Tire vulcanizing machine

Abstract: A tire-vulcanizing machine (1) in accordance with the present invention comprises a base frame (2), a guide column (3) erected on the base frame, an upper movable beam (7) guided by the column so as to move up and down, and two connection/disconnection units (9) for connecting or disconnecting the upper movable beam to or from tire mold assemblies (M) disposed on both sides of the column, wherein both the tire mold assemblies are opened or closed simultaneously or individually.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vulcanizing machine of a tire vulcanizing system for vulcanizing a tire, supplying an unvulcanized tire, vulcanizing a tire and discharging a vulcanized tire. 2. Description of Related Art Normally, a tire-vulcanizing machine (press) has two tire molds on the right and left sides thereof so as to increase productivity, and employs a simultaneous mold press type vulcanizing process in which two tires are simultaneously vulcanized with the two tire molds. In the tire vulcanizing machine of the simultaneous mold press type like this, a press mechanism is mounted on a press body, and the right and left tire molds are adapted to be opened or closed at the same time. However, in the conventional tire vulcanizing machine described above, since the right and left tire molds cannot be opened or closed individually, while no problem occurs when tires which are of the same kind and have the same vulcanizing time are produced, if the tires are of different kind and have vulcanizing times different from each other, it is required to adjust an opening or closing operation of the molds for each tire. Therefore, it is difficult to produce the tires efficiently with the conventional tire vulcanizing machine, the conventional tire vulcanizing machine is not suitable for producing a wide variety of tires and for minimizing the stock of products as the member of types of tires to be produced is increasing in recent years. On the other hand, it is possible (EP 0 178 082 A2) to provide the conventional tire vulcanizing machine with an independent opening/closing unit for opening or closing the right and left molds independently, but this increases equipment costs and is economically disadvantageous. US 4,804,318 teaches a vertically opening and closing type tire vulcanizer in which at least two vulcanizing mold assemblies installed on a vulcanizer frame and up and down movable on separate upright columns are individually driven. A mold clamping mechanism and a mold height adjusting mechanism which are simplified in terms of construction are provided. A vulcanization press is described EP 0 459 375 A2 in which the cover of a mold is removably fastened to an arm vertically movable along an upright column and rotatable about the column axis so as to bring the cover from a condition in which the respective mold is open to a condition in which the mold is closed in order to permit tire vulcanization to be carried out. The cover is locked to the arm by removable locking means secured to the arm which enable the release of the arm from the cover when the latter is on the mold in the closed condition; at that time, the arm can be raised, rotated about the column axis, brought over a second cover disposed on a second mold in the closed condition and engaged to said cover for enabling opening of the second mold and the replacement of the vulcanized tire. A tire vulcanizing press according to EP 0 684 126 A2 has a plurality of molding stations in which a green tire is molded between a displaceable mold and a fixed mold clamped together. It has a fixed frame supporting said fixed molds of said molding stations; a displaceable frame supporting the displaceable molds of the molding stations; lifting means for vertically displacing the displaceable frame with respect to the fixed frame; connecting means arranged between the molding stations for connecting the fixed frame to the displaceable frame; lock means for securing the displaceable frame to the fixed frame via the connecting means; and clamping means for clamping the displaceable mold to the fixed mold. Since the molding stations are thus supported by the connecting means arranged between the molding stations, the tire vulcanizing system is more compact as compared to the conventional tire vulcanizing systems incorporating direct-action type, dome-lock type and column-lock type vulcanizing presses in which side frames are located on either side of the molding stations. OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been achieved in view of the above-mentioned problems associated with the conventional tire vulcanizing machine described initially, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a tire vulcanizing machine which can produce a wide variety of tires and can produce the tire efficiently by using a mold opening/closing device of simultaneous mold press type. A tire vulcanizing machine solving the problems of conventional machines, is defined in the appended claims. The tire vulcanizing machine in accordance with the present invention can produce tires using a time periods for vulcanization suitable for each mold and thus can respond to the production of a wide variety of tires, and further can produce tires more efficiently. Further, since the tire-vulcanizing machine in accordance with the present invention is provided with a press mechanism in the mold assembly itself, even though the right and left molds are independently operated, it is possible to eliminate the need for providing the machine with an independent opening/closing unit for opening or closing the right and left molds independently. This can reduce the facilities costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view showing a tire vulcanizing machine of the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view, on an enlarged scale, showing a tire vulcanizing machine of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a front view, showing a structure for supplying or recovering the heating medium to or from the tire mold assembly of FIG. 1. FIG.4 is a front view, showing an other structure for supplying or recovering the heating medium to or from the tire mold assembly of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will hereinafter be described in detail on the basis of the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings. Here, FIG. 1 is a front view showing a tire vulcanizing machine of the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view, on an enlarged scale, showing the tire vulcanizing machine of FIG. 1. A tire vulcanizing machine 1 of the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention has a loader for an unvulcanized tire, an unloader for a vulcanized tire, a tire cooling unit arranged in alignment with a delivery position of the unloader, and an unloader for a cooled tire disposed at the cooling unit, all of which accompany the tire vulcanizing machine 1 and are not shown in the drawings. The cooled tire taken out by the unloader is transferred to a suitable place by a tire transfer conveyor arranged outside the drawing. In a tire-vulcanizing machine la arranged at the left side in FIG. 1, a left side unit is in a state in which it is vulcanizing a tire and a right side unit is in a state in which it is being supplied with an unvulcanized tire GT. Also, in a tire vulcanizing machine 1b arranged at the right side, each unit is in a state in which it is vulcanizing a tire. The above-mentioned tire vulcanizing machine 1, as shown in FIG. 2, includes a column 3 erected at the center of an independently arranged base frame 2, an elevating cylinder 4 disposed in the column 3, an upper movable plate (upper movable beam) 7 movable in an up-and-down direction via guide rollers 6 sliding on guide rails 5 fixed to the column 3, a divisible mold operation unit 8 capable of being disconnected, connection/disconnection units 9 for connecting or disconnecting an upper plate assembly M100 of a tire mold assembly M to or from the upper movable plate 7, a bladder operation unit 10 for operating a bladder assembly M300 built-in the tire mold assembly M, a heating chamber C1a of a tire mold C of the tire mold assembly M, and a heating medium supply unit 11 for supplying a heating medium to an upper and a lower heating plates M100A, M200A, wherein the heating medium is supplied into a bladder BL from the bladder operation unit 10. In the above paragraph, the right side machine of the tire vulcanizing machine 1 has been described, and the left side machine thereof also includes the same units, assemblies, and plate as described above. In this respect, for the detailed structure of the divisible-mold operation unit 8 described above, see Japanese Patent No. 18531, or a Japanese Examined Patent No. 5-62046 of the present applicant. Also, for the detailed structure of the connection/disconnection unit 9, see Japanese Unexamined Patent No. 9-29746 of the present applicant. Moreover, for the detailed structure of the bladder operation unit 10, see Japanese Unexamined Patent No. 8-238626 of the present applicant. Further, for the detailed structure of the heating medium supply unit 11, see Japanese Unexamined Patent No. 8-238626 of the present applicant. These documents are incorporated herein by reference. On the other hand, the tire mold assembly M described above is made of the upper plate assembly M100, an upper half mold C1 and a lower half mold C2 of a well-known divisible mold C, a lower plate assembly M200, the bladder BL, the bladder assembly M300, a bracket M400 fixed to the upper plate assembly M100, a plurality of sets of check valves M500 for the upper heating plate M100A fixed to the upper plate assembly M100 and for the heating chamber C1a of the upper half mold C1, a pressure piston plate M200B provided in the lower plate assembly M200, and a special piston valve M600, which is fixed to a suitable portion of the lower plate assembly M200 (for its detail, see Japanese Application Patent No. 9-29746 of the present applicant, which is incorporated herein by reference), for a lower heating plate and an upper heating plate. That is, the tire mold assembly M is fixed on the base frame 2 and the mold thereof is replaced with a fork lift or the like. In this respect, a right portion and a left portion of the upper movable plate 7 of the tire-vulcanizing machine 1 described above are moved up and down at the same time, but all the following units provided in each of the right and the left machines can be operated individually: the loader for the unvulcanized tire, and the unloader for the vulcanized tire, the tire cooling unit, the unloader for the cooled tire, all of which are not shown in the drawing, the divisible mold operation unit 8, the connection/disconnection unit 9 on the upper movable plate 7, the bladder operation unit 10, and the heating medium supply unit 11. Now, a process for supplying the heating medium to the tire mold assembly M will be described in detail. As described above, since the upper plate assembly M100 of the tire mold assembly M is not always connected to the upper movable plate 7 nor to the lower plate assembly M200 in the present preferred embodiment, it is a problem how to supply or recover the heating medium to or from the upper plate assembly M100 (the upper heating plate M100A and the heating chamber C1a of the upper half mold C1). In the tire vulcanizing machine of conventional simultaneous mold press type pressing the right side and the left side machines at the same time, the upper plate assembly M100 is always connected to the upper movable plate 7, and thus it is essential only that the heating medium introduced into the upper movable plate 7 through a hose or a swivel joint be supplied to the upper plate assembly M100. However, in this structure, when the upper plate assembly M100 is disconnected from the upper movable plate 7 (that is, when the tire mold assembly M is closed), the heating medium cannot be supplied to the upper plate assembly M100, which results in a failure to perform a function as the tire-vulcanizing machine. Also, in the structure only for supplying the heating medium to the upper plate assembly M100 from the lower plate assembly M200 or for recovering it from the upper plate assembly M100, while the upper plate assembly M100 is separated from the lower plate assembly M200, the heating medium can not be supplied to or sealed in the upper plate assembly M100. Therefore, this produces a problem that the temperature in the upper plate assembly M100 can not be kept high and vulcanizing efficiency becomes reduced. Accordingly, in the present preferred embodiment, as described above, the heating medium is supplied to the upper plate assembly M100 by the heating medium supply unit 11 mounted on the lower plate assembly M200, and while the upper plate assembly M100 is separated from the lower plate assembly M200, a passage for supplying or recovering the heating medium to or from the upper plate assembly M100 is closed to seal the heating medium in the upper plate assembly M100, as shown in FIG. 3. The supply or recovery passage described above is closed by the check valve M500. On the other hand, when the upper plate assembly M100 is disconnected from the lower plate assembly M200, the mother pipe side for the heating medium is closed by the special piston valve M600 connected to the check valve M500. In this regard, in addition to the structure described above, for example, a structure described below can be employed as a structure for supplying or recovering the heating medium to or from the tire mold assembly M, as shown in FIG. 4. The heating medium is introduced into the upper movable plate 7 through a hose or a swivel joint (a first movable part) M700 and then is supplied or recovered to or from the upper plate assembly M100 via a hose or a swivel joint (a second movable part) M800 which has a length nearly equal to the travel of the elevating cylinder 4. If this structure is employed, even when the upper plate assembly M100 is disconnected from the lower plate assembly M200 and even when the upper movable plate 7 is separated from the upper plate assembly M100, the heating medium can continuously be supplied to the upper plate assembly M100, which can lead to a merit of preventing a decrease in the vulcanizing efficiency. Next, the operation of vulcanizing the tire by using the tire vulcanizing machine 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. (a) When the right tire mold C finishes the operation of vulcanizing, the heating pressurizing medium in the bladder BL is discharged via the bladder operation unit 10. During this discharging operation, the right divisible-mold operation unit 8 and the right conneotion/disconnection unit 9 which are disposed on the upper movable plate 7 are operated to connect the upper movable plate 7 to the upper plate assembly M100 on the mold assembly M, but the left divisible mold operation unit 8 and the left connection/disconnection unit 9 are not operated. Also, at the same time as the right connection/disconnection unit 9 performs a connection operation, a tie rod head portion M200a is disconnected from a connection plate M100a on the upper plate assembly M100 to be ready for opening the mold. (b) When the piston rod of the elevating cylinder 4 is extended, the upper movable plate 7 is moved up with the upper plate assembly M100 and the upper half mold C1 of the mold assembly M. When the upper movable plate 7 is moved up, the divisible mold operation unit 8 performs a well-known operation to disconnect the tire mold C from a tire and moves up to a predetermined level. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper half mold C1 is temporarily closed by the well-known operation of the divisible mold operation unit 8 and then a vulcanized tire is taken out and an unvulcanized tire is fed by the well-known operation. Also, although the heating medium supply device 11 for the upper heating plate M100A and the beating chamber C1a is disconnected from the check valve M500 while the mold is arranged at an above position, the heating medium in the upper heating plate M100A and the heating chamber C1a is sealed therein by the check valve M500 to continue supplying heat thereto. (c) When the unvulcanized tire is fed, the upper half mold C1 which is temporarily closed is opened again by the divisible mold operation unit 8 and then the upper movable plate 7 is moved down to close the mold completely while provisionally forming the unvulcanized tire. (d) After the mold is completely closed, when the connection plate M100a is driven by a drive unit (not shown), it is disconnected from the connection/disconnection unit 9, and at the same time, is connected to the tie rod head portion M200a of the lower plate assembly M200. Then, the heating pressurizing medium is supplied to the pressure piston plate M200B of the lower plate assembly M200 to pressurize the tire mold with a predetermined force, thereby fastening the mold with the force of the heating pressurizing medium in the bladder BL so that the mold is not opened. (e) The unvulcanized tire GT is prepared and fed in the following way. When the right tire mold finishes a vulcanizing operation, the right loader of the unvulcanized tire (not shown ) grips the upper bead portion of the unvulcanized tire GT stored on the top portion of a base (not shown) for the unvulcanized tire and moves up to a suitable level and extends above the lower half mold C2 of the opened tire mold assembly M and then supplies the unvulcanized tire GT to the waiting bladder assembly M300. Then, the above-mentioned base for the unvulcanized tire is moved from an unvulcanized tire delivering position to an unvulcanized tire unloading position and waits at the unvulcanized tire unloading position until it is supplied with the next unvulcanized tire GT by a midair carrier not shown. After the base for the unvulcanized tire receives the next unvulcanized tire GT, it moves again to the original unvulcanized tire delivering position and waits there until the loader (not shown) for the unvulcanized tire receives the next unvulcanized tire. The like operation is repeated in the like manner. (f) When the vulcanizing operation comes near to the end, the cooled tire of the tire cooling unit (not shown) is taken out by the unloader of the tire cooling unit and is discharged to a tire delivery conveyor and the tire cooling unit prepares for the next vulcanized tire. On the other hand, the unloader of the vulcanized tire (not shown) takes out the tire and places it on the tire cooling unit and starts cooling the tire after the well-known operation.

Claims: A tire vulcanizing machine (1) comprising: a base frame (2); a guide column (3) erected on the base frame; an upper movable beam (7) guided by the column so as to move up and down; at least two connection/disconnection units (9) for connecting or disconnecting the upper movable beam (7) to or from tire mold assemblies (M) disposed on opposite sides of the column (3), each tire mold assembly (M) comprising an upper mold assembly (M100) and a lower mold assembly (M200) that is opened or closed simultaneously or individually, and a heating medium supply unit (11), wherein when the tire mold assembly is closed, the heating medium supply unit (11) provided on the lower mold assembly (M200) supplies or recovers a heating medium to or from the upper mold assembly (M100), and when the tire mold assembly is opened and the upper mold assembly (M100) is separated from the lower mold assembly (M200), a passage (M500, M600) for supplying or recovering the heating medium to or from the upper mold assembly (M100) is closed to seal the heating medium in the upper mold assembly (M100). A tire vulcanizing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heating medium is supplied to the upper mold assembly (M100) by a first movable part (M700) of the heating medium supply unit (11) via the upper movable beam (7), and when the upper movable beam (7) is disconnected from the upper mold assembly (M100) and is separated therefrom, a second movable part (M800) of the heating medium supply unit (11) is operated to supply the heating medium to the upper mold assembly (M100), the movable parts comprising a hose with a swivel joint of at least the same length as the travel length of an elevating cylinder (4) in the column (3) for the movement of the upper movable beam (7).

Inventors: IRIE NOBUHIKO, YAMADA MASATO, IRIE, NOBUHIKO, YAMADA, MASATO, Irie, Nobuhiko, Nagasaki Shipyard &amp; Machinery Work, Yamada, Masato, Nagasaki Shipyard &amp; Machinery Work
Applicants: MITSUBISHI HEAVY IND LTD, MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
Application year: 1999
Main classification: B29C33
IPC codes: B29D30, B29C33, B29C35