JP5775181B2 - Tire air filling method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a tire air filling technique for filling a tire with air of a specified pressure.

  In a tire assembly line, after attaching a tire to a wheel, the tire is filled with air of a specified pressure. This filling operation has been performed manually. However, it is desired to automate the air filling operation while improving productivity. Therefore, an automatic filling apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. FIG. 12 shows the principle of the automatic filling device disclosed in Patent Document 1.

  Referring to FIG. 12, a wheel 102 is mounted on a wheel support base 101, and a tubeless tire 103 is attached to the wheel 102. By pressing the tubeless tire 103 with the cup-shaped tire presser 104, a gap 105 is generated between the tubeless tire 103 and the wheel 102. Next, air is supplied into the tire holder 104 by the air injection means 106.

  Then, the air reaches the tubeless tire 103 through the gap 105. The internal pressure of the tire retainer 104 is detected by the internal pressure sensor 107, and when the detected pressure reaches a specified pressure, the tire retainer 104 is relatively raised. As a result, the tubeless tire 103 is fitted in the wheel 102 in a normal state and the air filling is completed.

  However, the tire filling device started to be disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot be applied to a tube-filled tire. Therefore, it is necessary to separately install an air filling device for a tire containing a tube, which increases equipment costs.

  Therefore, a tire air filling technique that can be applied to a mixed production line that handles tubeless tires and tube-filled tires and that can fill the tubeless tire and tube-filled tire with air is desired.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-129714

  An object of the present invention is to provide a tire air filling technique capable of filling a tubeless tire and a tube-filled tire with air.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the tire condition detecting means for detecting whether one of the tubeless tire and the tube-equipped tire attached to the wheel is fitted in the wheel in a normal state; and An air supply means connected to an air valve provided on the wheel for supplying air exceeding atmospheric pressure, a pressure detection means for detecting the internal pressure of the tire, and controlling the air supply means to change the pressure of the air A tire air filling method for filling the tire with air of a specified pressure using an air filling device comprising a control unit for stopping the supply of air, wherein when the tubeless tire is filled with air, the air supply means The tubeless tire fitting start step of forcibly inflating the tubeless tire by supplying air exceeding the specified pressure by A tubeless tire fitting confirmation step of detecting the shape of the tubeless tire by the tire state detecting means, and stopping the supply of air when the tubeless tire is fitted in the wheel in a normal state; and the supply of air The air pressure detecting step of detecting the air pressure by the pressure detecting means at the time when the pressure is stopped, and the air supply means is operated based on the difference between the obtained air pressure and the specified pressure so that the internal pressure of the tubeless tire becomes the specified pressure. An air pressure adjusting step, and when the tube-filled tire is filled with air, the air supply means supplies the air exceeding the specified pressure for a predetermined time to inflate the tube in the tube-filled tire; And an air pressure detecting step of detecting air pressure by the pressure detecting means when the supply of air is stopped , Tire air filling method includes the air pressure adjusting step the internal pressure of the tube by operating the air supply means based on a difference between the obtained pressure and the specified pressure to the specified pressure, is provided.

  In the invention according to claim 2, preferably, in the air pressure adjusting step, the internal pressure of the tubeless tire and the tubed tire is set to the specified pressure by repeatedly supplying the air and detecting the air pressure.

  In the invention according to claim 1, the tubeless tire is filled with air and inflated, and the tire is fitted to the wheel in a normal state. Thereafter, the tire is filled with air of a specified pressure by an air pressure detecting process and an air pressure adjusting process. For a tire with a tube, the tube is filled with air of a specified pressure through a tube expansion process, an air pressure detection process, and an air pressure adjustment process. Therefore, with one air filling device, the tubeless tire and the tube-filled tire can be filled with air, and the equipment cost can be halved.

It is a block diagram of the air filling apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a principle diagram of a distance sensor. It is an effect | action figure of a distance sensor. It is an effect | action figure of a distance sensor when the distance of a distance sensor and a tire differs. It is an enlarged view at the time of filling the tubeless tire shown by FIG. 1 with air. It is the graph which showed time and the tire internal pressure applied to the tubeless tire. It is a supplementary figure explaining a tubeless tire fitting start process and a tubeless tire fitting confirmation process. It is a supplementary figure explaining the air pressure detection process and air pressure adjustment process with respect to a tubeless tire. It is the graph which showed time and the tire internal pressure applied to the tire containing a tube. It is a supplementary figure explaining an operation of a nut runner and a tube expansion process. It is the figure which showed the air pressure detection process and air pressure adjustment process with respect to the tire containing a tube. It is the figure which showed the principle of the conventional automatic filling apparatus.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the air filling device 10 includes a table 14 on which a wheel 13 including a wheel 11 and a tire 12 is placed, and a tire state detection unit that detects whether or not the tire 12 is fitted in the wheel 11 in a normal state. 20, an air supply means 40 that is connected to an air valve 15 provided on the wheel 11 and supplies air exceeding atmospheric pressure, a pressure detection means 45 that detects the internal pressure of the tire 12, a connection port 44 of the air supply means 40, and A moving means 50 for moving the nut runner 46 in the vertical and horizontal directions, a control section 58 for controlling the air supply means 40 to change the air pressure and stopping the supply of air, and a pressure detection means 45 and a control section 58. And an L-shaped column 51 that supports For tube tires, a nut is attached to the air valve. The nut is tightened with a predetermined tightening torque by the nut runner 46.

  The tire condition detection means 20 includes a post 22 erected on a base 21, a revolving cylinder 23 that is pivotably attached to the post 22, upper and lower arms 24, 24 extending horizontally from the revolving cylinder 23, Distance sensors 25, 25 attached to the tips of the upper and lower arms 24, 24, a rotary actuator 26 attached to, for example, the upper end of the post 22 to turn the arm 24 from a standby position to a detection position, and distance sensors 25, 25. And a tire condition determination unit 27 that determines the condition of the tire 12 by receiving the distance information detected in step (b).

  When the arm 13 is placed in the standby position when the wheel 13 is attached to or detached from the table 14, there is no fear that the wheel 13 contacts the arm 24, and the operation can be performed smoothly. In this example, the upper and lower distance sensors 25 and 25 are disposed on the air valve 15 side, and the upper and lower distance sensors 25 and 25 are disposed on the opposite side of the air valve 15. The number of the distance sensors 25, 25 is arbitrary, but if there are a plurality of distance sensors, detection of measurement errors can be prevented by averaging the distance information. The greater the number, the more reliable the information.

Next, the structure and operation of the distance sensor 25 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 2, the distance sensor 25 includes a laser emitting unit 31 that irradiates a laser emitting light 29, a light projecting lens 32 that narrows the emitted light 29, a light receiving lens 34 that narrows the reflected light 33, and a reflected light 33. The light position detecting element 35 for specifying the light receiving position of the light and a distance meter case 36 for storing them together.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the emitted light 29 reaches the tire 12 from the laser emitting unit 31 via the projection lens 32. Although there are fine irregularities on the surface of the tire 12, the distance sensor 25 of this example has no problem in measurement. The reason will be described next.

  As is well known, light is irregularly reflected on surfaces other than the mirror surface (such as the surface of the tire 12). That is, as shown in FIG. 3B, irregularly reflected light 37 is generated on the surface of the tire 12, and a part of the reflected light 33 of the irregularly reflected light 37 reaches the light receiving lens 34 and is narrowed by the light receiving lens 34. The light position detection element 35 is reached. In the present invention, among the infinite number of irregularly reflected light 37, only the light directed to the light receiving lens 34 is referred to as reflected light 33.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the optical position detection element 35 is composed of an infinite number (six for convenience) of light receiving elements 35 a to 35 f. When the tire 12 is close to the light projecting lens 32, the reflected light 33 travels on a line connecting the point P1 where the emitted light 29 hits and the center of the light receiving lens 34, and is received by the fifth light receiving element 35e. .

  When the tire 12 is far from the light projecting lens 32, the reflected light 33 travels on a line connecting the point P2 where the emitted light 29 hits and the center of the light receiving lens 34, and is received by the second light receiving element 35b. . The relative positions of the laser emitting unit 31, the light projecting lens 32, the light receiving lens 34, and the optical position detecting element 35 are fixed, and the position coordinates are known. Therefore, if it is determined which of the light receiving elements 35a to 35f is receiving light, the distance to the tire 12 is geometrically determined.

  In FIG. 1, an air supply means 40 includes an air source 41 such as a compressor, an air supply path 42 such as an air hose extending from the air source 41, a valve unit 43 provided in the air supply path 42, an air The connection port 44 is provided at the tip of the supply path 42. The valve unit 43 includes a pressure control valve and an on / off valve. The pressure control valve is a valve that can control the air pressure to an arbitrary pressure.

  The pressure detecting means 45 includes a pressure guiding pipe 47 branched from the air supply path 42 and a pressure sensor 48 attached to the tip of the pressure guiding pipe 47. The pressure sensor 48 and the pressure guiding pipe 47 may be built in the valve unit 43.

  The moving means 50 includes a slider 53 supported by a horizontal portion of the L-shaped column 51 via a rail 52 so as to be horizontally movable, and a horizontal section that is passed between the slider 53 and the L-shaped column 51 and moves the slider 53 horizontally. A cylinder unit 54 for movement, a holding bar 55 that is supported by the slider 53 so as to be movable up and down, and holds the connection port 44 and the nut runner 46, and is passed between the holding bar 55 and the slider 53 and moves up and down. And a lifting cylinder unit 56.

  By the lateral movement cylinder unit 54, the connection port 44 can be brought into contact with or separated from the air valve 15, or the nut runner 46 can be brought into contact or separated from the air valve 15. The connection port 44 or the nut runner 46 is selected to correspond to the air valve 15 by the lifting cylinder unit 56.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, an air valve 15 is attached to the wheel 11, and a connection port 44 and a nut runner 46 can be selected and corresponded to the air valve 15. The tubeless tire 12L is attached to a wheel 11 such as a cast wheel. When the internal pressure is atmospheric pressure, the tubeless tire 12L has gaps 59, 59 between the rim 11a of the wheel 11 and the bead 12b of the tubeless tire 12L, as shown in FIG.

  The control unit 58 shown in FIG. 1 obtains distance information from the distance sensor 25, obtains in-tire pressure information from the pressure sensor 48, and controls a pressure control valve and an on / off valve in the valve unit 43.

Next, the effect | action which concerns on the control part 58 is demonstrated.
FIG. 6 is a graph in which the horizontal axis represents the time axis and the vertical axis represents the internal pressure of the tubeless tire. As shown in FIG. 6, the tubeless tire fitting start step, the tubeless tire fitting confirmation step, the air pressure detection step, By performing the air pressure adjustment process in this order, the tire internal pressure can be gradually increased to the specified pressure. In the air pressure adjustment process, the air supply step and the pressure detection step are repeated (twice in this example).

  As shown in FIG. 7A, distance sensors 25 and 25 detect distances L1 and L2 up to the tire 12L. Since the tire 12L is not fitted to the rim 11a, the distances L1 and L2 are large values, and it can be recognized that “the tire is not fitted in a normal state”. At the same time, the connection port 44 is connected to the air valve 15.

  As shown in FIG. 7B, air exceeding the specified pressure of the tire is supplied to the tubeless tire 12L. Specifically, when the specified pressure is 0.25 MPa (250 kPa), four times 1.0 MPa of air is blown. A part of the air leaks as shown by the arrow (1), but the remaining part starts to inflate the tubeless tire 12L as shown by the arrow (2) (tubeless tire fitting start process). As shown in FIG. 6, in the tubeless tire fitting start process, the tire internal pressure increases with the passage of time.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, as a result of the tubeless tire 12L being inflated, the bead 12b is fitted to the rim 11a. During this time, the distance sensors 25 and 25 continue to detect the distance to the tire 12L. The distance decreases with time. The distances L3 and L4 to the tire 12L are detected by the distance sensors 25 and 25, and when these distances L3 and L4 coincide with a predetermined distance, it is determined that the fitting is completed, and the control unit stops supplying air ( Tubeless tire fitting confirmation process).

  When the supply of air is stopped, the tire internal pressure becomes constant as shown in FIG. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8A, the tire internal pressure is detected by the pressure sensor 48 of FIG. 1 through the air valve 15, the connection port 44, and the air supply path 42 (air pressure detecting step).

  The control unit calculates a difference between the detected pressure and the specified pressure, and based on this difference, supplies air (for example, 0.50 MPa) for a certain period of time as shown in FIG. Supply step).

  Next, the tire internal pressure is detected again in the state of FIG. 8A (pressure detection step during the air pressure adjustment process). 8A and 8B are repeated to set the tire internal pressure to the specified pressure. When the tire pressure exceeds the specified pressure due to overfilling with air, the air valve is opened to release the air. The air pressure adjustment process is performed as described above.

  The case where the tire is the tubeless tire 12L has been described above. The case where the tire is a tube-equipped tire 12T (T is a subscript indicating that the tube is contained) will be described below.

  FIG. 9 is a graph in which the horizontal axis represents the time axis and the vertical axis represents the internal pressure of the tube-filled tire (internal pressure of the tube). As shown in FIG. 9, the tube expansion process, the air pressure detection process, and the air pressure adjustment process are performed as follows. By carrying out in order, the tire internal pressure can be gradually increased to the specified pressure. In the air pressure adjustment process, the air supply step and the pressure detection step are repeated (twice in this example).

  As shown in FIG. 10A, the nut runner 46 is opposed to the air valve 15, the nut runner 46 is rotated, and the nut 62 is screwed into the air valve 15 with a predetermined tightening torque. Thus, the air valve 15 is fixed to the wheel 11.

  As shown in FIG. 10B, the nut runner 46 is removed from the air valve 15, and instead, the connection port 44 is connected to the air valve 15, and air exceeding the specified pressure of the tire is supplied to the tube 12T. Specifically, when the specified pressure is 0.20 MPa (200 kPa), five times as much air as 1.0 MPa is blown (tube expansion step).

  When the supply of air is stopped, the tube internal pressure becomes constant as shown in FIG. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11A, the tire internal pressure is detected by the pressure sensor 48 of FIG. 1 through the air valve 15, the connection port 44, and the air supply path 42 (air pressure detecting step).

  The control unit 58 (FIG. 1) calculates the difference between the detected pressure and the specified pressure, and based on this difference, as shown in FIG. In the process, air supply step). Next, the tube internal pressure is detected again in the state of FIG. 11A (pressure detection step during the air pressure adjustment process). 11 (a) and 11 (b) are repeated to set the tube internal pressure to the specified pressure. When the air pressure is excessively filled and the tube internal pressure exceeds the specified pressure, the air valve is opened to release the air. The air pressure adjustment process is performed as described above.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to fill the tubeless tire 12L and the tube-filled tire 12T with air with one air filling device 10 (FIG. 1), and halve the equipment cost. be able to.

  The present invention is suitable for a production line in which a tubeless tire and a tube tire are mixed and flowed.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Air filling apparatus, 11 ... Wheel, 11a ... Wheel rim, 12 ... Tire, 12L ... Tubeless tire, 12T ... Tube-containing tire, 12b ... Tire bead, 13 ... Wheel, 15 ... Air valve, 20 ... Tire condition detection Means 25 ... Distance sensor 40 ... Air supply means 45 ... Pressure detection means 48 ... Pressure sensor 58 ... Control unit.

Claims (2)

A tire state detecting means for detecting whether one of a tubeless tire and a tube-filled tire attached to the wheel is fitted in the wheel in a proper state, and an air valve provided on the wheel are connected to a large tire. An air supply means for supplying air exceeding the atmospheric pressure; a pressure detection means for detecting the internal pressure of the tire; and a control section for controlling the air supply means to change the pressure of the air and for stopping the supply of air. A tire air filling method for filling the tire with air of a specified pressure using an air filling device comprising:
When filling the tubeless tire with air,
A tubeless tire fitting start step of forcibly inflating the tubeless tire by supplying air exceeding the specified pressure by the air supply means;
A tubeless tire fitting confirmation step of detecting the shape of the tubeless tire with the tire state detecting means, and stopping the supply of air when the tubeless tire is fitted to the wheel in a normal state;
An air pressure detecting step of detecting air pressure by the pressure detecting means when the supply of air is stopped;
An air pressure adjusting step of operating the air supply means based on the difference between the obtained air pressure and the specified pressure to set the internal pressure of the tubeless tire to the specified pressure;
Including
When filling the tube tire with air,
A tube inflating step of inflating a tube in the tube-filled tire by supplying air exceeding the specified pressure for a predetermined time by the air supply means;
An air pressure detecting step of detecting air pressure by the pressure detecting means when the supply of air is stopped;
An air pressure adjusting step of operating the air supply means based on the difference between the obtained air pressure and the specified pressure to set the internal pressure of the tube to the specified pressure;
A tire air filling method comprising:   2. The tire air filling method according to claim 1, wherein, in the air pressure adjusting step, the internal pressure of the tubeless tire and the tubed tire is set to the specified pressure by repeatedly supplying the air and detecting the air pressure.

Images