KARHUNEN OSSI (FI)
HEINONEN PEKKA (FI)
| GB2021492A | 1979-12-05 |
| 1. | A method for lubricating the rim area of a tyre, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the seating areas of the tyre are brought into contact with a substantially horizontal lubricating roll or rolls, which convey lubrican to the seating areas of the tyre, and that the tyre is rotated on the lubricating roll or rolls for at least one revolution. |
| 2. | A method according to Claim 1, c h a r a σ t e r i z e i n that the tyre is rotated by means of a motordriven lubricating roll or rolls. |
| 3. | A method according to Claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c e r i z e d i n that the lubricating roll or rolls are brought into contact with the lubricant in a trough which is fitted below the lubricating roll or rolls and into whic the lubricant is pumped. |
| 4. | A method according to Claim 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e i n that the level of lubricant in the trough is maintaine constant by means of an overflow pipe. |
| 5. | A device for lubricating the rim area of a tyre, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that it comprises a substantially horizontal lubricating roll or rolls (7, 8) the purpose of which is to convey lubricant (10) to the seating areas of the tyre, and means for rotating the tyre supported by the lubricating roll or rolls. |
| 6. | A device according to Claim 5 ,,, c h a r a c t e r i z e i n that the lubricating roll or rolls (7, 8) are motor driven and function as the said means which rotate the tyre. |
| 7. | A device according to Claim 5 or 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the lubricating roll (7, 8) has, as seen from one end, a first cylindrical part, a part with a decreasing diameter, a part with an increasing diameter, and a second cylindrical part. |
| 8. | A device according to any of Claims 58, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that it additionally includes a lubricantfeeding system having a pump (14) , a lubricant container (15) , a trough (9) in which the lubricating roll or rolls (7, 8) are in contact with the lubricant (10) , as well as a pipe (11) for feeding lubrican into the trough and an overflow pipe (12) for maintaining the level of lubricant constant in the trough. |
| 9. | An apparatus for lubricating the rim area of a tyre, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that it comprises a tyre lubricating device (4) having a substantially horizontal lubricating roll or rolls (7, 8) the purpose of which is to convey lubricant (10) to the seating areas of the tyre, and means for rotating the tyre supported by the lubricating roll or rolls, as well as a tyre υonveyor (6) and a device (5) for lifting and turning the tyre from the tyre conveyor onto the lubricating roll or"rolls and in reverse. |
| 10. | An apparatus according to Claim 9, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the lubricating roll or rolls (7, 8) are motor driven and function as the said means which rotat the tyre. |
| 11. | An apparatus according to Claim 9 or 10, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the lubricating roll (7, 8) has, as seen from one end, a first cylindrical part, a part with a decreasing diameter, a part with an increasin diameter, and a second cylindrical part. |
| 12. | An apparatus according to any of Claims 911, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the lubricating devic (4) additionally includes a lubricantfeeding system having a pump (14) , a lubricant container (15) , a trough (9) in which the lubricating roll or rolls (7, 8) are in contact with lubricant (10) , as well as a pipe (11) for feeding the lubricant into the trough and an overflow pipe (12) for maintaining the level of lubricant constant in the trough. |
| 13. | An apparatus according to any of Claims 912, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the tyre lifting and turning device (5) comprises a tyre supporting structure (19) which can, by using drive means (16) , be turned from the level of the tyre conveyor (6) into a substantially vertical position, and back to the initial position. |
| 14. | An apparatus according to Claim 13, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that one end of the supporting structure (19) is mounted by means of bearings to the frame (17) of the apparatus, and that at the opposite end of the supporting structure there is a shaft (28) rota table by drive means (20) and having a tyre supporting arm (21) . |
| 15. | An apparatus according to Claim 13 or 14, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the drive means (16, 20) are pneumatic cylinders. |
| 16. | An apparatus according to any of Claims 915, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that it has means (18) for stopping the tyre on the tyre conveyor. |
The present invention relates to a method and device for lubricating the rim area of a tyre, especially a car tyre, and to a lubrication apparatus for use in conjunction with the tyre testing device.
In the final step of the manufacturing process, car tyres are at present subjected to quality control, which is carried out automatically by artesting device. The purpos of the control is to prevent tyres of deficient quality from being released onto the market and to follow up qual The testing device is used primarily to check the symmetr of the tyre. When necessary, the required adjustments and improvements to the process can be made on the basis of the values measured by the testing device.
In the testing device the tyre is brought between two rim flanges, which close up, and the tyre is pressurized for the testing measurement. When rising onto the rim flange and, on the other hand, when leaving it, the seating of th tyre must slide on the conical surface of the flange. To facilitate the sliding, a lubricant must be introduced between the seating of the tyre and the rim flange; a lubricant commonly used is a mixture of castor oil and isopropanol. In known testing devices this is usually implemented by injecting the lubricant into the flanges b means of compressed air from between the opened r m flanges after a tyre has been removed, the upper flange rotating and the lower one having stopped. The disadvanta of this known technique is that the lower flange does not receive a sufficient amount of the lubricant since one
nozzle introduces it only locally. This, for its part, prevents the tyre from being seated precisely on the rim flange, and the testing device yields an erroneous result concerning the properties of the tyre. However, a greater problem is the lubricating method itself, since the lubricant is atomized during the injection and soils the apparatus, the surroundings and the products. Lubricant mist is present at unpleasant concentrations in the air of the working environment, and its removal by means of ventilation is very difficult and unreasonably expensive. Furthermore, the injection devices cause problems because of their dripping and continual need for adjustment and maintenance.
The object of the present invention is to provide a lubricating method and device by means of which it is possible to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages and problems of known systems.
This invention is based on the idea that the flanges of the testing device are not lubricated at all but, -instead, the lubricant is introduced into the rim aiea of the tyre by means of a separate device during a step preceding the actual testing.
A further object of this invention is to provide a lubricating apparatus by means of which the tyres to be inspected can be transferred automatically from the tyre conveyor, to the lubricating device and from there, further to the tyre testing device.
The principal characteristics of the invention are given in the accompanying claims.
The invention is described below in greater detail with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 depicts a side elevation of the apparatus according to the invention, linked to a tyre testing device
Figure 2 depicts a side view of one preferred apparatus according to the invention,
Figure 3 depicts a cross section, through lin ."A-A;, of part of the apparatus according to Figure 2, on an enlarged scale, and
Figure 4 depicts the same apparatus as Figure 2, the moving part being in another position.
Figure 1 illustrates the principle of the operation and location of the lubricating apparatus 1 according to the invention in the tyre testing unit. The travel direction of the tyre is indicated by an arrow. A stack of tyres arrives at the unloading device 2, where by means of an elevator 22 it is lifted so that the topmost tyre comes to the level of the beginning of the conveyor 24 of the lubricating apparatus. By means of a pushing device 23, one tvre at a time is pushed into the lubricating apparatus 1, in which iuoricant is applied to the rim area of the tyre in the manner described below. The lubricated tyre is fed from fchp lubricating apparatus along the roller conveyor 25 xnto the testing device 3, where the tyre is brought between two rim flanges 26 and 27. Owing to the lubrication of the seating areas of the tyre, the tyre seats easily and precisely ' on the rim flanges and, consequently, the testing device yields a reliable result regarding the properties of the tyre.
When the lubricating apparatus according to the invention is used, the tyre-testing period is not increased by the separate lubricating step, since it is possible to carry out the lubrication during the testing of the previous tyre, a typical testing period being about 25 seconds. On
the contrary, owing to the apparatus according to the invention the time used up in the testing is shortened, since the lubricating step in the testing apparatus is eliminated.
With reference to Figures 2-4, the apparatus according to the invention is made up of a frame 17, a lubricating device 4, a tyre conveyor 6, which is preferably a roller conveyor, and a tyre lifting and turning device 5. The lifting and turning device 5 comprises a support structure 19, which is mounted by means of bearings to the frame 17 and can, by means of two pneumatic cylinders 16 (only one is visible in Figures 2 and 4) be turned from the tyre conveyor 6 level to a vertical position, and back to the initial position. The support structure 19 also has a shaft 28 which is perpendicular to the tyre conveyor 6 and has a tyre lifting horn 21. The lifting horn 21 can, by means of the pneumatic cylinder 20, be turned from its: initial position/ in which it is parallel to the conveyor 6, 90 upwards,. whereupon it enters the opening of the tyre (in Figure 2 tne lifting horn is in this position) . When the lifting and turning device 5 is in the vertical position, the lifting horn 21 can be turned downwards, whereupon the tyre 5 falls onto the lubricating rolls 7 and 8. After 1'urication has been carried out, the lifting horn 21 performs the above-mentioned movements in the reverse order.
In addition, the apparatus according to the invention has two stoppers * 18, which are mounted in bearings on the sides of the conveyor 6 (only one is visible in Figures 2 and 4). These -stoppers arrest the tyre on the conveyor 6.
The lubricating device 4 according to the invention comprises two lubricating rolls 7 and 8 (Figure 3) , which are driven by a helical-gear motor 13. A trough 9 containin
lubricant 10 is mounted below the lubricating rolls. Lubricant is pumped from a container 15 by means of an adjustable membrane pump 14 through the pipe 11 into the trough 9, an overflow pipe 12 keeping the surface level constant. The rolls 7 and 8, rolling in the lubricant 10, transfer lubricant to the rim areas of the tyre while at the same time rotating the tyre. The shape of the lubricating rolls is such that the entire seating of the tyre comes into contact with the roll surface. In other words, the cross sectional surface of the middle part of the rolls is smaller than the cross sectional surfaces of the cylindrical end parts. The level of lubricant 10 in the trough 9 is adjusted preferably so that only the cylindrica end parts of the lubricating rolls 7 and 8 are in contact with the lubricant.
All of the functions of the apparatus according to the invention are automatically controlled and the apparatus does not require continuous supervision.
The apparatus according to the invention operates in steps, as follows:
Step 1: the tyre arriving along the conveyor 6 is arrested by stoppers 18;
Step 2: the lifting horn 21 turns into the opening of the tyre;
Step 3: the lifting and tipping device 5 lifts and turns the tyre into a vertical position on top of the lubricating rolls 7 and 8;
Step 4: the lifting horn 21 releases the tyre so that it will rotate together with the lubricating rolls 7 and 8, and both seating areas of the tyre receive a lubricating dose simultaneously during at least one revolution;
Step 5: the lifting horn 21 lifts the tyre off the lubricating rolls 7 and 8;
Step 6: the lifting and tipping device 5 returns the tyre to the conveyor 6;
Step 7: the lifting horn 21 is removed from the opening of the tyre;
Step 8: the tyre remains at the stoppers 18 or, if the testing device 3 has given a signal, the stoppers no longer prevent the passage of the tyre to the feeding conveyor 25 of the testing device. A new sequence of steps is started by a photocell which controls the conveyor.
Only one preferred embodiment of the invention is described above, and it is clear that it can be varied within the claims. Thus, for example, the tyre can be rotated on the lubricating rolls by means of a separate device. It is also possible to use only one lubricating roll. The lubricating rolls may also be completely cylindrical in shape, and they can be coated with different materials.
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