JP5371518B2 - Tire post-cure inflation device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a tire post-cure inflation device that cools a tire vulcanized by a tire vulcanizer while applying an internal pressure.

  For tires that use heat-shrinkable nylon or polyester as reinforcement cords for mainly passenger car radial tires and bias-ply tires, the reinforced cords will shrink if they are allowed to cool naturally after vulcanization in the mold. The predetermined shape as a tire cannot be maintained.

  Therefore, post-cure inflation is performed in which a tire vulcanized by a mold is attached to a post-cure inflator and the tire is cooled while applying internal pressure from the inside to suppress shrinkage of the reinforcing cord and preventing deformation of the tire. .

  In post-cure inflation, if the tire is cooled simply by contact with air, the reinforcing cord will heat shrink due to the temperature of the inner surface of the tire, and it takes too much cooling time and is inefficient. Various examples of forced cooling have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 50-39778 A

  In Patent Document 1, a tire after mold vulcanization is rotated at high speed on its own, cooling water is sprayed on the outer surface and inner surface of the tire, and a post-cure inflation equivalent pressure is applied to the tire by centrifugal force of cooling water put inside. A method of performing cooling at the same time is disclosed.

The water cooling method disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not manage cooling temperature by spraying cooling water on the tire and cooling it by accumulating cooling water inside.
In addition, it is difficult to control the cooling temperature with this water cooling method.

If the tire cooling temperature is too low during the post-cure inflation process, the temperature of the metal rim that supports the tire will decrease, and the vulcanization around the rim will be delayed during the next tire vulcanization using the rim. This slows the curing of the tire, and the spew (rubber protrusion generated in the gap between the vulcanization molds) that protrudes from the tire surface extends for a long time. Since spews are sandwiched between them, it is necessary to remove spews in the subsequent process.
Moreover, if the cooling temperature of the tire is too high, thermal shrinkage of the auxiliary cords such as embedded nylon and polyester will occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the object of the present invention is to control the cooling temperature of the tire that can cool the tire without causing the extension of the spew and the thermal contraction of the auxiliary cord. The point is to provide a post-cure inflation device .

The invention of claim 1, wherein in order to achieve the above object, by a pair of rim engaging the pair of bead portions of the tire is vulcanized by the tire vulcanizer, the expandable bladder is sealed in a bag shape A rotating shaft that holds a tire on the inside, a drive mechanism that rotationally drives the rotating shaft together with the bladder, a gas supply mechanism that supplies gas into the bladder inside the tire, and a liquid tank that stores a coolant A liquid temperature control mechanism for controlling the liquid temperature of the cooling liquid in the liquid tank within a predetermined temperature range, and an immersion / extraction mechanism for immersing the tire in the cooling liquid in the liquid tank and extracting the tire. A post-cure inflation device for a tire provided with an inner cylinder having a tip bottom portion protruding in a horizontal direction, and the rotation shaft is a hollow outer cylinder that is rotatably fitted on an outer periphery of the inner cylinder. The bottom of its tip is closed A communication space is formed in the outer cylinder between the bottom bottom of the inner cylinder and the bottom bottom of the outer cylinder, and the outer circumference of the outer cylinder is formed between the pair of rims outside the communication space. A cylindrical connecting member for fixing both rims to each other and closing the bladder is fixed, and a gas passage for supplying gas into the communication space through a bottom end of the inner cylinder is provided inside the inner cylinder. A post-cure inflation device for a tire , wherein the outer cylinder and the cylindrical connecting member are provided with a communication hole for supplying air fed into the communication space into the bladder. It is.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the tire post-cure inflation device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid temperature control mechanism sets the liquid temperature of the cooling liquid in the liquid tank to a predetermined temperature range of 40 ° C to 60 ° C. The liquid temperature is controlled inside.

A third aspect of the present invention is the tire post-cure inflation device according to the first or second aspect , wherein the liquid temperature control mechanism includes a cold liquid supply mechanism for supplying a cold liquid into the liquid tank, and the liquid tank. A warm liquid supply mechanism for supplying a warm liquid therein, a coolant discharge mechanism for discharging the coolant in the liquid tank, and a liquid temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the coolant in the liquid tank, The liquid tank is configured by controlling the cooling liquid discharge mechanism and the warm liquid supply mechanism based on the temperature of the cooling liquid detected by the liquid temperature detecting means to adjust the ratio of the cold liquid and the warm liquid supplied into the liquid tank. The liquid temperature of the cooling liquid inside is controlled within a predetermined temperature range.

The invention according to claim 4 is the tire post-cure inflation device according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the tire is immersed in the cooling liquid in the liquid tank, and the immersion / extraction mechanism for extracting the tire is It is a lift mechanism that raises and lowers the liquid tank up and down with respect to a tire held by an outer cylinder.

According to the tire post-cure inflation device according to claim 1, the gas is supplied to the inside of the bladder inside the tire by the gas supply mechanism to inflate the bladder, thereby suppressing the contraction of the reinforcing cord embedded in the tire. The tire is cooled by the coolant whose temperature is controlled within a predetermined temperature range in the liquid tank while rotating by the drive mechanism while being immersed in the cooling liquid in the liquid tank by the immersion / extraction mechanism. Therefore, the tire cooling temperature should not be too low to prevent the spews that protrude from the tire surface from extending for a long time to maintain a good appearance, and the tire cooling temperature should not be too high. The shape can be maintained by preventing the thermal contraction of the cord.
Further, the outer cylinder is supported concentrically on the inner cylinder, a communication space is formed between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder, air is supplied to the communication space, and the cylinder is provided on the outer periphery of the outer cylinder outside the communication space. The tire can be held in a stable state by a structure in which the pair of rims are fixed via the connection member to hold the tire and air is sent into the tire through the communication space.

According to the tire post-cure inflation device according to claim 2, the liquid temperature control mechanism controls the liquid temperature of the cooling liquid in the liquid tank within a predetermined temperature range of 40 ° C to 60 ° C. When the liquid temperature is lower than 40 ° C., it is possible to prevent the spew from extending for a long time, and when the liquid temperature exceeds 60 ° C., it is possible to prevent the auxiliary cord from being thermally contracted.

According to the tire post-cure inflation device according to claim 3 , the cold liquid supplied to the liquid tank by controlling the cold liquid supply means and the hot liquid supply means based on the temperature of the cooling liquid detected by the liquid temperature detection means; Since the liquid temperature of the cooling liquid in the liquid tank is controlled within a predetermined temperature range by adjusting the ratio of the hot liquid, the temperature of the cooling liquid can be controlled with high responsiveness and high accuracy.

According to the tire post-cure inflation device described in claim 4, the tire can be immersed and extracted by the vertical movement of the liquid tank.

It is a schematic structure sectional view of a post cure inflator concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is another sectional drawing.

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a post-cure inflator 1 that is a post-cure inflation device according to the present embodiment.

A bottomed inner cylinder 4 protrudes in a horizontal direction from a housing 3 provided on the base 2, and a bottomed outer cylinder 7 that is a horizontal rotation shaft rotates through the bearing 5 on the inner cylinder 4. Freely fitted.
A seal member 6 is interposed between the inner cylinder 4 and the outer cylinder 7 outside the bearing 5 in the axial direction.
A lock member 8 can be fitted to the bottom of the outer cylinder 7.

A tire T vulcanized by a vulcanizer is mounted on the outer periphery of the outer cylinder 7 in a state in which the shape is maintained from the inside by the expansion of the bladder B.
In the tire T, the inner and outer bead portions Tb are locked by the inner rim 10 and the outer rim 11, and the cylindrical connecting member 12 that connects the inner rim 10 and the outer rim 11 connects the inner and outer edges of the bladder B to the inner rim 10. The bladder B is fixed by being sandwiched between the outer rim 11, closed by the connecting member 12, and the bladder B is inflated while maintaining the internal pressure inside the bladder B to be in pressure contact with the inner surface of the tire T.

The connecting member 12 that supports the tire T via the inner rim 10 and the outer rim 11 has an inner diameter equal to the outer diameter of the outer cylinder 7 and is fitted to the outer cylinder 7 with its relative rotation being restricted. The tire T is mounted together with the bladder B so as to be rotatable integrally with the outer cylinder 7.
The tire T is attached to the outer cylinder 7 at a position where the outer rim 11 is engaged with the lock member 8.

A driven gear 17 is fitted inside the inner rim 10 attached to the outer cylinder 7, and a drive gear 16 fitted to a drive shaft of a motor 15 arranged on the base 2 is engaged with the driven gear 17. ing.
Therefore, the outer cylinder 7 is rotated by the drive of the motor 15 through the meshing of the drive gear 16 and the driven gear 17.

A distal bottom portion of the inner cylinder 4 for supporting the outer tube 7 rotatably inserted into the outer cylinder 7, the communication space 20 between the tip bottom of the outer cylinder 7 that supports the outer rim 11 is being formed, the A plurality of communication holes 21 communicating the communication space 20 and the inside of the bladder B are formed in the circumferential direction by drilling the outer cylinder 7 and the connecting member 12.

A circular hole 4 a is formed at the bottom of the tip of the inner cylinder 4, and a pipe 23 having a tip connected to the circular hole 4 a is disposed in the inner cylinder 4.
A switching valve (not shown) is provided at the other end of the pipe 23.

A circular hole 4 a is formed at the bottom of the tip of the inner cylinder 4, and a pipe 23 having a tip connected to the circular hole 4 a is disposed in the inner cylinder 4.
A pneumatic supply / discharge mechanism 30 is provided in the housing 3, and the pipe 23 is connected to the pneumatic intake / exhaust mechanism 30.

  Therefore, the air pressure supply / discharge mechanism 30 can supply air pressure to the inside of the bladder B through the pipe 23, the communication space 20, and the communication hole 21, and the air pressure inside the bladder B can be discharged.

The tire T that is pivotally supported integrally with the outer cylinder 7 is rotatably supported in a vertical posture with the inner cylinder 4 oriented in the horizontal direction as a spindle.
Below the tire T supported in this manner, a water tank 40 in which cooling water is stored is provided so as to be movable up and down by a lift mechanism 50.
The lift mechanism 50 can move the water tank 40 up and down by expanding and contracting a plurality of rods 51 that support the bottom plate of the water tank 40 simultaneously.

As shown in FIG. 2, the water tank 40 is partitioned into a large-capacity cooling tank 40a and a small-capacity drain tank 40b by a partition plate 41. The cooling tank 40a is connected to the cooling tank 40a from a cold water supply mechanism 42 through a water supply pipe 42p. Cold water is supplied, and hot water is supplied from the hot water supply mechanism 43 through the water supply pipe 43p.
Excess cooling water is discharged from the drain tank 40b through the drain pipe 44p by the drain mechanism 44.
A water temperature sensor 45 is fixed to the partition plate 41 in the cooling tank 40a of the water tank 40.

The cold water supply mechanism 42 and the hot water supply mechanism 43 are controlled based on the temperature of the cooling water in the cooling tank 40a detected by the water temperature sensor 45 and adjusted to a predetermined temperature.
When the water tank 40 is lifted by the lift mechanism 50, the lower part of the tire T pivotally supported on the outer cylinder 7 in a vertical posture is immersed in the cooling tank 40a.
It is immersed in cooling water to the lowest position of the bead part Tb of the tire T in a vertical posture.

  The partition plate 41 has a predetermined height from the bottom surface. When the cooling tank 40a is full and overflows, the overflowing cooling water moves over the partition plate 41 to the drain tank 40b and is appropriately discharged by the drain mechanism 44. Therefore, as long as water is supplied by the cold water supply mechanism 42 and the hot water supply mechanism 43, the cooling water in the cooling tank 40a is maintained at a certain depth defined by the partition plate 41.

In the present embodiment, the cold water supply mechanism 42 and the hot water supply mechanism 43 are controlled so that the cooling water in the cooling bath 40a is maintained at a temperature of approximately 50 ° C.
That is, the cold water supply mechanism 42 that supplies cold water having a constant temperature below 50 ° C. and the hot water supply mechanism 43 that supplies hot water having a constant temperature above 50 ° C. are feedback-controlled based on the temperature detected by the water temperature sensor 45, and the cooling tank The water temperature is maintained at about 50 ° C. by adjusting the ratio of cold water and hot water supplied into 40a.

This post-cure inflator 1, generally has a structure as described above, to explain the following work steps.
The water tank 40 that has been filled with the cooling water previously maintained at about 50 ° C. is kept in the lower position by the lift mechanism 50 (the water tank 40 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1).

Then, the tire T that has entered the tire holding step and is vulcanized by the vulcanizer is attached to the outer cylinder 7 as described above in a state where the connecting member 12 supports the inner rim 10 and the outer rim 11. The lock member 8 is fitted and fixed.
As shown in FIG. 2, the tire T is held on the outer cylinder 7 in a vertical posture.

  Next, in the gas supply process, air pressure is supplied to the inside of the bladder B through the pipe 23, the communication space 20, and the communication hole 21 by the air pressure intake / exhaust mechanism 30, and the internal pressure of the bladder B is increased to a predetermined pressure. Is pressed against the entire inner surface of the tire T so as to suppress the shrinkage of the reinforcing cord and prevent deformation of the tire.

Next, in the tire dipping process, the water tank 40 is raised by the lift mechanism 50, and the lower part of the tire T in the vertical posture is dipped in the cooling tank 40a.
Then, the cooling process is started, the motor 15 is driven, the outer cylinder 7 is rotated, the bladder B and the tire T in the vertical posture are rotated together with the outer cylinder 7, and the tire T immersed in the cooling water in the cooling tank 40a The entire tire T is uniformly cooled by changing the part.

  During this cooling process, feedback control of the cold water supply mechanism 42 and the hot water supply mechanism 43 is executed, the temperature of the cooling water in the cooling tank 40a is maintained at approximately 50 ° C., and the tire T is cooled by approximately 50 ° C. cooling water. It is cooled and post-cure inflation is done.

  Initially, since the vulcanized tire T is at a high temperature, the temperature of the cooling water in the cooling tank 40a is maintained at about 50 ° C., so that the ratio of cold water is higher than that of hot water, and then the ratio of cold water Will decrease.

  After a certain amount of time, the ratio of cold water and hot water supplied by the cold water supply mechanism 42 and the hot water supply mechanism 43 stabilizes at a constant level. The driving of the motor 15 is stopped to stop the rotation of the tire T, the cooling process is terminated, the water tank 40 is lowered by the lift mechanism 50, and the tire T is extracted from the cooling water in the cooling tank 40a (tire extracting process) ).

  The water attached to the extracted tire T is blown off by air blow, the air pressure inside the bladder B is released by the air pressure supply / discharge mechanism 30, the lock member 8 is removed, and the tire T is removed together with the bladder B and the connecting member 12 ( Tire removal step), the post-cure inflation of the next tire T will be prepared.

  As described above, in the post-cure inflation method, the vulcanized tire T is cooled by the cooling water whose water temperature is controlled to approximately 50 ° C., so that the spew near the rim due to the tire cooling temperature being too low. It is possible to maintain the shape by suppressing the expansion of the auxiliary cord embedded in the tire T due to restraining the elongation and keeping the appearance good, and conversely being too high.

  That is, since the water temperature is controlled to approximately 50 ° C., the rims 10 and 11 are also maintained at approximately 50 ° C., and the spew extends long in the vicinity of the rims 10 and 11 during the next tire vulcanization using the rims 10 and 11. This is preferable in terms of appearance, and since a spew is not caught between the tire and the rim when a new rim is assembled, a spew removing operation is not necessarily required in a subsequent process.

In the present embodiment, the tire T is cooled by cooling water whose water temperature is controlled to approximately 50 ° C., but may be cooled by cooling water whose water temperature is controlled within a temperature range of 40 ° C. to 60 ° C.
That is, it is possible to prevent the spew from being elongated for a long time when the liquid temperature is lower than 40 ° C., and to prevent the auxiliary cord from being thermally contracted when the liquid temperature exceeds 60 ° C.

  The outer cylinder 7 is oriented in the horizontal direction to hold the tire T in a vertical posture. In the cooling step, the tire T is immersed in the coolant in the water tank 40 in the vertical posture to rotate and cool. The whole can be cooled uniformly.

  The cooling water temperature control in the cooling process is performed by adjusting the ratio of the cooling water and hot water supplied into the liquid tank, so that the temperature of the cooling liquid can be controlled with high responsiveness and high accuracy, and the tire can be efficiently used. T can be cooled.

T ... tire, Tb ... bead part, B ... bladder
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Post cure inflator, 2 ... Base, 3 ... Housing, 4 ... Inner cylinder, 5 ... Bearing, 6 ... Seal member, 7 ... Outer cylinder, 8 ... Lock member, 10 ... Inner rim, 11 ... Outer rim, 12 ... Connecting member, 15 ... Motor, 16 ... Drive gear, 17 ... Driven gear, 20 ... Communication space, 21 ... Communication hole, 23 ... Pipe, 30 ... Pneumatic supply / discharge mechanism,
40 ... Water tank, 40a ... Cooling tank, 40b ... Drain tank, 41 ... Partition plate, 42 ... Cold water supply mechanism, 43 ... Hot water supply mechanism, 44 ... Drain mechanism, 45 ... Water temperature sensor,
50 ... lift mechanism, 51 ... rod.

Claims (4)

A rotating shaft for holding a tire having a bladder which is sealed in a bag shape and expands and contracts inside by a pair of rims locked to a pair of bead portions of the tire vulcanized by a tire vulcanizer, and the rotating shaft A drive mechanism that rotates together with the bladder, a gas supply mechanism that supplies gas into the bladder inside the tire, a liquid tank that stores a coolant, and a liquid temperature of the coolant in the liquid tank is a predetermined temperature. A tire post-cure inflation device comprising: a liquid temperature control mechanism for controlling within a range; and an immersion / extraction mechanism for immersing and extracting the tire in the cooling liquid in the liquid tank,
An inner cylinder having a bottom end is projected in the horizontal direction,
The rotating shaft is a hollow outer cylinder that is rotatably fitted on the outer periphery of the inner cylinder, and the tip bottom is closed,
A communication space is formed in the outer cylinder between the tip bottom of the inner cylinder and the tip bottom of the outer cylinder,
On the outer periphery of the outer cylinder outside the communication space, a cylindrical connecting member that is interposed between the pair of rims and fixes the rims to each other and closes the bladder is fixed.
A gas passage for supplying gas into the communication space through the bottom end of the inner cylinder is provided inside the inner cylinder, and the outer cylinder and the cylindrical connecting member are fed into the communication space. A tire post-cure inflation device , wherein a communication hole for supplying air into the bladder is formed .   2. The tire post-cure inflation according to claim 1, wherein the liquid temperature control mechanism controls the liquid temperature of the coolant in the liquid tank within a predetermined temperature range of 40 ° C. to 60 ° C. 3. apparatus. The liquid temperature control mechanism is
A cold liquid supply mechanism for supplying a cold liquid into the liquid tank;
A warm liquid supply mechanism for supplying warm liquid into the liquid tank;
A coolant discharge mechanism for discharging the coolant in the liquid tank;
Liquid temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the cooling liquid in the liquid tank,
By controlling the cooling liquid discharge mechanism and the warm liquid supply mechanism on the basis of the temperature of the cooling liquid detected by the liquid temperature detecting means, the ratio of the cold liquid and the warm liquid supplied into the liquid tank is adjusted. The tire post-cure inflation device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the temperature of the coolant in the tank is controlled within a predetermined temperature range. The immersion / extraction mechanism for immersing and extracting the tire in the cooling liquid in the liquid tank is a lift mechanism that moves the liquid tank up and down with respect to the tire held by the outer cylinder. The post-cure inflation device for a tire according to claim 1, 2 or 3.

Images