GB2120967A

GB2120967A - Fluid supplying and discharging apparatus for use in vulcanizing machine

Info

Publication number: GB2120967A
Application number: GB08214275A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Tohatirou Sakon
Original assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd
Current assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd
Priority date: 1982-05-17
Filing date: 1982-05-17
Publication date: 1983-12-14
Also published as: GB2120967B

Abstract

A fluid supplying and discharging apparatus for use in a tire vulcanizing machine including an upper ring (3), a lower ring (1), a bladder (6) supported by the upper ring (3) and lower ring (1), and a center post (2). The fluid supplying and discharging apparatus comprises the upper ring having at least one supply and discharge through-hole (8) and the center post having a fluid supply and discharge passage (14) connected to the discharge through-hole (8). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Fluid supplying and discharging apparatus for use in vulcanizing machine The present invention generally relates to vulcanizing machines and more particularly, to a fluid supplying and discharging apparatus for use in tire vulcanizing machines.

Conventionally, in tire vulcanizing machine having a central mechanism including a bladder, a center post, an upper ring and a lower ring (well), for example, in an MHI type tire vulcanizing machine comprising a lower ring (well) 1, a center post 2 extending through the lower ring 1 upwardly, an upper ring 3. mounted on the upper end of the center post 2, and an AFV type bladder 6 supported by the lower ring 1 and upper ring 3 as shown in Figure 1, it has been so arranged that fluids such as hot water, steam, gas and cooling water are, sequentially supplied into and discharged from the interior of a raw tire 9 through a bladder 6 by the use of a supply pipe 7 and a discharge pipe 7' provided in the lower ring 1, so that the tire 9 may be subjected to vulcanization molding.The lower ring 1 substantially in the shape of a circular truncated cone, has an upper surface 1' disposed in the interior of the tire 9 and a lower surface 1". The lower ring 1 further has a recess 5 formed on the upper surface 1' and the recess 3 has a bottom surface 1"'. The supply pipe 7 extends through.

the lower surface 1" to the upper surface 1' and the discharge pipe 7' extends through the lower surface 1" to the surface 1"'. The tire 9 is loaded in a metal mold 4 so as to be held between the bladder 6 and the metal mold 4. It is to be noted here that the tire 9 comprises a tread portion 10 and a pair of sidewall portions 11 and 11' opposed to each other and contiguous to opposite ends of the tread portion 10.The conventional tire vulcanizing machine shown in Figure 1, however, has the disadvantage that, since the supply pipe 7 and discharge pipe 7' are provided in the lower ring 1 disposed at a central portion of the tire 9, for example, supply of hot ater or cooling water into the interior of the tire 9 is retarded due to gases such as air, nitrogen or steam remaining in an upper portion of the interior adjacent to the sidewall portion 11, or the portion occupied by the residual gases is not heated or cooled sufficiently when the interior of the tire 9 has been filled with hot water or cooling water, with the consequence that undesirable non-uniform vulcanization of the tire 9 tends to take place.

Accordingly, the present invention sets out to provide an improved fluid supplying and discharging apparatus for use in vulcanizing machines, and more particularly tire vulcanizing machines, in which gas is exhausted from the interior of the tire rapidly and sufficiently so as to allow uniform heating and cooling of the tires so that the tires may be vulcanized sufficiently, with substantial elimination of the disadvantages inherent in conventional fluid supplying and discharging apparatuses of this kind.

The present invention also sets out to provide an improved fluid supplying and discharging apparatus of the above described type which is simple in structure, highly reliable in actual use and can be readily incorporated into tire vulcanizing machines and the like at low cost.

According to the present invention there is provided an elastomer product vulcanizing machine comprising an upper ring, a bladder supported by said upper ring and the upper ring having at least one passage for the supply and/or discharge of fluid provided in or on it and opening into the interior of the bladder.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a tire vulcanizing machine including an upper ring, a lower ring, a bladder supported by the upper ring and lower ring, and a center post, the upper ring having at least one fluid supplying and/or discharging hole extending in a radial direction thereof and provided in or on the upper ring, and the center post having a fluid supplying and/or discharging passage with the passage of the center post.

In accordance with the present invention, residual gas in the interior of the tire or other elastomer product can be exhausted therefrom efficiently so as to heat and cool the tire uniformly so that the tire may be vulcanized sufficiently.

The present invention is further described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional fluid supplying and discharging apparatus for use in a tire vulcanizing machine, and Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a fluid supplying and discharging apparatus of the present invention.

It is to be noted that like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout the views of the accompanying drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Figure 2, a tire vulcanizing machine K to which a fluid supplying and discharging apparatus S according to the present invention may be applied. The tire vulcanizing machine K includes a lower ring 1, center post 2 upwardly extending through the lower ring 1, an upper ring 3 mounted on the upper end of the center post 2 coxially with the lower ring 1, a bladder 6 supported by the lower ring 1 and the upper ring 3 so as to be fitted into the interior of a tire 9, and a metal mold 4 accommodating the tire 9 therein so that the tire 9 may be held between the bladder 6 and the metal mold 4.

As described earlier with reference to Figure 1, the tire comprises a tread portion 10 and a pair of sidewall portions 11 and 11'. Likewise, a plurality of supply pipes 7 and discharge pipes 7' are provided in the lower ring 1 and the supply pipes 7 extend through a lower surface 1 "to an upper surface 1', while the discharge pipes 7' extend through the lower surface 1 "to a surface 1"' with the lower ring 1 being disposed at a central portion of the tire 9.

The upper ring 3 has a plurality of fluid supply and discharge through-holes 8 extending therethrough in a radial direction thereof so as to have openings at the circumference. It should be noted that the openings of the through-holes 8 are disposed more adjacent to the sidewall portion 11 than those of the supply pipes 7 and discharge pipes 7'. The number of the through-holes 8 may be reduced to one.

The center'post 2 is formed with a fluid supply and discharge passage 14 extending axially therethrough and connected to-the through-holes 8.

The fluid supplying and discharging apparatus S of the present invention is arranged as described above.

Accordingly, when the interior of the tire 9 has been filled with hot water (supplied from the supply pipes 7 formed in the lower ring 1) in a hot water process, air remaining in the bladder 6 can be rapidly and sufficiently exhausted or discharged through the through-holes 8. Furthermore, when the interior of the tire 9 has been filled with cooling water in a cooling water process following a gas process or a steam process, gas or steam remaining in the bladder6 can be efficiently exhausted therefrom through the through-holes 8.

Namely, since the openings of the through-holes 8 are disposed above the discharge pipes 7' and more adjacent tb the sidewall portion 11 than those of the discharge pipes 7', gas in the interior of the tire 9 can be exhausted therefrom rapidly and'sufficiently, so that inflow of hotwater or cooling water into the interior of the tire 9 can be performed efficiently and thus, the tire 9 can be heated or cooled uniformly.

When hot water or cooling water is circulated in the interior of the tire 9 after gas has been exhausted therefrom, the through-holes 8 can be used as supply and discharge pipes of the hot water orthe cooling water in addition to the conventional supply pipes 7. During the above-described supplying and discharging of the hot water or the cooling water, since the openings of the through-holes 8 of the upper ring 3 are disposed more adjacent to the sidewall portion 11 of the tire 9 than those of the conventional supply pipes 7 and discharge pipes 7' provided in the lower ring 1, smooth flow of fluid in the interior of the tire 9 can be achieved and thus, the tire 9 can be- heated and cooled uniformly.

It is to be noted that the through-holes 8 extending through the upper ring 3 in a radial direction thereof can be replaced by pipes such as steel pipes or copper pipes secured to one surface of the upper ring 3 by pipe clamps or welding. The pipes are advantageous in that they can be provided more easily, in working, than the through-holes 8.

Supply and discharge of hot water, cooling water, etc. by the use of the through-holes 8, supply pipes 7 and discharge pipes 7' are changed over by using automatic operation valves V1, V2, V3, V4, V5, V6 and V7 through sequence-control.

One example of changeover control of supply and discharge of thethrough-holes 8, supply pipes 7 and discharge pipes 7' in the case of a vulcanizing process composed of, e.g., a hot water process, a hot water circolatton process a cooling water process and a cooling water circulation process is shown in Figure 2 and Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Through-hole Supply pipe Discharge pipe 8 7 7' When tire is being filled with hot V5 open V1 open V6 closed water During circulation V3 open V1 open V6 open of hot water When hotwater process is com- V3 closed V1 closed V6 closed pleted When tire is being filled with cool- V5 open V2 open V7 closed ing water During circulation of cooling water V4 open V2 open V7 open When cooling water process is com- V4 closed V2 closed V7 closed pleted As is clear from the foregoing description, in a fluid supplying and discharging apparatus of the present invention for use in a tire vulcanizing machine, it is so arranged that a fluid supply and discharge passage formed in a center post is connected with a plurality of fluid supply and discharge through-holes provided in or on an upper ring. Accordingly, when the interior of the tire is being filled with hot water or cooling water, gas can be exhausted from the fluid supply and discharge through-holes through the fluid supply and discharge passage rapidly, so that inflow of hot water or cooling water into the interior of the tire can be performed efficiently and thus, the tire is heated or cooled uniformly.

When hot water or cooling water is circulated in the interior of the tire, the fluid supply and discharge through-holes can be used for supplying hot water or cooling water into the interior of the tire, so that the tire is heated or cooled more uniformly.

Furthermore, since the openings of the fluid supply and discharge through-holes are disposed more adjacent to one sidewall portion of the tire remote from the lower ring than those of supply pipes and discharge pipes provided in the lower ring of the tire vulcanizing machine, fluids flow in the interior of the tire uniformly and thus, the tire is heated or cooled more uniformly.

Moreover, when inert gas cannot be exhausted from the interior of the tire in the cooling water process, the residual gas is compressed as cooling water is supplied thereinto, so that pressure in the bladder increases, thereby, in some cases, producing a force greater than the tightening force of the vulcanizing press. In this case, the tire is not tightened sufficiently and thus, vulcanization of the tire is effected adversely.

However, in accordance with the present invention, such a disadvantage is eliminated and thus, the tire is vulcanized sufficiently through uniform heating and cooling thereof.

Although the present invention has been fully described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted here that various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. An elastomer product vulcanizing machine comprising an upper ring, a bladder supported by said upper ring and the upper ring having at least one passage for the supply and/or discharge of fluid provided in or on it and opening into the interior of the bladder.

2. Avulcanizing machine as claimed in claim 1 further comprising center post having a passage connected to the or each pssage in or on the upper ring.

3. A vulcanizing machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the or each pssage in or on the upper ring extends radially thereof.

4. A vulcanizing machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims further comprising a lower ring also supporting the bladder.

5. A vulcanizing machine as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the or each passage in or on the upper ring is connected to an automatic valve for controlling discharge, the valve being arranged to be synchronously actuated upon the interior of the bladder being filled with hot water or cooling water so as to exhaust gas from the interior of the bladder.

6. A vulcanizing machine as claimed in claim 5, further including a passage for supplying heating or cooling water opening into the interior of the bladder generally at the bottom thereof, the passage being connnected to respective valves for controlling the supply of heating and cooling water.

7. A vulcanizing machine as claimed in ay one of the preceding claims for vulcanizing tires.

8. A vulcanizing machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.