US2998053A

US2998053A - Apparatus for building tires

Info

Publication number: US2998053A
Application number: US717526A
Authority: US
Inventors: Paul E Appleby
Original assignee: Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co
Current assignee: Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co
Priority date: 1958-02-25
Filing date: 1958-02-25
Publication date: 1961-08-29
Anticipated expiration: 1978-08-29

Description

Aug. 29, 1961 P. E. APPLEBY 2, 53

APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES Filed Feb. 25, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Aug. 29, 1961 P. E. APPLEBY' APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25, 1958 INVENTOR. PAUL E. APPLEBY A TT ORNEY Aug. 29, 1961 P. E. APPLEBY APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 25, 1958 INVENTOR. PAUL E. APPLEBY ATTORNEY 2,998,053 APPARATUS FOR BUILDING TIRES Paul E. Appleby, Akron, Ohio, assignor to The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, at corporation of Ohio Filed Feb. 25, 1958, Ser. No. 717,526 7 Claims. (Cl. 154-9) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for building pneumatic tires and the like on a crown type drum in which the fabric is first wrapped about the cylindrical surface of the drum to form a sleeve or is preformed and then sl-id in place thereover. The marginal edges of the sleeve must then be gathered radially inwardly over the shoulder or end of the drum before bead rings can be applied.

' The principal object of this invention is to provide an apparatus of simplified construction and operation for turning the marginal edges of fine material about the shoulders or crown portions of drums of the character described above and simultaneously and automatically form pleats or corrugations in the said marginal edges of the fabric. Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter as the description of the invention proceeds, the novel features, arrangements and combinations being clearly pointed out in the specification and in the appended claims.

' In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational View partly in section, showing in more or less schematic manner an apparatus for building tires according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view showing the apparatus of this invention in operative position and illustrating the configuration of the pleats formed thereby;

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view with parts broken away showing the apparatus of this invention in operative position;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the ply turn-down tool of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the tool shown in FIG. 4;

' FIGS. 6, 7, 8, and 9 are cross sectional views taken respectively along the lines 66 through 9-9 of FIG. 4. 5 A conventional crown drum 1 having the end faces 2 inwardly offset is clearly shown in FIG. 1. It is against these faces that the sleeve-like ends 3 of the fabric band 4- must be compressed and held in that position so as to conform with the end faces '2. A shaft 5 rotatably supports the drum l in any conventional manner, not shown; the shaft 5 may also support bead-supporting rings 6 slidably mounted thereon and normally moved to an inoperative position away from the drum until they are ready for use. p 7 V,

The ply turn-down tools, generally referred to by numerals 7 and 7a, are pivotably supported on brackets 3 and 8a which are secured respectively to the arms 9 and 9a. The arms 9 and 9a in turn are secured to the shaft 10 which is pivotably supported on a bracket 11 secured to a supporting frame 12 mounted on the tire machine housing 13. The ply turn-down tools 7 and 7a and the appending structure are of identical constructure so that reference to the structure of either tool )1 its appendages applies also to the other.

Each of the arms 9 are splined to the shaft 10 so that hey may be fixed in various axial positions along the shaft 10 by means of a set screw or the like to accomnodate drums of various lengths. The shaft 10 has a stub arm 14 extending therefrom pivotably secured to the rod 15 of the pneumatic actuating cylinder 16 which Is pivotably mounted at 17 to the bracket 11. As clearly shown in FIG. 2 actuation of the cylinder 16 causes shaft [0 to rotate and the arms 9 to pivot about the axis of the shaft 10 whereby the arms 9 and the appending turndown tools 7 are moved from the position shown in dotted lines to the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 2.

Since the ply turn-down tool 7 extends axially inwardly beyond the axially outermost portion of the end of the drum 1, the ply turn-down tool 7 is pivotably mounted with respect to the bracket 8. The ply turn-down tool 7 is provided with an integrally formed lug 18 having a hinge portion 19 supported between the hinge ears 20 on the bracket 8 and pivoted about the hinge pin 21 which is normal to the axis and the radius of the drum 1. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the lug 18 is provided with a stub pin 22 to which is secured a rod 23 and actuating cylinder 24 pivotably mounted at 25 to the bracket 8. Actuation of the cylinder 24 moves the lug 18 and the ply turn-down tool 7 about the axis of the pin 21 from the position shown in dotted lines to the position shown in the solid lines in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 4 through 9; the ply turn-down tool 7 includes an elongated arcuate shaped surface 26 which is parallel to the radially outer surface of the drum 1 and extends circumferentially thereof for approximately or one quadrant of the drum. A skirt 27 projects transversely from one edge of the surface 26 from the leading edge 28 to the trailing'edge 29 thereof and the transverse extent of the skirt increases in proportion to the distance from the leading edge 28. Furthermore, as clearly shown in FIGS. 6 through 9, the skirt 27 gradually and uniformly conforms to the contour of the shoulder or crown portion 30 of the building drum 1 so that at the trailing edge 29 of the tool 7 the cross section of the skirt substantially conforms to the said crown30.

As shown in FIG. 4, the trailing edge 29 of the tool 7 is provided with a longitudinal slot 3 1 through which a stitching wheel 32 extends to contact the marginal edge of the turned down fabric as shown in FIG. 2. 'The wheel 32 is rotatably supported on an arm 33 pivoted at 34 and urged inwardly into contact with the ply material by means of a spring 35 compressedbetween the lug 18 and the arm 33 so as to force the marginal edge 3 of the ply material against the end faces 2 of the drum. 1 With the arms 9 in retracted position as shown in the dotted lines in FIG. 2, the operator places or forms a fabric band 4 on the drum 1 so that the marginal edges 3 extend beyond the shoulders or crown-30 of thedrum 1 as shown in FIG. 1. With the ply material in the above-described position, the

pneumatic cylinders

16 and 24 are actuated which cause the arms 9 to pivot about the axis of the shaft 10 and the bracket 18 to pivot about the axis of pin 21 to bring the tool 7 into engagement with the crown of the drum v1. The concave side of surface 26 of the tool is in contact with the ply material overlaying the radially outer periphery of the drum 1 and the skirt 27 extends axially inwardly around the crown 30 of the drum 1. During this pivotal movement on the tool 7, the skirt27 engages the overhanging marginal edge 3 of the fabric and turns a portion thereof radially inwardly around the crown of the drum as shown inFIG.2.

The operator then actuates the drive motor, not shown, to rotate the drum 1 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 2 for one revolution. As the drum 1 revolves, the overhanging marginal edges 3 of the fabric are uniformly fed into the leading edge 28 of the tool and each increment thereof passes from the leading edge 28 of the tool 7 to the trailing edge 29 thereof during which each increment is turned radially inwardly around the crown 30 of the drum 1 and stitched thereto by the wheel 32.

Furthermore, since the overhanging edges 3 are gradually and uniformly turned radially inwardly and around the crown 30 of the drum, the portion 36 thereof, which extends beyond the end faces 2 of the drum, are formed Patented Aug. 29, 1961" corrugations 37 thereby forming a sinuous, generally frusto-conical formation having its axis at the axis of the drum and with the ribs extending toward the central portion of the drum. 7

After the pleating is completed, the bead carrying ring 6 is slid along the shaft until it is in a position to place the bead 38 against the fabric overlaying the inner free edge 2 of the drum 1. An ordinary fiat faced stitcher wheel, not shown, may then be used to turn the fabric around the head 38 in a radially outward direction While the drum is rotated rapidly and thus flatten out the flutes or corrugations 37 and to stitch the fabric firmly in place against the carcass in a manner well understood in the art. The carcass is now ready for the application of other elements thereto, such as additional bands, a breaker, chafer strip and the tire tread, but the application of these additional elements does not form any part of the present invention. By using the apparatus of this invention, the time necessary in building large sized tires is greatly reduced because of the elimination of a great amount of hand work in forming the flutes and corrugations. In addition, an improved tire results from the use of this process because the beads are less bulky and more uniform.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

I claim: 7 r 1. In a tire building machine in which a tire building drum is employed for building a tire with the material initially arranged on the surface of a rotatable drum with marginal edges of a sleeve-like portion of the material projecting from at least one end of said drum, the improvement which comprises the combination with said drum of a ply turn-down tool pivotably mounted adjacent said end of said drum' having a' longitudinal arcuate surface parallelto a quadrant of the radially outer surface of said drum the concave side of said surface contacting said material, and a skirt portion extending from a longitudinal edge of said arcuate surface which skirt gradually and uniformly conforms to the arcuate configuration of the shoulder of said drum from the leading end to the trailing end of said arcuate surface whereby the projecting portion of the material is gradually moved into engagement with the shoulder of the drum and the marginal edge portion is formed into uniformly spaced and contoured corrugations during one revolution of said drum.. 7

2. A tire building machine as set forth in claim '1 in which a stitching wheel is mounted at the trailing end of said tool with the axis thereof normal to the surface of said drum, said stitching wheel being adapted to contact said drum radially inwardly of the outer surface thereof. 7 j V 3. A tire building machine as claimed in. claim 1 in which the trailingend of, said tool conforms in cross section to the cross sectional contour of said drum and extends axially inwardly of the axially outermost portion of said drum. i

4. A tire building machine as claimed in claim 2 in which the trailing end of said skirt is slotted longitudinally thereof and said stitching wheel is rotatably secured to said tool and rotates in a plane coincident with said slot.

5. In a tire building machine in which a tire building drum is employed for building a tire with the material initially arranged on the surface of arotatable drum with the marginal edges of a sleeve-like portion of the material projecting from the ends of said drum, the improvement which comprises the combination with said drum of a pair of ply turndown tools each having an arcuate surface parallel to the radially outer surface of said drum adjacent each end of the drum the concave side of said surface engagingsaid material, and a skirt portion extending from said arcuate surface transversely thereof which skirt portion gradually and uniformly conforms to the arcuate configuration of the shoulder of said drum from the leading end to the trailing end of said arcuate surface, and means for moving said turndown'tools from a position radially outwardly of the projecting portion of said material into contact with said drum shoulder whereby the projecting portion of the material is gradually moved into engagement with the shoulder of the drum and the marginal edge portion is formed into uniformly spaced and contoured corrugae t-ions during one revolution of said drum. 6. A tire building machine as claimed in claim 5 in which means are provided for simultaneously moving the tools from a radially outward position into contact with the crown of said drum.

7. In a tire building machine in which a rotatable tire building drum is employed for building a tire with a the material initially arranged on the surface of a drum with the marginal edges of a sleeve-like portion of the material projecting from the ends of said drum, the improvement which comprises the combination with said drum of a ply turndown tool, means for rotating the drum, means for moving said tool from a position radially outward of the projecting portion of the materialinto contact with the end portion of said drum, said ply turndown tool having an arcuate surface parallel to a quadrant of the radially outer surface of said drum the concave side of said surface engaging said material, and'a skirt portion extending from said surface which skirt portion gradually and uniformly conforms to the arcuate configuration of the end of said drum from the leading end to the trailing end of said arcuate surface; and means for moving said tool into contact with the end portions of the drum prior to rotation of said drum whereby the projecting portion of the material is gradually moved into engagement with the shoulder of the drum and the marginal edge portion is formed into uniformly spaced and contoured'corrugationsduring one revolution of said drum. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS