CASE STUDY: TIRE MANUFACTURING

September 2008
CASE STUDY: TIRE MANUFACTURING
Article presented at
the ITEC 2008 Tire
Manufacturing Expo
Alignment Issues of Fabric Calendering Machines in Tire Manufacturing
By Thomas Coombes
Modern tires are now a composite
quality sheet, constant attention and
encased in a frame or are higher than
of several materials such as: steel,
adequate maintenance are required.
six feet off the ground.
nylon, polyester, kevlar, and fiberglass.
Routinely measuring the rolls for
device must be set up and repositioned
Their structure consists of layers of
parallelism will ensure a safe and
for each roll to be measured which can
coated fabric and metal belts produced
efficient machine as well as a high
be extremely time consuming.
by calendaring.
quality end product.
The machine that is
train.
The material in these machines
runs at approximately 150 to 200 feet
per minute.
Due to deflection and
vibration, the slow progression of a few
hundred-thousandths of an inch at a
time will eventually lead to alignment
issues throughout the calendaring
machine.
Misalignment causes problems
with tracking, wrinkling, and
results in a low quality product.
alignment in all industries where sheets
are produced with critical tolerances.
The PARALIGN is used by simply
Traditional Alignment vs. PARALIGN
sweeping it around a minimum of 20
Traditionally, machinery alignment
are determined by three highly precise
has been carried out with the use of
ring laser gyroscopes contained within
optical equipment called theodolites and
the unit, and calculations are instantly
transits. The major draw backs of hiring
with tracking, web thickness, and
an optical crew to check alignment are
results in a low quality product.
Over
the limitations inherent to all optics. First
time, it will lead to poor roll surfaces,
and foremost, line-of-sight is needed to
worn bearings, and possible tears or
look down the length of the roll being
breaks in the web itself.
measured as well as the baseline.
have a machine that produces the best
designed by Pruftechnik for roller
placing it on the face of the roll and
Misalignment causes problems
In order to
the
T h e PA R A L I G N d e v i c e w a s
used to coat the fabric with rubber is
called the fabric calendar or calendar
Second,
This
can pose a problem when the rolls are
(1)
degrees on the surface. Measurements
The PARALIGN system is 5
to 10 times faster than
traditional methods, and does
not require line-of-sight.
CASE STUDY: TIRE MANUFACTURING
Alignment Issues of Fabric Calendering Machines in Tire Manufacturing
recorded by means of a Bluetooth
was occurring in the second half of the
protocol provided instantly gave the
signal to a laptop computer.
The
calender train and suspected it was
chance for the client to plan ahead and
PARALIGN system is 5 to 10 times
coming from the overhead rolls just before
set a date for maintenance.
faster than traditional methods and
the windup.
does not require line-of-sight.
In less than one day, the rolls in the
Using the PARALIGN, Pruftechnik
post calender section were measured.
Service Inc. can profile an entire
This measurement included the rolls that
machine in one day, identifying
which
were on the first, second and third floors.
rolls are specifically causing problems.
By looking at the data from the PARALIGN
The diagram that accompanies all
Protocol, it was apparent that the overhead
PARALIGN services not only give the
rolls were misaligned.
horizontal and vertical offsets of each
offset as high as 5/8th of an inch.
Some showed an
Jay Linnemeier, Engineer in charge
of the Fabric Calender at B.F. Goodrich/
Michelin’s Ft. Wayne Plant had this to
say about his experience with the
PARALIGN system:
“...We saw a drastic
improvement.
The Pruftechnik
technology moves at a faster pace
roll, but also simulates the web path
than the 4 mechanics could make the
showing where slack and tension could
adjustments.
be occurring.
impressive to make mechanical
It is also very
adjustments and verify the positions
“We have been running
superior product for 6 months
since the alignment.”
instantaneously - and accurately...
Fig1: PARALIGN Device
layout and graphical spreadsheet are
The main scope of the work was to
Case Study at a Tire Plant
In December of 2007, Pruftechnik
Service Inc. was hired to check the
alignment of the post-calender section
of a tire plant.
The tire company, B.F.
Goodrich/Michelin, wanted to have the
alignment checked to eliminate it as a
variable in a problem they were
experiencing.
The coated fabric was
winding up with a wrinkle along the
length of the web. The company knew it
The complete calender train
very helpful tools.
The layout lets
get a layout of the machine. However, in
you look at every roll location and
the process of measuring the line, the
relative position... With so many rolls
protocol brought to light another
to work with, this makes for cleaner
misalignment that was previously
communication between operators,
unknown. All of the rolls in the bottom
maintenance, and engineering
row of the Festoon were leaning to the
teams.
east approximately 0.150” in comparison
to the reference roll. Since this was so
close to the Windup, it was suspected
that it could also be adding to the
wrinkling problem.
We have been running superior
product for 6 months since the
alignment.”
In the end, the
About the Author:
Acknowledgements:
Contact Us @
Thomas Coombes is an engineer for
We would like to thank B.F. Goodrich/
Michelin for allowing us to publish this
study involving their plant in Ft. Wayne.
PRUFTECHNIK Service Inc.
Pruftechnik Service Inc. He has been with
the company for a year and has been
extensively trained on the use of the
PARALIGN system both here and at
Pruftechnik’s headquarters in Germany. He
earned his engineering degree at the
For More Articles & Case Studies
go to: www.paralign.info
University of Delaware.
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