The present disclosure relates to a bead wire payoff system.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Bead wire is used in the tire industry to reinforce and secure the connection point between the tire and the rim of the wheel. Bead wire is generally a continuous wire made of steel or other material that is wound around the inside rim of the tire to create a ridge that engages the rim of the wheel. Bead wire is generally manufactured and delivered to tire manufacturers as a large reel of wire that is then unwound with a bead wire payoff machine onto the tires.
Known bead wire payoff systems have several drawbacks. For example, the bead wire reel must be rotated continuously to unwind the bead wire from the reel. As is well-known, moving parts, such as a rotating reel of bead wire, have several drawbacks, including wear and tear, noise, and increased risk of injury to operators. Known bead wire payoff systems also cannot run continuously. Once a reel of bead wire has been spent, the entire tire bead wire manufacturing process must be shut down while operators manually exchange the exhausted reel of bead wire with a new reel. This shutdown and manual replacement of bead wire reels results in lowered productivity and increased labor needs.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a bead wire payoff system that can continuously payoff bead wire with limited or no stoppage time. It is also desirable to have a bead wire payoff system with a limited number of moving parts.
In one form of the present disclosure, a bead wire payoff system is provided. The bead wire payoff system comprises a first coil mount configured to receive a first coil of bead wire and a second coil mount configured to receive a second coil of bead wire. Further, the first and second coil mounts are configured to continuously pay-off a bead wire, first from the first coil of bead wire, and then from the second coil of bead wire upon exhaustion of the first coil of bead wire. The bead wire payoff system may also include the first coil mount being configured to receive a third coil of bead wire to replace the first coil of bead wire upon exhaustion of the first coil of bead wire, wherein the first and second coil mounts are further configured to continuously pay-off a bead wire, first from the first coil of bead wire, then from the second coil of bead wire upon exhaustion of the first coil of bead wire, and then from the third coil of bead wire upon exhaustion of the second coil of bead wire. Further, the first coil and second coil mounts may be configured to passively pay-off the bead wire from the first and second coils of bead wire. Further, the second coil mount may be configured to automatically begin paying-off the bead wire from the second coil of bead wire upon exhaustion of the first coil of bead wire via a back end of the first coil of bead wire attached to a lead end of the second coil of bead wire.
In another form of the present disclosure, a bead wire payoff system is provided. The bead wire payoff system comprises a first coil mount, a first coil of bead wire attached to the first coil mount, a second coil mount, and a second coil of bead wire attached to the second coil mount. Further, the first coil of bead wire is configured to pay-off a bead wire and the second coil of bead wire is configured to automatically begin paying-off the bead wire from the second coil of bead wire upon exhaustion of the first coil of bead wire. Also, the bead wire is continuous from the first coil of bead wire to the second coil of bead wire.
In yet another form of the present disclosure, a method of paying-off bead wire is provided. The method comprises loading a first coil of bead wire on a first coil mount, loading a second coil of bead wire on a second coil mount, attaching a back end of the first coil of bead wire to a lead end of the second coil of bead wire, and paying-off a bead wire from the first coil of bead wire. The method further comprises paying-off the bead wire from the second coil of bead wire after the bead wire from the first coil of bead wire has been payed-off, wherein the bead wire is automatically payed off from the second coil of bead wire after the bead wire from the first coil of bead wire has been payed-off.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features. It should also be understood that various cross-hatching patterns used in the drawings are not intended to limit the specific materials that may be employed with the present disclosure. The cross-hatching patterns are merely exemplary of preferable materials or are used to distinguish between adjacent or mating components illustrated within the drawings for purposes of clarity.
A first coil mount 22 may be mounted to the first coil support 14 and a second coil mount 24 may be mounted to the second coil support 16. The first coil mount 22 is shown in more detail in
Referring now to
If operation of the bead wire payoff system 10 is to be continued after the second coil of bead wire 42 has been completely exhausted, a new coil of bead wire 60 may be placed on the first coil mount 22 to replace the spent first coil of bead wire 40, as shown in
Replacement coils of bead wire may be installed on the first and second coil mounts 22, 24 by a variety of methods. Generally, the coils of bead wire may be placed with the assistance of gravity by first removing the first top flange 30 or second top flange 32 from their respective coil mounts 22, 24 and then by slowly lowering the coil of bead wire, with the assistance of a machine or by hand, onto the coil mount 22 or 24.
During the entire payoff operation, the coils of bead wire 40, 42, 60 that are loaded on the bead wire payoff system 10 may remain stationary and not rotate. Rather, a passive payoff system may be employed where tension is applied to the bead wire 44 by a payoff motor and the bead wire 44 is pulled off the stationary coils of bead wire 40, 42, 60. Thus, the bead wire 44, as it is being unwound, rotates around the axes of the coil mounts 22, thereby sliding around the top flanges 30, 32. The elimination of a driven, rotating payoff of the coils of bead wire 40, 42, 60 simplifies manufacturing and operation of the bead wire payoff system 10.
However, standard coils of bead wire may not work with the bead wire payoff system 10 described above. Known bead wire payoff systems utilize a driven payoff of bead wire where the coil of bead wire itself rotates as the bead wire is payed off. However, the bead wire payoff system 10 utilizes a passive payoff where the reel, or coil, of bead wire does not rotate. Because the bead wire 44 passively unwinds circumferentially around the top flanges 30, 32 of the coil mounts 22, 24, the unwound bead wire 44 naturally twists in an axial direction as it is being unwound. Essentially, the bead wire 44, as it is being unwound from the coil mounts 22, 24, twists axially 360 degrees for each full, 360 degree revolution around the coil mounts 22, 24. As the bead wire 44 continues to be unwound, more and more twists are formed in the unwound bead wire 44, which may eventually result in the bead wire 44 kinking, plastically deforming, or even disengaging altogether from the bead wire payoff system 10. Thus, the use of bead wire 44 in a passive payoff system as described above presents a unique challenge that may be solved by manufacturing and winding the coils of bead wire in a specific manner.
Specifically, the coils of bead wire 40, 42, 60 may be manufactured to have a built-in single axial twist per revolution. Essentially, as the bead wire 44 is wound into a coil, a single axial twist per revolution may be added. Thus, as the bead wire 44 is unwound from a coil of bead wire 40, 42, 60, an axial twist will not be added to the unwound bead wire 44 and instead the passive payoff system will instead remove the built-in axial twist from the unwound bead wire 44, thus causing a straight, non-twisted bead wire 44 to pay off from the coil of bead wire 40, 42, 60.
Another unique challenge for the coils of bead wire to be used with the bead wire payoff system 10 is the accessibility of the back end of the bead wire. With traditional bead wire payoff systems, the coils of bead wire are completely exhausted and then replaced. Thus, the back end of the coils of bead wire need not be exposed and accessible to an operator. However, since the bead wire payoff system 10 is designed to continuously payoff bead wire 44 by switching between two coil mounts 22, 24, the back ends of each coil of bead wire 44 that is to be used with the bead wire payoff system 10 must be exposed. For example, the first coil of bead wire 40 includes an exposed back end 46 as shown previously in
However, an exposed back end of a coil of bead wire can potentially lead to damage to the back end or to other parts of the coil of bead wire during shipment and delivery. Thus, it may be desirable to protect the coil of bead wire from this potential damage. In one example, as shown in
To simplify the use of coils of bead wire, the coils of bead wire may be transported and, eventually, unwound without the use of a spool. While traditional coils of bead wire are transported with and unwound from around a rigid central spool, these spools are heavy and expensive. Thus, upon exhaustion of bead wire from a spool, the empty spools are frequently shipped back to the manufacturer rather than just disposing of the spool, thus resulting in increased shipping costs. Instead, the first coil of bead wire 40 (along with any other coils of bead wire used with the bead wire payoff system 10) may be transported and unwound without a central spool or reel. Instead, as shown in
While the support frame 12 and first and second coil mounts 22, 24 shown in
While the embodiment described above shows the bead wire payoff system 10 as vertically floor-standing, the system is not so limited. Portions of, or all of, the bead wire payoff system 10 may be mounted on a wall, a ceiling, upside down, horizontally, and at various angles as desired.
Advantageously, the above described bead wire payoff system may result in increased machine productivity, less preventative maintenance, and less replacement of worn moving parts. The lack of moving parts may also result in increased safety and a reduction of noise. Further, since the entire coil of bead wire may be spent before transitioning to a new coil of bead wire, the amount of scrap bead wire may be reduced in comparison to conventional bead wire payoff systems.
The description of the disclosure is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the substance of the disclosure are intended to be within the scope of the disclosure. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
The present patent document claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of Provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 62/381,872 filed Aug. 31, 2016, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62381872 | Aug 2016 | US |