A device for automatically lubricating the edges of the rims of a tire shaping drum including a pivoting arm member having disposed on the end thereof an absorbent member adapted to be positioned proximate to the rims of the tire shaping drum whereby lubricant may be metered to the absorbent material in order to allow the rim of the tire shaping drum to be automatically lubricated in response to control signals provided by a programmable controller.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a means for applying a lubricant to a tire 
shaping means. Specifically, the instant invention relates to a 
lubricating means employing a swinging arm member adapted to contact a 
lubricant impregnated member with the edge of the expanding members of a 
tire shaping drum in order to facilitate the removal of the tire from the 
shaping drum. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The rims of expanding members of tire shaping drums are conventionally 
lubricated manually. That is, the operator utilizes a dauber or similar 
means in order o manually apply a lubricant consisting of castor oil to 
the rims of the expanding member of the shaping drum. The lubricant 
facilitates the removal of the fully shaped tire from the shaping drum 
which normally has a tendency to adhere to the shaping drum in the bead 
area after the green tire carcass has undergone the shaping operation. 
The manual application of the lubricant to the shaping drum increases the 
manual labor required to fabricate a tire and additionally results in 
uneven application of the lubricant to the flanges of the expanding 
members of the tire shaping drum. Excess lubricant applied to the tire 
shaping drum can be transferred to the shaped tire which will in turn 
interfere with later processing of the shaped tire having the lubricant 
disposed thereon. Specifically the presence of lubricant on the inside of 
the shaped tire will adversely affect the application of any release 
compound applied thereto resulting in an increase in incidence of problems 
during removal of the tire from the curing press. In addition, the use of 
an operator to manually apply the lubricant to the tire shaping drum is 
impractical in those situations where the shaping of the tire is 
substantially automated. 
There is, therefore, a need for a means for automatically applying a 
measured amount of lubricant to the flanges of the expanding members of a 
tire shaping drum. 
The instant invention solves this problem by providing an arm member having 
affixed thereto a lubricant impregnated member which may be selectively 
caused to contact the flanges of the expanding members of the tire shaping 
drum in order to cause a known amount of lubricant to be applied thereto 
automatically. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a means for automatically lubricating the 
rims of the expanding members of a tire shaping drum in order to 
facilitate the removal of the shaped tire therefrom. An arm member is used 
in conjunction with a lubricant impregnated member disposed on the end of 
said arm member whereby the arm may be selectively positioned in order to 
cause the lubricant impregnated member to contact the rim of the expanding 
member of the tire shaping drum in order to apply thereto a known amount 
of lubricant.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is shown the autoluber 11 of 
the instant invention. The autoluber 11 is comprised of a base 12 having 
disposed thereon vertical member 13. Pivotally mounted on the vertical 
member 13 near the top thereof is arm member 14 pivotally mounted by means 
of pivot-mount 15. 
Affixed to one end of the arm member 14 is grasping means 17 which is 
adapted to grasp lubricant impregnated member 18 as more fully disclosed 
below. The opposite end of the arm member 14 has affixed thereto the 
clevis of air cylinder 19 which may be selectively actuated by means of 
valve 20 as more fully discussed below. 
There is thus provided a means for pivoting the vertical arm member 14 
about the vertical member 13 from a position removed from the tire shaping 
drum 21 as disclosed in FIG. 1 of the drawings and in phantom in FIG. 2 of 
the drawings to a position wherein the lubricant impregnated member 18 is 
in contact with the expanding member of the tire shaping drum 21 as shown 
in the solid lines in FIG. 2 in order to apply lubricant thereto as 
discussed more fully below. In the exemplary embodiment the lubricant 
impregnated member 18 is preferably polyester foam due to its superior 
abrasion resistance and lubricant compatibility. The instant invention may 
be used in connection with a conventional tire shaping drum or may be used 
in conjunction with an automated tire shaping drum such as that disclosed 
in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 458,680 filed in the name of Earl 
Loeffler for a Shaping Turret, which application is hereby incorporated 
herein by reference. 
Affixed to the arm member 14 at a position between the connection with the 
air cylinder 19 and the pivot-mount 15 is extension spring 23. The 
opposite end of the extension spring 23 is affixed to the vertical member 
13. The extension spring 23 works in opposition to the air cylinder 19 as 
the arm member 14 is rotated about the vertical member 13 from its 
uppermost position to a position proximate to the tire shaping drum 21. 
The extension spring 23 provides a safety feature in that the arm 14 is 
normally spring biased towards the uppermost position. 
Mounting member 24 is attached to the vertical member 13 in proximity to 
the pivot-mount 15. Associated with the mounting member 24 is threaded 
member 25 adapted to engage a similarly threaded hole in the mounting 
member 24 and having one end thereof disposed in the path of travel of the 
arm member 14 and adapted to contact with pad 26 affixed to the arm member 
14 in order to provide a positive stop means for the arm member 14. It may 
be readily appreciated by one skilled in the art that the positive stop 
means may be adjusted by rotating the threaded member with respect to the 
mounting member 24 thereby displacing the end of the threaded member 25 
with respect to the mounting member 24 causing a variable displacement of 
the arm member 14. 
Pneumatic limit switch 27 is also affixed to the mounting member 24 and has 
the actuator thereof adapted to engage the underside of the arm member 14 
when the arm member 14 is displaced such that the grasping means 17 and 
lubricant impregnated member 18 are disposed proximate to the tire shaping 
drum 21. The pneumatic limit switch 27 is utilized to cause lubricant to 
be provided to the lubricant impregnated member 18 as more fully discussed 
below. 
Also affixed to the vertical member 13 is lubricating unit 29, which in the 
exemplary embodiment, is a Trabon Modu-Flo Pump Model ALS25M having a 
steel oil container which is adapted to provide lubricant to the lubricant 
impregnated member 18 via supply line 30. 
There is thus provided a means for selectively pivoting the arm member 14 
about the vertical member 13 in order to contact the lubricant impregnated 
member 18 with the tire shaping drum 21 and alternatively removing the arm 
member 14 and its associated lubricant impregnated member 18 clear of the 
tire shaping drum 21. Further there are provided means for causing 
lubricating oil to be provided to the lubricant impregnated member 18 in 
response to the lubricant impregnated member 18 being in proximity to the 
tire shaping drum 21. It will be readily appreciated by one skilled in the 
art that the instant invention is readily adapted to automatically apply a 
metered amount of lubricant to the tire building drum 21 without operator 
assistance. 
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings there are shown further 
details of the grasping means 17 employed by the instant invention. The 
grasping means 17 is comprised of a mounting flange 31 which is adapted to 
be retained on the end of the arm member 14 by bolt means. The flange 
mounting member 31 has fixedly attached thereto finger means 32 comprised 
of a flat member having associated therewith a cylindrical shaped 
retaining means 33. Associated with the finger means 32 and pivotally 
affixed thereto is second finger means 34 having associated therewith a 
second retaining means 35 which second retaining means is comprised of a 
generally cylindrical shaped member. 
The mounting surface of the mounting flange 31 is angled with respect to 
the axis of the arm member 14 to compensate for the offset position of the 
autoluber 11 with respect to the plane containing the expanding members of 
the tire shaping drum. If the autoluber 11 was not offset, the mounting 
surface may be perpendicular with respect to the axis of the arm member. 
Affixed to the finger means 32 is spring retaining means 37 having one end 
of spring 38 affixed thereto. The opposite end of the spring 38 is 
attached to spring retaining means 39 affixed to the finger means 34. The 
spring 38 causes the finger means 32 and 34 and hence their associated 
retaining means 33 and 35 to be spring biased with respect to each other 
in order to provide a grasping function. The retaining means 33 and 35 may 
be provided with a rough surface to further enhance the grasping function. 
The retaining means 35 has an orifice 40 therein along substantially the 
entire length of said retaining means. The orifice is operatively 
connected to the supply line 30 in order that lubricant may be provided to 
the orifice 40. The orifice 40 has two feed lines 41 operatively connected 
to the orifice 40 and the surface of the retaining means 35 in order to 
provide a means for distributing lubricant provided by the supply line 30 
to the lubricant impregnated member 18 retained by the grasping means 17. 
Referring now to FIG. 5 of the drawings there is shown a simplified 
schematic diagram of the circuitry employed by the instant invention to 
provide movement to the arm member 14. Compressed air is provided by air 
supply line 51 to control valve 20 which is in turn electrically 
controlled by programmable controller 54. The control valve 20 may be 
selectively actuated to cause the air supply line 51 to be ported to 
either line 48 or 49 which feed flow control valves 53 and 52 
respectively. The output of the flow control valves 52 and 53 are ported 
to the air cylinder 19. The exhaust is ported through the muffler 55. 
As shown in FIG. 5 of the drawings, the compressed air provided by the air 
supply line 51 to the control valve 20 is caused to provide the air supply 
to feed line 49 through flow control valve 52 to the air cylinder 19 
causing a retraction of the rod within the barrel of the cylinder thus 
causing the arm member 14 to be raised. In an alternative mode of 
operation the air supply line 51 may be ported via control valve 20 to 
feed line 48 through flow control valve 53 to the air cylinder 19 causing 
the air cylinder 19 to expand thereby moving the arm member 14 downward 
towards the tire shaping drum 21. 
It may thus be appreciated that there is provided a means for causing the 
arm member 14 to assume one of two positions in response to control 
commands provided by the programmable controller 54 to the solenoid 
actuated control valve 20 which in turn selectively ports the input air 
supply to the air cylinder 19 to cause the air cylinder 19 to either 
contract or expand thereby displacing the arm member 14 to its either 
uppermost position or its downward most position in proximity to the tire 
shaping drum 21. 
Referring now to FIG. 6 of the drawings there is disclosed a simplified 
schematic circuitry showing the means employed by the instant invention to 
provide lubricant to the lubricant impregnated member 18. 
Air supply line 51 provides a source of compressed air to the regulator 57 
which reduces the pressure of commonly available shop air to a lower 
level. The output of the regulator 57 is provided to the pneumatic limit 
switch 27 which coacts with the arm member 1 4 and is actuated by said arm 
member such that when the arm member 14 is in its downward most position 
in proximity to the tire shaping drum 21, the pneumatic limit switch 27 is 
actuated causing the air supply provided to the regulator 57 to be 
provided to the lubricating unit 29. When the arm member 14 is in its 
uppermost position however the pneumatic limit switch 27 is not actuated 
by the arm member 14 and hence does not provide the output of the 
regulator 57 to the lubricating unit 29. 
The lubricating unit 29 pumps lubricant in response to pneumatic pressure 
provided to the lubricating unit by the pneumatic limit switch 27. The 
output of the lubricating unit 29 is a stream of lubricant provided to the 
flow control valve 56 which regulates the flow of the lubricant to the 
lubricant impregnated member 18 via supply line 30. The flow control valve 
56 also prevents the backflow of lubricant through the supply line 30 when 
the arm member is in a raised position. 
In the exemplary embodiment the lubricant employed by the instant invention 
is a mixture of approximately 4 parts castor oil to one part of isopropyl 
alcohol. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that when the 
pneumatic limit switch 27 is actuated by the arm member 14 the lubricating 
unit 29 will be caused to pump lubricant to the lubricant impregnated 
member via supply line 30. Due to the configuration of the feed lines in 
the grasping means 17 the lubricant will be allowed to drip on the 
lubricant impregnated member 18 in order to evenly soak the impregnated 
member 18 with lubricant. 
There has thus been disclosed a means for automatically lubricating the 
edges of a tire shaping drum by utilizing a pivoting arm member actuated 
by a pneumatic cylinder to alternatively place in proximity to the rim of 
the tire shaping drum a foam pad impregnated with lubricant and 
alternatively causing the pad to be removed from proximity to the tire 
shaping drum. The lubricant is metered to the pad by a lubricating unit 
actuated in response to a motion of the arm member towards the tire 
shaping drum 21. A spring is employed to provide a safety factor causing 
the arm member to assume its uppermost position should the air cylinder 
fail. In the exemplary embodiment, the drum is rotated at least two times 
while the lubricant impregnated member 18 is contacting said drum in order 
to facilitate the application of lubricant to the drum. 
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications 
and additions may be made in the instant invention without departing from 
the essential features thereof, which are intended to be defined and 
secured by the appended claims.