Patent Description:
Conventionally, as one of the tire production methods, there has been known a metal core production method (core production method). In the metal core production method, different types of rubber materials to be turned into an inner liner, a carcass, a belt ply, sidewalls and a tread of a product tire, are formed into ribbon strips, wrapped around an outer periphery of a core formed to have, as an outer shape thereof, an inner peripheral shape of the product tire, and sequentially stacked, to thereby form a green tire. The green tire is then transported together with the core to a vulcanization molding device, sandwiched by a vulcanizing die that serves as an outer mold and the core as an inner mold and vulcanized, so as to produce the product tire.

Winding of the ribbon strips to the core is performed, for example, as shown in Patent Document <NUM>, by moving a device, which supplies ribbon strips to the outer periphery of the rotating core, in the radial direction or the width direction of the core, or, as shown in Patent Document <NUM>, by turning the core taking the center of the core as the turning center or moving the core with respect to the device that supplies the ribbon strips.

Patent Document <NUM> discloses an apparatus forming a belt ply by sticking a piece of a tape with a cord on the outer peripheral surface of a drum while inclining it at an angle α with respect to the equatorial plane of the drum. The apparatus has a sticking conveyer which supplies the piece of tape from a supply position P onto the drum to be stuck, and a drum supporting apparatus. The drum supporting apparatus has a rotary table which is rotatably supported around a vertical axial core erected on a base table, and an axial direction moving table, which is movably supported in the drum axial direction on the rotary table, and also rotatably supports the drum around the drum axial core.

However, as shown in Patent Document <NUM>, if the device for supplying the ribbon strips is configured by an extrusion molding machine and moved against the core, because the weight of the device is heavy, this may possibly become a factor which causes occurrence of energy loss, risk of failure, or troubles such as feed deficiency. In addition, as shown in Patent Document <NUM>, if the device is configured such that: a unit that supplies the ribbon strips to the core is fixed; the core is made turnable around the center line, serving as the turning center, vertically penetrating the intersection of the center of the core in the width direction and the rotation center axis; and the core is moved along X-Y axes set on the turning surface where the core turns to wind and stack the ribbon strips, it is necessary to move the core at a high speed along the X-Y axes when changing the angle at which the ribbon strips are stacked, hence there are problems that the device is subjected to speed restriction and so on.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems and aims at providing a tire production device and a tire production method capable of reducing energy loss, risk of device failure, or feed deficiency and improving a speed of stacking the ribbon strips. Solving Means.

As a configuration of a tire production device for solving the above-described problems, the tire production device is provided as described in claim <NUM>.

According to this configuration, it is possible to fix the supply unit, and it is also possible to reduce the energy loss occurred in moving a heavy extruder configuring the supply unit and the risk of failure and troubles such as feed deficiency and the like. In other words, by constantly aligning the turning center axis of the drum with the sticking position where the ribbon strips are sticked to the drum, the drum can be turned at a high speed, hence the degree of freedom of the stacking pattern of the ribbon strips can be improved.

It should be noted that the above-described summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention, and respective configurations constituting the feature groups can also be the invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail through embodiments of the invention, however, the following embodiments do not limit the invention set forth in the claims, and not all of the combinations of the features described in the embodiments are essential to the solving means of the invention.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a tire production device <NUM> according to an embodiment. <FIG> is a perspective view illustrating the configuration of a tire molding unit <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the tire production device <NUM> is a device for producing a product tire by the metal core production method. The device includes the tire molding unit <NUM> having a drum <NUM> that functions as an inner mold (core) when vulcanization-molding the tire, and a component supply unit <NUM> that supplies, onto an outer periphery of the drum <NUM>, rubber-based tire constituting members such as an inner liner, sidewalls and a tread of the product tire.

First, an explanation is given as to the component supply unit <NUM>. The component supply unit <NUM> is a unit for molding, into a strip shape, rubber materials that constitute each part of a product tire, such as tread rubber and sidewall rubber and supplying the strip-shaped rubber materials. That is, the component supply unit <NUM> supplies the strip-shaped rubber (hereinafter referred to as ribbon strip) having properties suitable for the above-mentioned each part.

The component supply unit <NUM> is provided with, for example, an extrusion molding machine (hereinafter simply referred to as "extruder") <NUM> and a sticking means <NUM>. The extruder <NUM> heats and kneads unvulcanized rubber fed as materials and continuously supplies ribbon strips <NUM> formed into a predetermined cross-sectional shape by a mouthpiece <NUM> attached to the tip end of the extruder <NUM>.

The ribbon strip <NUM> molded by the extruder <NUM> is conveyed to the sticking means <NUM> via a not-shown conveyance means which is configured by a plurality of rollers or the like.

The sticking means <NUM> is provided with, for example, a pair of rollers <NUM>; <NUM>, and a not-shown rotary drive means that drives the rollers <NUM>; <NUM>. The pair of rollers <NUM>; <NUM>, for example, have a cylindrical shape and are supported by a not-shown support means so as to be parallel to each other, with axis lines C72; C74 being aligned in the horizontal direction. The pair of rollers <NUM>; <NUM> are rotary-driven by the rotary drive means to rotate synchronously in opposite directions to each other, as illustrated by the arrows in the figure. Rotation speeds of the rollers <NUM>; <NUM> are set in accordance with an extrusion speed of the ribbon strip <NUM> to be extruded from the extruder <NUM>.

The rollers <NUM>; <NUM> are configured, for example, to have different outer diameter dimensions. As illustrated in <FIG>, the roller <NUM> having a larger diameter is disposed on a lower side and the roller <NUM> having a smaller diameter is disposed on an upper side, and these are so set that an outer peripheral surface of the larger diameter roller <NUM> is located forward of an outer peripheral surface of the smaller diameter roller <NUM>. in the conveyance direction of the ribbon strip <NUM>. The rollers <NUM>; <NUM> are disosed so that the outer peripheral surfaces thereof are separated from each other by a predetermined distance, to thereby sandwich the ribbon strip <NUM> extruded from the mouthpiece <NUM> between the rollers <NUM> and <NUM>, and guides, by the rotation of the roller <NUM>, the ribbon strip <NUM> to a sticking position P at which the ribbon strip <NUM> is sticked to the drum <NUM>.

In this embodiment, as described later, since an axis line of the drum <NUM> (an axis line C44 of a drum shaft <NUM>) and an axis line C72 of the roller <NUM> are set at the same height, a portion of the outer peripheral surface of the roller <NUM>, which is located nearest to the tire molding unit <NUM> side, comes close to the outer peripheral surface of the drum <NUM>, this position was set as the sticking position P at which the ribbon strip <NUM> is sticked to the drum <NUM> (see <FIG>). Incidentally, the sticking position P may be set appropriately within a range of thickness from the outer peripheral surface of the roller <NUM>, taking the thickness of the ribbon strip <NUM> into consideration.

Further, it was so configured that the ribbon strip <NUM> passes the center of the roller <NUM> in the width direction, and that the center position of the roller <NUM> in the width direction was determined to be the sticking position P.

The tire molding device <NUM> is disposed so as to face the supply direction of the ribbon strip <NUM> to be supplied from the component supply unit <NUM>. The tire molding unit <NUM> is provided with the drum <NUM> to which the ribbon strip <NUM> is sticked and a mounting base <NUM> capable of changing a position of the drum <NUM> with respect to the component supply unit <NUM>, and is configured to be able to change the position where the drum <NUM> faces the component supply unit <NUM>.

The mounting base <NUM> is made to be movable on floors of tire production factories or the like, for example, and is provided with a base <NUM>, a turning table <NUM>, a moving table <NUM> and a drum table <NUM>. The mounting base <NUM> is configured by stacking the base <NUM>, the turning table <NUM>, the moving table <NUM> and the drum table <NUM> sequentially in this order from the floor side.

The base <NUM> is a part to be the foundation of the mounting base <NUM>, and is provided with, for example, wheels for moving on not-shown rails laid on the floor surface. The base <NUM> has a horizontal surface part 22a that is formed in a planar shape in a part on an upper surface side of the base <NUM> and this planar part becomes horizontal in a state where the base <NUM> is disposed on the rails.

The base <NUM> is also provided with a rotary support mechanism having a rotary shaft <NUM> that enables the turning table <NUM> to turn with respect to the base <NUM>, and a rotary drive mechanism <NUM>.

The rotary support mechanism may be configured by, for example, the rotary shaft <NUM> and not-shown multiple types of bearings or the like. The rotary shaft <NUM> is freely rotatably mounted, with the axis line C aligned in the vertical direction, to the base <NUM> via the bearing or the like in such a manner as to penetrate the horizontal surface part 22a of the base <NUM>. The tire molding unit <NUM> is disposed with respect to the component supply unit <NUM> so that the axis line C of the rotary shaft <NUM> passes through the sticking position P where the ribbon strip <NUM> is sticked.

To the upper end part of the rotary shaft <NUM>, which has penetrated the horizontal surface 22a of the base <NUM>, the turning table <NUM> is fixed. To the lower end part of the rotary shaft <NUM>, the rotary drive mechanism for rotating the rotary shaft <NUM> is connected. The rotary drive mechanism may be configured by, for example, a motor that serves as a drive source and a transmission mechanism that transmits the rotational force of the motor to the turning table. For the transmission mechanism, a chain or a belt, and a pair of sprockets or the like may be used, one of the sprockets may be attached to the rotary shaft and the other one of the sprockets to the motor, and the chain or the belt may be laid over to both of the sprockets.

The turning table <NUM> is formed, for example, in a planar shape parallel to the horizontal surface part 22a, so that in a state of being attached to the rotary shaft <NUM> extending from the base <NUM> side, a part on the lower surface 24b side facing the horizontal surface part 22a of the base <NUM> does not come in contact with the horizontal surface part 22a.

In this way, by forming the lower surface 24b of the turning table <NUM>, which faces the horizontal surface part 22a of the base <NUM>, in the planar shape, a thrust bearing may be interposed between the horizontal surface part 22a of the base <NUM> and the lower surface 24b of the turning table <NUM> so as to configure a part of the rotary support mechanism. The thrust bearing, by being disposed so that the center of rotation becomes coaxial with the axis line of the rotary shaft <NUM>, can support the weight of the members upper than the turning table <NUM> by the horizontal surface part 22a of the base <NUM>. With this configuration, the turning table <NUM> can stably be turned with respect to the base <NUM>.

A linear motion mechanism <NUM> is provided on the upper surface 24a of the turning table <NUM>. For the linear motion mechanism <NUM>, for example, a mechanism configured by linear rails <NUM> and blocks <NUM> that are provided to be freely movable on the linear rails <NUM> may be used. The linear motion mechanism <NUM> is provided in a pair on the turning table <NUM> so as to extend parallel to each other, and the linear rails <NUM>; <NUM> are fixed to the upper surface 24a of the turning table <NUM> in such a manner as to extend in the tangential direction of the turning direction of the turning table <NUM>. The position of the block <NUM> on the linear rail <NUM> is controllable, for example, by using a drive mechanism configured by a ball screw mechanism and a motor.

The moving table <NUM> is, for example, made of a plate member having an upper surface 26a and a lower surface 26b formed to be plane surfaces mutually parallel to each other. The lower surface 26b is fixed to the blocks <NUM>; <NUM> of the pair of the linear motion mechanisms <NUM> mounted on the turning table <NUM>.

A linear motion mechanism <NUM> is provided on the upper surface 26a of the moving table <NUM>. For the linear motion mechanism <NUM>, for example, a mechanism configured by linear rails <NUM> and blocks <NUM> that are provided to be freely movable on the linear rails <NUM> may be used. The linear motion mechanism <NUM> is provided in a pair on the moving table <NUM> so as to extend parallel to each other. The linear rail <NUM> of each linear motion mechanism <NUM> is fixed to the upper surface 24a of the turning table <NUM> so as to extend in a direction orthogonal to the linear rails <NUM> provided on the turning table <NUM>. The position of the block <NUM> on the linear rail <NUM> is controllable, for example, by using the drive mechanism configured by the ball screw mechanism and the motor.

The drum table <NUM> has, for example, a base board part 28A made of a rectangular plate member having an upper surface 28a and a lower surface <NUM> formed to be plane surfaces mutually parallel to each other and a raised wall part 28B. The base board part 28A is fixed to the blocks <NUM>; <NUM> of the pair of the linear motion mechanisms <NUM> mounted on the moving table <NUM>.

On the upper surface 28a of the drum table <NUM>, a drum drive unit <NUM> that rotatably supports the drum <NUM> is provided. The drum drive unit <NUM> has, for example, a motor that serves as a drive source to rotate the drum <NUM>, a drum shaft <NUM> to which the drum <NUM> is attached, a transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotation of the motor to the drum shaft <NUM>, and an attachment <NUM> that enables the drum <NUM><NUM> to be attached to and detached from the drum shaft <NUM>.

The motor and the transmission mechanism are housed as a mechanism part <NUM> in a single housing, for example, and disposed on the base board part 28A. The drum shaft <NUM> extends in the horizontal direction from the mechanism part <NUM> so as to be a cantilever support, one end thereof is connected to the transmission mechanism and the other end thereof penetrates the raised wall part 28B of the drum table <NUM>. In this embodiment, the height of the axis line C44 of the rotation center axis of the drum shaft <NUM> was set so as to coincide with the height of the axis line C72 of the roller <NUM>, for example.

The attachment <NUM> is attached on the outer periphery of the tip end side of the drum shaft <NUM> that has penetrated the raised wall part 28B of the drum table <NUM>. The attachment <NUM> is provided with a detachable mechanism for enabling the drum <NUM> to be attached to and detached from the drum shaft <NUM>.

The drum <NUM>, for example, is formed so that its outer shape coincides with the inner peripheral shape of the product tire, and the inner periphery side is detachably attached to the attachment <NUM>. "Detachable" here refers to a state of being attached in which the drum <NUM> is not rotatable with respect to the attachment <NUM> but co-rotates with the attachment <NUM> in the circumferential direction, and is movable in the axial direction.

According to the tire molding device <NUM> with the above-described configuration, the drum <NUM> can be rotated by rotating the turning table <NUM> with respect to the base <NUM>.

Also, by moving the moving table <NUM> on the turning table <NUM> or by moving the drum table <NUM> on the moving table <NUM>, the position of the drum <NUM> on the turning table <NUM> can be freely changed. In other words, the drum <NUM> can be moved along the orthogonal coordinate axes set, on the upper surface 24a of the turning table <NUM> formed in the planar shape. with the extension direction of the linear motion mechanism <NUM>; <NUM> as being the X-axis, and the extension direction of the linear motion mechanism <NUM>; <NUM> as being the Y-axis, and so on.

Then, by turning the turning table <NUM> around the axis line C, the angle of the ribbon strip <NUM> to be received at the sticking point P from the roller <NUM> to the outer periphery of the rum <NUM> can be changed.

Furthermore, by moving in the X axis and Y axis directions on the turning table <NUM>, the position of the drum <NUM> where the ribbon strip <NUM> is sticked can be controlled and the pressure at which the ribbon strip <NUM> to be received from the roller <NUM> is sticked can also be controlled.

Although it has been explained that the moving table <NUM> can be moved in the tangential direction around the axis C line by the linear motion mechanism <NUM>; <NUM>, and the drum table <NUM> can be moved in the moving direction of the moving table <NUM> by the linear motion mechanism <NUM>; <NUM>. , to thereby change the position of the drum <NUM> on the turning table <NUM>. However, it is not limited to the above, and the direction in which the moving table <NUM> moves on the turning table <NUM> or the direction in which the drum table <NUM> moves on the moving table <NUM> may be set as desired. Namely, it may be configured that the drum <NUM> is made to be movable on the turning table <NUM> in directions orthogonal to each other.

<FIG> are diagrams illustrating operations of the tire production device <NUM> according to the present embodiment. <FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example of sticking the ribbon strip <NUM> to the center of the drum <NUM> in the width direction. As illustrated in the enlarged view of the same figure, this is a layout diagram illustrating arrangement of the tire molding unit <NUM> relative to the component supply unit <NUM> when sticking the ribbon strip <NUM> at the center of the drum <NUM> in the width direction without tilting the ribbon strip <NUM>. For example, this state is assumed to be a turning angle <NUM>° of the tire molding unit <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrate a state in which the tire molding unit <NUM> is rotated <NUM>° from the state illustrated in <FIG> to cause the side surface <NUM> of the drum <NUM><NUM> to be opposed to the sticking position P. According to the configuration of the tire molding unit <NUM> in this embodiment, in a case where the sticking position of the ribbon strip <NUM> is significantly changed from a crown part 10t of the drum <NUM> to the side surface <NUM> of the drum <NUM>, it may be sufficient to configure that, as illustrated in <FIG>, the turning table <NUM> is rotated <NUM>° and that, as illustrated in <FIG>, only the drum table <NUM> is moved so that the side surface <NUM> of the drum <NUM> faces the sticking position P.

Then, while finely adjusting, by the drum <NUM>, the distance to the sticking position P along the X-Y axes set on the turning table <NUM>, the sticking angle of the ribbon strip 64t may be adjusted by slightly rotating the turning table <NUM>. In other words, since the axis line C of the turning table <NUM> is aligned with the sticking position P, even if the position of the drum <NUM> is turned greatly, there is no need to move the drum <NUM> significantly and abruptly along the X axis or the Y axis, this contributes to increase in the speed and precision.

Therefore, according to the tire production device <NUM> with this configuration, since the moving amount of the drum <NUM> can be reduced as described above, it is possible to reduce energy loss, risk of device failure, and troubles such as feed deficiency that occur in the case where, like in the conventional technology, the component supply unit <NUM> side is moved with respect to the drum <NUM>, and it is also possible to improve the stacking speed of the ribbon strips <NUM>.

<FIG> are diagrams illustrating another embodiment of the tire production device <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the tire production device <NUM>, by being provided with two tire molding units 2A; 2B on the same rails <NUM>; <NUM> for one component supply unit <NUM>, the molding efficiency of a green tires can be improved. Each of the tire molding units 2A; 2B is so configured that the drum shafts <NUM> face each other. Furthermore, each of the tire molding units 2A: 2B is so configured that, when moved along the rails <NUM>; <NUM>, the axis line C of each of the turning tables <NUM> is in correspondence with the sticking position P set in the tire production device <NUM>.

For example, in the tire molding unit 2A, since the drum <NUM> is attached on the drum shaft <NUM> in a cantilevered state, it is possible to stick the ribbon strip <NUM> up to a portion of one side face corresponding to the bead part of the tire, but it is impossible to stick the ribbon strip <NUM> up to that portion of the other side face <NUM>. Therefore, as illustrated in <FIG>, after completion of sticking to the one side face in the tire molding unit 2A, the drum <NUM> may be moved from the tire molding unit 2A to the tire molding unit 2B to stick the ribbon strip <NUM> to the other side face <NUM>.

Incidentally, as shown by the arrows in <FIG>, the component supply unit <NUM> may be configured to be movable in the forward and backward directions with respect to the tire molding units 2A; 2B.

Therefore, when producing a tire by the metal core production method, by disposing, along the rails <NUM>; <NUM>, a component supply unit <NUM> that supplies an inner liner material which forms the inner peripheral surface of a product tire, a component supply unit <NUM> that supplies a sidewall material, and a component supply unit <NUM> that supplies a tread material, and by providing two of the tire molding units 2A; 2B for each of the component supply unit <NUM>, it is possible to produce the tire efficiently.

As described above, it may be preferable to configure that, in the metal core production method used in a tire production device, the device is provided with a supply unit that supplies, as a member constituting a tire, a ribbon strip molded into a ribbon shape, and a tire molding unit configured to stick the ribbon strip onto an outer periphery of a drum having, as an outer shape thereof, an inner peripheral shape of a product tire, while rotating the drum, in which the supply unit has a sticking position at which the ribbon strip is sticked onto the outer periphery of the drum, in which the tire molding unit includes the drum with a rotation axis thereof being made horizontal, a turning table that makes the drum to turn around an axis line vertically penetrating the sticking position while maintaining a horizontal state of the rotation axis of the drum, and a parallel movement mechanism that is provided on the turning table and configured to move the drum in parallel along a horizontal surface set to the turning table, and in which the rotation axis extends in a tangential direction of a circle centered on the axis line about which the turning table turns.

According to this configuration, it is possible to fix the supply unit, and it is also possible to reduce the energy loss occurred in moving a heavy extruder configuring the supply unit, risk of failure and troubles such as feed deficiency and so on. In other words, by constantly aligning the turning center axis of the drum with the sticking position where the ribbon strips are sticked to the drum, the drum can be turned at a high speed, hence the degree of freedom of the stacking pattern of the ribbon strips can be improved. Furthermore, according to this configuration, even if the turning table is greatly turned in order to move the drum to the sticking position, it is not necessary to abruptly move (parallel movement) the drum along the XY axes set in the turning table, for example, thus it is possible to contribute to high-speed and high-precision performance.

Furthermore, it is preferable to configure that, in the tire production device, the parallel movement mechanism makes the drum to move in parallel in a tangential direction of a circle centered on the axis line and in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the tangential direction.

That is, in the tire production method using the metal core production method, when sticking the ribbon strip molded into the ribbon shape as a member constituting the tire onto an outer periphery of the drum having, as an outer shape thereof, an inner peripheral shape of a product tire, while rotating the drum, the drum with the rotation axis thereof being made parallel may be provided on the turning table, which turns around the axis line vertically penetrating the sticking position set in the supply unit, at which the ribbon strip is sticked to the drum. The drum may preferably be movable on the turning table in parallel along the horizontal surface set on the turning table, and more preferably, may be movable in parallel to the tangential direction of the circle centered on the axis line and in the orthogonal direction orthogonal to the tangential direction.

In the above-described embodiments, the component supply unit is configured to supply the ribbon strips by kneading the rubber material by the extruder, however, it is not limited to this, namely the component supply unit may be configured to supply, for example, a belt material or the like including aggregates such as fibers.

Claim 1:
A tire production device (<NUM>) comprising:
a supply unit (<NUM>) configured to supply, as a member constituting a tire, a ribbon strip (<NUM>) molded into a ribbon shape; and
a tire molding unit configured to stick the ribbon strip (<NUM>) onto an outer periphery of a drum (<NUM>) having, as an outer shape thereof, an inner peripheral shape of a product tire, while rotating the drum (<NUM>),
wherein, the supply unit (<NUM>) has a sticking position at which the ribbon strip (<NUM>) is sticked onto the outer periphery of the drum (<NUM>), wherein an axis line of a rotary shaft passes through the sticking position;
wherein, the tire molding unit includes:
the drum (<NUM>) with a rotation axis thereof being made horizontal,
a turning table (<NUM>) that makes the drum (<NUM>) to turn around an axis line vertically penetrating the sticking position while maintaining a horizontal state of the rotation axis of the drum (<NUM>), and
a parallel movement mechanism that is provided on the turning table (<NUM>) and configured to move the drum (<NUM>) in parallel along a horizontal surface set to the turning table (<NUM>),
a moving table (<NUM>) fixed to a first linear motion mechanism (<NUM>) mounted on the turning table (<NUM>),
a drum table (<NUM>) fixed to a second linear motion mechanism (<NUM>) mounted on the moving table (<NUM>); wherein
the tire production device is configured such that by moving the moving table (<NUM>) on the turning table (<NUM>) or by moving the drum table (<NUM>) on the moving table (<NUM>), the drum (<NUM>) can be moved along an orthogonal coordinate axes set with an extension direction of the first linear motion mechanism (<NUM>) being the X-axis, and an extension direction of the second linear motion mechanism (<NUM>) being the Y-axis; and
wherein, the rotation axis extends in a tangential direction of a circle centered on the axis line about which the turning table (<NUM>) turns.