Bead-apex storage system and method for handling a plurality of stacks with bead-apexes and spacers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11633929-B2
Application number	US-202017614957-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 2, 2020
Priority date	May 28, 2019
Publication date	Apr 25, 2023
Grant date	Apr 25, 2023

Abstract

Disclosed is a bead-apex storage system and a method for handling carriers, each carrier supporting a stack of bead-apexes stacked in a stacking direction and alternated with spacers separating the bead-apexes, wherein the bead-apex storage system includes a plurality of storage stations for storing the carriers and a transfer station for transferring one of the plurality of bead-apexes to a tire building machine, wherein the bead-apex storage system further includes a spacer gripper for lifting one or more of the spacers from one of the carriers in one of the plurality of storage stations and for carrying said one or more lifted spacers to the transfer station, wherein the bead-apex storage system includes a spacer gripper base for supporting the spacer gripper, wherein the spacer gripper base is movable from the transfer station to any one of the plurality of storage stations.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A bead-apex storage system for handling a plurality of carriers, wherein each carrier is arranged to support a stack of bead-apexes stacked in a stacking direction and alternated with spacers separating the bead-apexes from each other in said stacking direction, wherein the bead-apex storage system comprises a plurality of storage stations for storing the carriers and a transfer station for transferring one of the plurality of bead-apexes to a tire building machine, wherein the bead-apex storage system further comprises a spacer gripper for lifting one or more of the spacers with bead-apexes supported thereon from one of the carriers in one of the plurality of storage stations and for carrying said one or more lifted spacers to the transfer station, wherein the bead-apex storage system comprises a spacer gripper base for supporting the spacer gripper, wherein the spacer gripper base is movable from the transfer station to any of the plurality of storage stations, wherein the spacer gripper is arranged for releasing the one or more lifted spacers in the transfer station, wherein the bead-apex storage system further comprises a transfer unit for transferring one or more bead-apexes from the released one or more spacers in the transfer station to the tire building machine, wherein the transfer station comprises a platform with a first section for receiving the one or more released spacers from the spacer gripper and a second section for receiving one or more of the released spacers that are empty when the transfer unit has transferred the respective bead-apexes supported thereon to the tire building machine.

2. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 1 , wherein the bead-apex storage system further comprises a loading station for loading one of the carriers into the bead-apex storage system and a carrier gripper for engaging said one carrier in the loading station and for moving said one engaged carrier to any of the plurality of storage stations.

3. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 2 , wherein the carrier gripper is supported by the spacer gripper base, wherein said spacer gripper base is movable from the loading station and the transfer station to any of the storage stations.

4. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of storage stations are located in-line in a main direction.

5. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 4 , wherein the transfer station and the plurality of storage stations are located in-line in the main direction.

6. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 4 , wherein the spacer gripper base is movable in the main direction.

7. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 4 , wherein the bead-apex storage system comprises one or more guides extending in the main direction, wherein the spacer gripper base is movable along at least one of the one or more guides.

8. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 2 , wherein the bead-apex storage system comprises a carrier gripper base for supporting the carrier gripper, wherein the spacer gripper base and the carrier gripper base are independently movable from the transfer station to any of the storage stations and from the loading station to any of the storage stations, respectively.

9. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 8 , wherein the plurality of storage stations are located in-line in a main direction, wherein the spacer gripper base is movable from the transfer station to any of the storage stations at a first side of the plurality of storage stations and the carrier gripper base is movable from the loading station to any of the storage stations at a second side of the plurality of storage stations opposite to the first side.

10. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 9 , wherein the carrier gripper base is movable in the main direction.

11. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 2 , wherein the plurality of storage stations are located in-line in a main direction, wherein the carrier gripper is movable in a storage direction transverse or perpendicular to the main direction for loading and unloading a respective one of the carriers into and from a respective one of the plurality of storage stations.

12. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 11 , wherein each storage station comprises a support for one of the carriers, wherein the carrier gripper is movable into and retractable out of each storage station in the storage direction at a lifting level above the respective support and a releasing level below the respective support, wherein the carrier gripper is further movable in a height direction perpendicular to the main direction and the storage direction through the respective support between the lifting level and the releasing level.

13. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 9 , wherein each carrier comprises a pallet, wherein the carrier gripper comprises a fork to engage and carry one of said pallets.

14. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 1 , wherein each spacer has a central aperture, wherein the central apertures of the spacers in a respective one of the stacks of bead-apexes are aligned in the stacking direction to form a central space, wherein the spacer gripper comprises a gripper head and a plurality of spacer engagement members protruding from said gripper head for reaching into the central space of the respective stack to engage one of the spacers in said respective stack.

15. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 14 , wherein the plurality of spacer engagement members are arranged to reach into the central space of the respective stack at least up to a second spacer of the respective stack from the top of the respective stack, wherein the plurality of spacer engagement members are movable into an engagement position for engaging said second spacer to lift said second spacer from the respective stack simultaneously with the spacer at the top of the respective stack.

16. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 15 , wherein each spacer engagement member comprises a first element at a first distance from the gripper head for contacting a first spacer at the top of the respective stack and a second element at a second distance from the gripper head, greater than the first distance, to engage the second spacer from the top of the respective stack.

17. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 14 , wherein the bead-apex storage system comprises a detector for detecting a position of the plurality of spacer engagement members in the stacking direction relative to the spacers in the respective stack and a control unit that is operationally connected to the detector and the spacer gripper and programmed for controlling the plurality of spacer engagement members to engage a second spacer from the top of the respective stack when the plurality of spacer engagement members are positioned in the stacking direction at said second spacer from the top of the respective stack.

18. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 14 , wherein each spacer engagement member comprises a centering roller insertable into the central space of the stack for centering one or more of the spacers or the stack as a whole with respect to the spacer gripper.

19. The bead-apex storage system according to claim 1 , wherein the transfer unit comprises a manipulator for engaging and carrying the one or more bead-apexes from the transfer station to the tire building machine and a manipulator base for supporting said manipulato

Assignees

• Vmi Holland Bv

Inventors

• Bijl Keimpe Theunis
• Stout Antonius Willibrordus Joseph

Classifications

• B29D30/0016 Primary

  Handling tyres or parts thereof, e.g. supplying, storing, conveying (B29D30/2607 takes precedence; loading and unloading vulcanizing presses B29D30/0603) · CPC title

• B29D30/48

  Bead-rings or bead-cores (from wire B21F37/00); Treatment thereof prior to building the tyre · CPC title

• B29D2030/0044

  Handling tyre beads, e.g., storing, transporting, transferring and supplying to the toroidal support or to the drum · CPC title

• B65G59/005

  by using insertions or spacers between the stacked layers · CPC title

• B25J15/0052

  multiple gripper units or multiple end effectors · CPC title