Tire ply server

Claim 2

Apparatus for serving a running length of tire-building stock from a supply roll thereof to a tire-building drum comprising means for unwinding said stock from said roll, means including conveying means having elongated endless surface means engageable and movable with the stock received from said roll to carry the stock free of relative movement with respect to said surface means engaged therewith between said roll and said drum, and reversible first drive means operatiVely connected to said conveying means to move said surface means an amount and in a direction to place a leading edge portion of said stock into predetermined proximate relation with said drum and in a reverse direction to move said stock away from said drum.

Claim 3

Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, control means connected to said first drive means and effective to locate said edge to cross the midcircumferential centerline of said drum at a point located in the top near side quadrant of the drum as related to the normal position of the operator of said drum.

Claim 4

Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, means connected to said first drive means and operative when the same moves said stock away from said drum to place the newly formed leading edge thereof at a predetermined location with respect to a transverse line across said means for conveying.

Claim 5

Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising second drive means including means for adjusting the speed ratio of said second drive means drivingly connected between said conveying means and said drum and operable independently of the said first drive means to move said conveying means at a surface speed substantially equal to the surface speed of said drum while said leading edge portion is wrapped about said drum by rotation thereof.

Claim 6

Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, including a brake connected to said second drive means, and a control circuit operatively connected with said brake and operative to decelerate said conveying means and said drum equally while said stock extends continuously between said drum and said conveying means.

Claim 7

Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising means accommodating a loop or festoon of stock between said roll and said means for receiving said stock, said first drive means being operative in the first said direction to remove stock from said loop to said conveying means and in the said reverse direction to enter stock into said loop from said conveying means.

Claim 8

Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising means accommodating a loop or festoon of stock between said roll and said means for receiving said stock, said first drive means being operative in the first said direction to remove stock from said loop to said means for receiving the same and in the said reverse direction to move stock from said means for conveying stock into said loop, and second drive means including means for adjusting the speed ratio of the second drive means drivingly connected between said means for conveying and said drum and operable independently of the said first drive means to move said means for conveying stock at a surface speed equal to the surface speed of said drum while said stock extends continuously between its surface contact with said means for conveying and its engagement on said drum.

Claim 9

Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, comprising first and second spindles in corotational engagement with said means for unwinding and mounted for rotation about respective axes spaced apart from and parallel to each other and to the axis of said drum, said first spindle corotatably supporting a core having said supply roll wound thereupon, said second spindle corotatably supporting a core upon which a separating liner interwound with stock in said roll can be wound, and means drivingly connected to said second spindle to wind said liner upon the core supported thereon, thereby to effect unwinding of said liner and said stock from the roll mounted on said first spindle, said drivingly connected means being operative independently of other said drive means.

Claim 10

Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, including first and second sensing means for sensing a first and a second downward extent of said loop respectively, circuit means responsive to the respective sensing means and operative to control said drivingly connected means during each stock-to-building-drum applying cycle to energize the last said means at said first extent and to deenergize the last said means at said second extent.

Claim 11

Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 inclUding a truck having wheels supporting the same for movement thereof into and out of cooperative association with said means for unwinding, first and second spindles mounted on said truck about respective axes spaced apart and parallel to each other, first and second coupling means rotatably fixed in said apparatus and releasably engageable one with each of said spindles in corotational driving relation, said means for unwinding including means drivingly connected to said first coupling means and operative to wind said liner about said first spindle while thereby unwinding said liner and said stock from a core having said supply roll wound thereon and mounted on said second spindle.

Claim 12

Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, said first drive means including a reversible motor mounted on said means for conveying, circuit means operable to energize said motor in a sense corresponding to movement of stock on said conveying means toward said building drum, said circuit means including means for stopping said means for conveying when the leading edge of said stock is moved into a predetermined proximate relation with said drum.

Claim 13

Apparatus as claimed in claim 11, said means for conveying including a plurality of endless looped belts and a driving roll respectively drivingly engaging each of said belts, a clutch device operatively connected between said motor and each one of said rolls and each operative selectively to drive the respectively associated roll in a direction corresponding to the sense of rotation of said motor.

Claim 14

Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, said second drive means including a clutch device operable selectively to connect and to disconnect said conveying means and said drum.

Claim 15

Apparatus as claimed in claim 13, said means for conveying including a plurality of endless belts and a driving roll respectively drivingly engaging each of said belts, said second drive means including clutch devices operatively connecting a selected one said driving roll and said drum, a brake connected to decelerate said belts, and control means operative to apply said brake while said drum is decelerated.

Claim 16

Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, including a frame, a plurality of wheel-mounted trucks each having a first spindle rotatably supported thereon for carrying said supply roll into operative relation with said unwinding means and a second spindle rotatably supported thereon for winding a separating liner thereon while said liner is thereby unwound from said roll, said means for unwinding including coupling means mounted rotatably on said frame for corotatably engaging each said second spindle and means connected to said coupling means to effect rotation thereof in a direction to wind said liner about said second spindle from the respectively associated roll, said conveying means comprising a pair of endless looped flat belts each receiving a running length of said stock from one of said rolls, and second drive means including a variable speed ratio device drivingly connected between said conveying means and said drum and operable independently of said first drive means to move a selected one of said belts at a surface speed equal to the surface speed of said drum.

Claim 17

Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, including means for selectively energizing successive circuit combinations in preset sequence in response to a sequence of single commands by an operator, said combinations including a first circuit operative when energized to engage said first drive means to move a selected belt of said conveying means and the stock thereon a preset distance forward to place a leading edge thereof into proximity with said drum, a second circuit operative when energized to disengage said first drive means and to engage said second drive means to move the said selected belt while said edge is wrapped about said drum, and a third circuit operative when energized to disengage said second drive means and engage said first drive means to move said stock away from said drum.

Claim 18

Apparatus as claiMed in claim 7, further comprising a truck rotatably supporting a spindle carrying said supply roll and having wheels supporting the truck for movement thereof into and out of cooperative association with said means for unwinding, said conveying means including side members extending longitudinally of said direction, a frame fixed relative to said drum, a plurality of cross-slide members carried on said frame and supporting said side members for translating movement of the conveying means laterally of said frame and parallel to the axis of said drum whereby said stock can be shifted relative to the axial length of said drum.

Claim 19

Apparatus as claimed in claim 17, including means for moving said conveying means laterally comprising at least one screw-threaded shaft extending parallel to the axis of the drum and at least one correspondingly screw-threaded nut nonrotatably connected to said conveying means.

Claim 20

Apparatus as claimed in claim 18, comprising a second screw-threaded shaft connected to the first said screw-threaded shaft for rotation directly proportional to any rotation thereof, a second nut having screw threads corresponding to the threads of said second shaft engaging said second shaft for relative axial movement therebetween, a control rod connected to said second nut for movement responsive to movement of said second nut, and a plurality of limit switch devices mounted in fixed position relative to said frame and respectively engageable with said control rod at predetermined movements thereof.

Claim 21

Apparatus as claimed in claim 15, including means for selectively energizing successive circuit combinations in preset sequence in response to a sequence of single commands by an operator, said combinations including a first circuit operative when energized to engage said first drive means to move a selected belt of said conveying means and the stock thereon a preset distance forward to place a leading edge thereof into proximity with said drum, a second circuit operative when energized to disengage said first drive means and to engage said second drive means to move the said selected belt while said edge is wrapped about said drum, and a third circuit operative when energized to disengage said second drive means and engage said first drive means to move said stock away from said drum, said conveying means including side members extending longitudinally of said direction, a frame fixed relative to said drum, a plurality of cross-slide members carried on said frame and supporting said side members for translating movement of the conveying means laterally of said frame and parallel to the axis of said drum whereby said stock can be shifted relative to the axial length of said drum, means for moving said conveying means laterally comprising at least one screw-threaded shaft extending parallel to the axis of the drum and at least one correspondingly screw-threaded nut nonrotatably connected to said conveying means, said combination further including a circuit operable when energized to activate said means for moving said conveying means laterally a predetermined distance from a centered position.

Claim 22

Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, means for sensing a leading edge of said stock mounted in fixed relation to a line extending across said conveying means for emitting a signal responsive to movement of said edge into registry with said line, and means responsive to said signal to halt movement of said conveying means by said first drive means.

Claim 23

Apparatus as claimed in claim 11, said means for unwinding including a plurality of motors, a plurality of spindles each corotatably supporting one said supply roll, a second plurality of spindles each corotatably supporting a liner winding core, coupling means coupling each of said second spindles respectively to one of said motors to be rotated thereby, a plurality of said conveying means each having a stock-receiving end operatively associated with a respective one said supply roll, a roll cooperating with each said conveying means receiving stock thereover from a respectively associated supply roll to support a depending loop of stock therebetween, said first drive means being operative in said reverse direction to move said stock away from said drum and into said loop, and photoresponsive means operatively connected to said first drive means to deenergize the same when an end of said stock is moved a predetermined distance away from said drum.

Claim 24

Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, comprising a plurality of said means for unwinding, a plurality of trucks adapted for wheeled movement upon the floor adjacent said apparatus and into operative association with said means for unwinding, each said truck having a spindle for rotatably supporting one of said supply rolls, a plurality of said means for conveying arranged in parallel over-and-under relation and each inclined downwardly from respective stock-receiving ends thereof toward said drum, each said means for conveying receiving stock thereover from a respectively associated one of said rolls.