Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
106579S
The present invention relates to an apparatus for
treating tire components. More particularly, the invention
relates to apparatus for treating in running lengths the
curable rubber-like compounds of which tire components are
formed by subjecting such stock to controlled dosage of
high voltage electron beam radiation.
It is known that treatment of compounds of rubber and
rubber-like material with high voltage electron beam radia-
tion can improve some physical properties of the compounds.
Apparatus for moving sheet and strip materials continuously
through a field of electron radiation heretofore available
has not been fully satisfactory and has lacked versatility.
In particular, available apparatus has not been satisfactor- `
ily adapted to treatment of tire making components of widely
varying width.
A principal object of the present invention, there-
fore, is the provision of apparatus capable of handling and
treating by electron radiation tire components of diverse
dimensions on an efficient production scale.
In accordance with one aspect of this invention there
` is provided in apparatus for treating a plurality of diverse
tire making components including tire ply and gum stock by
controlled exposure to high voltage electron beam radiation,
including a source of said radiation, a walled chamber
housing said source, an entry and an exit each having a
labyrinthine passage between said enclosure and the sur-
rounding space, conveyor means for controlling movement of
~ said components through said enclosure, let-off means for
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3 delivering a running length of a selected one of said
` 30 components to said conveyor means, wind-up means for re-
winding said running length as received from said conveyor
~e~n- after treatmene by naid radiation, the imQrovement
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wherein, said conveyor means comprises a plurality of rigid
metallic bar-slat conveyors disposed in close parallel side-
by-side array, a plurality of conveyor drives each drivingly
connected respectively to only one of said conveyors and :~
operable to drive its respectively associated conveyor at a
speed different from and independent of the speed of another
of said conveyors, whereby each conveyor can travel through
said enclosure at a speed proportioned to the radiation - .
dosage appropriate to a particular tire component carried
thereon. ::.
To acquaint those skilled in the related arts with the -
principles of the invention, a presently preferred embodiment .-.
illustrative of the best mode now contemplated for the - , ,
practice thereof,,will be described herein by and in ;~
connection with the attached drawings'wherein: :, ... .
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1065795
Fig. 1 is a schematic elevatlon view of apparatus
according to the invention, the view being divided in
two parts at a plane represented by the line A-A;
Fig 2 is a schematic plan view of the apparatus
of Fig 1~ sim~larly divided by the plane represented
by the line A-A;
Figs. 3~ 4~ and 5 are schematic diagrams of control
circuits of the apparatus of Figs. 1 and 2.
The apparatus 10 shown synoptically in the drawings,
particularly in Figs. 1 and 2~ includes a treatment
chamber 12 housing three high-voltage electron beam
acceierators, three groups~ L-l, L-2~ and L-3~ of
stock letoffs~ a pair of conveyors C-l~ C-2~ and three
groups W-l~ W-2~ and W-3~ of windups. m e two conveyors
extend through the chamber from their receiving ends a
associated with the letoffs to their delivery ends b
associated with the windups. Labyrinthine passageways
P-l~ P-2 provlde entry to and exit from the chamber 12
for the conveyors~ which carry~ and control~ the components
to be treated in a horizontal plane 20 referred to
herein as the treatment plane. For brevity, each of
the high voltage electron beam accelerators is referred
to herein as a Source S.
Three high-voltage electron beam radiation Sources
S are mounted in the chamber 12 to direct energy onto
the treatment plane 20. These Sources S are commercial
units supplied by High Voltage Engineering Corporation~
of Burlington~ Maso. 01803
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106579S
The chamber 12 ~s of known constructlon~ being
totally enclosed by shielding walls 22 and roof 2~ to
protect personnel from the hazards known to be
associated with such high voltage electron beam radiation.
Conveniently~ the chamber is located at least partly
below grade~ that is, below the general floor or ground
level, thus makinB use of the earth as a portion of
the shielding. me chamber is equipped with an air-
circulating blower (not shown) capable of scavenging
ozone from the chamber. It is also desirable that the
chamber be equipped with means for preventing human ~ -
entry or presence during operation of one or more of
the sources. Personnel access is provided by a shielded ~ -
entryway 26 arranged to prevent the escape of radiation -~
to the space surrounding the chamber. A chilled water
circulating system is provided to remove excess heat
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developed by the radiation energy in the chamber and
conveyors therein.
me labyrinthine passages P-l~P-2 provide a
20 vertically zig-zag path through which the conveyors travel
and through which straight line radiation is prevented
from escape. The passages are~for convenience in
maintenance~ provided with roofs 28 constructed of heavy
relnforced concrete sections which are removable.
In accordance with a feature of the inventlon~ the
three identical Sources S are mounted in an identical
manner~ about to be described, in the chamber 12. One
of the Sources serves additionally as an in-place spare~
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providing for uninterrupted operation in the event
of failure of one of the other Sources. Inasmuch as
the Sources and their mountings are identical, the
description of one will sufflce to describe each.
Each Source i3 provided with a mountlng ring 30 which
is attached to the horizontal support plate 32 with its
central radlatlon beam axls 34 extending normal to the
treatment plane 20. The support plate is supported
rotatably on a traverse plate 36 which is in turn mounted
tr~an~atably on a pair of rails 38 which extend trans-
versely of the conveyors. me arrangement iq such that ~ -
the elongate window Sw Or the Source can be moved to
any location laterally of the conveyors and can as well
be rotated abcut its own vertical axis such that the
length of the window Sw through which the electron beam
3 is pro~ected can be orlented at any angle with respect
; to the direction of travel of the conveyors, thereby
~l~ enabling the width of the beam scan to be matched to
i the width of the tire component being treated.
me support plate 32 and the Source thereon are
together rotated about the central axis 34 by a rotation
drive~ Fig. 3~ mounted on the traverse plate 36~ a
j``~ pinion 42 on the rotation drive motor 40 being drivingly
in mesh with a gear 44 carrled by the support plate.
' 25 Means~ best seen in Fig. 4~ for moving the traverse
~I plate across the conveyors C-l~C-2 is provlded by a
rack 46 and pinion 48 traverse drive including a travers-
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ing motor 50 by which the Source~ support plate, and
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the traverse plate are moved as a unit across the
conveyors.
Referrin~ also to Figs. 3 and 4~ a position encoder
60~ for transmitting the actual angular position of
the window Sw~ relative to the direction of travel
of the conveyor is mounted on the traverse plate and
coupled,.by a pinion 61 and gear 62~ to be rotated
proportionally by the support plate 32 as the latter is
. rotated by the motor ~0. Signals emitted by the encoder ;
; 10 60 are transmitted to remote control means ln the panel
`. 63 situated outside the chamber and specifically to a
signal plus-minu~ adder 64 therein. In the adder~ the : -
. signal from the encoder is compared with the angular
position preset in the angle selector 66 and any di.fference .
between the actual and the preset positions generates a
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signal communicated to an amplifier 68. The output from
the amplifier activates the drive ~0 to rotate the source
.`~ to the preset angle.
In Fig. 4~ a position encoder 70 is connected~ by a
pinion 71 engaeing the rack ~6~ to the traverse plate
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and to the rails supporting it. The actual position of
the traverse plate and the encoder 70 provides a signal
fed back to ^ontrol means comprising a plus-minus adde.r
7~ in the panel 63~ and in which the actual position
signal is compared to the traverse position preset in
the selector 76. Any difference is communicated.by way
of the amplifler 78 to the traversing drive motor 50
which moves the traverse plate and the Source to the
preset position. me arrangement provides that an
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operator outsi~e and remote from the chamber can position
each source with respect to the particular component to
be treated w~thout entering the chamber and can readily
readjust such pcsitions to suit a change in dimensions
from one to another such component Lock-out switches
prevent the operator from changing from one operating
mode to anothe~ without first inactivating the Sources ~.
The beam energy output per unit time and the dose
rate~ to which the rate of travel of components carried
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~y the conveyor(s) is correlated can be measured by
measuring the voltage induced in a wire placed in the
beam path (Fig. 4) The wire is connected by appropriate
electrical terminations to produce linear output and with
means for displaying the measured voltage.
me two conveyors are provided with completely in-
dependent drives which are conventional and identical -
and serve to control the speed of each of the conveyors
independently of the other. Re~erring to Fig. 5~ the
drive arrangement for conveyor Cl is illustrated and
described~ the numerals applied to the elements thereof
being identically applied to like elements in the drive
arrangement of conveyor C2 except for the addition of a
prime ('). Conveyor Cl is provided with a drive motor 80
drivingly connected by way of a gear reduction 82 to the
conveyor. The speed control circuit includes a con-
- ventional tachometer 84 mechanically connected to the
motor and a plus-minus adder 86 connected to receive the
output from the tachometer. The adder is also connected
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to a speed cortrol potentiometer 88, and receives
a signal representing a preset speed which in the
adder 86 is compared with the signal received from
the tachometer 84. The difference is communicated to
5 an amplifier ~0 and thence to the motor 80 to regulate -~
the speed thereof -
In accordance with the invention, the drives for
the respective conveyors are also provided with the
capability of being driven synchronously as one conveyor.
In the speed control arrangement of conveyor C2 a
selector switch 92 is interposed between the speed
control preset potentiometer 88' and the adder 86'.
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When the two conveyors are being operated independently
of one another selector switch9 ~ made between the
potentiometer 88' and the adder 86' rendering the cir-
cuit identicaI to that described in connection with
conveyor C~. In order to lock the two conveyor drives
into complete synchronism~ a digital or pulse tachometer
94~94' is mechanlcally connected respectively to each
Or the drive motors 80~80'. me respective signals
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emitted by the pulse tachometers are communicated
separately to a digital comparator 96~ the output Or
which is comnnhnicated~ by way of the selector switch 92
to the adder 86' in the control circuit Or conveynr C2.
In this way~ the driving speed of the motor 80' is
slaved to the driving speed of the motor 80 of conveyor
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Cl such that the two conveyors operate in complete
synchronis~ particularly in their carrying surfaces
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to the exter.t that they can be used as one single
conveyor.
The letoffs~ L-l~ L-2, L-3~ and the windups~
W-l~ W-2~ W-3~ previously mentioned, are individually
each well known devices. In the combination according
to the invention, the letoffs are arranged in three
groups. Group L-l provides a number of cantilevered
shafts 110 each capable of accommodating a core 112
on which is wound a running length supply of a particular
tire component to be treated in the apparatus. The
arrangement provides that tire building components
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such as chippers and chafers and like narrow strips can
be placed on either one or both of the parallel conveyors,
being paid off 'ndividually from the cores 112~ and in
sufficient number to utilize the full width of one~ the
other~ or both~ of the conveyors, as well as the available
capacity of ~he eleetron beam source associated with
sueh conveyor. In the windups W-l eaeh of the individual
windups 113 receive and rewind one of the treated running
lengths as recelved from the assoeiated conveyor after
its treatment
In the letoffs L-l~L-2 and the windups W-l,W-2~
provision is made for handlingcomponentsof widths not
greater than the width of the individual conveyors. A com-
ponentfrom either of the two letoffs L-2 can be supplied
to either of the eonveyors, transported by the selected
conveyor through the chamber for electron beam radiation
; treatment and rewound as received from the conveyor by a
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selected one of the two windups W-2. Each of the
letoffs L-2 and of the wlndups W-2 are provided wlth
wheels 11~,115 providing means for readily disposing
them in suitabie alignment wlth the selected conveyor.
In the letoff L-3 and in the windup W-3 a component of
width greater than the width of either conveyor is
unwound and transported by an overhead belt conveyor
from which it ls applled to the surfaces of the two side-
by-side conveyors operating in synchronism, is transported
by the two conveyors Cl,C2, actlng as one~ through the
chamber 12~ and is received from the dellvery ends of the
conveyors and rewound by the wlndup W-3.
The apparatus comblnation described provides the
particular advantage over apparatus known heretofore in
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its capability of handling and treating a diverse variety
of tire building components used in the manu-
facture of tires on a virtually continuous basis~ whereas
heretofore such treatment has been limited to a batch-
type treatment. A unique advantage is that of having
the capability of handling~ and treating~ in the same
enclosure cham~er~ materials of different dimensions and~
therefore~ requiring different dosage rates both con-
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tinuously and concurrently~ coupled with the facility to
handle and treat single componentsof sig-
25 nificantly grsater width as a result of the provision
of a plurality of conveyors operable either independently
of one another or in locked synchronous conveying -
relation.
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It will be understood that tire making components
in sheet or strlp form will normally and preferably be
associated Wit~l a cloth or equivalent sheet or strip as
is customarily used in winding such components in rolls
In the apparatus described such cloth sheet or strip
preferably accompanies the component being treated from
its supply roll on one of the letoffs on the conveyor
through the treatment chamber, and is rewound with the
component by the selected windup. ~;
In the disclosure~ the term component has been
used to designate any of the sheet and strip materials
used ln building tires~ and should be so understood in
the claims. Examples of-such components which can be
handled by the apparatus include but are not limited to
gum stock~ liner~ ply stock~ chafer~ and chipper. ~uch
components may or may not include cord~ fabric~ or wire
reinforcing elements.
While certain representative embodiments and
detalls have been shown for the purpose of illustrating
the inventlon~ it will be apparent to those skilled
in the art that various changes and modifications may
be made therein without departing from the spirit or
scope o~ the inven~lon.
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