Patent Description:
The present invention relates to a tire sound absorbing material crimping device, and more particularly, to a tire sound absorbing material crimping device intended to uniformly and firmly press a sound absorbing material adhered to an inner liner portion of a tire.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the contents described in this section are not prior art to the claims of the present application, and inclusion in this section is not admitted to be the prior art.

Generally, in the manufacture of a tire, a raw material undergoes refining, rolling, extrusion, and bead processes, and is prepared into a green tire through a molding process, and then is manufactured into a finished tire through a vulcanization process. Compressed air is injected into the finished tire, such that noise is generated inside the tire during driving, which is called resonance. This noise causes a deterioration in riding comfort for the driver who drives a vehicle and passengers inside the vehicle. In order to reduce this resonance of the tire, a sound absorbing material is adhered to an inner surface of the tire, more precisely, to an inner liner portion located on a side opposite to the tire tread in a circumferential direction. As a method of adhering a sound absorbing material, first, an adhesive is applied to a portion where the sound absorbing material is to be adhered on the tire inner liner, and the sound absorbing material is attached thereto. Then, the sound absorbing material is firmly fixed to the adhesive by pressing the sound absorbing material through a separate sound absorbing material adhesion device.

In this regard, <CIT>) discloses "a tire sound absorbing material fixing structure having a sound absorbing material fixing band and a tire manufactured including the same. " More specifically, a fixing method of the tire sound absorbing material disclosed in this patent includes the steps of: extending a sound absorbing material fixing band upward by applying a force to a pressing part; positioning a sound absorbing material on a lower portion of the pressing part; applying a pressure downward to the sound absorbing material while the sound absorbing material fixing band contracts by removing the applied force that extends the sound absorbing material fixing band; maintaining a close contact state between the sound absorbing material and an inner surface of the tire by the sound absorbing material fixing band; positioning the sound absorbing material on the lower portion of the pressing part of the adjacent sound absorbing material fixing band by extending upward the adjacent sound absorbing material fixing band. When using the fixing structure obtained by the above method, the above steps are repeatedly performed until the sound absorbing material is fixedly adhered to the entire sound absorbing material fixing band formed in the circumferential direction of the tire.

However, when using the fixing structure of the tire sound absorbing material obtained by the above method, in the process of repeatedly performing the steps of pressing the pressing part, positioning it on the sound absorbing material, applying pressure downward toward the sound absorbing material, and adhering to the sound absorbing material, a worker should perform the work manually without an additional auxiliary machine or device for fixing the sound absorbing material fixing band. Accordingly, the process itself takes a lot of time and requires considerable effort and labor, and as the process is repeatedly performed, a deviation may occur in the adhesion location or strength, thereby resulting in a problem in that quality of the finished tire may be deteriorated. <CIT> describes a method and a device for attaching a sound absorbing member to an inner face of a tire. An adhesive is interposed between a first face of a sound absorbing member and an inner face of the tire. The sound absorbing member is placed, and an expandable and contractible bag placed inside the tire is expanded. The expanded bag presses a second face of the sound absorbing member to bond the first face to the inner face of the tire, with the adhesive therebetween.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a tire sound absorbing material crimping device intended to uniformly and firmly press the sound absorbing material adhered to an inner liner portion of a tire.

In addition, it is not limited to the technical problems as described above, and it is obvious that another technical problem may be derived from the following description.

To achieve the above objects, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tire sound absorbing material crimping device including: a fixing unit configured to align a center of a tire transported by a tire conveying unit and position the tire; a crimping unit configured to press a sound absorbing material while expanding radially toward the sound absorbing material adhered to an inner liner of the tire fixed to the fixing unit; and a motor unit connected to an upper portion of the crimping unit and configured to raise and lower the crimping unit toward the tire.

According to the present invention, the crimping unit includes: a first plate having a predetermined thickness and area; a plurality of main frames formed on a lower portion of the first plate and extending or contracting radially based on a central axis of the first plate; and a crimping ring which connects lower portions of the plurality of main frames with each other and is configured to press the sound absorbing material of the tire by expanding or contracting a diameter thereof according to an operation of radially expanding or contracting the main frames.

According to a preferred feature of the present invention, the crimping unit further may include a servomotor installed on the first plate, and the servomotor may include a first gear formed on a lower portion thereof, and each of the main frames may include a second gear formed on an upper one side thereof to be meshed with the first gear, such that when operating the servomotor, the main frames are radially expanded and contracted while the meshed first and second gears are rotated.

According to a preferred feature of the present invention, the motor unit may be arranged above the second plate disposed above the first plate, and may include a motor axis having a drive gear formed thereon, wherein a plurality of shafts are arranged above the second plate, which respectively has one end fixed to the first plate and the other end extending upward from the first plate by penetrating the second plate and having a driven gear formed on an outer circumferential surface to be meshed with the drive gear, and when operating the motor unit, the plurality of shafts connected to the first plate are lowered in a longitudinal direction thereof by the driven gear rotated by the drive gear, such that the crimping unit is moved to the tire.

According to a preferred feature of the present invention, the crimping ring may include a plurality of segments connected to lower portions of the plurality of main frames, respectively, and having a predetermined curvature, wherein the plurality of segments include: first segments located outside in a radial direction and having guide pins formed at both ends thereof; and second segments located inside in the radial direction and having guide grooves extending in a circumferential direction, into which the guide pins of the first segment are inserted, wherein the second segments are configured to expand and contract an entire diameter of the crimping ring while the guide pins are guided along the guide grooves.

According to a preferred feature of the present invention, the main frame may include: an upper frame into which a screw part of a ball screw expanding radially from the second gear is inserted; a center frame extending downward from the upper frame; and a lower frame expanding radially from a lower end of the center frame.

According to the present invention, by using a mechanical device capable of accurately and firmly pressing the sound absorbing material adhered to the inner liner of the tire, it is possible to solve the problem that the sound absorbing material is not uniformly adhered due to a tread curvature and to produce a product with constant quality.

In addition, according to the present invention, by pressing and fixing the sound absorbing material without a separate configuration adhered to the sound absorbing material, it is possible to block additional noise generating factors.

Further, according to the present invention, the crimping condition can be changed for each tire size, such that the tire sound absorbing material crimping device may be used universally for all tires of various sizes.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above advantages, and those skilled in the art should understand that it includes all effects that can be deduced from the detailed description of the present invention or the configurations of the invention described in the claims.

Hereinafter, configurations, operations, and effects of an apparatus for disinfecting a robot according to preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. For reference, in the drawings described below, each component is omitted or schematically illustrated for convenience and clarity, and the size of each component does not reflect an actual size. In addition, the same reference numerals are denoted to the same components throughout the specification, and reference numerals for the same components in individual drawings will be omitted.

A tire sound absorbing material crimping device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a fixing unit <NUM> configured to align a center of a tire transported by a tire conveying unit <NUM> and position the tire; a crimping unit <NUM> configured to press a sound absorbing material while expanding radially toward the sound absorbing material adhered to an inner liner of the tire fixed to the fixing unit <NUM>; and a motor unit <NUM> connected to an upper portion of the crimping unit <NUM> and configured to raise and lower the crimping unit <NUM> toward the tire.

The tire conveying unit <NUM> is configured to transfer the tire by a transfer device such as a conveyor belt in a state where a sound absorbing material is adhered to the tire, preferably to an inner liner of the tire. The tire transported by the tire conveying unit <NUM> is stopped with being positioned below the tire sound absorbing material crimping device. Thereafter, the fixing unit <NUM> fixes an outer periphery of the tire to align the center while preventing the tire from being separated. The fixing unit <NUM> according to an embodiment includes a plurality of fixing rods which are located above the tire conveying unit <NUM>, extend upward in a width direction of the outer circumferential surface of the tire, and are configured to move toward a central axis of the transferred tire, and align the center of the tire while supporting the outer circumferential surface thereof.

Next, the crimping unit <NUM> presses the sound absorption material while expanding radially toward the sound absorption material adhered to the inner liner of the tire fixed to the fixing unit <NUM>.

According to the present invention, the crimping unit <NUM> includes a first plate <NUM> having a predetermined thickness and area; a plurality of main frames <NUM> formed on a lower portion of the first plate <NUM> and expanding or contracting radially based on a central axis of the first plate <NUM>; and a crimping ring <NUM> which connects lower portions of the plurality of main frames <NUM> with each other and is configured to press the sound absorbing material of the tire by expanding or contracting a diameter thereof according to an operation of radially expanding or contracting the main frames <NUM>.

The sound absorbing material adhered to the inner liner of the tire is pressed by the crimping unit <NUM>, and the detailed configuration of the crimping unit <NUM> will be described below.

First, the first plate <NUM> having a predetermined thickness and area may be installed on the top, preferably formed in a disk shape, and have a diameter corresponding to a length that the main frame <NUM> to be described below expands to the maximum in the radial direction.

The main frame <NUM> is formed on the lower portion of the first plate <NUM> and may radially expand or contract based on the central axis of the first plate <NUM>. The main frame <NUM> may be composed of a plurality of frames which are radially expanded or contracted based on a central axis of the first plate <NUM> and a central axis of the tire defined by fixing the position of the tire and aligning the center by the fixing unit <NUM>. Preferably, the plurality of main frames are arranged side by side in a circumferential circumference based on the central axis of the first plate <NUM>, and can be expanded or contracted radially during operation.

In addition, the crimping ring <NUM> may press the sound absorbing material of the tire by expanding or contracting the diameter thereof according to the operation of radially expanding or contracting the main frames <NUM>. When the main frame <NUM> is radially expanded or contracted during operation, the diameter of the crimping ring <NUM> formed in a ring shape by connecting the lower portions of the plurality of main frames <NUM> is also expanded or reduced. Herein, as the diameter of the crimping ring <NUM> is expanded, the sound absorbing material adhered to the inner liner portion of the tire may be firmly pressed. Preferably, a length of the crimping ring <NUM> in a width direction and a length of the sound absorbing material in the width direction are formed to correspond to each other, such that all regions of the sound absorbing material can be uniformly pressed.

According to a preferred feature of the present invention, the crimping ring <NUM> is connected to each of the lower portions of the plurality of main frames <NUM>, and includes a plurality of segments <NUM> having a predetermined curvature. The plurality of segments <NUM> may include: first segments <NUM> located outside in a radial direction and having guide pins <NUM> formed at both ends thereof; and second segments <NUM> located inside in the radial direction and having guide grooves <NUM> extending in the circumferential direction, into which the guide pins <NUM> of the first segment <NUM> are inserted, wherein the second segments <NUM> are configured to expand and contract an entire diameter of the crimping ring <NUM> while the guide pins <NUM> are guided along the guide grooves <NUM>.

The crimping ring <NUM>, more precisely, the crimping ring <NUM> connected to the lower portions of the plurality of main frames <NUM> and formed in a ring shape as a whole may include the plurality of segments <NUM> having a predetermined curvature. Herein, the plurality of segments <NUM> have the same curvature and are interconnected to form one circle, and the first segment <NUM> located outside in the radial direction and the second segment <NUM> located inside in the radial direction are alternately arranged, and some regions at both ends of these segments are overlapped with each other. The guide pins <NUM> are formed at both ends of each of the first segments <NUM>, and guide grooves <NUM> are formed in each of the second segment <NUM>, into which the guide pins <NUM> can be inserted and guided in the circumferential direction. Accordingly, when the main frames <NUM> are expanded, the entire first segments <NUM> and the second segments <NUM> are radially expanded as the guide pins <NUM> move along the guide grooves <NUM>. As the plurality of segments <NUM> are expanded toward the sound absorbing material to press the sound absorbing material, uniform crimping may be achieved over an entire area of the sound absorbing material through the above process.

According to a preferred feature of the present invention, the crimping unit <NUM> further includes a servomotor <NUM> installed on the first plate <NUM>. The servomotor <NUM> includes a first gear <NUM> formed on a lower portion thereof, and each of the main frames <NUM> includes a second gear <NUM> formed on an upper one side thereof to be meshed with the first gear <NUM>. Therefore, when operating the servomotor <NUM>, the main frames <NUM> can be radially expanded and contracted while the meshed first and second gears are rotated.

An embodiment for radially expanding and contracting the main frame <NUM> will be described below. First, when the first gear <NUM> of the servomotor <NUM> installed on the first plate <NUM> is rotated in one direction about an axis thereof, the main frames <NUM> are radially expanded by the second gear <NUM> meshed with the first gear <NUM>, whereas when rotated in the opposite direction, they are radially contracted. When operating the servomotor <NUM>, the first gear <NUM> formed on the lower portion of the servomotor <NUM> and the second gear <NUM> formed on the upper one side of each of the main frames <NUM> are rotated with being meshed, thus to move the main frames <NUM> radially. More specifically, the first gear <NUM> is a gear rotating about the axis of the servomotor <NUM>, and the second gear <NUM> is a gear connected to each of the main frames <NUM> and rotated by the first gear <NUM> with being meshed. These gear are formed in a bevel gear (or spiral bevel gear) type in which the first gear <NUM> is formed as a ring gear, and the second gear <NUM> is formed as a pinion gear. That is, due to these gears of which axes are arranged at a predetermined angle, rotation of the shaft of the servomotor <NUM> is transmitted to the second gear <NUM> through the first gear <NUM>, such that the main frames <NUM> can be radially expanded or contracted. Accordingly, when rotating the shaft of the servomotor <NUM>, the second gears <NUM> of the main frames <NUM> are rotated due to the rotation of the first gear <NUM>, and the main frames <NUM> may be radially expanded or contracted.

According to a preferred feature of the present invention, the main frame <NUM> may include: an upper frame <NUM> into which a screw part <NUM> of a ball screw expanding radially from the second gear <NUM> is inserted; a center frame <NUM> extending downward from the upper frame <NUM>; and a lower frame <NUM> extending radially from a lower end of the center frame <NUM>.

Herein, the ball screw is a motion conversion device that converts rotational motion into linear motion. The ball screw may have a structure in which one end of the second gear <NUM> is meshed with the first gear <NUM> and the other end of the screw part <NUM> extends radially from the second gear <NUM>, wherein the upper frame <NUM> having an insertion hole into which the screw part <NUM> is inserted functions as a nut part of the ball screw. Therefore, when the second gear <NUM> rotates, the upper frame <NUM> moves linearly through the nut part while the screw part <NUM> is rotated, such that the main frame <NUM> moves linearly in a longitudinal direction of the screw, that is, in the radial direction. According to the structure of the ball screw, the linear motion of the screw part <NUM> is transferred from the upper frame <NUM> to the center frame <NUM> extending vertically downward, and then to the lower frame <NUM> expanding radially and horizontally from the center frame <NUM>, such that the above-described plurality of segments <NUM> installed outside the lower frames <NUM> can be radially expanded or contracted.

Next, the motor unit <NUM> connected to the upper portion of the crimping unit <NUM> and configured to raise and lower the crimping unit <NUM> toward the tire will be described.

Herein, the motor unit <NUM> includes a plurality of shafts <NUM> arranged above the second plate <NUM>, which respectively has one end fixed to the first plate <NUM> and the other end extending upward from the first plate <NUM> by penetrating the second plate <NUM>. The motor unit <NUM> and the shafts <NUM> are operatively connected with each other through a gear mechanism to be described below, such that when operating the motor unit <NUM>, the plurality of shafts <NUM> connected to the first plate <NUM> are lowered in the longitudinal direction thereof by an operation of the gear mechanism, and the crimping unit <NUM> is moved to the tire.

A process of lowering the crimping unit <NUM> toward the transferred tire before the process of radially expanding or contracting the crimping unit <NUM> inside the tire and a process of raising the crimping unit <NUM> again after the crimping is completed will be described below.

Claim 1:
A tire sound absorbing material crimping device comprising:
a fixing unit configured to align a center of a tire transported by a tire conveying unit and position the tire;
a crimping unit configured to press a sound absorbing material while expanding radially toward the sound absorbing material adhered to an inner liner of the tire fixed to the fixing unit; and
a motor unit connected to an upper portion of the crimping unit and configured to raise and lower the crimping unit toward the tire;
characterized in that the crimping unit comprises:
a first plate having a predetermined thickness and area;
a plurality of main frames formed on a lower portion of the first plate and extending or contracting radially based on a central axis of the first plate; and
a crimping ring which connects lower portions of the plurality of main frames with each other and is configured to press the sound absorbing material of the tire by expanding or contracting a diameter thereof according to an operation of radially expanding or contracting the main frames.