FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See section 10, rule 13)
1. Title of the invention: WEIGHING TREAD COMPONENTS
2. Applicant(s)
NAME NATIONALITY ADDRESS
CEAT LIMITED Indian RPG House, 463, Dr. Annie Besant
Road, Worli, Mumbai- Maharashtra 400007, India
3. Preamble to the description
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it
is to be performed.

TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present subject matter relates, in general, to tire building machines and, particularly but not exclusively, to weighing of treads in the tire building machines.
BACKGROUND
[0002] In a tire building machine, various tire building components, such as treads, side walls, inner liner, body ply, beads, and cord body, are assembled on a tire building drum to build a green tire. Since, the tire building components, such as the treads are not always of the desired precise length. In such cases, a tread may be stretched or compressed longitudinally, and this change in length is to be evenly distributed, so that the weight of the tread is accurately distributed around the tire, in order to produce a balanced green tire.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0003] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying
figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure
in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout
the drawings to reference like features and components.
[0004] Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of tread weighing system, in accordance
with an implementation of the present subject matter.
[0005] Fig. 2a illustrates a top view of a tread applicator, in accordance with an
implementation of the present subject matter.
[0006] Fig. 2b illustrates a side view of the tread applicator, in accordance with an
implementation of the present subject matter.
[0007] Fig. 3 illustrates process of application of a tread on a tire, in accordance
with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0008] The present subject matter relates to aspects, relating to weighing of tire building components placed on a tread applicator.

[0009] A green tire is manufactured by wrapping multiple layers of raw tire building components, such as first ply, second ply, bead rings, and tread on a surface of a tire building drum in a tire building machine. A tread applicator is a device provided with tire building machine, which is used to apply raw tread components on the tire building drum.
[0010] Conventional tread applicators may not be equipped with a mechanism for weighing and recording the weight of the applied tread components for a given slot. Lack of such a mechanism for weighing and recording the weight of the tread components, to be applied on tire building drum, may lead to the weight of green tire going beyond the pre-defined limit or the green tire being underweight against the acceptable limit, due to which tires may turn out to be defective. Also, in conventional tread applicators, there exists a possibility that the quality of the tire to be produced may deteriorate, when an operator, due to involvement of manual operation, applies incorrect weighted tire building components.
[0011] The present subject matter provides an auto weighing system to measure the weight of tread components before applying them onto the tire building drum. The system comprises a tread applicator, wherein the tread applicator is fitted with rollers. The rollers are further equipped with motors in order to move the tread components through the rollers, towards a tire building drum.
[0012] In an example implementation, one or more of these rollers are also configured to accommodate load cell assemblies to measure the weight of the tread components, placed onto the tread applicator. The system further comprises a data recorder, to record the weight details of the tread components. Along with the rollers and the data recorder, the system also comprises an alarm and a display. Once the tread components is placed on the tread applicator, the system measures the weight of the tread components with the help of load cell assemblies provided with the tread applicator, and if the weight deviates from a pre-defined weight value which is fed into the system, the system activates the alarm to caution the operator about the

deviation in the weight of the tire building component. The display enables the operator to see the exact weight details of the tread component placed on the tread applicator.
[0013] The present invention provides a technique to automatically measure the weight of the tread components before applying them onto the tire building drum. Automatic weighing of the tread components, provides for overcoming the above-mentioned defects and results in manufacturing of non-defective tires with enhanced lifetime. Furthermore, the auto weighing system described herein requires substantially low attention of the operator, as the system itself, can monitor the weight deviation in the tread components, if any, before applying them onto the tire building drum and may generate the alarm in case of any deviation, thus enabling the operator to take corrective actions, such as replacing the tread components etc. Since, the operator does not need to check the weight every time a new component is placed on the tread applicator, thus, the present system greatly reduces the time which is required to assemble the tire building components on the tire building drum to make a green tire.
[0014] The above and other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will be better explained with regard to the following description and accompanying figures. It should be noted that the description and figures merely illustrate the principles of the present subject matter along with examples described herein and, should not be construed as a limitation to the present subject matter. It is thus understood that various arrangements may be devised that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof. Further, for the sake of simplicity, and without limitation, the same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference like features and components.

[0015] Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram 100 of an auto weighing system 102, in accordance with an implementation of the present subject matter. The auto weighing system 102 comprises a tread applicator 104, which further comprises roller(s) 106. The auto weighing system 102 also comprises a data recorder 110. The auto weighing system 102 is implemented in a tire building machine (not shown). The one or more roller(s) 106 may be equipped with motors (not shown), hereinafter referred as motorized roller(s) 106, operable for moving tread components in a direction towards a tire building drum (not shown) of the tire building machine. In an example, one common motor may be used for all the rollers for causing the rotational movement of the rollers. In another example, each of the rollers may be provided with a separate motor for causing an independent rotational movement of the rollers. [0016] For example, motorized roller(s) 106 may comprise a DC motorized roller, such as a 12-volt DC motorized roller or the like. Optionally, the roller may comprise a 24-volt DC motorized roller or a 42-volt DC motorized roller or a 48-volt DC motorized roller or the like. For example, the motorized roller may comprise a 48-volt DC motorized roller (or a 24-volt DC motorized roller) having a diameter of approximately 50 mm and an overall width of between 500 mm and 900 mm. [0017] In an example implementation, the drum may rotate about its longitudinal central axis to wrap different layers of tire building components on the outer surface of the tire building drum, and generally, may include a plurality of annular drum segments such as a top roll (not shown), which is engageably rotatable with drum to provide an uninterrupted tire building surface. The drum segments may be arranged to expand, in order to increase the diameter of the top roll surface, to provide shoulders at both ends of the top roll, and to collapse, so as to reduce the top roll diameter to enable the finished tire to be removed from the drum for subsequent vulcanizing operations thereafter.
[0018] In an example implementation, the tread applicator 104 resembles a multiple roller conveyor like structure, wherein the motorized roller(s) 106, move the

tread components placed on the tread applicator 104 towards the tire building drum. All the load of the tread components is transferred on load cell assemblies (not shown) vertically, when the tread component passes through one or more roller(s) 106 having load cells configured onto them. The weight of the portion of the tread component that is supported by frame of the tread applicator 104 is determined from force readings of the load cell assemblies.
[0019] In an example implementation of the present subject matter, there may be at least three motorized roller(s), however, it should be understood that there may be more than three motorized roller(s) 106, as required. In the same embodiment, twenty-two roller(s) 106 with load cell assembly is shown, however, it should be understood that the tread applicator 104 may comprise any number of roller(s) 106 with load cell assemblies.
[0020] In an example implementation, weight of the tire building components placed on the tread applicator 104 is measured by the load cell assembly and may be recorded by the data recorder 110. The weight data developed by the load cell assemblies attached to roller(s) 106 may be retained by the data recorder 110 of the present subject matter without the data recorder 110 itself adversely affecting or influencing the weight data.
[0021] As shown in Fig. 1, the system further comprises a programmable logic control (PLC) 112 in an example implementation of the present subject matter. Here, the weight data may be collected via the load cell assemblies, by using the PLC 112 bus lines (not shown) connecting the load cell assembly with the PLC 112. In another example implementation of the present subject matter, the data recorder 110 may be configured with the PLC 112, wherein the load cell assembly configured with the PLC 112 first transfers the weight data to the PLC 112 and then the data recorder 110 may record the weight data of the tire building components received by the PLC 112 via the load cell assembly in an electronic memory (not shown) of its own. Strain-gauge,

piezoelectric, compression, resistive, or capacitive load cells, for example, may be used.
[0022] It should be understood that the data recorder 110 may have a storage capacity for use in storing quantity of weight data for a time ranging from minimum one month to several months. The data recorder 110 may also have one or more communication channels, memory component(s) for storing a fixed amount of weight data and a control circuit (not shown) for controlling the flow of data into said memory component(s) whereby new data may be sent to said memory component(s) and old data may be discarded. A battery backup system (not shown) may be provided with the data recorder 110 to ensure that the weight data in the data recorder 110 is retained, even when the data recorder 110 is not connected to an external source of power. Alternatively, the data recorder 110 may be configured within the PLC 112, wherein the weight data may be stored in a storage unit of the PLC 112 such as central processing unit (CPU) (not shown), as it is desirable to have a dual recording structure for storing data of the same content in parallel. In this way, the reliability of the record of the collected data may be improved.
[0023] The weight data measured by the load cell assemblies, in an embodiment, may be embedded in a load cell signal (not shown) that is transmitted remotely by a transmitter to the PLC 112 for saving the weight data either in the CPU of the PLC 112 or to an external memory device (not shown) that may be internal to the data recorder 110. Also, the weight data is transmitted by the load cell assemblies so as to display the weight data log to the operator externally. The transmitter may be a wireless RF transmitter transmitting wirelessly via an antenna over a wireless communication link or over a sliding ohmic connection, between a conductive contact on the outside of the roller(s) 106. A receiver (not shown) may also be configured to the PLC 112 to receive the transmitter signal containing the weight data. Other transmitter-receiver technologies, such as optical or infrared, for example, may be used.

[0024] The auto weighing system 102 further comprises an alarm 108 coupled to the PLC 112, in an example implementation of the present subject matter. When load cell assembly sends a measured weight signal to the PLC 112, in event of weight imbalance detection by the PLC 112, when compared to pre-defined weight settings in the system, the PLC 112 sends a signal to sound the alarm 108 by via PLC's 112 control circuit (not shown) to inform an operator to take necessary action. The alarm 102 may be communicationally coupled to the PLC 112 through a PLC network interface (not shown).
[0025] The alarm 108 may be and/or can include substantially any speaker, buzzer, or other relevant device capable of producing a human-audible alert, such as, in some embodiments, a television speaker, radio speaker or the like. Though, the alarm 108 may draw power for its operation from the PLC 112, but in some embodiments, the alarm 108 may also include a local power source (not shown), such as one or more batteries, solar cells and/or other such sources to allow the alarm 108 to operate when the power cannot be received through the PLC.
[0026] In implementation of the present subject matter, the auto weighing system also includes a display 114 coupled to the PLC 112, either directly, over the bus or otherwise. The display 114 reflects the weight measurement data of the tire building components placed on the tread applicator 104, captured by the load cell assemblies. This enables the operator to see the weight of tire building components which is placed on the tread applicator 104. In an example, the display 114 may also show the historical weight data in order to enable the operator to take necessary action if the operator finds it necessary. It should be understood that the display 114 may be substantially any form of display, configurable to display a message, such as but not limited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma, and other relevant displays. Further, in some implementations, the display may also provide a user with information, parameters, and/or statistics about the internal weight setting that is fed into the PLC 112.

[0027] In some other embodiments, the PLC 112 may include a user interface (not shown), substantially any form of user interface that enables the operator to interact with and/or configure the PLC 112 settings, such as a keypad, button pad, touch screen, mouse, stylus and/or other such relevant interfaces. In some embodiments, the user interface may enable the operator to enter parameters, thresholds, control information, or other information such as minimum and maximum weight of the tire building components for each type of tires, to be transmitted to the display 114, for enabling the operator to know the exact weight of individual tire building component, that is to be applied for different types of tires.
[0028] Figs. 2a and 2b illustrate schematics of the tread applicator 104, in greater detail, according to an implementation of the present subject matter. Fig. 2a discloses top view of the tread applicator 104 while Fig. 2b discloses side view of the tread applicator 104 according to an implementation of the present subject matter. [0029] As previously explained, the auto weighing system 102 comprises the tread applicator 104, which further comprises the roller(s) 106-1, 106-2, ….., 106-22, hereinafter referred as roller(s) 106. In the example implementation of the present subject matter illustrated in Fig. 2A, twenty-two rollers are provided with the load cell assembly. The tread applicator 104, according to the present invention, includes a weigh frame 202 that is suspended within the tread applicator 204 by twenty-two load cell assemblies as explained above. The weigh frame 202, given with the tread applicator 204, provide a support to the roller(s) 106 against both sides of the weigh frame 202.
[0030] The weigh frame 202 has idler rollers 206 and 208, which is part of a single roller assembly, wherein the roller assemblies 106, are placed in a manner that these roller assemblies 106 may position the tread components on the tread applicator 104, for transporting, towards the tire building drum and to be weighed. The weight of the tread components conveyed by the motorized roller(s) 106 is transferred to the load cell assemblies by the weigh frame 202. Weight of the tire building components is

determined by receiving the individual output signals from the one or more load cells and determining when each of the load cells are subject to an equal weight, and summing means for providing a measure of the sum of the output signals when the signals are equal which measure is a measure of the weight of the tread components. [0031] The system 102 according to the present invention preferably comprises twenty two load cells, the equating means subtracting one of the signals from the other, the summing means providing a measure of the weight of the tread components when the result from the equating means is zero.. In an example implementation, the load cell assemblies are positioned such that each load cell assembly reacts to 1/22th of the weight of the tread component, when uniformly distributed upon the roller(s) 106 of the tread applicator 104. The twenty-two load cell assemblies of the present invention greatly reduces the time required for setting-up and calibration as compared to conventional weighing assemblies. In an example, height of the weigh frame 202 with respect to the tread applicator 204 may be adjusted at each load cell by adjusting the position of a nut (not illustrated) of each load cell. This provides height adjustment means for aligning the rollers of the weigh frame 202 with those of the tread applicator 204 to insure proper tread load distribution.
[0032] In an embodiment, the tread applicator 104 may include a linear path support assembly on which the tread components are supported in a substantially linear disposition. The path support assembly may extend from a first end 210 of the tread applicator 104 at which the tire building drum performs the tire building process to a second end 212. The tread applicator 104 may be raised to a feed position at which a tread component may be extended tangentially relative to the tire building drum for feeding the tread component onto the tire building drum, in the tire building process.
[0033] Fig. 3 illustrates the process flow diagram for tread weighing system. In operation, the span length of the tread applicator 104 may be about five meters and the number of roller(s) 106 with load cells that may be used is twenty-two. However, as

stated earlier, none of the numbers should be considered as restricting the scope of the present subject matter and the numbers may vary according to the requirements. [0034] In operation, once a tread component is placed on the tread applicator 104, the motorized roller(s) 106, position the tire building component on the tread applicator 104 so that the components are placed properly without any misalignment. After proper positioning of the components, the roller(s) 106 with load cell assembly, weigh the tire building components and send the feedback to the PLC 112. Also, the display 114 shows the weight of tire building components after the measurement. The alarm 108 may give alerts to the operator, if weight of tire building component is not as per specified range, for example, 12 to 35 Kgs. The data recorder 110 records the weight details that is captured by the load cell assemblies provided with the roller(s) 106.
[0035] Therefore, the present subject matter, provides a mechanism for auto weighing the tread components before applying them on the tire building drum to minimize the possibility of green tire being underweight or overweight. Further, introduction of the load cell assemblies in the present subject matter, greatly reduces the time that is required for weight calibration of the tire building components before applying them on tire building drum. Alarm ensures that even if the operator is not there, the system itself may generate an alert if the wrong weight is placed on the tread applicator. Furthermore, the data recorder provides the flexibility of seeing the historical data of weights which is applied in different cycles of green tire manufacturing.
[0036] Although the subject matter has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain examples and implementations thereof, other implementations are possible. As such, the present disclosure should not be limited to the description of the preferred examples and implementations contained therein.

I/We Claim:
1. A system (102) for weighing tread components, the system (102) comprising:
a tread applicator (104) to movably support tread components to be used in a tire building process;
one or more rollers (106-1) fitted with the tread applicator (104), the one or more rollers (106) are to move the tread components placed on the tread applicator (104) towards a tire building drum;
a weigh frame (202) suspended within the tread applicator (204); and
a plurality of load cells coupled to the one or more rollers (106) and disposed between the tread applicator (104) and the weigh frame (202) for sensing the weight of the tread components placed on the tread applicator (104) that is supported by the weigh frame (202).
2. The system (102) as claimed in claim 1, wherein each one of the rollers (106) are rotatably driven by a drive motor.
3. The system (102) as claimed in claim 1 comprising a data recorder (110) to record weight data generated by the plurality of load cells coupled to the one or more rollers (106).
4. The system (102) as claimed in claim 1 comprising a programmable logic control (PLC) 112 coupled to the system (102), wherein the PLC is to:
store the weight data, received from the data recorder (110), in a storage unit; and
cause transfer of the tread components positioned on the tread applicator (104) towards the tire building drum when the weight of the tread components lies in a predetermined range, otherwise send a signal to sound an alarm (108) indicating that the weight of the tread component is not within the predetermined range.
5. The system (102) as claimed in claim 4 comprising a display (114) coupled to
the PLC (112), wherein the display (114) is to indicate the weight data of the tread
components placed on the tread applicator (104).

6. The system as claimed in claim 4, further comprising a user interface coupled to the PLC (112), wherein the user interface is to accept an input indicative of the predetermined range from a user.
7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of load cells include a height adjustment nut for adjustably coupling each of the load cells to the tread applicator (104).
8. The system as claimed in claim 1 comprising twenty-two rollers (106) fitted with the tread applicator (104).
9. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tread applicator (104) includes a linear path support assembly on which the tread components are supported in a substantially linear disposition, the path support assembly extending from a first end (210) of the tread applicator (104) at which the tire building drum performs the tire building process to a second end (212), the tread applicator (104) being raisable to a feed position at which a tread component extends tangentially relative to the tire building drum for feeding the tread component thereonto in the tire building process.
10. A method for weighing tread components, the method comprising:
positioning the tread components, by one or more rollers (106), on a tread
applicator (104);
weighing the tread components by a plurality of load cells, the load cells being coupled to the one or more rollers (106); and
transferring the tread components positioned on the tread applicator (104) towards a tire building drum when the weight of the tread components lies in a predetermined range, otherwise generating an output (108, 114) indicating that the weight of the tread component is not within the predetermined range.
11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the predetermined range lies
between 12 to 35 Kilograms.