Adjustable tire building drum

• US 4,547,251 A
• Filed: 12/29/1983
• Issued: 10/15/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/1983
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Uniroyal Goodrich Licensing Services Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Goodrich Corporation (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Inventors: Landsness, Clifford A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Boland, Lois E.
• Application Number:
  US06/566,609
• Time in Patent Office: 656 Days
• Field of Search: 156/414, 156/415, 156/416, 156/417, 156/418-420, 156/133, 156/110.1
• US Class Current: 156/415
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 30/242 for manufacturing substantially cylindrical tyre components without cores or beads, e.g. treads or belts

Abstract

An adjustable tire building drum is disclosed for use during strip winding of OTR tire treads having nine replaceable segments with interfitting fingers extending circumferentially to define a rigid generally cylindrical shell whose diameter and axial length may readily be adjusted for a wide variety of different tire sizes. A unique precision actuating mechanism is provided for adjusting the segments radially including a heavy cantilever link and an associated stabilizing arm for each segment which maintains rigidity even when the segmental shell is expanded 90 to 100 percent.

Claims

1. In a tire building drum having a central hub means mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis, a series of segments mounted on said hub means to form an outer peripheral shell, and actuating means for moving the segments radially to adjust the diameter of the segmental shell, the improvement which comprises:

(a) at least nine segments regularly spaced around the drum to form an axially elongated generally cylindrical shell, each of said segments comprising an axially elongated member of arcuate cross section having a series of laterally projecting finger portions at opposite sides thereof which interfit with fingers of the next adjacent segment and overlap that segment when the shell is contracted,

(b) a pair of carriages for each segment mounted to move axially on said hub means,

(c) link means for each segment including a pair of rigid cantilever links to move the segment radially and stabilizing means to maintain the segment in a position parallel to the drum axis, each of said cantilever links being pivotally mounted on one of said carriages at one end and pivotally connected to the associated segment at the opposite end so as to swing radially in response to axial movement of said carriage means, and

(d) means for gradually moving the two carriages of each segment toward each other to effect simultaneous movement of all of the segments from retracted positions adjacent said hub means wherein the shell has a minimum diameter to advanced positions wherein said shell has an effective diameter at least 80 percent greater than said minimum diameter.

2. A tire building drum according to claim 1 wherein each of said cantilever links has parallel flat outer side faces and each of said carriages has a pair of rigid guide plates with flat parallel inner side faces maintained in sliding engagement with the outer side faces of the associated link as it moves between its retracted and advanced positions.

3. A tire building drum according to claim 1 wherein each of said segments is detachably connected to a horizontal supporting bar which is pivotally connected to the two cantilever links of the associated link means, and wherein replaceable means are provided for adjusting the axial length of said shell comprising replacement segments of different length adapted to be detachably connected to said supporting bar.