JPH0465763B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention involves enclosing a green tire in the upper and lower molds of an upper and lower mold assembly, attaching a molding bladder to the inner surface of the tire, and injecting a thermopressure medium into the bladder. The present invention relates to a tire vulcanizer that performs vulcanization molding of tires through supply and heating of upper and lower molds, and in particular to one that can maintain a high degree of parallelism in the upper and lower mold assemblies.

(Prior art) Lower mold assembly fixed on press base,
A tire vulcanizer comprising: an upper mold assembly that is held on a press side frame so as to be vertically raised and lowered and that can be opened and closed relative to the lower mold assembly; a lower mold center mechanism that includes a telescoping molding bladder; and a thermopressure medium supply means. The machine is a well-known invention without specific examples of publicly known inventions and devices, and the outline thereof will be explained in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, which are shown as examples of the present invention, as follows. It is as follows. That is, the tire vulcanizer shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3 is one of the twin type tire vulcanizers in which vulcanization molds are arranged side by side in two sets of upper and lower mold assemblies in a common press frame. However, the basic structure is the same whether it is a single type with one set of vulcanization molds or a multi-type with two or more sets, for example four sets. Side frames 4, 4 are erected on both sides of a horizontally installed base 9, and the upper ends of both side frames 4, 4 are interconnected by a top beam 10, thereby forming a vulcanizer machine frame. . A lower mold assembly 11 is fixedly installed on the base 9, and although the lower mold assembly 11 is not shown, it includes a lower dome (in some cases, there is no one), an insulating material,
It is composed of a lower platen equipped with a heating plate, etc., a lower mold attached to the lower platen, etc., and a base 9 is used at the center (center of the press) of the lower mold assembly 11, including shaping. A central mechanism is provided, which is equipped with an expandable bladder that molds the inner surface of the tire, and a means for supplying a thermopressure medium such as steam into the bladder.
2 is the knockout lever 1 provided on the base 9 side.
3. Drive cylinder 14 provided on the side frame 4
It shows a part of the state raised by etc. For the lower mold assembly 9, the upper mold assembly 15
Similarly, the upper dome (which may or may not be present), insulation,
It is composed of an upper platen equipped with a heating plate, etc., and an upper mold attached under the upper platen. Also, at the center (press center) of the upper mold assembly 15, there is a height platen that makes the height of the upper mold variable. Generally, a center mechanism equipped with a height adjustment mechanism is provided so as to be able to move up and down. In order to make the upper mold assembly 15 freely openable and closable with respect to the lower mold assembly 11 by vertical lifting and lowering movements, the upper mold assembly 15 is supported by a bridge groove 6 (in the case of an upper dome ), a slide 16 is provided on the side facing the side frame 4, and the slide 16 is provided on the side frame 4 side of the guide rail 17.
The guide rollers 18 and 19 are rotatably connected to each other to prevent tilting in the front, rear, left, and right directions.In the illustration, the guide rollers 18 and 19 are held by the piston rod 7a of the fluid pressure cylinder 7 installed on the guide frame 4 side, and the piston rod 7a is moved forward and backward. Through the slide 16, the bridge groove 6
The upper mold assembly 15 can be opened and closed with respect to the lower mold assembly 11 by raising and lowering the mold assembly vertically. Therefore, the upper mold assembly 15 is released from the lower mold assembly 11 and evacuated upward, and is loaded by a tire loader 20 or the like disposed on one side of the vulcanizer, as illustrated in FIG. The green tire is carried in and set on the lower mold of the lower mold assembly 11, a molding bladder is attached to the inner surface of the green tire while supplying a thermopressure medium, shaping is performed, and the upper mold assembly 15 is lowered to lower the green tire. The upper mold is closed to the mold, and both assemblies 11, 15 are held together by the clamp ring 20a shown in FIG.
As is known, both molds are clamped, pressurized, mold heated, and the required vulcanization molding is performed while supplying a hot-pressure medium. After the vulcanization molding is completed, the upper mold assembly 15 is released and evacuated. The vulcanized tire is then peeled off from the lower mold, the molding bladder is extracted, and the vulcanized tire is received and unloaded by a tire unloader 21 as illustrated in FIG. These are conventional means, and although there are various modifications in design and structure, the vertical opening/closing type tire vulcanizer has the basic structure and function as described above.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The above-mentioned vertical opening/closing type tire vulcanizing machine has the advantage of ensuring the parallelism of the upper and lower molds. Parallelism requirements for machines are extremely strict, for example, in numerical terms, a strict value of 0.2 mm/m or less is required, and conventional methods have problems in meeting these strict requirements. The movement mechanism for vertical elevation illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 is the fluid pressure cylinder 7.
As for other movement mechanisms, although not shown, a screw shaft is mounted on a bearing on the side frame 4 side so that it can freely rotate in forward and reverse directions, and a ball screw nut is provided on the slide 16 side, which is screwed onto the screw shaft. There is also a means for raising and lowering vertically, but no matter which movement mechanism is used, a slide guide member such as a guide rail 17 is provided on the side frame 4 side as a means for maintaining parallelism, and a slide 16 is provided on the side frame 4 side.
A plurality of guide rollers 18, 19 arranged on the side,
Since the slide guide member is simply attached to and supported by the slide guide member in different positions and directions, it is difficult to satisfy the recent strict requirements for parallelism only with this slide guide structure. That is, as a feature of the tire vulcanizer, the upper and lower mold assemblies 15, 11
During the closing operation, it is necessary to compress the inflated green tire from the inside using a thermopressure medium (steam) and enclose the tire in the upper and lower molds. In order to maintain high homogeneity, it is important to maintain the correct parallelism between the upper and lower molds, but as shown in Figures 1 to 3, two vulcanizers are used in one vulcanizer. It is a twin type model in which the mold assemblies are arranged side by side, and a fluid pressure cylinder 7 is installed in each of the left and right side frames 4, 4, and a slide guide system using a bridge groove 6 and a slide 16 is used to deal with this. cylinder 7,
7. When there is a difference in thrust (about 10% is considered sufficient from experience) or when vulcanizing using only one unit on one side, there will be resistance from the green tire side. Since the slide guide side receives uneven force, it is difficult to obtain parallelism.In order to satisfy the strict value of 0.2 mm/m or less shown earlier, the parallelism of the left and right slide guides must be set to 0.05. It is necessary to meet very strict design specifications within mm, which requires sliding guide structures of extremely large stiffness and/or length, creates space and installation difficulties, and requires the use of hydraulic cylinders. Strict control of the stroke is required.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention adopts the conventional structure and type without requiring any fundamental modification of the slide structure, and adds a new By adding a structure, high parallelism can be maintained reliably and easily. Specifically, the lower mold assembly 11 fixed on the press base 9, the left and right sides frame 4,
4, an upper mold assembly 15 which is vertically raised and lowered and which is provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the lower mold assembly 11; a telescoping molding bladder and a thermopressure medium supply means provided in the lower mold assembly 11; In the tire vulcanizer, the torsion shaft 1, which is parallel to the press base 9 and orthogonal to the left and right side frames 4, is connected to the upper mold assembly 15.
Racks 3, 3 are provided in the vertical direction on the left and right side frames 4, 4, and a pinion 2, which engages with each of the racks 3, 3.
2 are provided at both ends of the torsion shaft 1.

(Function) According to the technical means of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the bridge groove 6 that supports the entire upper mold assembly 11 is integrally provided with the slide 16 on the outside. A slide 16 is provided on the side frame 4 side, and a plurality of guide rollers 18 and 19 are rotatably connected to the guide rail 17 at different positions and directions, and the slide 16 is vertically raised and lowered, as shown in FIG. On the rear side of the vulcanizer where the tire unloader 21 is installed, which is opposite to the front side of the vulcanizer where the tire loader 20 is installed, bearing blocks 8, 8 are provided at both ends of the back side of the bridge groove 6. , 8, the torsion shaft 1 is rotatably inserted into the shaft frame horizontally parallel to the base 9 and perpendicular to the side frames 4, 4,
Pinions 2, 2 are fixedly installed at both ends of the shaft 1, and these pinions 2, 2 are engaged with mounting racks 3, 3 in the vertical direction on the outer surface of the side frame 4 via supports 5, respectively. The torsion shaft 1 is raised and lowered in synchronization with the slide 16 and the upper mold assembly 15 that is integrated with the upper mold assembly 15, and the pinion 2 , 2 is rotatable around its axis through rolling motion on the 3 surfaces of the racks 3, 2, and the upper mold assembly is moved through the slide 16 via the bridge groove 6 by the movement of the pinion rod 7a of the hydraulic cylinder 7. Throughout the entire process of opening and closing of the solid body 15, the intervening connection of the torsion shaft 1 ensures complete synchronization of the left and right slides 16, 16 and fluid pressure cylinders 7, 7, thereby ensuring that the fixed lower part of the target area This ensures extremely high parallelism of the movable upper mold to the mold, and by setting the thickness (diameter) of the torsion shaft 1 correctly, it is possible to replace the conventional slide guide structure. By using it as is, it is possible to satisfy the strict parallelism requirement of 0.2 mm/m or less mentioned earlier. Furthermore, at the lowest end of the rack 3, there is a torsion shaft 1 which corresponds to the closed position of the upper mold assembly 15 via a bracket 22, etc.
A support portion 23, which also serves as a stopper for the shaft 1, is provided depending on the lowest position of the shaft 1.

(Example) An example of the apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. Regarding the tire vulcanizer, if the upper mold assembly 15 is vertically raised and lowered relative to the lower mold assembly 11 to open and close it, the present invention applies to all such types. Needless to say, the internal assembly structure of the upper and lower mold assemblies 15, 11 can be freely adopted from various structures in conventional tire vulcanizers, so a detailed explanation will be omitted here. In the upper and lower molds, even in the type where the tire lead part is divided into two parts above and below from the center position, the lower mold has only one tire wall, and the upper mold side is divided into two parts, the side wall part and the tread part. In addition, there is no problem even if a device or mechanism other than the tire loader 20 and tire unloader 21 shown in the illustration is used to carry in green tires and take out vulcanized tires. Although the twin type is shown, it may be a single type or a multi-type type. In the case of the twin type shown in the figure, the bridge groove 6 is formed integrally across the two upper mold assemblies 15, 15, or by a connecting beam. It is said to be a series of things. Further, this bridge groove 6 may be similar to that conventionally known as a top slide, and also includes a structure in which the slide 16 is connected to the upper dome itself.

The torsion shaft 1 does not need to be made of a particularly rigid material and can have any cross-sectional shape, but its thickness needs to be appropriately set depending on the scale of the vulcanizer.

(Effects of the Invention) The present invention is excellent in solving the problem that it is difficult to meet the strict parallelism requirements in conventional upper mold vertical opening/closing type tire vulcanizers. By adding the torsion shaft 1 with general rigidity, if the required parallelism of the upper and lower molds (upper and lower platens) is 0.2 mm/m or less, the required parallelism of the left and right slide guide parts is 0.05 mm or less. It has been confirmed as a result of implementation that parallelism can be obtained.

In other words, the risk of imbalance or unevenness in which the left and right slide guide parts operate independently is eliminated by the presence of the torsion shaft 1 that rigidly connects them, and as a result, the twin type, even when vulcanization molding is performed with only one press cavity in operation, the necessary high degree of parallelism can be obtained.Moreover, the technical means of the present invention does not require the use of conventional slide guides. Utilizing the structure as is (of course, guide members such as guide rails and multiple rollers restrained by this are required),
It is a reality that satisfies high parallelism requirements with relatively little rigid structural participation without increasing the rigidity of the press frame or increasing the size of the slide, resulting in an improvement in the press accuracy of the vulcanizer. This is a solution with great potential and benefits.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a twin-type tire vulcanizer using an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the same.
FIG. 3 is a front view seen from the rear side. 1...Torsion shaft, 2...Pinion,
3...Rack, 4...Side frame, 5...Support, 6...Top slide, 7...
Fluid pressure cylinder, 8...Bearing block, 9
... Base, 11 ... Lower mold assembly, 15 ...
...Top mold assembly.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A lower mold assembly 11 fixed on the press base 9, an upper mold assembly 15 held on the left and right side frames 4 in a vertically movable manner and provided so as to be openable and closable relative to the lower mold assembly 11, and a lower mold assembly 15. In a tire vulcanizer equipped with an expandable molding bladder and a thermopressure medium supply means, which are provided in the assembly 11, a torsion shaft 1 is provided which is parallel to the press base 9 and perpendicular to the left and right side frames 4, 4. The racks 3, 3 are provided in the vertical direction on the left and right side frames 4, 4, and the pinions 2, 2 that engage with the respective racks 3, 3 are installed as a torsion shaft. 1. A parallelism maintaining device in a tire vulcanizer, characterized in that the device is provided at both ends of the tire vulcanizer.