The Goodyear & Tire Rubber Company

Kenneth Dean Conger

Dennis Alan Lundell

George Michael Stoila

William Allen Rex

Klaus Beer

John Patrick Roman

Michael L Becker

Ralph Damon Ring

Brian Joseph Wilson

Dean Charles Testa

Gary Robert Burg

Frederick Forbes Vannan, Jr

Douglas Raymond Weaver

Michael James Hogan

Richard David Vargo

James Dale Stokes

Henry David Broyles

Mark Daniel Banas

Thomas Alan Murray

Raymond Patrick Eckman

Frank Anthony Kmiecik

Minwu Yao

Mark John Montgomery

Arland A Peck

Kristian Daniel Johnson

Scott Richard Harshbarger

James M Hart

William Murray Huth

Pablo Rafael Morales

Andrew Robert Ondo

The invention is directed to a center deck assembly for a tire building drum. The tire building drum is rotatably mounted on a central drive shaft and includes a center section. The center deck assembly is disposed in the center section of the drum and includes a hub that seats on and is secured to the central drive shaft. At least one piston extends circumferentially in the tire building drum about the hub and a plurality of segment bars are disposed about the circumference of the center deck assembly. The at least one piston is operably connected to the segment bars by a plurality of linkages, in which each of the linkages includes a scissor-lever mechanism.

Center deck assembly for tire building drum

A method and apparatus for partial depth-wise cure of a tire inner liner are disclosed. The method comprising forming a layer of uncured rubber, that layer having a first surface and an opposite surface, applying pressure to the layer of rubber, heating the layer of rubber from the first surface to more fully cure the layer on that surface than on the opposite surface, cooling the layer of rubber and releasing the pressure applied to the layer of rubber after the layer has cooled. The apparatus comprising a drum, a heat exchange chamber on the inner surface of the drum, a housing that surrounds the drum, a space between the outer surface of the drum and the housing, an inflatable seal at each end of the housing inside the housing such that by inflating the seal, the seal expands and encloses the space between the drum and the housing, a gas inlet for feeding a gas to the space and pressurizing the space, a heat source in communication with the heat exchange chamber for heating the drum and a coolant source in communication with the heat exchange chamber for cooling the drum.

Partial depth-wise cure of a tire inner liner

A tire bundle is molded in a mold cavity formed by closing a mold having upper and lower mold halves with intermeshing fingers ( ) for enclosing bead wires and providing a molded bead ring for placing in a bead apex mold.

Bead curing finger mold

A method of removing waste material from an annular, elastomeric article The method includes the steps of: securing at least a portion of the annular, elastomeric article securing at least a portion of the waste material; penetrating the waste material with a cutting tool and guiding the cutting tool through the waste material. The method is characterized by the step of stretching the waste material prior to guiding the cutting tool In the preferred method, the waste material is stretched a distance sufficient to simultaneously apply some degree of tension to the unsecured portions of the waste material.

Method for removing waste material from an annular, elastomeric article

A conveyor assembly and method for conveying and storing a strip material in a conveyor system that is subject to changes in length of the strip material due to intermittent operation includes an upper conveyor (,), an adjustable substantially horizontal center conveyor (,) for receiving the strip material (,) from the upper conveyor, and a lower conveyor (,) for receiving the associated strip material from the center conveyor. A computer (,) controls the movement and rotation of the center conveyor, and loop detecting apparatus on the center conveyor may also detect a loop (,) in the strip material carried by the center conveyor and thereby detecting changes in length of the strip material not predetermined by the computer. A servomechanism (,) activated by signals from the computer or the loop detecting apparatus moves the center conveyor in a substantially horizontal direction.

Adjustable length conveyor system

Method and apparatus for simultaneously assembling a plurality of tires

A turret for a tire building system having two drums with drum shafts mounted on the turret and adjusted so that the axes of the drum will be offset and parallel providing a compact turret assembly with a minimum shaft length and weight. The offset drum shafts provide for positioning of the drums in operating positions of different heights relative to the floor surface so that manual operations can be carried out at the lower drum position where there is easy access by an operator. Safety provisions are incorporated to disengage the motor and stop rotation of the turret if the motor does not stop and thereby protect the operator and the turret mechanism.

Two drum turret for tire assembly

Tire components are assembled on a tire building drum by laying a first liner on a surface of the drum, positioning first sidewall inserts below the cylindrical surface of the drum and around the drum at insert locations spaced from each end of the drum, laying a first carcass ply around the drum, positioning second inserts over the first ply at the insert locations, laying a second carcass over the first ply and the second inserts, positioning beads at each end of the drum, expanding the drum to increase the diameter of the cylindrical surface of the drum and provide shoulders at each end of the drum, turning edges of the first ply and the second ply over each of the beads, positioning a belt and tread assembly around the second ply, and contracting the drum for removal of the assembled tire components from the drum. The inserts are positioned in grooves extending radially inwardly in the outer surface of the building drum. The grooves enable thick inserts to be built into the tire sidewall while still maintaining a generally flat outer surface of the tire while on the building drum, thereby decreasing the possibility of air trapped between components of the uncured tire.

Contoured tire building drum and method of building an extended mobility

Rotation and linear movement of a main gear is provided by a pinion gear rotatably mounted on a crank arm and in meshing engagement with the main gear. A connecting arm between the gear centers keeps the gears in meshing engagement. The pinion gear may have a diameter one half the diameter of the main gear to provide rotation of the main gear 180 degrees after one revolution of the pinion gear. The crank arm may be rotated in opposite directions to provide oscillating movement of the main gear. In a tire building machine, the main gear may be mounted in a linear guide of an upright plate member for vertical movement. The main gear is connected to a shaft for rotating and tilting a hub member having two spaced apart tire building drums mounted with axes at an angle of 90 degrees and in the same plane as the axes of the tire building drums so that they can be oscillated between two fabricating positions.

Two gear, connecting arm and crank apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Stow, OH, United States of America

Kenneth Dean Conger