WO2022013882A1

WO2022013882A1 - System for manufacturing of power transmission belt and method thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2022013882A1
Application number: PCT/IN2021/050564
Authority: WO
Inventors: Selvan Dinesh Davidson PONNIAH GNANADURAI SAM; Nagarajan MURUGESAN; Pandy MUTHUKANNAN; Rajasekar GOVINDAN; David Melchi Meshach ARULRAJ
Original assignee: J.K. Fenner (India) Limited
Priority date: 2020-07-17
Filing date: 2021-06-10
Publication date: 2022-01-20

Abstract

The present invention relates to power transmission belt. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system/equipment for manufacturing of power transmission belt particularly endless wrapped V belt. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt comprises of component assembly, fabric frictioning assembly, and curing machine assembly. The consolidated system for manufacturing of the wrapped power transmission belt comprises of an extruder [150], a take-away conveyor [151], a dancing arm [152], geometric inspection [153], a coolant tank [154], an air blower [155], online weigher [156], a paint marking [157], a dancing arm [158], a haul-off unit [159], a conveyor [160], a swing conveyor [161] and a drum building station [162]. Further the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing of power transmission belt. Advantageously the present invention relates to a single piece flow production method from rubber compound stage to finished product with machine automation.

Description

SYSTEM FOR MANUFACTURING OF POWER TRANSMISSION BELT AND METHOD

THEREOF

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to power transmission belt. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system/equipment for manufacturing of power transmission belt particularly endless wrapped V belt. Further the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing of power transmission belt.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Among building machine of this nature, there is one type called expanding mandrel method. The wrapped belt is built on in an expanding mandrel by placing, plying and winding the component materials. Rubber sheets, cord, and cover canvas are plied on the mandrel, rotating at specified speed. The diameter of the building mandrel decides the length of the belt.

W02019118078A1 relates to a toothed Power Transmission Belt with Back Fabric. A toothed power transmission belt with a smooth back side surface has a back jacket on the back side surface; wherein the back jacket comprises a closed-mesh, knit fabric tube. The fabric tube may be knitted on a circular weft knitting machine and may be heat set after knitting. The fabric tube may be treated with an epoxy, RFL or other treatment to provide for oil resistance, adhesion, frictional properties, etc. The present innovation is about wrapped belt manufacturing. In case of the above one is toothed belt. These are totally different constructions.

EP2916034B1 relates to a friction Transmission Belt and Process for Producing Same. The present invention relates to a frictional power transmission belt containing an extensible layer forming a belt back surface, a compressive rubber layer formed on one surface of the extensible layer and frictionally engaging at the lateral surface thereof with pulleys, and a tension member embedded between the extensible layer and the compressive rubber layer along the belt length direction, in which a surface of at least a part of the compressive rubber layer to be in contact with pulleys is coated with a fiber/resin mixture layer that contains a resin component and heat-resistant fibers having a softening point or a melting point higher than a vulcanization temperature in a mixed state, and the heat-resistant fibers contain a fiber embedded so as to extend from the fiber/resin mixture layer to the compressive rubber layer. The present innovation is about wrapped belt manufacturing. In case of the above one is V ribbed belt. These are different constructions.

EP3604855A1 relates to a friction Transmission Belt and Method for Producing Same. The present invention provides a friction transmission belt which is provided with: an extension layer which forms the back surface of the belt; a compressed rubber layer which is formed on one surface of the extension layer and is in contact with pulleys so as to be frictionally engaged with the pulleys; and a core wire which is embedded between the extension layer and the compressed rubber layer in the longitudinal direction of the belt. The compressed rubber layer has a surface that comes into contact with the pulleys; at least a part of the surface is covered with a fiber layer with a fiber resin mixed layer being interposed there between; the fiber resin mixed layer contains a resin component and heat-resistant fibers which have a softening point or melting point higher than the vulcanization temperature of a rubber that constitutes the compressed rubber layer; and the fiber layer contains hydrophilic heat-resistant fibers which have a softening point or melting point higher than the above-mentioned vulcanization temperature, but does not contain a resin component. The present innovation is about wrapped belt manufacturing. In case of the above one is V ribbed belt. These are different constructions.

JP6326108B2 relates to a Polyurea-Urethane Composition Treatment of Tensile Core Wire for Manufacturing Power Transmission Belt. A manufacturing method of a power transmission belt including an elastomer body having a tensile core wire 22 buried in the elastomer body, includes making the core wire impregnated with a mixture of (i) polyurethane prepolymer having a blocked isocyanate terminal group on a molecule and (ii) a hardener of diamine, forming a polyurea-urethane composition including a polyurea reaction product by making the impregnated polyurethane prepolymer react with diamine, and burying the core wire including the formed polyurea-urethane composition into the elastomer body of the belt. The present innovation is about wrapped belt manufacturing methodology. In case of the above one is material design. These are totally different area of concern.

EP2027398B1 relates to a power Transmission Belt and a Process for its Manufacture. An endless power transmission belt (10) has an internal lubricating agent- containing fabric element extending along at least the pulley-engaging, power- transmitting surface of the belt, as well as processes for manufacturing same. More particularly, an endless toothed belt having a wear- resistant fabric cover element that comprises at least one internal lubricating agent in the form of one or more clusters within at least a portion of the total thickness of the fabric element. The present innovation is about wrapped belt manufacturing methodology. In case of the above one is focusing on the surface modification of the power transmission belt. Ie) Lubrication of the surface in order to reduce the wear and tear.

US20070023127A1 relates to a power Transmission Belt and Method of Making a Power Transmission Belt. A method of forming a power transmission belt including the steps of: providing a first layer made from rubber and having first and second oppositely facing sides; providing a mold; pressing the first side of the first layer conformingly against a surface on the mold having alternating projections and recesses to thereby form alternating teeth and troughs on the first layer; locally pressing the second side of the first layer at locations coinciding lengthwise with the teeth to thereby eliminate or prevent the formation of discrete holes; and joining the first layer, having the alternating teeth and troughs thereon, to at least one other component to define the power transmission belt. The present innovation is about wrapped belt manufacturing methodology and in case of the above one are toothed belt material design and its constructions.

The above mentioned building equipments however have some problems inherently. Limitations:

• The tension applied to the cord is an important factor in belt quality. During the building process, the tensioned cord is wound on the rubber sheet material at a specified cord pitch. The cord tension tends to be higher at the start of cord winding and lower at the end. This effect is attributed to a mechanical loss in the pulleys and in the cord feeding system. This will affect cord alignment and result in belt vibration and reduced belt life.

• The conventional method of building in expanding mandrel method is a batch process. It will not support single piece flow and continuous production of parts. Changeover of the different sizes during production, leads to loss of productive time.

• Building of various sizes of same section is limited to certain range.

• The dimensional accuracy of the calendared sheet is a point of concern. As the number of layer goes up, thus, It leads to more variation in the dimensional aspect of the belt.

• Labour intensive and scrap rate is high due to the wastages made in the process. • Placement of the sheets and cord winding, removal of belt is accomplished largely by manual labourers and difficult to automatize. It is also difficult to secure sufficient workers because of the current shortage of labour.

• The operation is a batch process since the whole course of building is done in one mandrel. It, therefore, takes much time to build and the production efficiency is very low.

Accordingly, there exists a need for a system/equipment for manufacturing of power transmission belt particularly endless wrapped V belt. Further there exists a need for a method of manufacturing of power transmission belt.

OBJECTS OF INVENTION

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved and automated system and method for manufacturing of power transmission belt having embedded in it with a tensile member with uniform tension across the length and width of the belt.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a single piece flow production method from rubber compound stage to finished product with machine automation.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a constant and uniform cord winding tension across the circumferential length and width.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for building of four different sizes at a time in turret type building station.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a unique concept in green belt reversing for flipping operation.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system with a fabric pulling, Buffer Unit and Scissor cutter detects and eliminates geometry imperfection.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system for bias cutting of rubber coated fabric with laser cutting technology in belting industry.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a special curing tool to avoid steam leak. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of differential curing using steam and electricity.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an embossed raised marking on product surface in differential curing.

It is another object of the present invention to provide connected machines which talks to each other.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system which prevents defect imbibed in each stage of the line.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One or more of the problems of the conventional prior art may be overcome by various embodiments of the present invention.

It is the primary aspect of the system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt, comprising: a component assembly comprises of an elastomeric body, a profiling machine, a rubber strip, a textile cord member, an individual cord let off unit and cutting system, a rotary table arrangement, a guided roller, a paint marking unit, a dancing roller, a feeding conveyor for topping and base profile arrangement, a magnetic clamp and nip roller arrangement, a belt body, a centre support arrangement, an unloading arrangement, a drum drive arrangement, a servo slide arrangement, a bearing housing arrangement, a drum head arrangement, a mechanical gripper arrangement, a X-Y table movement arrangement, a robotic arrangement, a drum changeover arrangement, an extruder, a collapsible tool, a programmer unit and a mandrel; a fabric frictioning assembly comprises of a winding and unwinding unit, a buffer and bow roller unit, a web aligner unit, a conveyor, a vision system and laser cutting unit, a fabric pulling, buffer unit and scissor cutter, a flipping unit, a reversal unit, a servo motor and an AC motor; and a curing machine assembly comprises of a mesh removal assembly, a top ram, a hydraulic manifold, a heater assembly, structure, a spindle drive gear box and servo motor, and a side ram assembly, wherein the power transmission belt is an endless wrapped V belt, a compression member is placed below the tension cord member, the green belt reversing operation is used for flipping operation, the curing tool is used to avoid steam leak, wherein the rotary drum comprises of four different zones for the purpose of laying and winding of various components of the wrapped belt, wherein an embossed raised marking is provided on a product surface in a differential pressure curing, wherein a consolidated system for manufacturing of the wrapped power transmission belt comprises of an extruder, a take-away conveyor, a dancing arm, a geometric inspection, a coolant tank, an air blower, an online weigher, a paint marking, a dancing arm, a haul-off unit, a conveyor, a swing conveyor and a drum building station, and wherein the collapsible tool is used to accommodate various sizes of the belt of same sections such as one station is for the laying of tension rubber and the second station is used for winding the tension cord member and the third station is placed to lay the compression rubber and the fourth station is placed to plug off the belt by collapsing the mandrel.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the cord tension is properly controlled by independent activity carried at different processing divisions of the machine simultaneously and ensures the single piece flow of the component, thus this kind of set up ensures the building of various sizes ranges continuously smoothly.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the tension cord member provides constant and uniform cord winding tension across the circumferential length and width.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the elastomeric body and the longitudinally extending tensile member are embedded in the belt body with uniform tension across the length and width of the belt.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the programmer unit such as PLC program is used to control the activity in each station and an arbitrary number is assigned to the station to monitor, control and program the activity based on the computer programming. It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the tension cord member and compression member comprises of tension rubber, compression rubber, adhesion rubber, cord, rubber coated textile material, and the like.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the rotary table arrangement comprises of a mounting bracket, a base, a locking pin, a rotary unit, a spring, sensing dogs, housing, a guide bush and a false plate.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the feeding conveyor for topping and base profile arrangement comprises of a conveyor, two or more guides, a pneumatic cylinder, a spring, a servo motor and a pressure roller.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the magnetic clamp and nip roller arrangement comprises of two or more brackets, a magnetic clamp, a gripper, an electrical actuator, a nip roller, a spring loaded arrangement, and an electrical actuator.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the centre support arrangement comprises of a centre support, a mounting pusher arrangement, a locking pin puller arrangement, a sensor mounting arrangement, a camera mounting arrangement, a vertical slide, a bracket, a puller plate, two or more pneumatic cylinders, a guide rod, and a plunger.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the unloading arrangement comprises of a plate, electrical actuator, suction cups, a block, a guide, a pneumatic cylinder and a pneumatic slide.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the drum drive arrangement comprises of a pneumatic cylinder, a shock absorber, a drum drive motor, a dead stopper, a bevel pinion and a motor shaft.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the servo slide arrangement comprises of a servo motor, a camera, a ball screw and LM guides.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the bearing housing arrangement comprises of a segment assembly, a mechanical gripper, a pusher shaft, a lock nut, a bevel gear, bearing covers, pin, bearing, spring, a bearing shaft, a flange, a threaded bush, a drum head, tennon, locking plate, a steel pad, bush, bearing covers and a seal.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the drum head arrangement comprises of a dovetail block, a compression spring, a block, a plate, a guide bush, butting pads, a wear bush, housing, a dowel pin, a moving block, pin, roller and bush.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the mechanical gripper arrangement comprises of block, a holder, a spring plunger, a plate and a toggle clamp.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the X-Y table movement arrangement comprises of a servo motor, LM guide, a ball screw, a fabricated base, Y-axis plate, a cord gripper, a vertical slide, a plate, a bracket, rollers and a cord guide block.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the robotic arrangement comprises of a lever, a cutter/ an individual cord let off unit, a nip roller, a gripper and a pedestal.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the drum changeover arrangement comprises of a changeover head, a bearing housing, a spring plunger, locating pins, a front flange, a change over weldment, a swivel castor, a fixed unit, a track, locking pins, bearing housing and base frame.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the mandrel comprises of a flange bush and a compression spring.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the rotary drum is placed in such way that all the components are feed to the station smoothly.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein one suitable line of extruder is provided for the feeding of tension rubber and another extruder is provided for laying the compression rubber.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the conveyor comprises of an idler conveyor, a flat belt conveyor, feeder conveyor, a pulling conveyor, a take-away conveyor and the like. It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein a pair of rod is activated by the pneumatic cylinder to remove the belt while collapsing of the mandrel.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the belt body in the extruder is heated on a profile inspection mechanism which provides feedback to the extruder.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the winding and unwinding unit comprises of one or more geared motors, one or more safety chucks, rubberized fabric roller and empty bobbin.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the buffer and bow roller unit comprises of buffer unit, bow roller, splicing roller and thickness measuring sensor.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the web aligner unit comprises of a web aligner, entry and exit roller, and sensor.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the conveyor, vision system and laser cutting unit comprises of a servo motor, laser cutter, vision unit, conveyor, pick and place unit, splicing unit, encoder and pneumatic actuated roller, wherein the servo motor controls the conveyor index for every 53mm, feedback of 53mm is taken through external encoder, wherein the Indexed 53mm fabric is cut using laser cutter, if any damage on the fabric is identified using vision unit, which gets rejected after laser cutting, good quality cut material is taken to the next station using pick and place unit, wherein the 1600mm length, 53mm width laser cut material is picked using vacuum cups and one edge of the fabric place to the splicing unit using 2 axis servo drives, and ~5mm Overlap edge of the fabric is spliced using Pneumatic actuated roller to get joined.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the fabric pulling, buffer unit and scissor cutter comprises of servo motor, buffer unit, vision unit, pick and pull cylinders, scissor cutter, AC motor and thickness measuring sensor, wherein the 1600mm Length of fabric is pulled using servo motor, rear end of the fabric is stopped accurately at the splicing unit, pulled fabric is collected in the buffer unit, wherein the fabric from buffer unit to next station fed using AC motor, and the vision unit is used measure the width of the fabric, and wherein the joint of fabric is detected using thickness measuring sensor, near joint for the wrapping belt is calculated by getting the feedback of actual length wrapper using servo motor and distance of the joint sensor from scissor cutter, and the correction is made using needle gripper, pick and pull cylinders, and made to cut using scissor cutter unit.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the flipping unit comprises of belt, servo motors and spring loaded trap rollers, wherein the 53mm fabric is wrapped on the belt loaded to the flipping unit, and stretching of belt using Servo motor and exact pulling of fabric is controlled with the servo motor, and after wrapping fabric is cut using scissor cutter, and wherein the spring loaded trap rollers are used to wrap the fabric on the belt.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the reversal unit comprises of pulleys, pneumatic cylinders, clamping rotary cylinders, servo motor and AC motor, wherein the belt for wrapping is received from component assembly, the belts need to be reversed to get the required orientation for flipping station, the belt from component assembly is loaded to the pulleys, and wherein the belt is clamped using pneumatic cylinders, after clamping rotary cylinders get actuated to rotate for 180deg, belt is stretched until to get the torque using servo motor and the length of the belt is identified using torque reached position, and AC motor runs to complete reversal of belt.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the rubberized fabric roller of 600mm dia is loaded to the safety chucks of unwinding unit manually with the crane, wherein the diameter of the roller is measured using a measuring sensor, input of which is taken to control the unwinding speed using geared motor, wherein the unwind material is fed to the buffer roller of second station, wherein the empty Bobbin is loaded to the safety chucks of winding unit manually, wherein the unwind Liner material is winded to the Bobbin, and the speed of winding is controlled by measuring the diameter of the bobbin using geared motor, and the unwind fabric from station continues until the buffer unit get filled and restarts when buffer get empty.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the bow roller is used to remove the wrinkles of the unwind fabric and the splicing roller is used to join the edge of the fabric with new fabric edge, and the thickness measuring sensor is used to measure the thickness of the fabric.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the web aligner is used to align one edge of the fabric to the conveyor, the edge of the fabric is measured using sensor, entry and exit roller are used to guide the fabric.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the hydraulic manifold comprises of proportional control valves, accumulators, high-pressure hosepipes and low-pressure hosepipes, hydraulic Power Pack, high-pressure indicators and low-pressure indicators, dual hydraulic cylinders / tensioning cylinders and hydraulic cylinders.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the spindle drive gear box and servo motor comprises of mould locator, spindle shaft, housing and driven sprocket.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the side ram assembly comprises of side loading cylinder, mesh, mesh when not conducted with mould, mesh loading cylinder assembly and fabric motor assembly.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the curing machine further comprising: a press structure comprises of a top ram mounting, a spindle assembly mounting, pillar rods, tubular structure, and base plate; a mould assembly comprises of a steam in flow, steam flow, seals, steam out, a mould base, mould rings and lifting blocks; a mould ring setup comprises of seal seating groove, belt seating area and seal seating area; and a side ram pressing condition unit comprises of mesh, stencil assembly, a side loading cylinder assembly, and a mesh loading assembly. It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the system is provided for bias cutting of rubber coated fabric with laser cutting technology in belting industry.

It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a single piece flow method of manufacturing of power transmission belt, comprises stripping out of the tension member from a cold feed extruder; passing of tension member through an idler conveyor to dissipate the heat; passing of tension member from the idler conveyor to the pulling conveyor; wherein at the end of the conveyor, there is a profiling machine to ensure the dimension and shape, cooling of the tension member which comes out of the conveyor to room temperature before taking the weighment; drying of the tension member to remove the water droplet which is deposited during cooling operations; wherein at the end of the extruder, a conveyor is placed to keep the tension member in position just before to start the building operations, channelizing of conveyor with canal like structure to guide a rubber strip to fall in line; keeping a paint marking unit in the line to ensure the wrong part is identified and scrapping suitably during the initial setting and at the time processing too; positioning of a dancing roller after the profiling machine for buffering the strip; wherein depending upon the size requirement, the strip length is arrived and cut using the electrically heated knife and the cutting is done in an angle to maximize the overlapping surface, placing the guided tension member exactly on the drum where the grooving is done to accommodate the particular size and sections; wherein having placed the strip on the groove, a guided roller is used to apply uniform pressure on the surface in order to maintain the shape integrity, wounding textile cord member on the surface with uniform tension using a magnetic brake assisted motor; wherein a gripper is used to start the winding without losing the tension right from right to left for the entire belt, cutting the cord is suitably with the scissoring mechanism without the loss of the cord winding tension; moving the rotary table at right angle for a new position and activating the conveyor which is meant for compression rubber; wherein in the curing machine, the compression rubber is placed just above the cord and pressure is applied over the top surface for maintaining the structural integrity, taking off the compression rubber from the cold feed extruder through conveyor which is similar to tension member; moving of again the rotary table at an angle of 90 deg to take a new position D; removing the built- green belt with the help of pneumatically activated pulling bar when the drum is resized; fabric frictioning of the belt from the output of component assembly; flipping of the fabric belt; and curing of the belt.

It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a method of curing of power transmission belt, comprising: arranging a pair of endless pressurizing bands to oppose each other with the vulcanizing drum between the pressurizing bands; accurately surrounding and pressing the corresponding portions of the circumferential surface of the vulcanizing drum; while the surface of the vulcanizing drum is heated inside through steam and electric heaters from outside and the respective pressurizing bands are oppositely pressed against the vulcanizing drum; and synchronously rotating the respective pressurizing bands to turn the vulcanizing drum and continuously vulcanize the uncured rubber belts on the mould mounted on the drum.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

So that the manner in which the features, advantages and objects of the invention, as well as others which will become apparent, may be understood in more detail, more particular description of the invention briefly summarized above may be had by reference to the embodiment thereof which is illustrated in the appended drawing, which form a part of this specification. It is to be noted, however, that the drawing illustrates only a preferred embodiment of the invention and is therefore not to be considered limiting of the invention's scope as it may admit to other equally effective embodiments. Figure 1 : illustrates schematic view of the feeding conveyor to the building equipment according to the present invention.

Figure 2: illustrates front view of the nip roller used for the laying of the tension and compression rubber according to the present invention.

Figure 3: illustrates the schematic view of the building machine with four different zones along with pressure roller arrangement according to the present invention.

Figure 4: illustrates the front view of the unloading cylinder which is fitted in the building machine in the zone D according to the present invention.

Figure 5: illustrates the schematic view of the drive wheel fitted in the building machine according to the present invention.

Figure 6: illustrates the schematic view of the servo sliding mechanism for the feeding of the accessories components of the belt for building machine according to the present invention.

Figure 7 : illustrates the schematic view of the rotary table which is showing the position of different zones A, B, C and D according to the present invention.

Figure 8: illustrates the schematic view cord winding drum along with cord feeding unit according to the present invention.

Figure 9: illustrates the sectional view of the drum head according to the present invention.

Figure 10: illustrates the schematic view of the Mandrel which is collapsible according to the present invention.

Figure 11 : illustrates the schematic view of the mechanical gripper for cord positioning according to the present invention.

Figure 12: illustrates the schematic view of the X-Y table movement according to the present invention.

Figure 13: illustrates the schematic view of the robotics with fixture according to the present invention.

Figure 14: illustrates the schematic view of the drum change over unit according to the present invention.

Figure 15: illustrates the schematic view of the Cord let-off unit according to the present invention. Figure 16: illustrates the schematic setup of the setup of base profile, cord and topping layer.

Figure 17: illustrates the schematic view of the consolidated system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt according to the present invention.

Figure 18: illustrates the schematic view of the winding and unwinding unit according to the present invention. Figure 19: illustrates the schematic view of the buffer and bow roller unit according to the present invention.

Figure 20: illustrates the schematic view of the web aligner unit according to the present invention. Figure 21: illustrates the schematic view of the conveyor, vision system and laser cutting unit according to the present invention.

Figure 22: illustrates the schematic view of the fabric pulling, buffer unit and scissor cutter according to the present invention.

Figure 23: illustrates the schematic view of the flipping unit according to the present invention. Figure 24: illustrates the schematic view of the reversal unit according to the present invention. Figure 25: illustrates the schematic view of the curing machine according to the present invention. Figure 26: illustrates the schematic view of the press structure according to the present invention. Figure 27 : illustrates the schematic view of the base plate stress distribution according to the present invention.

Figure 28: illustrates the schematic view of the side ram assembly according to the present invention.

Figure 29: illustrates the schematic view of the spindle assembly according to the present invention. Figure 30: illustrates the schematic view of the mould assembly according to the present invention. Figure 31: illustrates the schematic view of the mould ring with seal according to the present invention.

Figure 32: illustrates the schematic view of the hydraulics device according to the present invention. Figure 33: illustrates the schematic view of the side ram pressing condition according to the present invention.

Figure 34: illustrates the schematic view of the curing process according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The present disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt comprises of component assembly, fabric frictioning assembly, and curing machine assembly. The component assembly comprises of an elastomeric body, a profiling machine, a rubber strip, a textile cord member, an individual cord let off unit and cutting system, a rotary table [53] arrangement, a guided roller, a paint marking unit, a dancing roller [152], a feeding conveyor for topping and base profile arrangement, a magnetic clamp and nip roller arrangement, a belt body, a centre support arrangement, an unloading arrangement [24], a drum drive arrangement [23], a servo slide arrangement [47], a bearing housing [63] arrangement, a drum head [71] arrangement, a mechanical gripper [75] arrangement, a X-Y table movement arrangement, a robotic arrangement, a drum changeover arrangement [114], an extruder [150], a collapsible tool [127], a programmer unit and a mandrel [131].

A fabric frictioning assembly comprises of a winding and unwinding unit, a buffer and bow roller unit, a web aligner unit, a conveyor, a vision system and laser cutting unit, a fabric pulling, buffer unit and scissor cutter, a flipping unit, a reversal unit, a servo motor [210] and an AC motor [211]. A curing machine assembly comprises of a mesh removal assembly [231], a top ram [232], a hydraulic manifold [233], a heater assembly [234], structure [235], a spindle drive gear box and servo motor [236], and a side ram assembly [237].

The power transmission belt is an endless wrapped V belt, a compression member is placed below the tension cord member, the green belt reversing operation is used for flipping operation, the curing tool is used to avoid steam leak. The rotary drum comprises of four different zones for the purpose of laying and winding of various components of the wrapped belt. An embossed raised marking is provided on a product surface in a differential pressure curing. A consolidated system for manufacturing of the wrapped power transmission belt comprises of an extruder [150], a take-away conveyor [151], a dancing arm [152], a geometric inspection [153], a coolant tank [154], an air blower [155], an online weigher [156], a paint marking [157], a dancing arm [158], a haul-off unit [159], a conveyor [160], a swing conveyor [161] and a drum building station [162]. The collapsible tool [127] is used to accommodate various sizes of the belt of same sections such as one station is for the laying of tension rubber and the second station is used for winding the tension cord member and the third station is placed to lay the compression rubber and the fourth station is placed to plug off the belt by collapsing the mandrel.

The single piece flow method of manufacturing of power transmission belt, comprises the following steps: stripping out of the tension member from a cold feed extruder [150]; passing of tension member through an idler conveyor to dissipate the heat; passing of tension member from the idler conveyor to the pulling conveyor;

At the end of the conveyor, there is a profiling machine to ensure the dimension and shape, cooling of the tension member which comes out of the conveyor to room temperature before taking the weighment; drying of the tension member to remove the water droplet which is deposited during cooling operations; at the end of the extruder [150], a conveyor is placed to keep the tension member in position just before to start the building operations, channelizing of conveyor with canal like structure to guide a rubber strip to fall in line; keeping a paint marking unit in the line to ensure the wrong part is identified and scrapping suitably during the initial setting and at the time processing too; positioning of a dancing roller after the profiling machine for buffering the strip; depending upon the size requirement, the strip length is arrived and cut using the electrically heated knife and the cutting is done in an angle to maximize the overlapping surface, placing the guided tension member exactly on the drum where the grooving is done to accommodate the particular size and sections; having placed the strip on the groove, a guided roller is used to apply uniform pressure on the surface in order to maintain the shape integrity, wounding textile cord member on the surface with uniform tension using a magnetic brake assisted motor; a gripper is used to start the winding without losing the tension right from right to left for the entire belt, cutting the cord is suitably with the scissoring mechanism without the loss of the cord winding tension; moving the rotary table at right angle for a new position and activating the conveyor which is meant for compression rubber; in the curing machine, the compression rubber is placed just above the cord and pressure is applied over the top surface for maintaining the structural integrity, taking off the compression rubber from the cold feed extruder [150] through conveyor which is similar to tension member; moving of again the rotary table at an angle of 90 deg to take a new position D; removing the built- green belt with the help of pneumatically activated pulling bar when the drum is resized; fabric frictioning of the belt from the output of component assembly; flipping of the fabric belt; and curing of the belt.

A method of curing of power transmission belt, comprising the steps: arranging a pair of endless pressurizing bands to oppose each other with the vulcanizing drum between the pressurizing bands; accurately surrounding and pressing the corresponding portions of the circumferential surface of the vulcanizing drum; while the surface of the vulcanizing drum is heated inside through steam and electric heaters from outside and the respective pressurizing bands are oppositely pressed against the vulcanizing drum; and synchronously rotating the respective pressurizing bands to turn the vulcanizing drum and continuously vulcanize the uncured rubber belts on the mould mounted on the dmm.

Referring to Figure 1 , schematic view of the feeding conveyor to the building equipment according to the present invention is illustrated. Feeding conveyor is provided for topping and base profile (FIG 1). A feeding conveyor for topping and base profile arrangement comprises of a conveyor [01], two or more guides [03, 04, 07], a pneumatic cylinder [06], a spring [08], a servo motor [02] and a pressure roller [05]. The flat belt conveyor [01] comprises of a servo motor [02] and two or more guides [03, 04] at the delivery end. Initially topping/base profile is guided in the guide [03], and guided in the guide [04] at delivery end. After initial guide, topping/base profile is held by a pressure roller [05] for controlled delivery. The pressure roller [05] is initially in lifted condition by a pneumatic cylinder [06] and guides [07]. To apply pressure, the pneumatic cylinder [06] moves down and minimum pressure is applied by a spring [08] loaded with the pressure roller [05]. Referring to Figure 2, the front view of the nip roller used for the laying of the tension and compression rubber according to the present invention is illustrated. Magnetic clamp and nip roller arrangement (FIG 2). The magnetic clamp and nip roller arrangement comprises of two or more brackets [09, 12, 17], a magnetic clamp [10], a gripper [11], an electrical actuator [13], a nip roller [14], a spring loaded arrangement [15], and an electrical actuator [16]. This arrangement is mounted on the bracket [09] and is aligned with segmented drum. The magnetic clamp [10] is held by the gripper [11] which is mounted on bracket [12]. The bracket [12] is moved up and down by the electrical actuator [13] to accommodate the drum variants. The magnetic clamp [10] is dropped on the drum at defined location by the gripper [11] and taken back by gripper after the operation is completed. The nip roller [14] with spring loaded arrangement [15] is moved up and down by the electrical actuator [16] which is mounted on the bracket [17]. During nipping, the actuator [16] moves down and nips the topping/base profile.

Referring to Figure 3, the schematic view of the building machine with four different zones along with pressure roller arrangement according to the present invention is illustrated. Centre support arrangement (FIG 3). A centre support arrangement comprises of a centre support [18], a mounting pusher arrangement [19], a locking pin puller arrangement [20], a sensor mounting arrangement [21], a camera mounting arrangement [22], a vertical slide [26], a bracket [48], a puller plate [34], two or more pneumatic cylinders [35, 37], a guide rod [36], and a plunger [38]. The centre support [18] is mounted on the rotary table [53]. This support is used for mounting pusher arrangement [19], locking pin puller arrangement [20], sensor mounting arrangement [21], and servo slides for camera mounting arrangement [22] .

Referring to Figure 4, the front view of the unloading cylinder which is fitted in the building machine in the zone D according to the present invention is illustrated. Referring to Figure 5, the schematic view of the drive wheel fitted in the building machine according to the present invention is illustrated. Drum drive arrangement [23] (FIG 5) and unloading arrangement [24] (FIG 4). The unloading arrangement [24] comprises of a plate [39], electrical actuator [41], suction cups [42], a block [43], a guide [44], a pneumatic cylinder [45] and a pneumatic slide [46]. The drum drive arrangement [23] comprises of a pneumatic cylinder [27], a shock absorber [31], a drum drive motor [25], a dead stopper [30], a bevel pinion [28] and a motor shaft [29]. The drum drive motor [25] is mounted on the vertical slide [26] and moves up and down by the pneumatic cylinder [27]. The bevel pinion [28] is mounted on the motor shaft [29], which gets engaged to the bevel gear [33] on the bearing housing [63] for rotating the bearing shaft [64]. Vertical slide [26] is having the dead stopper [30] with the shock absorber [31] to set the exact down position. Locking pin puller arrangement [20] is made for retracting the locking pin [32] which engages with the bevel gear [33]. The puller plate [34] is retracted by the pneumatic cylinder [35] with the guide rod [36]. Pusher arrangement [19] is used in unloading arrangement [24], to collapse the drum. Plunger [38] is moved forward by the pneumatic cylinder [37] which pushes the pusher rod [72] in the bearing housing [63]. Unloading arrangement [24] is mounted on the centre support [18]. Electrical actuators [41] are mounted on a plate [39] which is mounted on the pneumatic slide [46] which is mounted on a bracket [40] which is mounted on the centre support [18]. The suction cups [42] are mounted on a block [43] which is mounted on guide [44] provided to the electrical actuator [41]. These actuators are having forward movement, by pneumatic cylinder [45].

Referring to figure 6, the schematic view of the servo sliding mechanism for the feeding of the accessories components of the belt for building machine according to the present invention is illustrated. The servo slide arrangement [47] comprises of a servo motor [49], a camera [52], a ball screw [50] and LM guides [51]. Servo slide arrangement [47] (FIG 6) is mounted on a bracket [48] which is mounted on the centre support [18]. Servo motor 49 with ball screw [50] and LM guides [51] moves the camera [52] to position for inspection purpose.

Referring to Figure 7, the schematic view of the rotary table which is showing the position of different zones A, B, C and D according to the present invention is illustrated. Rotary table (FIG 7). A rotary table [53] arrangement comprises of a mounting bracket [57], a base [54], a locking pin [32, 58], a rotary unit [55], a spring [61], sensing dogs [62], housing [60], a guide bush [59] and a false plate [56]. The drum is indexed through the rotary table [53]. The rotary unit [55] is mounted on a base [54] which is grouted to ground. False plate [56] in mounted on top of the rotary unit [55] and the bearing housing [63] and mounting bracket [57] is fixed to it. The centre support [18] is mounted to the rotary unit [55] in the stationary part of it. Locking pin arrangement [58] is mounted on the false plate [56]. The locking pin [32] slides in guide bush [59] which are fitted in housing [60]. Pin [32] is spring [61] loaded and ensures it in forward/locking position always. Sensing dogs [62] are provided on false plate [56] to identify the indexed position of the rotary table [53].

Referring to Figure 8, the schematic view cord winding drum along with cord feeding unit according to the present invention is illustrated. A bearing housing [63] arrangement comprises of a segment assembly [74], a mechanical gripper [75], a pusher shaft [72], a lock nut [66, 69], a bevel gear [33], bearing covers [68], pin [97], bearing [65], spring [73], a bearing shaft [64], a flange [70], a threaded bush [99], a drum head [71], tennon [84], locking plate [83], a steel pad [77], bush [98], bearing covers [68] and a seal [67]. Bearing housing [63] (FIG 8). The bearing housing [63] is mounted on the rotary table [53]. The bearing shaft [64] is mounted on the bearings [65]. Bearing shaft [64] is arrested by the lock nut [66] and the seal [67] is provided in the bearing covers [68]. Bevel gear [33] is mounted on the bearing shaft [64] and arrested in position by the lock nut [69]. Flange [70] is mounted on other end of the bearing shaft [64] which holds the drum head [71]. Flange [70] is having threaded bush [99] to hold the drum head [71] in place. Bearing shaft [64] is hollow and pusher shaft [72] is guided in bush [98] inside. Pusher shaft [72] is spring [73] arrangement at one end to push the mandrel xx during collapsing. Pusher shaft [72] is retained by the pin [97] in the bearing shaft [64]. Pusher shaft [72] is pushed forward by pusher arrangement [19] mounted on centre support [18].

Referring to Figure 9, the sectional view of the drum head according to the present invention is illustrated. A drum head [71] arrangement comprises of a dovetail block [76], a compression spring [94], a block [93], a plate [92], a guide bush [96], butting pads [85], a wear bush [95], housing [89], a dowel pin [91], a moving block [90], pin [87], roller [86] and bush [88]. Drum head (FIG 9). There are two variants on drum head [71], small and big, used according to drum size. Drum head [71] is mounted on bearing housing flange [70]. Drum head is provided with butting pads [85] to reduce wear out. Collapsing mechanism is integrated in the drum head with a roller [86] fixed to pin [87]. Pin [87] is guided in bush [88] which is press fit in the housing [89]. Pin [87] is mounted to moving block [90] by the dowel pin [91]. Moving block [90] is supported and guided by plate [92] in front and back side. Movement of the moving block [90] is stopped by block [93] which is mounted on housing [89]. Between moving block [90] and block [93], compression spring [94] is provided which helps during collapsing of drum. Moving block [90] is having tennon slot where the segment assembly [74] gets located before it is fixed on drum head. Dovetail block [76] is mounted on moving block [90] to guide segment assembly [74]. Guide bush [96] is press fit in housing [89] which is used during segment changeover. Wear bush [95] is provided in housing in the mounting area of drum head. Wear bush [95] is located in bearing housing flange [70]. Guide bush [96] for mandrel [131] mounting is fixed to housing [63] to provide better life to drum head. Drum segment

Drum is formed by mounting three segment assemblies [74] to drum head [71]. One of the segments holds mechanical gripper [75]. Segment [74] is mounted with dovetail [76], steel pad [77] and locking plate [83]. Tennon [84] is mounted to locking plate [83] which gets engaged in drum head [71] during assembly. This locking plate [83] holds the segment assembly [74] to drum head [71].

Referring to Figure 10, the schematic view of the Mandrel which is collapsible according to the present invention is illustrated. A mandrel [131] comprises of a flange bush [133] and a compression spring [134]. Mandrel (FIG 10). Mandrel [131] is changeover part to accommodate different sizes of drum. Flange bush [133] acts as housing and mandrel [131] is guided inside the flange bush [133]. Compression spring [134] is placed inside the bush and is held in location by pin which is threaded to flange bush [133]. Roller [86] in the drum head assembly [71] comes in contact with mandrel [131] after assembly.

Referring to Figure 11 , the schematic view of the mechanical gripper for cord positioning according to the present invention is illustrated. A mechanical gripper [75] arrangement comprises of block [79], a holder [82], a spring plunger [132], a plate [80] and a toggle clamp [81]. Mechanical gripper [75] (FIG 11) Holds and guides cord during cord winding. Mechanical gripper [75] is mounted on the drum segment assembly [74]. Block [79] and plate [80] and spring plunger [132] are mounted on holder [82] and toggle clamp [81] is mounted on block [79]. Spring plunger [132] holds plate [80] in forward and retracted condition. Plate [80] guides cord and toggle clamp [81] holds the cord in position during cord winding.

Referring to figure 12, the schematic view of the X-Y table movement according to the present invention is illustrated. X-Y Table (FIG 12). X-Y table movement arrangement comprises of a servo motor [100], LM guide [101], a ball screw [102], a fabricated base [103], Y-axis plate [104], a cord gripper [105], a vertical slide [106], a plate [107], a bracket [108], rollers [109, 110, 111, 112] and a cord guide block [113]. X-Y table is used for guiding cord during cord winding. X axis slide with the servomotor [100], the LM guide [101] and the ball screw [102] moves in the direction of winding. Y axis slide with servomotor [100], LM guide [101] and ball screw [102], mounted on fabricated base [103], moves to suit the different sizes of the drum. X axis slide is mounted on Y axis plate [104]. Cord gripper [105] is mounted on a vertical slide [106] with the help of plate [107]. Vertical slide is mounted to a bracket [108] on X axis slide. Cord is routed through rollers [110, 111, 112] and cord guide block [113].

Referring to Figure 13, the schematic view of the robotics with fixture according to the present invention is illustrated. A robotic arrangement comprises of a lever [129], a cutter [127], a nip roller [130], a gripper [128] and a pedestal [126]. Robot with fixture (FIG 13). Robot is mounted on pedestal [126] and is equipped with the cutter [127], the gripper [128] and the lever [129] for handling and cutting cord before and after cord winding. Cord gripper [128] transfers the cord to mechanical gripper [75] whereas lever [129] actuates the toggle clamp [81] to hold the cord in position. Same lever [129] is used to retract the toggle clamp [81]. Cutters [127] with nip roller [130] works after the winding is complete and holds the cord on drum and cuts the cord.

Referring to Figure 14, the schematic view of the drum change over unit according to the present invention is illustrated. A drum changeover arrangement [114] comprises of a changeover head [119], a bearing housing [120], a spring plunger [78], locating pins [124], a front flange [123], a change over weldment [121], a swivel castor [118], a fixed unit [117], a track [115], locking pins [125], bearing housing [122] and base frame [116]. Drum changeover arrangement [144] (FIG 14). Drum changeover arrangement [114] is moving on track [115] mounted on ground. Constructed on a base frame [116] with the fixed unit [117] and the swivel castor [118] wheel for easy movement. Changeover head [119] is mounted in a bearing housing [120] on the base frame [116] to enable easy rotation. Locking pins [125] is provided at [180] deg apart for precise orientation during loading and unloading of drum variants. Changeover head weldment [121] is mounted with the bearing housing [122] and the front flange [123]. Three locating pins [124] are mounted on the front flange [123] to locate the drum head [71]. For orientation, the spring plunger [78] is provided which gets located in front flange [123].

Sensor arrangement on centre support [21] is arranged in such a way that it senses the position of each station and can be called as Station sensors. During changeover, each station is recorded in HMI with the segment size in each station and the same is communicated to associated units like haul off unit, base profile cutting, topping cutting, feeder conveyor, nip rollers and cord winding unit through PLC. Based on the each drum segments requirement, at each stage, the material is cut and fed to drum. Haul off unit delivers required length of Base profile/Topping and signal is passed to cutting unit once the required length is delivered. After cutting, topping/base profile is fed through feeder conveyor which swings and delivers topping/base profile according to the drum size. Nip roller moves to nipping position based on the size and X-Y table moves to the respective position as programmed based on the drum size. Every movement is controlled through PLC and is programmed according to the Drum size.

Cord let-off unit (FIG 15)

Cord let-off unit releases cord from bobbin [136] during cord winding onto the drum. Bobbin [136] is held in the spindle [137], arrested by bobbin holder [139]. Cord is routed through idler rollers [141] and Cord tension monitoring device [140], then supplied to X-Y table roller [109]. Spindle 137 is connected to Electromagnetic brake [143] through flexible coupling [142].

Referring to figure 18, the rubberized fabric roller of 600mm dia [174] is loaded to the safety chucks [173] of unwinding unit manually with the crane, the diameter of the roller is measured using measuring sensor, input of which is taken to control the unwinding speed using geared motor [172], unwind material is fed to the buffer roller of second station, the empty Bobbin [176] is loaded to the safety chucks [173] of winding unit manually, unwind Liner material is winded to the Bobbin, and the speed of winding is control by measuring the diameter of the bobbin using geared motor [171].

Referring to figure 19, the unwind fabric from station continues until the buffer unit [177] get filled and restarts when buffer get empty, the bow roller [178] is used to remove the wrinkles of the unwind fabric, the splicing roller [179] is used to join the edge of the fabric with new fabric edge, and the thickness measuring sensor [180] is used to measure the thickness of the fabric.

Referring to figure 20, the web aligner [181] is used to align one edge of the fabric to the conveyor, the edge of the fabric is measured using sensor [183], entry and exit roller [182] are used to guide the fabric,

Referring to figure 21, the servo motor [184] controls the conveyor [187] index for every 53mm, feedback of 53mm is taken through external encoder [191], the Indexed 53mm fabric is cut using laser cutter [185], if any damage on the fabric is identified using vision unit [186], which gets rejected after laser cutting, good quality cut material is taken to the next station using pick and place unit [188], the 1600mm length ,53mm width laser cut material is picked using vacuum cups and one edge of the fabric place to the splicing unit [190] using 2 axis servo drives, and ~5mm Overlap edge of the fabric is spliced using Pneumatic actuated roller [192] to get joined.

Referring to figure 22, the 1600mm Length of fabric is pulled using servo motor 193, rear end of the fabric is stopped accurately at the splicing unit, pulled fabric is collected in the buffer unit [194], the fabric from buffer unit to next station fed using ac motor [198], the vision unit [195] is used measure the width of the fabric, the joint of fabric is detected using thickness measuring sensor [199], near joint for the wrapping belt is calculated by getting the feedback of actual length wrapper using servo motor [202] and distance of the joint sensor [199] from scissor cutter [197], and the correction is made using needle gripper, pick and pull cylinders [196], and made to cut using scissor cutter unit 197.

Referring to figure 23, the 53mm fabric is wrapped on the belt [200] loaded to the flipping unit, stretching of belt using Servo motor 201 and exact pulling of fabric is controlled with the servo motor [202], and after wrapping fabric is cut using scissor cutter. Spring loaded trap rollers [203] are used to wrap the fabric on the belt.

Referring to figure 24, the belt for wrapping is received from component assembly, the belts need to be reversed to get the required orientation for flipping station, the belt from component assembly is loaded to the pulleys [204, 205], belt is clamped using pneumatic cylinders [206, 207], after clamping rotary cylinders [208, 209] get actuated to rotate for 180deg, belt is stretched until to get the torque using servo motor [210] and the length of the belt is identified using torque reached position, and AC motor [211] runs to complete reversal of belt.

COMBINATION CURING MACHINE

Industrial V / Wrapped belt cured by using semi-automatic machines in the present industries. Work force requirement is high and is skill dependent at present. In order to reduce the operator dependency, Automatic curing line is designed & developed by introducing industrial automation.

Various means including mechanical, steam, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical, electronic devices and computers, used in combination, to achieve automation. The benefit of automation translates into labor savings, savings in electricity costs, savings in material costs, improvements in quality & product consistency.

Objective:

The main objective of design and development of combination curing machine is to achieve the following

1. Homogeneous curing of the belt.

2. To achieve consistency in belt quality, dimensions & strength.

3. To eliminate operator fatigue in handling heavy moulds.

4. To minimize the heating energy consumption by providing controlled & variable heating levels for different sized moulds.

5. To optimize and reduce the consumption of steam for curing process.

Machine Configuration of curing machine: a. Curing Machine b. Press Structure c. Side Ram assembly d. Spindle assembly e. Mould assembly f. Steam Sealing g. Hydraulics h. Embossing Letters i. Electricals

Referring to Figure 25, the curing machine as shown is meant for “V” / Wrapped belt. The machine has following features as mentioned below.

The machine is flexible to accommodate the belt sizes ranging from 44” to 110”. The machine is fully automatic and works on machine intelligence; controlled through programmable logic control. The mould size detection sensor on the loading conveyor gives the feedback to the main processors like Zonal Heaters [234], Hydraulics [233] spindle [236] for automatic setting of variables like temperature, pressure, time, mould rotational speed & angle enabling auto-setting of the parameters for the running mould. Mould rotation is servo controlled, Gear [236] Driven to accommodate wide range of speeds, from 50 RPM to very low speed of 0.02 RPM. Machine has built in features to control the steam & heat consumption. In addition, the belts are subjected to uniform (Settable) pressures from the sides, to achieve the required Impression & maintain size of the belt after curing process.

Referring to Figure 26, the structure shown is designed and developed based on the following

1. To withstand load in excess of 30 Tonnes, from Hydraulic forces during the curing process. Structural analysis done to check the stress distribution.

2. Structure [235] caters to moulds pic-6 from i.e. 44” to 110”.

3. The entire structure [235] with the Top plate is double stress relieved to prevent from distortion due to internal stresses, aging & thermal effects.

4. Sufficiently ribbed to overcome deflection due to cyclic loads (fatigue) & retain the accuracies.

5. Structure [235] is mounted on heavy-duty Anti Vibration pads considering the environment of operation.

Referring to Figure 28, RH side ram assembly (LH side ram assembly is Identical to RH assembly & on the left side of machine). Side ram houses the sub-assemblies. The LH & RH Rams are operated by Individual Hydraulic cylinder a) & valve [263] sets. The Rams support in the application of high pressure through the mesh [244] & fabric [270] on the Belts during the curing process. There are four heater zones [234] on both LH & RH side to provide a choice of selection based on the size of the mould. The system will ensure the Mesh [244] & Ram are held straight in tension under pressure without “Fall down” thereby ensuring uniform & aesthetically good Impression on belts apart from other physical properties.

Referring to Figure 29, The Pic shown is the spindle assembly designed and developed for the following purpose

1. Motorized Spindle [236] is required to rotate the moulds pic-6 (with Belts) at low speeds during curing process. Spindle 236 is designed to accommodate mould sizes ranging from 44” to 110”.

2. Heavy-duty taper roller bearings are used and these bearings are grease filled for life.

3. Spindle housing [251] is double stress relieved. 4. Mould locators and rest pads [249] provided, which ensures mould orientation and proper resting.

5. Spindle [236] is driven by a Servo Motor, through a gearbox & a chain drive to achieve speeds as low as 0.02 RPM.

6. Spindle shaft [250] made hollow to exhaust the steam from the mould.

Referring to Figure 30, the picshown is the mould assembly designed and developed with following features

1. Mould acts as a hollow chamber with belts loaded on the periphery in the grooves. High pressure & temperature steam flows [254] inside the mould chamber, to maintain sufficient volume for primary curing of belt. The steam piping with minimum bends to ensure there is no drop in temperature & pressure variations are kept minimum. The steam consumption is optimized through well-routed steam passages in the moulds.

2. Seals (Viton) [255] provided between the mould rings [258] ensures there is no leakage of steam sand can withstand curing temperatures, without shrinkage.

3. Dovetailed groove [260] design for seal seating [262] enables the seal is retention during load application & quenching of moulds in chilled water, thereby providing longer life.

4. Mould rings [258] have V-Profile cut, to house the belts. Grooves [260] are done on the mould rings [258] accurately on CNC machines, to ensure the belts retain the required final dimensions after curing process.

Referring to Figure 32, the hydraulic pressures are varied by using proportion control valves [263] to suite different curing pressure applied on the mould. Each hydraulic cylinder [269] pressure can be controlled and varied independently. High and low pressures are designed based on the requirement. Valves [263] mounted on manifolds 3 on the machines, to enable ease of connection & disconnection of Hydraulic connections during assembly/maintenance or shifting. Provision made in the circuitry to check Pressures at critical points.

Referring to Figure 33, the pic shows the generation of embossing letters during curing cycle.

After the mould assembly, stencil [271] mounted / fixed on the mould. The stencil letters are exactly center to the each belt width. The hydraulic pressure is applied through the side loading [243] and mesh loading cylinders [247]. Due to the high temperatures from heaters [234] and steam [254] (inside mould), the embossed letters are generated on the belt. Referring to Figure 34, Vulcanizing or curing of the endless wrapped or V belt undergoes the following process. The green or soft endless belt wrapped with rubberized fabric will travel from auto flipping machine. The green belt received at combination curing machine is assembled on the mould ring [251] outside the machine. Stencil with labels [259] are assembled on the mould assembly. Mould travels and enters curing zone i.e. on the spindle assembly. Mould assembly size detected automatically by the system and the respective elements adjust accordingly i.e. side ram stroke, the heater zone [234] and mould tensioning cylinder stroke [240]. Four different heating zones [234] provided which will ON according to the mould size i.e. closer the heating zone [234] lesser the heat loss during the transmission. Top ram [232] actuates and seals the mould from top. Side ram cylinder [256] and side loading cylinder [240] moves forward and locks. Heaters ON [234] and temperatures will raise steep. Steam [246] enter the mould through top ram [232] and builds the temperature and pressure inside the mould, the excess steam [249] exits from the trap at the bottom of the spindle assembly. Mould starts rotation with slow speeds (min 0.02rpm) that makes exposed area of the belt to move in to the pressure and temperature zone. Mesh [239] and fabric keep applying the pressures on the belt through mesh loading cylinder [240]. The differential pressures required for different sized belt are achieved through proportional control valves. During the mould rotation the fabric is released from the fabric motors [241] and winding takes place on the other side. Due to the hydraulic pressures applied from mesh loading cylinder [240] on to the mesh [239], fabric, stencil [259] and mould assembly and also temperature raise of belts due to heaters [234] and steam, the impression of stencil [259], mesh [239] and fabric is generated on the belt i.e. knurl finish and embossed letter on the belt. After the curing process completion, the sub-assemblies returns to home position. The mould travels from curing zone to quenching zone i.e. controlled chilled water. From the quenching zone, the mould travels to dismantling area.

Electricals:

SIEMENS PLC - S71500 used for Machine control that enables program selection based on the Model size. Machine has a dedicated Electrical Cabinet with AC, housing the Drives, circuit breakers, contactors & relays; all are mounted & neatly wired. Operations of the machine, Parameter selection & the required diagnostics with trouble shooting are effected through an Operator Panel, mounted in front of the machine.

Machine Connectivity - V-Belt Manufacturing Line Objective The new V-Belt manufacturing line features on Machine connectivity closely associated with the functions of the machines in a component assembly, a fabric frictioning assembly and a curing machine assembly. The component assembly, a fabric frictioning assembly and a curing machine assembly are Integrated to work as a single Production system. Following focus areas are included as related to Machine connectivity, prime driver of Industry 4.0 applications.

(1) Standard Interfaces: The Critical machines of component assembly, a fabric frictioning assembly and a curing machine assembly are Interfaced using Profinet connections which enable both continuous & random sequencing of the operations. Interfacing of Drum building station PLC of component assembly with Reversal Station PLC at fabric frictioning assembly and a curing machine assembly PLC, confirms the process with range of parameters. The Profile confirmation at component assembly has Interface with the Hall of unit & inturn the Drum building station.

(2) Data Platform: Collection of Data pertaining to the Belts is possible at the Central Processor/PC, which is a platform source for segregation & analysis. Parameters include, Profile dimensions, loads at cord winding & profile nipping, overlap dimensions, 53 mm Joint, Curing parameters for Individual belts over every shift,

(3) Special sensors: Machine connectivity also needs high performance feedback elements & sensors to monitor the parameters & positions. The Zumbach Profilometer at component assembly, the Camera systems used for detection of position of belts, cord, overlapping joint, detection of errors in cutting, Temperature sensors, for confirmation of curing temperature of steam, Heaters, Pressure sensors are used in the V-Belt manufacturing line.

(4) Data Security: The specific data from respective machines of component assembly, a fabric frictioning assembly and a curing machine assembly is captured & stored in the Centralised PC (Server). Over 99% of data is always made available locally & is protected using valid codes & passwords.

(5) Maintenance: All Alarms & messages are made available at critical stations of component assembly, a fabric frictioning assembly and a curing machine assembly, on the Operator panels & additional buzzers to alert the operators as regards to the maintenance points. Necessary alarms are available for initiating & attending to Predictive & Preventive maintenance. Connectivity platform with the above credentials will support the Production & Maintenance of V- Belt manufacturing line.

Advantages: · Lesser Man power, energy and wastages.

• Consistency in quality and product performance.

• Single piece flow which helps to maintain lower inventory and supports for just in time production.

• As the machines are interconnected, one can get the online MIS. · Better yield and throughput.

• Machine utility and OEE is very high.

Although, the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto, without parting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. A system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt, comprising: a component assembly comprises of an elastomeric body, a profiling machine, a rubber strip, a textile cord member, an individual cord let off unit and cutting system, a rotary table [53] arrangement, a guided roller, a paint marking unit, a dancing roller [152], a feeding conveyor for topping and base profile arrangement, a magnetic clamp and nip roller arrangement, a belt body, a centre support arrangement, an unloading arrangement [24], a drum drive arrangement [23], a servo slide arrangement [47], a bearing housing [63] arrangement, a drum head [71] arrangement, a mechanical gripper [75] arrangement, a X-Y table movement arrangement, a robotic arrangement, a drum changeover arrangement [114], an extruder [150], a collapsible tool [127], a programmer unit and a mandrel [131]; a fabric frictioning assembly comprises of a winding and unwinding unit, a buffer and bow roller unit, a web aligner unit, a conveyor, a vision system and laser cutting unit, a fabric pulling, buffer unit and scissor cutter, a flipping unit, a reversal unit, a servo motor [210] and an AC motor [211]; and a curing machine assembly comprises of a mesh removal assembly [231], a top ram [232], a hydraulic manifold [233], a heater assembly [234], structure [235], a spindle drive gear box and servo motor [236], and a side ram assembly [237], wherein the power transmission belt is an endless wrapped V belt, a compression member is placed below the tension cord member, the green belt reversing operation is used for flipping operation, the curing tool is used to avoid steam leak, wherein the rotary drum comprises of four different zones for the purpose of laying and winding of various components of the wrapped belt, wherein an embossed raised marking is provided on a product surface in a differential pressure curing, wherein a consolidated system for manufacturing of the wrapped power transmission belt comprises of an extruder [150], a take-away conveyor [151], a dancing arm [152], a geometric inspection [153], a coolant tank [154], an air blower [155], an online weigher [156], a paint marking [157], a dancing arm [158], a haul-off unit [159], a conveyor [160], a swing conveyor [161] and a drum building station [162], and wherein the collapsible tool [127] is used to accommodate various sizes of the belt of same sections such as one station is for the laying of tension rubber and the second station is used for winding the tension cord member and the third station is placed to lay the compression rubber and the fourth station is placed to plug off the belt by collapsing the mandrel.

2. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cord tension is properly controlled by independent activity carried at different processing divisions of the machine simultaneously and ensures the single piece flow of the component, thus this kind of set up ensures the building of various sizes ranges continuously smoothly.

3. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tension cord member provides constant and uniform cord winding tension across the circumferential length and width.

4. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastomeric body and the longitudinally extending tensile member are embedded in the belt body with uniform tension across the length and width of the belt.

5. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the programmer unit such as PLC program is used to control the activity in each station and an arbitrary number is assigned to the station to monitor, control and program the activity based on the computer programming.

6. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tension cord member and compression member comprises of tension rubber, compression rubber, adhesion rubber, cord, rubber coated textile material, and the like.

7. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotary table [53] arrangement comprises of a mounting bracket [57], a base [54], a locking pin [32, 58], a rotary unit [55], a spring [61], sensing dogs [62], housing [60], a guide bush [59] and a false plate [56].

8. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the feeding conveyor for topping and base profile arrangement comprises of a conveyor [01], two or more guides [03, 04, 07], a pneumatic cylinder [06], a spring [08], a servo motor [02] and a pressure roller [05].

9. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the magnetic clamp and nip roller arrangement comprises of two or more brackets [09, 12, 17], a magnetic clamp [10], a gripper [11], an electrical actuator [13], a nip roller [14], a spring loaded arrangement [15], and an electrical actuator [16].

10. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the centre support arrangement comprises of a centre support [18], a mounting pusher arrangement [19], a locking pin puller arrangement [20], a sensor mounting arrangement [21], a camera mounting arrangement [22], a vertical slide [26], a bracket [48], a puller plate [34], two or more pneumatic cylinders [35, 37], a guide rod [36], and a plunger [38].

11. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the unloading arrangement [24] comprises of a plate [39], electrical actuator [41], suction cups [42], a block [43], a guide [44], a pneumatic cylinder [45] and a pneumatic slide [46].

12. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drum drive arrangement [23] comprises of a pneumatic cylinder [27], a shock absorber [31], a drum drive motor [25], a dead stopper [30], a bevel pinion [28] and a motor shaft [29].

13. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the servo slide arrangement [47] comprises of a servo motor [49], a camera [52], a ball screw [50] and LM guides [51].

14. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bearing housing [63] arrangement comprises of a segment assembly [74], a mechanical gripper [75], a pusher shaft [72], a lock nut [66, 69], a bevel gear [33], bearing covers [68], pin [97], bearing [65], spring [73], a bearing shaft [64], a flange [70], a threaded bush [99], a drum head [71], tennon [84], locking plate [83], a steel pad [77], bush [98], bearing covers [68] and a seal [67].

15. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drum head [71] arrangement comprises of a dovetail block [76], a compression spring [94], a block [93], a plate [92], a guide bush [96], butting pads [85], a wear bush [95], housing [89], a dowel pin [91], a moving block [90], pin [87], roller [86] and bush [88].

16. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mechanical gripper [75] arrangement comprises of block [79], a holder [82], a spring plunger [132], a plate [80] and a toggle clamp [81].

17. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the X-Y table movement arrangement comprises of a servo motor [100], LM guide [101], a ball screw [102], a fabricated base [103], Y-axis plate [104], a cord gripper [105], a vertical slide [106], a plate [107], a bracket [108], [109], rollers [109, 110, 111, 112] and a cord guide block [113]·

18. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the robotic arrangement comprises of a lever [129], a cutter/ an individual cord let off unit [127], a nip roller [130], a gripper [128] and a pedestal [126].

19. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the drum changeover arrangement [114] comprises of a changeover head [119], a bearing housing [120], a spring plunger [78], locating pins [124], a front flange [123], a change over weldment [121], a swivel castor [118], a fixed unit [117], a track [115], locking pins [125], bearing housing [122] and base frame [116].

20. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mandrel [131] comprises of a flange bush [133] and a compression spring [134].

21. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotary drum is placed in such way that all the components are feed to the station smoothly.

22. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein one suitable line of extruder [ 150] is provided for the feeding of tension rubber and another extruder [150] is provided for laying the compression rubber.

23. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conveyor comprises of an idler conveyor, a flat belt conveyor, feeder conveyor, a pulling conveyor, a take-away conveyor [151] and the like.

24. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein a pair of rod is activated by the pneumatic cylinder to remove the belt while collapsing of the mandrel.

25. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the belt body in the extruder [150] is heated on a profile inspection mechanism [153] which provides feedback to the extruder [150].

26. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the winding and unwinding unit comprises of one or more geared motors [171, 172], one or more safety chucks [173], rubberized fabric roller [174] and empty bobbin [176].

27. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the buffer and bow roller unit comprises of buffer unit [177], bow roller [178], splicing roller [179] and thickness measuring sensor [180].

28. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the web aligner unit comprises of a web aligner [181], entry and exit roller [182], and sensor [183].

29. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conveyor, vision system and laser cutting unit comprises of a servo motor [184], laser cutter [185], vision unit [186], conveyor [187], pick and place unit [188], splicing unit [190], encoder [191] and pneumatic actuated roller [192], wherein the servo motor [184] controls the conveyor [187] index for every 53mm, feedback of 53mm is taken through external encoder [191], wherein the Indexed 53mm fabric is cut using laser cutter [185], if any damage on the fabric is identified using vision unit [186], which gets rejected after laser cutting, good quality cut material is taken to the next station using pick and place unit [188], wherein the 1600mm length ,53mm width laser cut material is picked using vacuum cups and one edge of the fabric place to the splicing unit [190] using 2 axis servo drives, and ~5mm Overlap edge of the fabric is spliced using Pneumatic actuated roller [192] to get joined.

30. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fabric pulling, buffer unit and scissor cutter comprises of servo motor [193], buffer unit [194], vision unit [195], pick and pull cylinders [196], scissor cutter [197], AC motor [198] and thickness measuring sensor [199], wherein the 1600mm Length of fabric is pulled using servo motor [193], rear end of the fabric is stopped accurately at the splicing unit, pulled fabric is collected in the buffer unit [194], wherein the fabric from buffer unit to next station fed using AC motor [198], and the vision unit [195] is used measure the width of the fabric, and wherein the joint of fabric is detected using thickness measuring sensor [199], near joint for the wrapping belt is calculated by getting the feedback of actual length wrapper using servo motor [202] and distance of the joint sensor [199] from scissor cutter [197], and the correction is made using needle gripper, pick and pull cylinders [196], and made to cut using scissor cutter unit [197].

31. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flipping unit comprises of belt [200], servo motors [201, 202] and spring loaded trap rollers [203], wherein the 53mm fabric is wrapped on the belt [200] loaded to the flipping unit, and stretching of belt using Servo motor [201] and exact pulling of fabric is controlled with the servo motor [202] , and after wrapping fabric is cut using scissor cutter, and wherein the spring loaded trap rollers [203] are used to wrap the fabric on the belt.

32. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reversal unit comprises of pulleys [204, 205], pneumatic cylinders [206, 207], clamping rotary cylinders [208, 209], servo motor [210] and AC motor [211], wherein the belt for wrapping is received from component assembly, the belts need to be reversed to get the required orientation for flipping station, the belt from component assembly is loaded to the pulleys [204, 205], and wherein the belt is clamped using pneumatic cylinders [206, 207], after clamping rotary cylinders [208, 209] get actuated to rotate for 180deg, belt is stretched until to get the torque using servo motor [210] and the length of the belt is identified using torque reached position, and AC motor [211] runs to complete reversal of belt.

33. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 26, wherein the rubberized fabric roller of 600mm dia [174] is loaded to the safety chucks [173] of unwinding unit manually with the crane, wherein the diameter of the roller is measured using a measuring sensor, input of which is taken to control the unwinding speed using geared motor [172], wherein the unwind material is fed to the buffer roller of second station, wherein the empty Bobbin [176] is loaded to the safety chucks [173] of winding unit manually, wherein the unwind Liner material is winded to the Bobbin, and the speed of winding is controlled by measuring the diameter of the bobbin using geared motor [171], and the unwind fabric from station continues until the buffer unit [177] get filled and restarts when buffer get empty.

34. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 27, wherein the bow roller [178] is used to remove the wrinkles of the unwind fabric and the splicing roller [179] is used to join the edge of the fabric with new fabric edge, and the thickness measuring sensor [180] is used to measure the thickness of the fabric.

35. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 28, wherein the web aligner [ 181 ] is used to align one edge of the fabric to the conveyor, the edge of the fabric is measured using sensor [183], entry and exit roller [182] are used to guide the fabric.

36. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hydraulic manifold [233] comprises of proportional control valves [263], accumulators [264], high-pressure hosepipes and low-pressure hosepipes [265], hydraulic Power Pack [266], high- pressure indicators and low-pressure indicators [267], dual hydraulic cylinders / tensioning cylinders [268] and hydraulic cylinders [269].

37. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the spindle drive gear box and servo motor [236] comprises of mould locator [249], spindle shaft [250], housing [251] and driven sprocket [252].

38. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side ram assembly [237] comprises of side loading cylinder [243], mesh [244, 245], mesh when not conducted with mould [246], mesh loading cylinder assembly [247] and fabric motor assembly [248].

39. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the curing machine further comprising: a press structure comprises of a top ram mounting [238], a spindle assembly mounting [239], pillar rods [240], tubular structure [241], and base plate [242]; a mould assembly comprises of a steam in flow [253], steam flow [254], seals [255], steam out [256], a mould base [257], mould rings [258] and lifting blocks [259]; a mould ring setup comprises of seal seating groove [260], belt seating area [261] and seal seating area [262]; and a side ram pressing condition unit comprises of mesh [244, 245], stencil assembly [271], a side loading cylinder assembly [243], and a mesh loading assembly [247].

40. The system for manufacturing of wrapped power transmission belt as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is provided for bias cutting of rubber coated fabric with laser cutting technology in belting industry.

41. A single piece flow method of manufacturing of power transmission belt, comprises stripping out of the tension member from a cold feed extruder [150]; passing of tension member through an idler conveyor to dissipate the heat; passing of tension member from the idler conveyor to the pulling conveyor; wherein at the end of the conveyor, there is a profiling machine to ensure the dimension and shape, cooling of the tension member which comes out of the conveyor to room temperature before taking the weighment; drying of the tension member to remove the water droplet which is deposited during cooling operations; wherein at the end of the extruder [150], a conveyor is placed to keep the tension member in position just before to start the building operations, channelizing of conveyor with canal like structure to guide a rubber strip to fall in line; keeping a paint marking unit in the line to ensure the wrong part is identified and scrapping suitably during the initial setting and at the time processing too; positioning of a dancing roller after the profiling machine for buffering the strip; wherein depending upon the size requirement, the strip length is arrived and cut using the electrically heated knife and the cutting is done in an angle to maximize the overlapping surface, placing the guided tension member exactly on the drum where the grooving is done to accommodate the particular size and sections; wherein having placed the strip on the groove, a guided roller is used to apply uniform pressure on the surface in order to maintain the shape integrity, wounding textile cord member on the surface with uniform tension using a magnetic brake assisted motor; wherein a gripper is used to start the winding without losing the tension right from right to left for the entire belt, cutting the cord is suitably with the scissoring mechanism without the loss of the cord winding tension; moving the rotary table at right angle for a new position and activating the conveyor which is meant for compression rubber; wherein in the curing machine, the compression rubber is placed just above the cord and pressure is applied over the top surface for maintaining the structural integrity, taking off the compression rubber from the cold feed extruder [ 150] through conveyor which is similar to tension member; moving of again the rotary table at an angle of 90 deg to take a new position D; removing the built- green belt with the help of pneumatically activated pulling bar when the drum is resized; fabric frictioning of the belt from the output of component assembly; flipping of the fabric belt; and curing of the belt.

42. A method of curing of power transmission belt, comprising: arranging a pair of endless pressurizing bands to oppose each other with the vulcanizing drum between the pressurizing bands; accurately surrounding and pressing the corresponding portions of the circumferential surface of the vulcanizing drum; while the surface of the vulcanizing drum is heated inside through steam and electric heaters from outside and the respective pressurizing bands are oppositely pressed against the vulcanizing drum; and synchronously rotating the respective pressurizing bands to turn the vulcanizing drum and continuously vulcanize the uncured rubber belts on the mould mounted on the drum.