JPH0872146A - Method and apparatus for bonding rubber elements - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To bond rubber elements without leaving air causing bonding deficiency in a bonded part after vulcanization. CONSTITUTION: Respective rubber elements A having unvulcanized rubbers A applied to the leading ends thereof are respectively clamped by first and second clamp parts 10, 20 to oppose the leading ends of the rubber elements each other. Next, the second clamp part 20 is moved toward the first clamp part 10 by a moving mechanism 30 to mutually bond the rubber elements A under pressure. Thereafter, the leading end parts of the rubber elements A are covered with a mold parts 40 and pressed under heating in the mold part 40 to vulcanize the unvulcanized rubbers A of the rubber elements A to bond the respective rubber elements A. At this time, since the rubber elements A are mutually bonded under pressure by the pressing force of the moving mechanism 30 in the state clamped by the clamp parts 10, 20, air is excluded from the gap between the unvulcanized rubbers A' by this pressure bonding and air causing bonding deficiency is not left in the bonded part after vulcanization.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for joining a rubber body used for manufacturing a large-sized rubber product, which is formed by joining a plurality of members to each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a rubber gasket used for tunnel construction has an extremely large size because it is formed in an annular shape having substantially the same diameter as the tunnel. Therefore, this gasket is manufactured by joining a plurality of divided members to each other. Specifically, after vulcanizing a rubber body to form each member, the unvulcanized rubber is applied to the joint portion of each member. The joints of the respective members are covered with a dedicated mold to apply pressure and heat to join the respective members.

[0003]

By the way, in order to apply unvulcanized rubber to the joint portion of each member, an unvulcanized rubber sheet or the like is interposed between each member, or each member is vulcanized. At this time, a method is used in which only the joint is left unvulcanized.However, since these unvulcanized rubbers cannot be completely adhered to each other, air remains at the joint after vulcanization, resulting in poor bonding. As a result, there is a problem in that the quality of the joint is adversely affected, for example, the strength of the joint portion is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is a method for joining rubber bodies in which air which causes poor joining does not remain in the joined portion after vulcanization. And to provide the device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 sandwiches a pair of rubber bodies having unvulcanized rubber at the joints with clamps to form the joints. While facing each other, the clamp is moved to press the joints of the rubber bodies to each other, and then the joints are covered with a mold, and the mold is pressed and heated to vulcanize the unvulcanized rubber. The joining method is used.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a pair of clamp portions for sandwiching the rubber bodies to be joined together with the joint portions facing each other, and at least one of the clamp portions are moved so that the joint portions of the respective rubber bodies are separated. A rubber body joining device is provided with a moving mechanism that presses each other and a mold portion that covers each joining portion and pressurizes and heats the joining portion.

[0007]

[0008]

According to the method of joining rubber bodies of claim 1, when the joint portion of each rubber body is vulcanized, the rubber bodies are crimped to each other while being clamped by the clamps. Air is excluded from between the unvulcanized rubbers, and no air remains at the joint after vulcanization.

According to the rubber body joining apparatus of the second aspect, a pair of rubber bodies having unvulcanized rubber applied to the joints are clamped by the respective clamps with the joints facing each other. The moving mechanism moves at least one of the clamp portions to the other clamp portion side, and the joint portions of the rubber bodies are pressed against each other. After that, the joint portion of each rubber body is covered with the mold portion, and this is pressurized and heated in the mold portion to vulcanize the unvulcanized rubber of each rubber body, whereby the rubber bodies are joined. At this time, since the rubber bodies are pressed against each other by the pressing force of the moving mechanism while being clamped by the clamps, air is removed from between the unvulcanized rubbers by this pressing, and the joints after vulcanization are removed. No air remains in the.

[0010]

1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a rubber body joining apparatus, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a side view showing a clamp portion. 4 is a side view showing the mold portion.

This rubber body joining apparatus is provided with a base 1 of the apparatus body.
A first clamp part 10 for sandwiching one rubber body, a second clamp part 20 for sandwiching the other rubber body, and a moving mechanism 3 for moving the second clamp part 20 in the longitudinal direction of the rubber body.
0 and a mold portion 40 that covers the joint portion of each rubber body. As shown in FIG. 2, the rubber body A that is the joint object of the present device is formed in a substantially trapezoidal cross section.

The center of the base 1 in the width direction is cut out in a substantially U shape, and a mold portion 40 is arranged in this cutout portion. Further, the first clamp portions 10 are provided on both sides of the base 1 in the width direction.
And the second clamp portion 20 are arranged respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first clamp portion 10 includes a substrate 11 that supports the rubber body A, a clamp 12 that covers the rubber body A from above, and a total of four cylinders that press the clamp 11 toward the substrate 11 side. 13 and the substrate 11 is a base 1.
It is fixed to. The clamp 12 has an inner surface formed along the upper surface and both side surfaces of the rubber body A, and a step 12a for receiving the driving force of each cylinder 13 is provided on the outer surface thereof. A total of two cylinders 13 are arranged on both sides of the clamp 12, and are fixed to the substrate 11 in an upward direction. A locking piece 13a extending in the horizontal direction is attached to the tip of each cylinder 13, and the locking piece 13a is vertically moved by the cylinder 13. That is, in this first clamp portion 10, each locking piece 13a is clamped to the clamp 12
The rubber body A is pressed by the clamp 12 and clamped between the base plate 11 and the stepped portion 12a by driving the cylinder 13 downward.

The second clamp section 20 is the first clamp section 10.
Similarly to, the substrate 21, the clamp 22, and a total of four cylinders 23 are provided.
Installed on. The operation of the second clamp section 20 is similar to that of the first clamp section 10.

The moving mechanism 30 moves the guide rail 31 for movably supporting the substrate 21 of the second clamp portion 20 in the longitudinal direction of the rubber body and the substrate 21 of the second clamp portion 20 along the guide rail 31. The guide rail 31 is attached to the upper surface of the base 1. The cylinder 32 is laterally attached to the lower surface side of the base 1, and its tip is connected to the lower surface of the substrate 21 via a connecting plate 32a. That is, in this moving mechanism 30,
The cylinder 32 moves the second clamp part 20 linearly with respect to the first clamp part 10.

As shown in FIG. 4, the mold section 40 includes an upper mold 41 for covering the rubber body A from above, a lower mold 42 for covering the rubber body A from below, and a total of two sheets for heating the respective molds 41, 42. Heating plate 43 and each mold 4
It is composed of a pressurizing mechanism 44 for pressurizing 1, 42 and a frame 45 covering them, and each of the above components is installed on a substrate 46. The upper mold 41 has an inner surface formed along the upper surface and both side surfaces of the rubber body A, and is attached to the upper portion of the frame 45 via one heating plate 43. The inner surface of the lower mold 42 is formed along the lower surface of the rubber body A, and is attached to the substrate 46 via the other heating plate 43 and the pressing mechanism 44. Each heating plate 43 incorporates a heating wire or the like to generate heat by itself, and is in contact with each of the molds 41 and 42 so that the heat is sufficiently transmitted. The pressure mechanism 44 is composed of an actuator such as a diaphragm, and is configured to raise and lower the lower mold 42. That is, in this mold part 40, the joint part of each rubber body A is covered with each mold 41 and 42, and the lower mold 42 is raised by the pressing mechanism 44, whereby each rubber body A is pressed. ing. Further, by driving each heating plate 43, the heat of each heating plate 43 is transmitted to each rubber body A via each mold 41, 42, and each rubber body A is heated.

Next, a method of joining rubber bodies using the rubber body joining apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. First, Fig. 5 (a)
As shown in FIG. 5, the rubber bodies A each having an unvulcanized rubber A ′ at its tip (joint) are sandwiched between the first clamp portion 10 and the second clamp portion 20, and the tips are opposed to each other. Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, the moving mechanism 30 moves the second clamp portion 20 to the first clamp portion 10 side, and the tips of the rubber bodies A are pressed against each other. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5 (c), the tip of each rubber body A is covered with a mold portion 40, and this is pressed and heated by the mold portion 40 to remove the unvulcanized rubber A'of each rubber body A. Each rubber body A is joined by vulcanizing. At that time, each rubber body A is attached to each clamp 1
Since they are sandwiched by 0 and 20, they are pressed against each other by the pressing force of the moving mechanism 30, so that air is removed from between the unvulcanized rubbers A ′ by this pressing, and the cause of the bonding failure at the bonded portion after vulcanization. There is no residual air.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the unvulcanized rubber A'of each rubber body A is vulcanized, each rubber body A is clamped by the respective clamp portions 10 and 20 and pressed against each other. Since this is done, the air that causes poor joining does not remain in the joined portion after vulcanization, and each rubber body A can always be joined well. Further, since each rubber body A is mechanically held, it is possible to surely prevent displacement and distortion.

Although only the second clamp portion 20 is moved in the above embodiment, both the first and second clamp portions 10 and 20 may be moved.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the rubber body joining apparatus and FIG. 7 is a side view showing a clamp portion. In this embodiment, the structure of the clamp portion is different from that of the above embodiment, and the other components are designated by the same reference numerals as in the above embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 7, the first clamp portion 50 shown in the figure includes a substrate 51 for supporting the rubber body A, a pair of clamps 52 and 53 for laterally sandwiching the rubber body A, and one clamp. A guide rail 54 that movably supports the rubber body 52 in the width direction of the rubber body A, and a cylinder 55 that presses one clamp 52 toward the other clamp 53 side.
1 is fixed to the base 1. The inner surfaces of the clamps 52 and 53 are formed along the side surfaces of the rubber body A, one clamp 52 is attached to the cylinder 55, and the other clamp 5 is attached.
3 is fixed to the substrate 51. In addition, the cylinder 55 is laterally arranged on one side of the clamp 52, and
It is fixed at 1. That is, in the first clamp section 50, the rubber body A is sandwiched between the clamps 52, 53 and the substrate 51 by driving the cylinder 55 to press the one clamp 52 toward the other clamp 53 side. It is like this.

The second clamp portion 60 is the first clamp portion 50.
Similarly to, a substrate 61, a pair of clamps 62 and 63, a guide rail 64, and a cylinder 65, and the substrate 61 is attached to the base 1 via each guide rail 31 of the moving mechanism 30. The operation of the second clamp section 60 is similar to that of the first clamp section 50.

In this embodiment, each of the clamp portions 50 and 60 is configured to sandwich the rubber body A from the side,
If one of the clamps 52, 62 is retracted, the rubber body A can be loaded from above, and the rubber body A can be attached and detached extremely easily. The other operational effects are the same as those in the above embodiment.

[0024]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since air that causes defective bonding does not remain in the bonded portion after vulcanization, each rubber body is always bonded well. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent a decrease in the strength of the bonded portion.

Further, according to the second aspect, it is possible to specifically realize an apparatus in which air that causes defective bonding does not remain in the bonded portion after vulcanization. In this case, since each rubber body is mechanically held, it is possible to reliably prevent displacement and distortion.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a rubber body joining device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a rubber body joining device.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a clamp part.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a mold part.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of the rubber body joining device.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a rubber body joining device showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a clamp part.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... 1st clamp part, 20 ... 2nd clamp part, 30 ...
Moving mechanism, 40 ... Mold part, 50 ... First clamp part,
60 ... 2nd clamp part, A ... rubber body, A '... unvulcanized rubber.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pair of rubber bodies having unvulcanized rubber applied to the joints are clamped by clamps so that the joints face each other, and the clamps are moved so that the joints of the rubber bodies are pressed against each other. After that, each joining portion is covered with a mold, and the mold is pressed and heated to vulcanize the unvulcanized rubber, thereby joining the rubber bodies. 2. A pair of clamp portions for sandwiching the rubber bodies to be joined together with the joint portions facing each other, and a moving mechanism for moving at least one of the clamp portions to crimp the joint portions of the rubber bodies to each other. A rubber body joining apparatus, comprising: a mold unit that covers each joint and applies pressure and heat.