Tire Manufacturing Cost Reduction

Rubber formulations that can be cured without traditional curatives like zinc oxide and sulfur. The formulations contain a statistical copolymer made from conjugated diene monomers and vinylbenzocyclobutane. When heated, the vinylbenzocyclobutane segments crosslink with each other and other double bonds in the polymer to cure the rubber without additional curatives. The statistical distribution of vinylbenzocyclobutane promotes even crosslinking density. The formulations are useful in tire applications as they reduce cost and environmental impact compared to traditional curing methods.

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Manufacturing pneumatic tires that have improved cost, performance, and recyclability compared to conventional rubber tires. The manufacturing process involves making the carcass from cured rubber but the sidewalls and tread from thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). This allows the tire to still have the necessary elasticity for road contact while providing benefits like lower rolling resistance, better chemical resistance, improved recyclability, and reduced manufacturing time.

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A lightweight tire inner tube made of thin film material with a wall thickness of 100 to 400 microns. The film is comprised of thermoplastic engineering resins and optionally an elastomer. The film has a low oxygen permeability of 8-15 cm3 O2/m2·day, allowing reduced thickness while still retaining air. The tube is manufactured by cutting and sealing the film to form a tube shape.

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Automatically determining the optimal production parameters for manufacturing tires of specifications without requiring manual setting by operators. The method involves using historical production data for the target specification to determine the parameters that resulted in optimal performance. If such data exists, it is used to manufacture the target specification tires. If not, default parameters are used. This eliminates the need for operators to manually set parameters based on experience and avoids issues of excessive workload and error rate.

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Tire parameter monitoring without batteries to reduce cost and improve the reliability of tire pressure monitoring systems. The monitoring apparatus uses a MASER to reflect an output signal based on the resonance frequency information of the tire. This output signal contains information about the monitoring parameters like pressure or temperature. Another device receives the reflected output signal to obtain the monitored tire parameter without needing a battery-powered sensor in the tire.

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Method to improve tire flatness by aligning the upper and lower structures of the tire assembly during production. The method involves producing a subassembly for the tire by sandwiching the upper and lower structures between a supporting structure. This prevents relative movement between the structures during assembly. The subassembly is then inserted into the tire mold to complete the tire. The aligned structure arrangement improves tire flatness compared to the conventional method where the structures can slip during assembly. The aligned structures provide a more consistent tread shape for better tire performance.

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3D printing a tread molding element for tire molding using a plastic composition that can withstand the heat of vulcanization. The plastic composition is a thermoplastic polymer with a melting point of at least 180° C. The tread molding element is formed by 3D printing the plastic composition into the desired shape. The tread molding element can be used to mold a portion of a tire tread.

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Intelligent tire production line that utilizes automation and robotics to increase efficiency and reduce costs compared to traditional tire factories. The line has modules like banburying, rubber preparation, composite tire building, vulcanization, final inspection, and testing. It uses an intelligent control terminal, execution module, production module, storage module, finished product storage, and logistics module. The control terminal issues commands to move materials between warehouses and production links using AGVs. The logistics module optimizes material flow and deployment. The production module automates each link using robots. The line uses fusion grayscale processing to improve AGV accuracy.

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Joint optimization of rubber tire production processes to improve quality, reduce costs, and minimize energy consumption. The method involves using a sparrow search algorithm to optimize parameters across multiple processes simultaneously, accounting for constraints and penalties. This coordinated optimization addresses the mutual restrictions and constraints between processes to prevent suboptimal local solutions. It aims to find the global optimal set of parameters that maximize efficiency and meet production constraints.

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Fully automated production method for an all-steel tire tread production line using automation technologies like AGVs, RFID, and MES to eliminate manual labor and improve efficiency. The system uses an extruder, VMI machine, automated warehouse, RFID readers, AGVs, and RGVs to fully automate tasks like material handling, transportation, storage, and feeding. An MES system manages production, tracks inventory, quality, and generates reports. This eliminates manual errors, improves safety, reduces costs, and enables automated data collection and analysis.

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A method for optimizing tire production layout and capacity planning in a smart tire factory. The method involves calculating the required storage, equipment, personnel, and logistics for each tire production area based on the tire shipment target, demand parameters, and process qualification rates. This allows accurate modeling and parametric design of each area to optimize production efficiency, redundancy, and safety. By connecting optimized single processes with transition parameters, it enables integrated top-level control of the tire factory.

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Non-pneumatic tires that can be manufactured in one molding operation using horizontal centrifugal casting (HSC) technology. The tires have a rigid inner rim that is molded together with the elastomeric tire body in a single mold rotation. The mold allows complex tread patterns and radial demolding of the tire. The rigid rim can be metallic. The HSC process enables molding the entire tire in one step without separate tread attachments.

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Integrated production planning and scheduling method for tire manufacturing enterprises that enables automated generation of tire production plans with optimized allocation of resources like molding machines and vulcanization ovens. The method involves breaking down the tire production process into stages and calculating overall production quantities based on factors like molding machine capacity, vulcanization oven capacity, and tire lifecycle. This reduces manual calculation burden and allows automated scheduling of production orders for both molding and vulcanization stages.

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Optimizing use of recycled rubber in tire production by identifying and managing recycled products. The method involves storing and reincorporating recycled complex products from machines to ensure consistent properties for downstream use. Recycled products are filled into containers, identified, and stored in a subsystem. When needed, specific containers are retrieved to meet production plans. This allows automated selection of recycled products that match required properties for upcoming mixes.

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A modular system for molding tire treads that allows easy repair and replacement of damaged mold segments without needing to replace the entire mold. The system uses interchangeable dual mold segments with replaceable ribs that can be swapped when damaged. The segments have a groove for the ribs. Removable securement allows replacing just the rib instead of the whole segment. This reduces downtime and costs compared to replacing entire molds.

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A fully automated and intelligent manufacturing process for tires that improves efficiency, quality, and cost-effectiveness. It uses an integrated system of scheduling, execution, production, storage, and logistics systems that intelligently control and automate every step from raw materials to finished tires. The system uses advanced technologies like RFID, barcodes, robots, conveyors, and automated production lines to enable real-time monitoring, tracking, and optimization of tire manufacturing. This allows automated delivery of materials, intelligent scheduling, automated production, automated inspection, and automated transport of tires. It reduces production time, scrap, and defects while improving productivity, efficiency, and consistency.

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Intelligent tire manufacturing system that uses automation and integration to improve efficiency, quality, and cost-effectiveness in tire production. The system uses an integrated MES (Manufacturing Execution System) to control and coordinate all aspects of tire production from planning to delivery. It leverages automated systems for material handling, mixing, molding, curing, inspection, and warehousing. The system also uses intelligent logistics and scheduling to optimize production flow and minimize waste. The integrated MES provides real-time visibility, monitoring, and control over the entire tire manufacturing process.

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Method for increasing tire production capacity and efficiency in a tire manufacturing facility with multiple workstations. The method involves overlapping the work cycles at adjacent workstations to maximize throughput. It achieves this by having two forming drums at each workstation and transferring them between stations using robotic grippers. The process involves loading a tire onto one drum at a workstation, then before releasing that drum at the exit, capturing the second empty drum at the loading location. This allows both drums to be working simultaneously.

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Method and plant for efficiently producing tires with improved quality by parallelizing the drum forming stations to reduce cycle time and improve accuracy. The method involves forming tire components like carcasses and treads simultaneously on multiple stations using robotic arms to move drums between stations. This allows faster production without interrupting drum movement for loading/unloading. The plant has multiple parallel workstations for each tire component to form them concurrently. This reduces overall cycle time compared to sequential drum loading/unloading. The robotic arms move the drums between stations instead of manual handling. This allows faster movement and precision placement compared to manual loading/unloading.

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Optimizing the production of tire semi-finished products by allocating inventory balances to molding machines based on forecasted demand and work similarity, rather than fixed winding lengths per cart. The allocation process involves finding a combination of balances that meets or exceeds forecasted requirements for each machine. It preferentially allocates balances to machines with earliest expected usage. If balances exceed requirements, no plan is established. The remaining balances are divided into full and partial carts based on machine-specific winding lengths. This minimizes material shortages and standard replacement waste compared to fixed cart lengths. The allocation process is linked with the conveyance system to ensure allocated balances are transported to the assigned machines for consumption.

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