Patent Application
20140305575
The present invention relates to an apparatus for butt joining sheet members, the apparatus butt joining edge faces of two sheet members with each other, the sheet members being made, for example, by coating a plurality of cords with unvulcanized rubber. The present invention also relates to a method for using the apparatus. In particular, the present invention proposes a technique for certainly and easily butt joining two sheet members with each other.
Carcass ply material used in tire manufacturing is made through, for example, a process in which cords such as steel cords extending in a longitudinal direction is coated with unvulcanized rubber by calendaring or the like to form a belt member; the belt member is cut at a predetermined angle, depending on the size and type of a tire to be manufactured, with a bias cutter or the like to form a plurality of sheet members having predetermined widths; then, opposed edge faces of the sheet members are butt joined with each other, for example, by an apparatus for joining edge faces disclosed in Patent Literature 1.
Patent Literature 1 discloses an apparatus “having: a first conveyer including a plurality first of belts, which extend in a longitudinal direction thereof, the first conveyer being capable of extending and retracting in a longitudinal direction of belt-shaped members; a second conveyer arranged ahead of the first conveyer including a plurality of second belts arranged in alternation relation with respect to the first belts and arranged apart from each other in a width direction of the belt-shaped members, the second belts extending in a longitudinal direction thereof, the second conveyer being capable of extending and retracting in the longitudinal direction of the belt-shaped members, front ends of the first belts and rear ends of the second belts interdigitate each other when both of the first conveyer and the second conveyer extend and are brought closest to each other; a plurality of positioning pins being arranged at the boundary between the first conveyer and the second conveyer and extending in a vertical direction, the positioning pins being capable of elevating, the positioning pins abutting against a front edge of the belt-shaped member on the first conveyer and a rear edge of the belt-shaped member on the second conveyer to position the belt-shaped members when the positioning pins rise and protrude upwardly from the first conveyer and the second conveyer; a upper joint claw arranged above the positioning pins and being capable of elevating; a lower joint claw arranged under the upper joint claw and being capable of elevating, the lower joint claw joining the front edge of the belt-shaped member on the first conveyer and the rear edge of the belt-shaped member on the second conveyer in cooperation with the upper joint claw which lowers when the lower joint claw rises.” The apparatus serially and continuously joints edge faces of the plurality of sheet members conveyed on the conveyers.
With regard to the operation of the above-mentioned edge face-joining apparatus to join the edge faces of the sheet members, when parts of the sheet members not being joined as desired are corrected or when spare sheet members are used during the subsequent process, an operator manually overlaps and press bonds each edge of the two belt members to be joined so as to bring the sheet members into an overlap joint.
PTL 1: JPH06-198745A
When an operator manually overlaps and joins the sheet members as stated above, a high skill is required for the operator. In addition, a tire manufactured with a sheet member being overlapped and joined may have a non-uniform density in a tire circumferential direction, which may deteriorate the uniformity of the tire. Furthermore, a defect due to inclusion of air, or poor appearance may be generated at a part being overlapped and joined.
On the other hand, when edge faces of sheet members are butt joined with each other by hand, the joint is less robust than that formed with the above apparatus. As a result, the joined faces are likely to separate during the subsequent processes. Thus, it is inevitable, when edges of sheet members are joined with each other, to overlap and joint the edges in order to secure desired joint strength of the joint portions of the sheet members.
The present invention aims to solve the problems that the conventional techniques have, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for butt joining sheet members and a method for using the apparatus, the apparatus being capable of certainly and easily butt joining opposed edge faces of the two sheet members with each other.
An apparatus for butt joining sheet members according to the present invention has: a supporting plate; a movable arm spaced from the supporting plate by a predetermined distance and being capable of moving toward or away from the supporting plate; and a pair of opposed joint units arranged at the supporting plate and the movable arm, respectively, each of the pair of joint units being provided with two gear wheels and two drawing rolls aligned in a direction in which the movable arm extends, the gear wheel having a circular truncated cone shape and at least one groove extending in a circumferential direction on the outer circumferential surface of the gear wheel, the two gear wheels being capable of rotating synchronously, the drawing roll having a cylindrical shape and at least one groove extending in a circumferential direction on the outer circumferential surface of the drawing roll, the two drawing rolls being capable of rotating synchronously, the supporting plate and the movable arm being moved toward one side in a longitudinal direction of the movable arm with respective edges of two sheet members to be joined being sandwiched between the pair of joint units to bring the edges closer together and butt join edge faces of the sheet members, wherein the drawing rolls of the supporting plate and the movable arm are arranged ahead in an advancing direction of the supporting plate and the movable arm, and the gear wheels of the supporting plate and the movable arm are arranged behind in the advancing direction.
In addition, a method for using an apparatus for butt joining sheet members according to the present invention butt joins opposed edge faces of two sheet members with each other with any of the above apparatuses for butt joining, and the method includes the steps of: moving the supporting plate and the movable arm toward one side in a longitudinal direction of the movable arm with respective edges of the two sheet members being sandwiched between the pair of joint units to rotationally displace each drawing roll and each gear wheel of the joint units on the edges of the sheet members; bringing the edges of the sheet members closer together by means of the drawing rolls arranged ahead in an advancing direction of the supporting plate and the movable arm; and press bonding the edge faces of the sheet members with each other with the gear wheels arranged behind in the advancing directions.
In the apparatus for butt joining sheet members according to the present invention, the supporting plate and the movable arm are moved along the edge faces of the sheet members toward one side in the longitudinal direction of the movable arm with respective edges of the two sheet members being sandwiched between the pair of joint units, so that the two drawing rolls which are rotationally displaced on the edges of the sheet members on the upper face sides thereof and the two drawing rolls which are rotationally displaced on the edges of the sheet members on the lower face sides thereof bring the edges of the two sheet members closer together. Then, the two gear wheels which are rotationally displaced on the edges of the sheet members on the upper face sides thereof and the two gear wheels which are rotationally displaced on the edges of the sheet members on the lower face sides thereof function to firmly press bond the edge faces of the sheet members with each other. Accordingly, the two sheet members can be easily and certainly and butt joined with each other.
In addition, the apparatus for butt joining is applicable for rejoining parts of the sheet members which are not joined as desired with the above apparatus for joining edge faces or for an operation of butt joining the spare sheet members during the subsequent processes. Accordingly, the apparatus for butt joining can avoid deterioration of the uniformity of the manufactured tire and inclusion of air caused by an overlap joint of the sheet members.
Furthermore, in the method for using the apparatus for butt joining sheet members according to the present invention, the drawing rolls arranged ahead in the advancing direction of the supporting plate and the movable arm bring the edge of the sheet members closer together, and the gear wheels arranged behind in the advancing direction firmly press bond the edge faces of the sheet members with each other. Accordingly, the sheet members can be easily and certainly butt joined in the same way as stated above.
The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
With reference to the drawings, an embodiment of the present invention is discussed below.
In the apparatus 1, the supporting plate 2 and the movable arm 3 are moved in a direction indicated by an arrow in
In the embodiment, two drawing rolls 11a, 11b are lined in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of
In addition, in the embodiment, two drawing rolls 11c, 11d are lined in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In a plane parallel to the surfaces of the sheet members arranged on the supporting plate, each of the two drawing rolls 11a, 11a engaging with each other is arranged to have a posture that the rotational axis thereof is tilted at a predetermined angle φ with respect to a direction perpendicular to the advancing direction of the movable arm 3 and the like with the end of the drawing rolls on the side of the of teeth 13 facing in the advancing direction. The angle φ may be, for example, between 15 degrees and 25 degrees.
The two drawing rolls 11c, 11d constituting the joint unit 4b on the supporting plate side are arranged such that teeth thereof engage with each other to rotate synchronously in the same way as the drawing rolls in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The tilt angle θ of the rotational axes may be, for example, between 20 degrees and 30 degrees.
The gear wheels 21a, 21b at the movable arm side and the gear wheels 21c, 21d at the supporting plate side are arranged to engage with each other at the side of the supporting plate 2 on which a rubber sheet is placed (i.e. the face of the supporting plate 2 opposite to the movable arm 3) in a state where the sheet members 50a, 50b are not provided. As a result, the gear wheels 21a-21d can apply sufficient forces against the surfaces of the sheet members 50a, 50b in directions perpendicular to the surfaces without any displacement of the sheet members 50a, 50b in the directions perpendicular to the surfaces, thereby bringing the sheet members 50a, 50b into butt contact with each other.
Although not illustrated, the grooves formed on the outer circumferential surfaces of the drawing roll and the gear wheel may be one or more spiral grooves extending in the circumferential direction thereof in place of the above annular grooves.
In a section taken along the rotational axis, the outer circumferential surfaces of the drawing roll and the gear wheel may be formed in, for example, a jagged shape by forming a groove such as the above annular groove 12, 22.
In the present invention, as illustrated in
According to the apparatus 1 of this embodiment, in a state where the edges of the two sheet members to be joined are arranged between the pair of joint units 4a, 4b, and more specifically between the drawing rolls 11a, 11b and the gear wheels 21a, 21b of the joint unit 4a at the movable arm side, and the drawing rolls 11c, 11d and the gear wheels 21c, 21d, respectively, the movable arm 3 approaches the supporting plate 2; the edges of the sheet members are sandwiched between the joint units 4a, 4b; and, the movable arm 3 and the supporting plate 2 are moved along the edge faces of the sheet members in a direction indicated by a arrow in
In addition, in the apparatus 1, the drawing rolls 11a-11d are arranged ahead in the advancing direction of the supporting plate or the like, and the gear wheels 21a-21d are arranged behind in the advancing direction, so that the drawing rolls 11a-11d and the gear wheels 21a-21d work in the following manner when the edge faces of the sheet members are butt joined.
As illustrated in
As a result, when the supporting plate 2 and the movable arm 3 are moved in one side in the direction (indicated by the arrow in
As stated above, immediately after the ends of the sheet members are brought closer together by the drawing rolls 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d, the ends of the sheet members are sandwiched between the two gear wheels 21a, 21b at the movable arm side and the two gear wheels 21c, 21d at the supporting plate side.
The two gear wheels 21a, 21b at the supporting arm side engage with each other and rotate in the opposite directions. The differences in the circumferential velocities between the enlarged diameter ends and the reduced diameter ends of the gear wheels 21a, 21b bring the ends of the sheet members contacting with the outer circumferential faces of the gear wheels 21a, 21b provided with the annular grooves 22 further closer together on the upper face sides. The gear wheels 21c, 21d engaging with each other at the supporting plate side similarly bring the edges of the sheet members further closer together on the lower face side. Then, the edge faces of the sheet members are press bonded.
As stated above, the gear wheels 21a, 21b at the moving arm side and the gear wheels 21c, 21d at the supporting plate side are arranged such that they engage with each other at the side of the supporting plate 2 on which the rubber sheet is placed (i.e. the side of the supporting plate 2 faces to the movable arm 3) when the sheet members 50a, 50b are not arranged. As a result, the gear wheels 21a, 21b and the gear wheels 21c, 21d press the sheet members 50a, 50b with a sufficient force in both directions perpendicular to the surface of the sheet members 50a, 50b without any displacement in the direction perpendicular to the surface, thereby bringing the sheet members into butt contact with each other.
The apparatus 1 illustrated in
This configuration can adjust the pressing forces on the sheet members applied by the drawing rolls 11a, 11b and the gear wheels 21a, 21b as desired regardless of the position of the movable arm 3 relative to the supporting plate 2. The pressing forces on the sheet members applied by the drawing rolls 11a, 11c and the gear wheels 21a, 21c as well as by the drawing rolls 11b, 11d and the gear wheels 21b, 21d may be, for example, between 30 N and 40N.
According to the present invention, the sheet members are butt joined by the rotations of the drawing rolls 11a-11d and the gear wheels 21a-21d rolling on the upper sides and the lower sides of the sheet members, so that it is possible to certainly bring the edges of the two sheet members closer together and to firmly butt join the edge faces of the sheet members.
In the embodiment shown in
The grip portion 5 consists of a rod lever 5a and a hand grip 5b. The lever 5a is hingedly connected to one end of the movable arm 3 in a direction in which the movable arm 3 extends, and is manually manipulated by an operator. The hand grip 5b is connected to an end of the supporting plate 2 at the lever 5a side by, for example, a bolt. The hand grip 5b extends from the connecting part toward the lever 5a, bents at a right angle, and extends parallel to the lever 5a.
In the apparatus shown in
An action of the movable arm 3 by means of such a link mechanism during a manipulation of the lever 5a by the operator is described below in detail.
The illustrated link mechanism consists of links 7a -7d in which the link 7a is disposed between a hinge connecting part 6a where the lever 5a and the link 7b are hingedly connected and a hinge connecting part 6d where the lever 5a and the movable arm 3 are hingedly connected; the link 7b is connected with the levers 5a, 5b at the hinge connecting parts 6a, 6b, respectively; the link 7c is disposed between the hinge connecting part 6b where the hand grip 5b and link 7b are hingedly connected and the hinge connecting part 6c where the hand grip 5b and the movable arm 3 are hingedly connected; the link 7d is disposed between the hinge connecting part 6c where the movable art 3 and the hand grip 5b are hingedly connected and the hinge connecting part 6d where the movable arm 3 and the lever 5a are hingedly connected.
As illustrated in
Then, when the operator grips the grip portion 5 to bring the lever 5a to approach to the hand grip 5b in a direction indicated by an arrow A in
When the operator relieves a force for gripping the grip portion 5 from a state as shown in
In the apparatus 1 operated as stated above, the edges of the two sheet members to be joined are arranged between the pair of joint units 4a, 4b, and the operator grips the grip portion 5 and manipulates the lever 5a, so that the movable arm 3 approaches to the supporting plate 2 as stated above and the edges of the sheet members are sandwiched between the pair of joint units 4a, 4b. Then, the operator keeps gripping the hand grips 5 and moves the supporting plate 2 and the movable arm 3 along the edge faces of the sheet members toward one side in the direction in which the supporting plate 2 extends (i.e. to the left in
When rollers 10 traveling on the work station or the conveyer for implementing the butt joint on the workstation or the conveyer as shown in
In the apparatus 1 in
When the above apparatus 1 is used to butt join the edge faces of the sheet members, the butt joint of the edge faces preferably is initiated at the intermediate area of the edge faces of the sheet members in the width direction of the sheet member. More specifically, the supporting plate 2 and the movable arm 3 are displaced from a starting position of the joint in the intermediate areas toward one side of the sheet member to allow a part of the edge faces of the sheet members to be joined, and then the supporting plate 2 and the movable arm 3 are displaced from the starting position of the joint toward the other side of the sheet member to allow the rest of the edge faces of the sheet members to be joined.
According the above method, when a part of the edge faces of the sheet members between the starting position of the joint and the one side of the sheet member is to be joined, the sheet members can be secured by, for example, the operator holding the edges of the other sides of the sheet members. As a result, it is possible to prevent a positional misalignment of the sheet members caused by the displacements of the sheet members due to the movement of the movable art and the like during the butt joint of a part of the edge faces of the sheet members. Accordingly, the above butt joint apparatus can further facilitate and endure the butt joint operation of the edge face of the sheet member.
The invention may be applied to not only the above manually-operated apparatus for butt joining the sheet members but also an automated apparatus for butt joining (not shown) which automatically performs an operation that sandwiches the sheet members between the pair of joint units, or an operation that moves the movable arm and the supporting plate with the sheet members being sandwiched.
In other words, the sheet members to be joined are arranged between the pair of joint units, and an air cylinder or the like actuated by a motor bring the movable arm to approach to the supporting plate to sandwich the sheet member. Then, the movable arm and the supporting plate are displaced, for example, on a guide rail connected to the movable arm while maintaining the posture of the movable arm, to, thereby, join the sheet members.
An apparatus for butt joining according the present invention was prototyped and was used to butt join edge faces of sheet members consisting of cords coated with unvulcanized rubber. The joint strength of the joint face thus obtained is evaluated in the following manner.
It is noted that, similar to a conventional apparatus for butt joining edge faces, a tensile test is performed on the joined sheet members, and the evaluation standard is that the joined faces have strength sufficiently large enough to prevent them from being torn off even under a state that the distance between the centers of two cords adjacent the respective joined faces are elongated to 400 percent of its original distance.
The sheet members butt joined by the apparatus shown in
1: Apparatus for butt joining
2: Supporting plate
3: Movable arm
4
a,
4
b: Joint unit
5: Grip portion
5
a: Lever
5
b: Hand grip
6
a-6d: Hinge connecting part
7
a-7d: Link
8: Spring
9: Holding screw
10: Roller
11
a-11d: Drawing roll
12: Annular groove
13: Tooth
21
a-21d: Gear wheel
22: Annular groove
23: Tooth
31, 41: Connecting member
32, 42: Coil spring
50
a,
50
b: Sheet member
51
a,
51
b: Edge face of sheet member
φ: Angle between drawing rolls engaging with each other
θ: Tilt angle of gear wheel
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-244875 | Nov 2011 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2012/007020 | 11/1/2012 | WO | 00 | 5/6/2014 |
