JP7587989B2 - How to remove vulcanized tires - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a method for removing vulcanized tires.

Pneumatic tires are manufactured by vulcanizing raw tires in a vulcanizer. The following Patent Document 1 discloses a method for demolding a vulcanized tire that allows the vulcanized tire to be smoothly removed from the vulcanizer. However, no details are disclosed regarding the method for removing the vulcanized tire from the vulcanizer after demolding.

Generally, after vulcanization, the vulcanized tire is removed from the vulcanizer by an unloader. Specifically, the chuck of the unloader is inserted through the gap between the clamp ring that supports the upper end of the bladder and the bead portion of the vulcanized tire, and the vulcanized tire is removed by gripping the bead portion with the chuck. However, there is sometimes insufficient space to insert the chuck, resulting in poor gripping by the chuck. Poor gripping by the chuck can lead to deformation of the bead portion, deformation of the entire tire, and poor appearance due to the tire continuing to hit the mold and leaving marks on the vent hole due to equipment being stopped due to poor gripping detection.

JP 2014-117805 A

The objective of this disclosure is to provide a method for removing vulcanized tires that can securely grip the vulcanized tire with the unloader chuck.

The method for removing a vulcanized tire according to the present disclosure is a method for removing a vulcanized tire from a vulcanization mold using an unloader, comprising the steps of:
Raising an upper mold of the vulcanization mold to separate it from the vulcanized tire;
a step of raising a clamp ring supporting an upper end of a bladder and lowering an unloader body of the unloader between the raised clamp ring and the vulcanized tire;
a step of moving a chuck provided on the lowered unloader body radially outward of the unloader body to grip a bead portion of the vulcanized tire;
and a step of lifting the unloader body to remove the vulcanized tire from the lower mold of the vulcanization mold.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a manufacturing apparatus for a pneumatic tire according to an embodiment of the present invention. A diagram showing raw tires being set into a vulcanizer A diagram of the vulcanization mold in a clamped state A diagram of the vulcanization mold in an open state Diagram showing the center post rising and unloader lowering operations Diagram showing the operation of pausing the unloader's descent A diagram showing the chuck gripping a vulcanized tire A diagram showing the unloader removing a vulcanized tire

Below, one embodiment of the method for removing a vulcanized tire will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 8. Note that in each figure, the dimensional ratios in the drawing do not necessarily match the actual dimensional ratios, and the dimensional ratios between the drawings do not necessarily match.

<Structure of tire manufacturing device>
1, the tire manufacturing apparatus includes a vulcanizer 100 having a vulcanization mold 1 and a central mechanism 2, and an unloader (complete set) 3 (hereinafter simply referred to as the unloader 3). The tire manufacturing apparatus also includes a loader (complete set) (not shown) that carries a raw tire into the vulcanizer 100.

The vulcanizing mold 1 heats the raw tire to mold the shape of the pneumatic tire. The vulcanizing mold 1 is made of metal and is constantly heated or heated as needed. The vulcanizing mold 1 has a sector 11 that forms the tread of the tire T, an upper mold 12, and a lower mold 13. The upper mold 12 has an upper mold side plate 12a that forms one sidewall of the tire T, and an upper mold bead ring 12b that forms one bead portion of the tire T. The lower mold 13 has a lower mold side plate 13a that forms the other sidewall of the tire T, and a lower mold bead ring 13b that forms the other bead portion of the tire T.

The lower mold 13 is fixed in position. Meanwhile, the upper mold 12 is configured to be movable up and down relative to the lower mold 13. The sector 11 is also movable in both directions, expanding and contracting, relative to the lower mold 13. The sector 11 is also capable of moving up and down relative to the lower mold 13. The vulcanization mold 1 is configured to be openable and closable by the upper mold 12 and the sector 11 moving relative to the lower mold 13. These are configured to be freely displaceable between a mold-closed state and a mold-open state by an opening and closing mechanism (not shown) installed around them, and the structure of such an opening and closing mechanism is well known.

The central mechanism 2 is arranged coaxially with the tire T in the center of the vulcanization mold 1. Sectors 11, an upper mold 12, and a lower mold 13 are installed around the central mechanism 2.

The central mechanism 2 has a rubber bag-shaped bladder 21 and a clamp ring 22 that supports the upper end of the bladder 21. The clamp ring 22 is formed in a ring shape, and a center post 23 that extends in the vertical direction is disposed at its center, and extends radially outward from the center post 23. A cylinder 24 is disposed around the center post 23. The clamp ring 22 is disposed above the cylinder 24. The radially outer ends of the clamp ring 22 and the cylinder 24 support the bladder 21.

The clamp ring 22 is fixed to the top of the center post 23. The center post 23 is arranged coaxially with the tire T and is configured to be movable in the vertical direction. This vertical movement allows the clamp ring 22 to move when loading raw tires and unloading vulcanized tires.

The lower die side plate 13a and the lower die bead ring 13b are fixed to the cylinder 24.

The unloader 3 grips the vulcanized tire (vulcanized tire) T and removes the vulcanized tire T from the vulcanizer 100. The unloader 3 has an unloader body 31 that can move both vertically and horizontally, and multiple chucks 32 that can move radially of the unloader body 31.

The unloader body 31 is ring-shaped with a hole with a larger diameter than the clamp ring 22 so as not to interfere with the clamp ring 22 when it descends from above the central mechanism 2.

The chuck 32 extends downward from the unloader body 31, with its tip extending radially outward from the unloader 3. The multiple chucks 32 are arranged in a ring shape at intervals around the circumferential direction of the unloader 3. Each chuck 32 is configured to be able to slide along the radial direction of the unloader 3. This allows the multiple chucks 32 to be able to expand or contract in diameter, and to be able to switch between a state in which the chucks 32 support the bead portion of the vulcanized tire T from the inside in the tire radial direction, and a state in which the chucks 32 retract radially inward from the bead portion of the vulcanized tire T to release the vulcanized tire T.

<Tire vulcanization method>
Next, a method for vulcanizing a tire will be briefly described with reference to Figs. 2 and 3. A pneumatic tire is manufactured by vulcanizing a raw tire with a vulcanizer 100. First, as shown in Fig. 2, a raw tire T1 is set in the vulcanizing mold 1 in the mold open state. At this time, the center post 23 is raised, and the clamp ring 22 waits at the receiving position for the raw tire T1. The cylinder 24 is fixed and does not change position. The receiving position is a position where the bladder 21 is smaller than the bead portion of the raw tire T1 in relation to the cylinder 24 so that the bladder 21 does not interfere with the raw tire T1. When the clamp ring 22 is in the receiving position, part of the fluid inside the bladder 21 is discharged to the outside, and the bladder 21 is shrunk. In the mold open state of the vulcanizing mold 1, the sector 11 and the upper mold 12 are separated from the lower mold 13. Note that the sector 11 and the upper mold 12 are not shown in Fig. 2.

Next, the clamp ring 22 is lowered to inject fluid (holding medium; low-pressure gas) into the bladder 21 to expand the bladder 21, thereby carrying out the process of holding the raw tire T1 with the bladder 21, which is known as the shaping process.

Next, the vulcanization mold 1 is clamped, and as shown in FIG. 3, the sectors 11, upper mold 12, and lower mold 13, which are in close contact with each other, are pressed against the outer surface of the raw tire T1, and the inflated bladder 21 is pressed against the inner surface of the raw tire T1 to vulcanize the raw tire T1. The vulcanized raw tire T1 becomes the vulcanized tire T. Conventionally known vulcanization conditions can be applied in the vulcanization.

Then, the vulcanized tire T is removed from the vulcanization mold 1 using the vulcanized tire removal method disclosed herein.

<How to remove vulcanized tires>
The method of removing the vulcanized tire will be described with reference to Figures 4 to 8. First, after the raw tire T1 is vulcanized, the sectors 11, upper die 12, and lower die 13 are separated and the vulcanization mold 1 is opened as shown in Figure 4. At this time, the upper die 12 is raised. Note that the sectors 11 and upper die 12 are not shown in Figure 4.

Next, the unloader 3 is moved above the central mechanism 2 so that it is coaxial with the vulcanized tire T. Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the center post 23 is raised to raise the clamp ring 22, and the unloader 3 is lowered.

The unloader body 31 of the unloader 3 is lowered to the temporary stop position P1 shown in FIG. 6 and temporarily stopped, and the chuck 32 is moved radially inward. The temporary stop position P1 is a position between the raised clamp ring 22 and the vulcanized tire T. The temporary stop position P1 is also above the height position (chuck position P2 shown in FIG. 7) where the tip of the chuck 32 grips the upper bead portion of the vulcanized tire T from the inside in the tire radial direction. The temporary stop position P1 is, for example, 20 to 30 mm above the chuck position P2.

Next, the unloader body 31 of the unloader 3 is lowered from the temporary stop position P1 to the chuck position P2 shown in FIG. 7 and stopped, and the chuck 32 is moved radially outward. This allows the chuck 32 of the unloader 3 to grip the bead portion of the vulcanized tire T. Finally, the unloader body 31 of the unloader 3 is raised as shown in FIG. 8 to remove the vulcanized tire T.

As described above, the method for removing the vulcanized tire T according to the present embodiment is a method for removing the vulcanized tire T from the vulcanization mold 1 using the unloader 3,
a step of lifting the upper mold 12 of the vulcanization mold 1 and separating it from the vulcanized tire T;
a step of lifting a clamp ring 22 supporting an upper end of the bladder 21 and lowering an unloader body 31 of the unloader 3 between the lifted clamp ring 22 and the vulcanized tire T;
a step of moving a chuck 32 provided on the lowered unloader body 31 radially outward of the unloader body 31 to grip a bead portion of the vulcanized tire T;
and a process of lifting the unloader body 31 to remove the vulcanized tire T from the lower mold 13 of the vulcanization mold 1.

With this configuration, by raising the clamp ring 22, the gap between the clamp ring 22 and the vulcanized tire T becomes larger, and space can be secured when gripping the tire with the chuck, so that the vulcanized tire T can be securely gripped by the chuck 32 of the unloader 3.

In addition, in the method for removing the vulcanized tire T according to this embodiment, the process of lowering the unloader body 31 includes a process of temporarily stopping the unloader body 31 at a temporary stop position P1 above the chuck position P2 at which the chuck 32 grips the bead portion, and moving the chuck 32 radially inward.

This configuration makes it easier to insert the tip of the chuck 32 below the bead portion of the vulcanized tire T from the inside in the tire radial direction, allowing the chuck 32 to grip the vulcanized tire T more reliably.

The method for removing the vulcanized tire T is not limited to the configuration of the embodiment described above, nor is it limited to the effects described above. Furthermore, the method for removing the vulcanized tire T can of course be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the configurations and methods of the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily adopted and combined, and further, one or more of the configurations and methods of the various modified examples described below may be arbitrarily selected and adopted in the configurations and methods of the above-described embodiments.

(1) In the method for removing the vulcanized tire T according to the above embodiment, the step of lowering the unloader body 31 includes a step of temporarily stopping the unloader body 31 at a temporary stop position P1 above the chuck position P2 where the chuck 32 grips the bead portion, and moving the chuck 32 radially inward. However, the method for removing the vulcanized tire T is not limited to this configuration. For example, the unloader body 31 may be temporarily stopped, and the chuck 32 may be lowered to the chuck position P2 without moving the chuck 32 radially inward to grip the bead portion of the vulcanized tire T. Even without moving the chuck 32 radially inward, the gap between the bead portion of the vulcanized tire T and the vulcanized tire T is increased by raising the clamp ring 22, and the vulcanized tire T is separated from the bladder 21, so that the chuck 32 can grip the bead portion of the vulcanized tire T more easily than in the conventional technology.

(2) In the method for removing the vulcanized tire T according to the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the unloader body 31 of the unloader 3 is lowered while the clamp ring 22 is raised, but this is not limited to this. The raising of the center post 23 and the lowering of the unloader body 31 may be performed after the raising of the center post 23 is completed, or the raising of the center post 23 and the lowering of the unloader body 31 may be performed simultaneously. It is only necessary to ensure that the chuck 32 of the unloader 3 does not come into contact with the bladder 21.

(3) In the above embodiment, the vulcanizing mold 1 is a divided body having the sector 11, the side molds 12a, 13a, and the bead rings 12b, 13b, but is not limited to this. In addition, the sector 11 may move integrally with the upper mold 12, or may move independently of the upper mold 12.

(4) The method of removing vulcanized tires disclosed herein is useful for any type of pneumatic tire, but is particularly useful for tires with low profile sizes, narrow widths, and tall inch tires.

Reference Signs List 1...vulcanizing mold, 2...center mechanism, 3...unloader (complete set), 11...sector, 12...upper mold, 12a...upper mold side plate, 12b...upper mold bead ring, 13...lower mold, 13a...lower mold side plate, 13b...lower mold bead ring, 21...bladder, 22...clamp ring, 23...center post, 24...cylinder, 31...unloader body, 32...chuck, 100...vulcanizer, P1...temporary stop position, P2...chuck position, T...vulcanized tire, T1...green tire

Claims (1)

A method for removing a vulcanized tire from a vulcanization mold using an unloader having a ring-shaped unloader body and a plurality of chucks that are slidable along a radial direction of the unloader body, comprising :
Raising an upper mold of the vulcanization mold to separate it from the vulcanized tire;
a step of raising a clamp ring supporting an upper end of a bladder and lowering the unloader body of the unloader between the raised clamp ring and the vulcanized tire;
a step of moving the chuck provided on the lowered unloader body radially outward of the unloader body to grip a bead portion of the vulcanized tire;
and a step of lifting the unloader body to remove the vulcanized tire from the lower mold of the vulcanization mold ,
The unloader body is in the shape of a ring having a hole with a diameter larger than that of the clamp ring,
The chuck extends downward from the unloader body and has a tip extending radially outward of the unloader,
The step of lowering the unloader body includes a step of temporarily stopping the unloader body at a temporary stop position above a chuck position where the chuck grips the bead portion, and moving the chuck radially inward,
A method for removing a vulcanized tire, wherein, at the temporary stop position, the chuck is moved radially inward until a tip of the chuck is radially inward from the bead portion .