METHOD AFTER VULCANISATION

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[001] The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to machinery for manufacturing tires for motor vehicles of nearly all sizes. More particularly, the present invention relates to post-treatment of tires after curing and the mechanism involved in loading and unloading of tires in/out of the post treatment apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[002] In general, the automobile tires are expected to have a high degree of strength and resilience to serve the varying dynamics in the road. The tires exiting from the tire vulcanizing/curing presses are less stable in its shape and are considered to be very soft and fragile. Thus, there arises a demanding requirement for a post treatment of these tires under predetermined conditions similar to automobile rim mounting and inflation.

[003] Current arrangement of post cure inflators (PCI) is described in patents applications US 5352104A, US 2011/0189324A1, US 8366426B2, US 8337187B2, EP 0143538A2, US 7740464B2, CN 102328368B, CN 201410718Y, CN 101544035A, US 20090175975 Al. In all these patent documents, various functional arrangements of components to treat the tire are disclosed. The major advantage being is that the ways and means stands unique while each one falls short with its mechanisms becoming complex, requiring multiple tire centering arrangements if not done might lead to a defective tire. Further, in few cases malfunctioning on centering may also cause tire curing press to stop and further use of multiple loading and unloading devices for loading and unloading the tires on and off the tire curing press and PCI increases the interface setup time with multiple device placement and affects accuracy. Adding to this, an integrated approach of tire curing press unloading device performing the Loading and Unloading of PCI as described in one of the above patents demands a huge space in the machine footprint there by affecting the layout utilization and creating an unfriendly zone during the time of service and maintenance. The multiple function devices also utilize precise machining which increases the cost of the device and the complexity with it. One another approach of providing a ladder frame construction of cooling station with plurality of hydraulic cylinders for clamping the rim beads poses a big threat by allowing the oil to stay in close vicinity to the cooling tire, any leak/spillage of oil from cylinder may lead to scrapping of tires. Other approaches as described in Chinese patents deals with 2-position, turnover and elevator type of cooling devices comprising various means of loading/unloading, locking means and tilting and indexing means to perform the cooling operation, though stands reliable and compact, the mechanisms and processes involved dips down its merits in terms of their Loading/positioning/Unloading sequences, setup time and the complexity integrated with it adds more cost to it.

[004] Thus, the above patent documents include the following drawbacks:

• Hydraulic cylinder is prone to leakage and the leakage oil can lead to tire scrap.

• The tire handling device having multiple stopping positions thereby increasing its complexity.

• The width and height of the Post cure inflator is higher to allow the tire handling device inside the apparatus to load/unload the tires.

• In case of hydraulic leakage inside/outside the cylinder, the rim-to-rim distance will increase.

• PCI occupying more width in floor layout.

• Single frame/bayonet rim locking in PCI requires complex machining in rim mounting surfaces.

[005] Further, for some other prior art tire vulcanizing system, reference is made to

EP1642695B1, which provides a tire vulcanizing system characterized in comprising a vulcanizer for vulcanizing a green tire, a post cure inflator, and a transfer device. The transfer device is configured to receive a vulcanized tire from the vulcanizer and transfer the vulcanized tire to the post cure inflator to be thereby delivered to a rim of the post cure inflator. Further, the transfer device is provided with a means for rotatably holding the vulcanized tire, and is capable of placing the vulcanized tire on a predetermined rotation position on the rim.

[006] In the above mentioned patent EP‘695B1, the complex arrangement is having

4 positions, rotatable PCI with loading device integrated with the tire vulcanizer, which unloads the cured tire from vulcanizer and loads it on the lower rim of PCI. One another rotatable device is holding the upper rim of the PCI, rotates and engages with the placed tire on the lower rim of PCI. The loading device integrated with tire vulcanizer performs the loading of cured tire to PCI and then unloading it from PCI to Conveyor.

[007] Reference is also made to CA 1104776 A, which discloses a curing system including a curing press-post inflator combination wherein the tire moves through the curing and post inflation process under complete control at all times. The post inflator is mounted on the press frame and is aligned with the top mold section of the press in the full open position of the press. The upper or outside bead rim of the post inflator is removed by a mechanism operating, in part, independently of the press top mold section so that the post inflator can be closed and operational prior to the full closing of the press. A chuck in the top mold section not only holds the tire for stripping from the mold sections and bladder but retains control over the tire vertically to place the tire without dropping or any lateral movement on the aligned open bottom or inner bead rim of the post cure inflator.

[008] In the above patent application CA‘776A, a complex structure of flip over, trunnion mounted top and bottom station PCI is described, wherein the loading of tire to the lower rim on its upper station is done directly by movement of top mold (with tire held by a stripping chuck) on to the top station of PCI. After placing, the mold reverts to its initial position. Then a separate rotating device holding the upper PCI rim rotates and engages with the tire placed on the top station of PCI. Locking happens between the top and lower rims of top station of PCI. Then PCI flips over for receiving next tire from the mold. The unloading of tire in the bottom station happens by unlocking the lower bead rim and is retracted beneath a tilt conveyor wherein the tire is extracted from the lower bead rim. Further, it involves direct placement of tire from mould to PCI.

[009] Accordingly, in view of the hither complex mechanism, there exists a dire need to provide a simple and reliable tire holding mechanism for post cure inflator with less number of components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0010] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.

[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method of tire holding mechanism which is simple, self-locking and eliminates conventional complex locking/unlocking and tire centering mechanisms.

[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a post-cure inflator apparatus with having at least one individual arm with simple arrangement for rim holding.

[0013] Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for post-treatment of a tire, said apparatus comprising a top rim plate, coupled to at least one drive unit, configured to move vertically in one of up and down position. The apparatus also comprises at least one arm, actuated by at least one arm actuating drive, configured to linearly move on a bottom rim plate, and one of load and unload the tire.

[0014] In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for operating the tire holding apparatus for post-treatment of a tire, comprising a first step of moving, by means of at least one arm actuating drive, at least one arm linearly to an OUT position for one of loading and unloading of the tire. This is followed by moving, by means of the at least one arm actuating drive, the at least one arm linearly from the OUT position to an IN position. Further step includes moving, by means of at least one drive unit, a top rim plate from an up position to a down position to maintain a predefined rim-to-rim distance. This step is followed by applying, by means of the at least one drive unit, an inflation pressure into the tire. Further, the next step includes relieving, by means of the at least one drive unit, the inflation pressure; and moving, by means of the at least one drive unit, the top rim plate from the down position to the up position. [0015] Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

[0016] The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0017] Figure 1 illustrates an isometric view of post cure inflator, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 illustrates an isometric view of post curing inflator apparatus having an IN and OUT position, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 3 illustrates a plan view of post cure inflator with hydraulic tire curing press, in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention

[0020] Figure 4 illustrates the side view of total machine layout with post cure inflator, in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0022] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.

[0023] Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

[0024] The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0025] It is to be understood that the singular forms“a,”“an,” and“the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0026] By the term “substantially” it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.

[0027] Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments. [0028] It should be emphasized that the term“comprises/comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

[0029] The full overview of the arrangement of the apparatus for post-treatment of cured tires with a curing press provided in figures 1-4 and are as follows:

1. Top rim plate

2. Bottom rim plate

3. Arm

4. Vertical column

5. Modular frame

6. Drive unit with position sensing device

7. Actuating drive

8. Tire Curing Press

9. Press Loader

10. Press Unloader

11. Post Cure Inflator apparatus (PCI)

[0030] In one implementation, the Figure 1 illustrates the overview of isometric view of PCI apparatus (11) in IN position having up and down position of the top rim plate (1).

[0031] In one implementation, the Figure 2 illustrates isometric view of PCI apparatus in OUT position with an actuating drive (7).

[0032] In another implementation, the Figure 3 illustrates the major components used during the method for operating the apparatus (11) for post-treatment a tire along with the tire curing press (8). The major components include the apparatus (11), the press unloader (10), the tire curing press (8), and the press loader (9). [0033] In another implementation, the Figure 4 illustrates the up and down movement of the unloader (10), and the IN/OUT movement of the arm (3).

[0034] As illustrated in Figure 1, the PCI apparatus (11) comprises a top rim plate (1), a bottom rim plate (2), at least one arm (3), a plurality of vertical columns (4), a plurality of modular frames (5), and at least one drive unit (6).

[0035] The plurality of modular frame (5) and the plurality of vertical columns (4) are configured to act as structures for mounting the top rim plate (1), the bottom rim plate (2), the at least one arm (3), and at least one drive unit (6).

[0036] The top rim plate (1) is configured to be mounted on the modular frame (5).

The top rim plate (1) is also coupled to at least one drive unit (6) and is configured to move vertically in one of up and down position. The up position may correspond to a farthest position of the top rim plate (1) from the bottom rim plate (2), whereas, the down position may correspond to a nearest position of the top rim plate (1) from the bottom rim plate (2) for maintaining a pre-defined rim to rim distance. Further, the top rim plate (1) may be vertically moved by means of screw and nut means actuated by the at least one drive unit (6). The top rim plate (1) may be moved from the up position to the down position to maintain the predefined rim-to-rim distance. The top rim plate (1) may also be moved from the up position to the down position for applying an inflation pressure. The top rim plate (1) may be moved from the down position to the up position for relieving the inflation pressure.

[0037] Further, the at least one drive unit (6) is configured to control the vertical up and down movement of the top rim plate (1). The at least one drive unit (6) comprises at least one sensing device for controlling the movement of the top rim plate (1). The at least one drive unit (6) includes, but not limited to, an electric drive unit, a hydraulic drive unit, a pneumatic drive unit, and a hybrid drive unit.

[0038] Further, bottom rim plate (2) is mounted on at least one arm (3), which in turn is guided on the modular frame (5). The bottom rim plate (2) may be spring loaded to maintain a clearance with the modular frame (5). The bottom rim plate (2) along with the at least one arm (3) is actuated linearly by at least one actuating drive (7).

[0039] Further, the at least one arm (3) is configured to move linearly with the bottom rim plate (2) in one of IN position and OUT position. In an event, the at least one arm (3) with the bottom rim plate (2) is in IN position, the at least one arm (3) with the bottom rim plate (2) is concentric with the top rim plate (1). In an event, the at least one arm (3) is in OUT position, the at least one arm (3) with the bottom rim plate (2) is in line with the press unloader (10) of the tire curing press (8) (refer Figure 3-4). Furthermore, the at least one arm (3) is configured to one of load and unload the tire in OUT position, whereas the at least one arm (3) is configured to hold the tire in IN position.

[0040] The linear movement of the at least one arm (3) is resultant of the linear movement of the at least one actuating drive (7). The at least one actuating drive (7) may be coupled to the bottom rim plate (2) and mounted on the modular frame (5).

[0041] The at least one actuating drive (7) may include, but not limited to, an electric actuating drive, a hydraulic actuating drive, a pneumatic actuating drive, and a hybrid actuating drive. The at least one actuating drive (7) may be a telescopic or non-telescopic in nature. In an embodiment, the at least one actuating drive (7) is a pneumatic push rod.

[0042] Further, a method for operating the apparatus (11) for post-treatment the tire may start with a movement of the at least one arm (3) to the OUT position from the IN position (as shown figure 2). Further, the post cured or the cooled tire is unloaded from the at least one arm (3) with the bottom rim plate (2), and a new tire is loaded on the bottom rim plate (2) from the press unloader (10) (as shown in Figure 3-4). Subsequently, the at least one arm (3) is moved back to the IN position such that the top rim plate (1) and the bottom rim plate (2) are concentric to each other. Further, the top rim plate (1) is moved vertically from the up position to the down position to maintain the pre-defined rim-to-rim distance and to apply the inflation pressure. In an embodiment, various curing operations may be performed on the tire at the down position. In an embodiment, the tire may be cooled at a pre-defined cooling cycle for pre-defined time at the down position. Subsequently, the top rim plate (1) is moved vertically from the down position to the up position so as to relieve the inflation pressure. Finally, the at least one arm (3) is moved back to the OUT position for unloading the treated tire.

[0043] Some of the non-limiting benefits of the present invention over the prior art are as below:

• Lead screw is used to maintain rim-to-rim distance, thus, avoiding cylinder failure,

Oil leakage and tire scrapping.

• Simpler mechanism for improved reliability.

• Multiple stopping positions of tire handling device are avoided, and size of PCI frame reduced by using simpler arm for the apparatus.

• The modular frame avoids complex machining to achieve concentricity between rims.

• In the present invention, there is a no direct placement of tire from tire curing press to PCI. The loading happens by a press unloader or PCI loading device.

• In the present invention, the receiving station of PCI is movable with a linear arm attached with PCI. Similar stations can be stacked to handle one or more tires without increasing the floor space unlike tires spaced on a rotary table.

[0044] It may be understood by the person skilled in that art that, the coupling, joining, fitting, fastening, of the two components mentioned the present invention may be achieved by any of the existing coupling techniques that may include but not limited to fasteners, nuts and screws or any other mechanical linkage.

[0045] Although an apparatus and method for post-treatment of tires have been described in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the embodiments disclosed in the above section are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods or devices described. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as examples of implementations of an apparatus and method for post-treatment of tires.