical carcass member is inserted, and a pressurized fluid is introduced into the bladder while bringing both bladder grips close to each other to form a raw tire member into a toroidal shape. I do. (4) After the molding of the green tire is completed, the internal pressure of the bladder is reduced to the pressure at the time of transportation, then the pressure fluid inlet valve of the inflation unit is closed, and the pawl flange is rotated in the reverse direction to engage the pawl. It can be stopped. (5) After disconnecting the molding device from the shaft, the inflation unit with green tires is lifted and transferred to the vulcanizing device. At this time, the action of expanding the space between the bladder gripping tools caused by the internal pressure of the bladder is prevented by the locking between the locking claw of the outer shaft and the claw of the flange with the claw, and the raw tire maintains the toroidal shape.

(6) When the mold in the vulcanizing apparatus is opened and the receiving state of the green tire to be next vulcanized is completed, the inflation unit with green tire is suspended on the center of the lower mold. (7) After the inflation unit with raw tires is mounted on the center of the lower mold, the heating / pressurizing medium pipe is brought into contact with the pressure fluid inlet valve and connected, and the valve is opened. Is closed, and a heating and pressurizing medium is introduced into the bladder, and the vulcanization process is started. (8) When a mold of a type capable of maintaining the mold in a closed state against a force for opening the mold generated by the action of the heating and pressurizing medium introduced into the bladder is used. Until the vulcanization step is completed, the vulcanization may be continued by moving the mold containing the tire and the inflation unit to another place. (9) When the vulcanization is completed, the heating / pressurizing medium in the bladder is discharged, and then the mold is opened by a known procedure, and the flange with the claw of the inflation unit is rotated so that both claws can pass. . Also, the outer shaft of the inflation unit is connected to the bead lift mechanism of the vulcanizer, and the center shaft is connected to the piston rod of the post cylinder of the vulcanizer. (10) When the mold is opened, the inflation unit is raised by the action of the bead lift mechanism to separate the tire from the lower mold. Subsequently, if necessary, a negative pressure is applied to the inside of the bladder, the central shaft is raised by the action of the post cylinder to extend the bladder, the bladder is pulled out from the tire, and the vulcanized tire is lifted out of the machine. Separately, a dedicated tire removal station is provided, the inflation unit with tire is moved to the station, then the flange with the claw of the inflation unit is rotated to extend and pull out the bladder so that it can pass through both claws. The vulcanized tire may be taken out. (11) When the removal of the vulcanized tire is completed, the center shaft is lowered so that the claws of the flange with claws can be locked, and the outer shaft and the bead-lift mechanism and other connections are released, and then an empty inflation unit is used. And transport it to the molding equipment. (12) By the above operation, the unvulcanized tire is supplied to the vulcanizing apparatus while forcibly maintaining the toroidal shape at the time of molding, and both the molding step and the vulcanizing step have the same procedure and the same as the conventional one. Can be processed in time.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an inflation unit according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. Here, FIG. 1 shows a state at the time of completion of molding of the raw tire T, wherein the inflation unit 1 including the bladder B is represented by a solid line, and components belonging to the molding apparatus 100 are represented by a two-dot chain line. The dashed line indicates a state where the bladder B of the inflation unit 1 is expanded.

1 and 2, reference numeral 2 denotes a circumferential groove 2
a of the inflation unit 1 on which the
Is a base flange, and the base flange 4 is fixed to the outer shaft 2 by bolting with a split ring 3 fitted in a circumferential groove 2 a of the outer shaft 2. Bladder B
Lower grasping tool G ₁ of the lower end of the bladder B is nipped fixed by bolting the retainer plate 6 to the flange 5 across the lower end of the bladder B between the flange 5 and the retainer plate 6, the flange 5 Is fixed to the outer shaft 2 via the base flange 4 by screwing it into the base flange 4. Note that, in the present embodiment, the lower bead ring 5a constituting a part of the mold is integrated with the flange 5 at the time of vulcanization and serves as one forming reference of the raw tire T at the time of molding.

Reference numeral 8 denotes an extended outer shaft having a plurality of locking claws 8a formed at an equal pitch in a circumferential direction outward of the upper end, and bolted to the upper end of the outer shaft 2; A central shaft slidably inserted in the direction, 11 is a known sealing member, 12 is a guide bush, a connecting flange 10 described below is fixed to a lower end of the central shaft 9, and an upper end of an outer cylinder 13 is mounted on an upper end. Is inserted. The outer cylinder 13 is fixed to the center shaft 9 by screwing a nut 14. The upper grasping tool G ₂ of the bladder B is sandwiched an upper end of the bladder B between the flange 15 and the retainer plate 16, the upper end of the bladder B by the pressing plate 16 is bolted to the flange 15 is clamped The flange 15 is fixed to the central shaft 9 via the outer cylinder 13 by bolting the flange 15 to a lower end flange of the outer cylinder 13. In addition, a projection 13 a that engages with a lifting tool when the inflation unit 1 is lifted is formed on the outer periphery of the outer cylinder 13. Further, reference numeral 17 denotes a flange with a claw rotatably incorporated into the upper end of the center shaft 9, and a plurality of claws 17a are formed at an equal pitch in the circumferential direction inside the lower end of the flange 17 with the claw. When the outer shaft 2 and the center shaft 9 try to slide relative to each other in the axial direction, the locking claw 8a and the claw 17a are locked or passed according to the rotation angle of the flange 17 with the claw. I have.

On the other hand, the rotating means of the pawl flange 17 in the present embodiment is inserted into a square hole 9b formed at right angles to the axis of the center shaft 9 as shown in FIG. 9 and a concave keyway 17 formed in a rotary sliding hole
b and a shaft 19 inserted into a square hole formed at the center of the key 18 so as to be coaxially rotatable with the upper end of the center shaft 9 and rotatably assembled at the upper end of the center shaft 9.
A known seal member 21, a guide bush 22,
And a retaining cap nut 20. Axis 19
The upper end portion 19a has a square cross section for connection with a rotation driving means described later, and the lower circular cross section 19c is inserted and arranged in a round hole 9a formed in the center shaft 9.

In FIGS. 1 and 4, reference numeral 23 denotes a valve for stopping the outflow of the pressurized fluid sealed in the bladder when the inflation unit 1 is transported. In this case, a ball valve is used which has a reliable action against inflow of fine rubber caused by inner surface wear of the bladder B. This valve 23 has a base flange 4
The valve 23 and the fluid chamber 25 are communicated via the passage 4b. The fluid chamber 25 is formed by the base flange 4, the flange 7 bolted to the base flange 4, and the outer shaft 2.
5 and the inside of the bladder B are communicated via a plurality of nozzles 4a. Although not described in detail, a well-known seal member such as an O-ring is incorporated in a key point in order to make the inside of the bladder B airtight.

The above-described molding apparatus 100 can be implemented by partially changing the design of a known apparatus so as to be detachable from the inflation unit 1. Forming apparatus 100 in the present embodiment
Is also based on the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-107829, and is not described in detail in FIG. I do. 1 and 5, reference numeral 101 denotes a main shaft of the molding device 100 having a conical surface on the upper end inside which engages with a conical surface 2 c formed on the lower end of the outer shaft 2, and 102 denotes an outer peripheral surface of the outer shaft 2. Circumferential groove 2b
And a lock claw that locks the outer shaft 2 to the main shaft 101 by engaging the front end with the main shaft 101, a coupler 103 for attaching and detaching the center shaft 9 and the lifting / lowering drive device for the center shaft, the right half of FIG. The half shows the disconnected state.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a connecting flange having a guide bush 10a fixed to the outer peripheral surface thereof and bolted to the center shaft 9, and a ring-shaped projection 10b is formed inside the lower end of the connecting flange 10. Further, inside the connecting flange 10, the upper ends of a plurality of levers 104 each having a projection 104 a that grips the projection 10 b from above are provided. These levers 104 are connected to a connector 103 via pins 105.
In the body 103a. Also, lever 10
A biasing spring 106 is inserted between the upper ends of the levers 4, and the biasing force of the spring 106 is applied in a direction in which the upper end of the lever 104 opens. The upper end of the output shaft 109 of the lifting drive device on the center shaft 9 is connected to the body 103a of the coupler 103.
The center shaft 9 is pushed upward by the body 103a via the connecting flange 10 by the rise of the output shaft 109, and rises by the body 103a by the lowering of the output shaft 109.
4a, pulled down via the projection 10b of the connecting flange 10.

A roller 108 is rotatably attached to the lower end of the lever 104 via a pin 107. For this reason, the lever 104 has a conical surface 110 on the upper surface.
The roller 108 is pushed by the conical surface 110a and swings by the cam 110 which moves up and down with the shaft 109 as a guide by the action of a cylinder (not shown) so that the upper end is reduced in diameter and the connection is released. Is configured.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, reference numeral 111 denotes a pressure fluid pipe which is incorporated into the molding apparatus 100 so as to be able to move up and down. The upper surface of the pipe 111 is in contact with the lower flange 23a of the valve 23. In order to keep the contact surface airtight, a known seal member 112 is assembled. 11
Reference numerals 3 and 114 denote levers for opening and closing the valve 23. These opening and closing levers 113 and 114 are configured so that one of them rises at the same time as the other falls by the action of a driving means (not shown). The valve 23 is opened and closed by pressing one of the rollers 24a and 24b rotatably incorporated at both ends of the operation lever 24 via pins. Reference numeral 115 denotes a bead ring for positioning the upper end of the raw tire T at the time of molding, and 116 denotes a rotation driving means of the flange 17 with a claw.
00 is mounted so as to be able to move up and down and move horizontally. Inside the lower end of the output shaft of the rotation drive means 116, a square hole into which the upper end square cross section 19a of the shaft 19 is inserted and engaged is formed.

Next, the present embodiment in the molding apparatus 100
Explanation of the operation of the inflation unit 1 in the form
I do. First, an empty inflation device without a raw tire T
The knit 1 is transported by means of a transport device not shown, for example,
Using a mobile crane, the lower end of the outer shaft 2 and the main shaft
When the upper end of the 101 is engaged, the transport device is moved to the standby position.
The outer shaft 2 and the main shaft 101,
And the drive shaft for the center shaft, the rise of the pipe 111 and the valve
23 is opened. Then, the shaft 19 and the rotation driving means 11
6 is connected to the output shaft, and the flange 17 with the claw is rotated.
To make it possible to pass through the locking claw 8a and the claw 17a.
Then, while reducing the pressure inside the bladder B as necessary,
It is extended to the state shown by the dashed line in FIG. However, one
Generally, both bladder grippers G are symmetrical with the center plane of the raw tire T.
₁, G _TwoTo expand and contract the distance between both ends of bladder B.
However, in order to make FIG.
Holder G_TwoOnly the figure is raised. Since then,
Inserting, shaping, etc. of carcass members by known procedures
When the raw tire T is completed (solid line state in FIG. 1),
The pressure in the ladder B is reduced to the pressure during transport, and
While closing the valve 23, the flange 17 with the claw is
In a state in which the locking claw 8a and the claw 17a can be locked
And

Next, the rotation drive means 116 and the upper end positioning bead ring 115 of the flange 17 with pawls are moved to the standby position to release the lock between the outer shaft 2 and the main shaft 101 and the connection between the center shaft 9 and the lifting / lowering drive device for the center shaft. , Pipe 11
After lowering 1, the inflation unit 1 with the raw tire T is lifted by a transport device (not shown) and transferred to the vulcanizing device 200 in FIG. The temporary placement station for the inflation unit 1 may be temporarily placed, and the time for carrying it into the vulcanizing apparatus 200 may be adjusted.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the inflation unit 1 with the raw tire T is carried into the vulcanizing apparatus 200, the mold M is closed, and the vulcanization of the raw tire T is started.
Parts belonging to the vulcanizing apparatus 200 including the mold M are indicated by two-dot chain lines. In the present embodiment, the mold is opened by the action of the mold itself against the force of opening the mold caused by the action of the heating and pressurizing medium introduced into the bladder B during tire vulcanization. Is maintained in a closed state. Such molds and the same mold and vulcanizing apparatus equipped is omitted known thus described by Japanese other No. Hei 8-132442 is, M ₀ is the base plate of the same mold M, M ₁ is lower sidewall -type, M ₂ is a tread mold which is divided into a plurality in the circumferential direction, M ₃ is the upper side wall mold, M ₄ is a bead ring after being bolted to the upper sidewall mold M _3, vulcanization type Bead ring 5a constituting a part of
, It said as being integrated in the flange 5 of the lower grasping tool G ₁ of the bladder B inflation unit 1.

Reference numeral 201 denotes a base of the vulcanizing apparatus 200;
Is a roller conveyor mounted on the upper surface of the base 201, and by the action of the roller conveyor 202, the mold M mounted on the roller conveyor 202 can be moved to another place. Reference numeral 203 denotes a bead lift device which is incorporated in the base 201 so as to be able to move up and down. Is formed. Reference numeral 204 denotes a lock claw that locks the outer shaft 2 to the bead lift device 203 by engaging the tip with a circumferential groove 2b formed on the outer peripheral surface of the outer shaft 2;
And a connector for attaching and detaching the tip of a piston rod of a post cylinder (not shown). The connector 205 has a configuration similar to that of the connector 103 of the molding apparatus 100.

Reference numeral 206 denotes a heating / pressurizing medium pipe incorporated in the base 201 so as to be able to move up and down, and a known sealing member is attached to a contact surface with the valve 23. 206 has a valve 2 similar to that for the molding apparatus.
Three switchgears are attached. 207 is the vulcanizing apparatus 20
Numeral 0 is a driving means for rotating the flange 17 with a claw attached to the mold opening / closing means (not shown). The lower end of the output shaft 207a is inserted and engaged with the upper-end square cross-section 19a of the shaft 19. A square hole is formed.

Next, the operation in the vulcanization step will be described. First, the lower sidewall mold M _{1 of} the opened mold M
Inflation unit 1 with the green tire T is incorporated suspended above the lower bead ring 5a is seated on the lower sidewall mold M _1, along with the conveying device (not shown) to move to the next working position, bead drift device 203 is increased And outer shaft 2
, And then locked by the lock claw 204. The coupler 205 is operated by the action of the post cylinder.
Rises and is connected to the central shaft 9, and when the pipe 206 rises and comes into contact with the valve 23, the valve 23 is opened.
Thereafter, the mold M is closed by a known procedure, a heating / pressurizing medium is introduced into the bladder B, the vulcanization process is started, and a lock mechanism (not shown) of the mold M is opened so that the mold M is not opened. , The valve 23 is closed, the pipe 206 descends, and the coupler 205 releases the connection with the center shaft and descends. At the same time, the bead lift device 203 is also unlocked, and the mold M containing the inflation unit 1 with the raw tire T is moved to another place and vulcanization is continued. At 200, processing of another mold M is performed.

When the vulcanization of the green tire T in the mold M is completed, the mold M is returned to the vulcanizing apparatus 200, and the valve 23 is opened and other operations are performed in the reverse order. When this is completed, the heating and pressurizing medium in bladder B is
During this time, the rotation driving means 207 for the flange 17 with the claw is lowered, and the output shaft 207a and the square cross-section 19a of the shaft 19 are engaged. When the heating and pressurizing medium has been discharged, the flange 17 with the claw is rotated so as to be able to pass through the locking claw 8a and the claw 17a, and the mold M is opened by a known procedure. 203 further increases the perform peeling of the tire T from the lower side wall M ₁ to.

Next, the center shaft 9 is raised by the post cylinder while the pressure inside the bladder B is reduced to a negative pressure, if necessary.
The vulcanized tire T is lifted out of the machine by an unloader (not shown) after the bladder B is pulled out from the inside and expanded. When the tire removal work is completed, bladder B
The inside is set to the atmospheric pressure, the center shaft 9 is lowered, and the
Is rotated in the reverse direction to lock the locking claw 8a and the claw 17a, and then the lock of the bead lift device 203 is released.
After lowering, the empty inflation unit 1 is lifted and transferred to the molding apparatus 100. The bladder B may be pulled out / extended and the tire T may be taken out by transferring the inflation unit 1 with the vulcanized tire T to a dedicated tire taking-out station located elsewhere.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible based on the technical idea of the present invention. is there.

[0026]

As described above, in the molding apparatus and the vulcanizing apparatus to which the inflation unit according to the present invention can be attached, the molded unvulcanized tire is taken out from the molding apparatus and the vulcanizing apparatus for the unvulcanized tire is used. Except that the feed to the inflation unit is performed together with the inflation unit, the molding and vulcanization can be performed efficiently and accurately as in the conventional molding apparatus and vulcanizing apparatus, and the raw tire taken out of the molding apparatus has an internal pressure. The toroidal shape at the time of molding can be maintained by being supported by the bladder that holds the resin, and it is supplied to the vulcanizing device without the deformation or the like that has occurred during this time, and the uniformity has been greatly improved. A sulfurized tire can be obtained. In addition, the inflation unit of the present invention is suitable for mass-produced tires, is easy to operate, and can produce tires in a short time, so that tire production costs can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an inflation unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front view as viewed from the direction of arrows III-III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the inflation unit in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inflation unit including a bladder 2 Outer shaft 4 Base flange 5 Flange of lower end gripper 6 Holding plate of lower end gripper 8 Extended outer shaft 8a Locking claw 9 Middle axis 15 Upper end gripper flange 16 Upper end gripper Pressing plate 17 Flange with claw 17a Claw 18 Key of flange rotating means with claw 19 Shaft of flange rotating means with claw 23 Valve 25 Fluid chamber 100 Molding device 200 Vulcanizing device T Tire B Bladder M Tire vulcanizing die G Bladder Gripper

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B29C 33/00-33/76 B29C 35/00-35/18 B29D 30/00-30/72

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An unvulcanized tire forming step including a step of inflating a cylindrically bonded tire constituent member into a toroidal shape, and inserting the formed unvulcanized tire into a mold and heating. Is shared with the vulcanization process of vulcanizing,
And in an inflation unit equipped with a bladder, an outer shaft to which a gripper for holding one end of the bladder is fixed, and a gripper for holding the other end of the bladder are fixed,
And a center shaft slidably inserted in the axial direction on the outer shaft, and a locking claw is formed at one end of the outer shaft, while the center shaft has a locking claw of the outer shaft according to a rotation angle. And a rotatable means for rotating the claw flange from one end of the center shaft is provided, and a rotation means for rotating the claw flange from one end of the center shaft is provided. An inflation unit configured to maintain the unvulcanized tire in a toroidal shape against the pressure of the pressurized fluid introduced into the bladder by engagement with a claw.