Bridgestone Corporation

Bridgestone Tire Company Limited

Chiaki Ozawa

Shinji Kawaida

Kazuhide Kinoshita

Yoshifumi Kitayama

Yusaku Azuma

Motoaki Hosono

A ring-like band with both ends in which beads are wrapped is formed in the following procedure: A forming drum 11 mounted with a band 1 is expanded up to an intermediate diameter, and right and left bead lock segments 65 are positioned with specified intervals. Then, right and left fingers 54 are positioned outside edge portions 1a in the expanding state. Thus, right and left beads 2 are located at specified positions, and the fingers 54 are contracted to reduce the diameters of the edge portions 1a. Subsequently, the bead lock segments are expanded for supporting the beads 2 together with the edge portions 1a from the inner side. Finally, the bead lock segments 65 are brought close to the forming drum side while the forming drum 11 is expanded to the maximum diameter, and the edge portions 1a are folded by the swelling of folding bladders, to thus wrap the beads 2.

Band forming method

An apparatus for winding a narrow belt-shaped member in zigzag around a drum. The apparatus includes a support base, and a reciprocative motion device for reciprocatively moving the support base substantially along an axis of the drum between both ends of a predetermined region to maintain the distance between the drum and the support base at a constant value. The apparatus further includes a rocking base supported by the support base rockably about a rocking axis which is a normal to the outer surface of the drum, a rocking device for rocking the rocking base, and an attaching roller supported on the rocking base rotatably about an axis substantially in parallel with the axis of the drum for urging and attaching the supplied belt-shaped member to the drum after being wound partially around the attaching roller. In winding the belt-shaped member around the drum, the rocking base and the attaching roller are rocked by means of the rocking device to cause the rotating axis of the attaching roller to intersect orthogonally a straight line in parallel with the winding direction of the member.

Narrow belt-shaped member winding apparatus

A forming drum to be used in tire building for forming a strip-like belt member having a steel cord buried therein into an annular shape. The forming drum includes a plurality of segments divided in the circumferential direction and made of non-magnetic material, which form substantially cylindrical shapes having different outer diameters as moved in the radial direction, and permanent magnet are buried in the circular arc-shaped surfaces of the segments. Between adjacent segments are mounted cover plates made of non-magnetic material, and a cylindrical outer circumferential surface is formed by these cover plates. Each cover plate is fixedly secured to the circular arc-shaped surface of one of the adjacent segments.

Forming drum for building a tire

The tire building apparatus was an axially elongated drive shaft which is rotatable about its center axis. The tire building drum of the apparatus includes an axially elongated retainer sleeve which is interchangeably received on the drive shaft and rotatable with the drive shaft about the center axis of the drive shaft. A slider sleeve is slidably received on the retainer sleeve and is rotatable with the drive shaft about the center axis of the drive shaft. A plurality of link members are provided each being pivotally connected at its one end to the slider sleeve. A plurality of arcuate drum segments are provided each being equiangularly spaced apart from one another about the center axis of the axially elongated drive shaft and pivotally connected with the other end of each of the link member. The drive sleeve has an annular end plate fixedly connected thereto and movable along the axially elongated drive shaft with respect to the tire building drum and coaxially surrounding the axially elongated drive shaft. An elongated clutch arm is provided having at its one end a hook portion protruding outwardly of the annular end plate of the drive sleeve and at the other end pivotally connected to the drive sleeve. A cylindrical member is shown having a horizontal base portion slidably received on the slider sleeve, and a flange portion extending radially outwardly with respect to the axially elongated drive shaft.

Tire building apparatus

A ply-turning device for use in tire-building is disclosed herein which is adapted to turnup a surplus portion of a carcass ply around a bead core in the manufacture of large size tires each having a pair of axially protruding side portions. The device comprises a plurality of ply-turning vanes being arranged concentrically to a first drum for the formation of a green case and circumferentially in the form of a cylinder at a collapsed position and being movable from the collapsed position to an opened position of a frustoconical shape in opposition to each axially protruding side edge portion of the drum by means of link means, a hydraulically driving means moving toward and away from the drum, and a retractably moving means for moving all the ply-turning vanes together with the link means.

Ply-turning device for use in tire-building

Herein disclosed is a tire component storing assembly, comprising in combination: a frame structure comprising a pair of side plate members spaced apart from and substantially in parallel with each other, a first reel having opposite end portions rotatably supported on the side plate members, respectively, of the frame structure, a second reel having opposite end portions rotatably supported on the side plate members, respectively, of the frame structure, the second reel spaced apart from and substantially in parallel with the first reel, and a liner sheet having one end wound on the first reel and the other end wound on the second reel to form layers thereon, whereby a tire component is wound on any one of the first and second reels while intervening between the layers of the liner sheet to be wound on any one of the first and second reels.

Growing community of inventors

Kodaira, Japan

Chiaki Ozawa