JPH07241852A - Method of processing vulcanization of tire - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate irregularity in the quality of tires by deciding a subsequent vulcanization processing condition on the basis of a mean ambient temperature and a degree of irregularity in the temperature in environment where a vulcanizer is installed, with respect to the vulcanization of tires by vulcanizers which are controlled by computers. CONSTITUTION:A vulcanizer 10 has a mold unit 12 and a bladder unit 14 having a deformable bladder 14A, and a heated fluid passes through passages 18 provided in a jacket 16 covering the periphery of the mold unit 12 to heat the side of the jacket which is opposed to the periphery of a tire in the mold unit 12. Further, in order to heat the end face side of the tire in the mold unit 12, platens 22, 24 are disposed at the upper and lower parts of the mold unit 12. In this case, a temperature sensor is provided at a proper place in the vulcanizer 10 to calculate a mean ambient temperature and a degree of irregularity in the temperature during a predetermined period of time in each environment where a plurality of vulcanizers are installed. According to the result thus calculated, a subsequent vulcanization processing condition is decided so as to control the vulcanization of tires.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention, when vulcanizing a tire with one or a plurality of vulcanizers, vulcanizes the tire according to the environment in which the vulcanizer is installed. The present invention relates to a tire vulcanization treatment method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a tire is vulcanized by loading a raw tire into a vulcanizer, setting a predetermined temperature, a predetermined pressure, and a predetermined vulcanization time, and basing the processing on the set processing conditions. Has been done. That is, the temperature is measured for the first one to two tires in the same lot, the optimum processing conditions are determined, and thereafter, the vulcanization of the remaining tires in the same lot is performed with these as fixed processing conditions.

The above-mentioned processing conditions for vulcanization have to be set with a high safety factor because various factors of variation must be taken into consideration. One of the causes of this variation is the variation in the ambient temperature, that is, the variation in the environment in the vulcanization process, and the variation in the temperature during the day and year, or the variation in the vulcanizer installation location, etc. High tire vulcanization treatment is performed.

As described above, when the vulcanization treatment is performed under the treatment conditions having a high safety factor, the vulcanization time is substantially lengthened, the treatment efficiency is lowered, and the tire quality varies. Become.

As a prior art of the vulcanization treatment in consideration of the variation of the ambient temperature, the ambient temperature is input as an initial condition, and the vulcanization state of the tire inside the vulcanizer is calculated as the ambient temperature by using a predictive calculation model. There has been proposed a means for calculating an optimum vulcanization time in accordance with the vulcanization process (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-73683 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-111321), and lowering the safety factor against the above-mentioned variation factors. Is possible.

However, a plurality of vulcanizers are installed side by side and are often processed at the same time, and the application of the means using the above-described predictive calculation model to these vulcanizers is in terms of computer capacity. Also, it is difficult with one computer.

Therefore, the applicant has installed a computer for some of the plurality of vulcanizers, applies the means using the predictive calculation model as described above, and applies the means to the remaining vulcanizers. Therefore, it has been proposed to perform statistical processing on the prediction calculation results (Japanese Patent Application No. 5-84769).

According to this, it becomes possible to control all of the plurality of vulcanizers as if using the predictive calculation.

[0009]

However, when performing the vulcanization treatment according to the ambient temperature, the vulcanization treatment time changes depending on the ambient temperature, so that it is difficult to control the production plan for all the above methods. However, even if it is applied, there is a problem that enormous system cost is required together with the system for the production plan.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention is to improve the quality of tires without causing troubles such as complication of hardware system when vulcanizing tires by simultaneously operating a plurality of vulcanizers. An object of the present invention is to obtain a tire vulcanization treatment method that can eliminate variations and shorten the vulcanization treatment time.

[0011]

The invention according to claim 1 is a tire in which one or a plurality of vulcanizers controlled by a single computer vulcanize one or a plurality of tires at the same time. A vulcanization method, wherein the following vulcanization conditions are determined from the average atmospheric temperature for a predetermined period and the degree of variation thereof in the environment in which each of the one or more vulcanizers is installed, It is characterized by performing vulcanization.

In a tire vulcanizing step of vulcanizing a tire by one or a plurality of vulcanizers, the invention according to claim 2 is the atmospheric temperature of each vulcanizer installation place during a predetermined period in the past and its ambient temperature. The variation is sequentially measured, and based on this measurement result, the atmospheric temperature and the variation at the time of production of the next tire to be vulcanized are statistically calculated, the vulcanization conditions corresponding to the calculation result are determined, and the tire vulcanization is performed. When performing, a step of storing each atmosphere temperature and its variation as a database, a step of storing the vulcanization condition as a database,
And a step of determining the vulcanization condition by using at least the ambient temperature as an input.

[0013]

According to the invention described in claim 1, when the vulcanization treatment is performed by one or a plurality of vulcanizers, the vulcanization treatment corresponds to the environment (ambient temperature) in which each vulcanizer is installed. The conditions are stored in a database in advance, and the vulcanization conditions prepared in the database are selected based on the ambient temperature of each vulcanizer for a predetermined period and its variations, and tire vulcanization is performed according to the vulcanization conditions. To do.

For example, the ambient temperature range is from 0 ° C. to 4
The temperature range is set (assumed) up to 0 ° C., and this temperature range is divided into a plurality (if it is every 5 ° C., it is divided into 8). According to the divided number, one vulcanization treatment condition is set again (corrected) to a vulcanization treatment condition suitable for each temperature range, and prepared in advance.

Next, when a tire is vulcanized, the ambient temperature of the environment where the vulcanizer for vulcanizing is installed and its variation are determined based on the data measured during a predetermined period in the past. The tire vulcanization start period average atmospheric temperature and its average variation are calculated. Based on the calculation result, the optimum vulcanization condition is selected from the plurality of divided vulcanization conditions.

As a result, the vulcanization process is performed in accordance with the environment (atmosphere temperature) in the vulcanization process, and the safety factor (vulcanization process) of the vulcanization process set in consideration of the change in the environment (ambient temperature). The safety factor of the sulfur treatment time) is reduced, and the variation in tire quality can be reduced. Further, the vulcanization processing time can be shortened.

According to the second aspect of the invention, at the time of the next vulcanization based on the environment (atmosphere temperature) during the tire production period in each vulcanizer, that is, the ambient temperature in the past predetermined period and its variation. Predict the ambient temperature and its variation.

For example, the ambient temperature in the environment area where the vulcanizer is installed is detected at short intervals (for example, every hour) and stored as data.

From this data, medium intervals (eg,
The average temperature and the variation (for example, the difference between the maximum temperature and the minimum temperature) for each day are further calculated for a long interval (for example, 10
Calculate the average temperature and the average of temperature variations in
A regression curve of the average temperature and the average variation is created by using the least squares method from the average temperature and the average variation of the temperature in a predetermined period in the past (for example, 2 to 3 months), and based on this regression curve, Predict the ambient temperature and its variation.

Thus, by obtaining and predicting a regression curve from past data, the environment (atmosphere temperature) during the next vulcanization period can be predicted and the optimum vulcanization condition can be determined.

Note that the period shown as an example in the above interval is not absolute, but may have a relationship of relatively short, medium, and long.

[0022]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a vulcanizer 10 applied to the present invention.

The vulcanizer 10 includes a mold unit 12 and
And a bladder unit 14 having a deformable bladder 14A.

The mold unit 12 is the upper mold 12
A and the lower mold 12B. The periphery of the mold unit 12 is covered with a jacket 16. A passage 18 is provided in the jacket 16 so that the heating fluid flows through the pipe 20. The jacket 16 heats the side of the mold unit 12 corresponding to the tire peripheral surface.

Further, in order to heat the tire end surface side of the mold unit 12, an upper platen 22 and a lower platen 24 are disposed on the upper side and the lower side of these, respectively.

The platens 22 and 24 are provided with passages 2 respectively.
2A and 24A are formed, and the heating medium is circulated through a pipe (not shown).

The bladder 14A includes the upper and lower rings 2
The upper ring 28 is fixed to the center post 32. The center post 32 is movably supported by a sleeve 34. Therefore, the bladder 14A can move according to the vertical movement of the center post 32.

The lower ring 30 is connected with pipes 36 and 38 for circulating a heating fluid such as steam, gas and hot water through the bladder 14A. Thereby, the bladder 14A is heated.

As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the vulcanization process is divided into three parts, and temperature sensors 46, 48 and 50 are arranged at the representative points of the regions 40, 42 and 44, respectively. There is. The vulcanizer 10 in each region has the structure shown in FIG.

The temperature sensors 46, 48 and 50 detect the ambient temperature in the regions 40, 42 and 44, respectively.

The temperature sensors 46, 48, 50 are connected to a terminal device (for example, a personal computer, which will be simply referred to as a terminal device) 56 equipped with a processor via a temperature controller 52 and a converter 54, respectively. The temperatures detected by the temperature sensors 46, 48 and 50 are input to the terminal device 56 as engineering converted data.

Here, in the terminal 56, the input temperature is picked up every hour (short interval) and stored in the memory.

In the terminal 56, the hourly data stored in the terminal 56 is totaled, and the average temperature and average variation (difference between the maximum temperature and the minimum temperature) within one day are calculated. The average temperature and the average variation in units of 10 days are calculated and stored.

Here, two regression curves of the average temperature and the average variation are obtained by using the least-squares method based on the data for two months with 10 days as a unit. This regression curve makes it possible to predict the average atmospheric temperature and the average variation during the next vulcanization period.

The predicted average atmospheric temperature and average fluctuation during the next vulcanization period are transmitted to the host computer 58, which is the host computer to which each terminal 56 is connected.

The host computer 58 has a database of eight vulcanization conditions for each tire size, which is a database for all production tire sizes. That is, the range of the environment (atmosphere temperature) for vulcanizing one tire size is 0 ° C to 40 ° C,
This temperature range is divided every 5 ° C., and vulcanization processing conditions are set for each temperature range. Here, from the terminal 56, data corresponding to the tire size in each of the regions 40, 42 and 44 and the ambient temperature thereof (predicted average ambient temperature and average variation during the next vulcanization period) are input to the host computer 58. Then, the host computer 58
In, the optimum conditions are selected from the vulcanization conditions stored in the database.

The data of the selected database is transmitted to the respective vulcanizers 10 via the converters 60, 62 and 64, and each vulcanizer 10 is vulcanized based on this data. Has become.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. The three vulcanizers 10 have vulcanization conditions suitable for the ambient temperatures of the respective regions 40, 42, 44 in the host computer 5.
8 has been transmitted, and has been vulcanized based on the transmitted data. It is assumed that this vulcanization process has been continued for several months.

Here, the current ambient temperature is detected by the temperature sensors 46, 48, 50 for each of the areas 40, 42, 44 and input to the terminal 56 via the temperature controller 52 and the converter 54. There is. Hereinafter, a processing procedure for the host computer 58 to select the optimum vulcanization processing condition based on the detected temperature in the terminal 56 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step 100, the temperature sensors 46, 4
The temperature is detected by 8, 50, and then step 102
At, it is determined whether one hour has passed. If an affirmative decision is made in this step 102, the process moves to step 104 and the detected temperature is taken into the terminal device 56. That is, the temperature is taken in every hour.

In the next step 106, it is judged whether or not one day has passed, and if an affirmative judgment is made in this step 106, the process proceeds to step 108, and the average temperature and the average variation (maximum temperature and minimum temperature within one day are transferred. Difference) is calculated,
This data is stored in step 110.

In the next step 112, it is determined whether or not 10 days have passed, and if a positive determination is made in this step 112, the process proceeds to step 114 to calculate the average temperature and average variation for 10 days, and step 116. This data is stored in. The data for every 10 days is applied to the control described later as one unit of data.

In the next step 118, the unit of 10 days is 1
The first data of the data for two months to be data is erased, and the data of the second and subsequent data are respectively shifted (for example, the second data is the first data).

Next, in step 120, the latest 1
The 0-day data is input as the final data of the data for 2 months (for example, if the data for 6 times is for 2 months, it is taken in as the 6th data).

In the next step 122, each regression curve of the average temperature and the average variation is created based on the data for two months, and the next vulcanization period is input in step 123, or the next vulcanization preset and stored. After taking the sulfurization period, the process proceeds to step 124.

In step 124, the estimated average temperature and the estimated average variation in the next vulcanization period input or taken in in step 123 are read from the created regression curve. In step 126, the read data is transmitted to the host computer 58 together with the tire size for the next vulcanization process.

The above is the control procedure in the terminal 56. When the tire size, the estimated average temperature and the estimated average variation are transmitted to the host computer 58, the host computer 58 makes a database in advance,
The optimum vulcanization condition is selected from among eight vulcanization conditions (0 ° C. to 40 ° C. divided into 8) for the size.

Here, the vulcanization conditions can be determined to some extent by the estimated average temperature. For example, the average temperature variation of 20 ° C. in summer is relatively small, and the average temperature variation of 20 ° C. in winter is comparative. Big For this reason,
It is preferable to select a stricter condition as the variation is larger. In this example, in winter, the temperature is lower than the vulcanization condition corresponding to 20 ° C (for example, the range of 20 ° C to 25 ° C) (for example, 15 ° C to 20 ° C). Temperature range).

As described above, it is possible to select more optimal vulcanization conditions by considering the temperature variation.

Table 1 shows that when vulcanization is controlled by FEM analysis for all of a plurality of vulcanizers (data A in the table) is 100, vulcanization is controlled by FEM analysis for each part of the vulcanizers by rotation. When other vulcanizers were vulcanization-controlled based on empirical data (data A'in the table), vulcanization-controlled to estimate the next vulcanization condition based on the ambient temperature of this example (in the table) Data B) and a conventional vulcanization control (no FEM analysis or atmospheric temperature estimation) (data C in the table) are shown as comparative values.

[0051]

[Table 1]

As can be seen from Table 1, the system cost can be greatly reduced, and it is very close to the cost of not performing FEM analysis at all, but when the vulcanization productivity and quality variations are measured by the whole-machine FEM analysis. (Data A) and some FEs
It can be seen that almost the same evaluation as that obtained by the M analysis (data A ′) is obtained.

In this embodiment, one period (unit vulcanization period) is set to 10 days, data for two months is accumulated to obtain a regression curve, and new one period (10 days) data is taken in. At that time, the so-called sequential shift method, which erases the oldest data, was adopted, but it was set as 2 months of 1 period, and after the regression curve was obtained from the data of these 2 months and processed, all of this data was erased, A so-called batch exchange method of newly accumulating data for two months may be adopted.

[0054]

As described above, the tire vulcanization method according to the present invention has problems such as complication of the hardware system when the tire is vulcanized by simultaneously operating a plurality of vulcanizers. It has an excellent effect that variation in tire quality can be eliminated and vulcanization processing time can be shortened without occurring.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an internal structure of a vulcanizer applied to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a vulcanization process according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart for calculating an estimated average temperature and an average variation in a terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Vulcanizer 40, 42, 44 Area 46, 48, 50 Temperature sensor 56 Terminal 58 Host computer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A computer controlled by one computer
A tire vulcanization method for vulcanizing one or more tires by a single or multiple vulcanizers, in an environment where each of the one or multiple vulcanizers is installed, A tire vulcanization method characterized in that the tire is vulcanized by determining the next vulcanization condition from the average atmospheric temperature for a predetermined period and the degree of its variation. 2. In a tire vulcanizing step of vulcanizing a tire with one or a plurality of vulcanizers, the atmospheric temperature of each vulcanizer installation place during a predetermined period in the past and its variation are sequentially measured, and Based on the measurement results, statistically calculate the ambient temperature and variation during the next production of vulcanized tires, determine the vulcanization conditions corresponding to the calculation results, and perform each vulcanization at the ambient temperature. And a step of storing the variation in the database as a database, a step of storing the vulcanization condition as a database, and a step of determining the vulcanization condition by inputting at least the ambient temperature.