阅读说明：本技术 用于车轮平衡配重的分送装置 (Dispensing device for wheel balancing weights ) 是由 M·普罗斯特勒 于 2018-06-11 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种用于车辆车轮的平衡配重,包括由粘附带保持的多个平衡配重分段。所述平衡配重具有由位于最接近平衡配重中央的位置处、相邻的平衡配重分段之间的局部切口形成的中央标记。(A balance weight for a vehicle wheel includes a plurality of balance weight segments held by an adhesive tape. The balance weight has a center mark formed by a partial cut between adjacent balance weight segments located proximate to the center of the balance weight.)

1. A balancing weight (110, 112, 120) for a vehicle wheel, comprising a plurality of balancing weight segments (105) held by an adhesive tape (101), characterized in that,

the adhesive tape (101) has partial cuts (111, 113), the partial cuts (111, 113) being located between adjacent balancing weight segments (105) at a position closest to the centre of the balancing weights (110, 112, 120), the partial cuts (111, 113) having a different shape than the plurality of cuts in case the adhesive tape (101) has a plurality of cuts.

2. A balancing weight according to claim 1, characterized in that the depth of the partial cut (111, 113) is between 10% and 80% of the width of the adhesive tape (101), preferably between 20% and 50% of the width of the adhesive tape (101).

3. Balance weight according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the balance weight segment (105) comprises a metal and/or plastic material such as zinc, lead, tungsten, aluminium, tin, steel.

4. A dispensing device for a balancing weight according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a conveying section (300) and a cutting section (200), wherein

The conveying section (300) comprises a conveying roller (340), the conveying roller (340) having a plurality of teeth (341, 342) at a circumferential outer surface thereof, the teeth (341, 342) being designed for generating friction on a balancing weight belt (100) comprising a plurality of individual balancing weight segments (105) for conveying the balancing weight belt (100) to the cutting section (200);

the cutting section (200) further has a knife (215), the knife (215) being movable from a first side (107) to a second side (108) of the balancing weight belt (100) to separate the balancing weight belt (100), and the knife being configured to provide a partial cut (111, 113) between two of the individual balancing weight segments (105) at a gap (106) between adjacent balancing weights (110, 112, 120).

5. The dispensing device for balancing weights (110, 112, 120) according to claim 4, wherein the cutting section (200) has an arc-shaped belt guide (220) for forming the balancing weight belt (100) with a bend, thereby opening at least one of the gaps (106) between adjacent balancing weight segments (105).

6. The dispensing device for balancing weights (110, 112, 120) according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that an opposing roller (350) and/or an opposing belt (320) are provided to press the balancing weight belt (100) against the transport roller (340) for increasing friction.

7. The dispensing device for balancing weights (110, 112, 120) according to one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that a sensor (270) is provided for detecting the gap (106) between the respective balancing weights (110, 112, 120).

8. The dispensing device for balancing weights (110, 112, 120) according to claim 7, characterized in that the sensor (270) is mounted at a position at the cutting path of the knife (215).

9. The dispensing device for balancing weights according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the signal of the sensor (270) is used to count the number of balancing weight segments (105).

10. A method for delivering a balancing weight (110, 112, 120) according to any of claims 1 to 3, the balancing weight comprising a required number of balancing weight segments (105), by:

delivering the required number of balancing weight segments (105) as part of a balancing weight belt (100) to a belt guide (220),

locally moving a tool (215) between adjacent balancing weight segments (105) from one side (107) of the balancing weight belt (100) to the other side (108) of the balancing weight belt (100) and providing a local cut-out as a central mark of the balancing weight (110, 112, 120) at a position closest to the center of the balancing weight (110, 112, 120), and

moving the knife (215) between adjacent balancing weight segments (105) from the one side (107) of the balancing weight belt (100) to the other side (108) of the balancing weight belt (100) and thereby cutting off the balancing weights (110, 112, 120) from the balancing weight belt (100).

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an automatic dispensing device for balancing weights, preferably self-adhesive balancing weights. Such balancing weights may be used to balance the wheels of a vehicle.

Background

To balance the vehicle wheels, balancing weights are used. Self-adhering balancing weights comprise segments of a bulk material, which may be a metal, such as zinc or steel, and which has a self-adhering attachment on one side by which the bulk material can be held on the rim of the wheel. Multiple members or segments of such bulk material are held together by an adhesive tape to form a chain or belt of balancing weights. The self-adhesive attachment is protected by a liner, also called backing, located on the side opposite the balancing weight section. The liner is removed prior to applying the balancing weight to the rim.

US 3,960,409 shows such a counterbalancing weight belt which may be of significant length and may be wound into rolls to simplify storage.

EP 1128176 a2 discloses a balancing weight with a plurality of weight elements which are completely surrounded by a band-shaped surface layer. The surface layer has partial cuts between adjacent weight elements extending from opposite lateral edges of the surface layer to facilitate separation of a weight segment including one or more weight elements.

EP 3040578 a1 discloses a dispensing device for balancing weights, which has a conveying section for conveying a balancing weight segment tape and a cutting section for separating the balancing weight segment tape into individual balancing weights.

EP 1253414 a2 discloses a complex dispensing device for balancing weights. Here, the liner is removed from the self-adhesive tape, and then a section of the balancing weight is cut from the tape and fed directly to the applicator. The device is intended for use in an automatic tire balancing system.

In a tire shop, the mass required to balance the wheel is determined by the balancing machine and a corresponding number of balancing weight segments are manually cut from the balancing weight strip. The liner is then removed and a balancing weight is applied to the rim. Manually counting the number of balance weight segments required and manually cutting out the required number of balance weight segments is time consuming and prone to errors. To facilitate manual handling, the balancing weight segments must have a minimum size, which may be 10 grams or 5 grams. Due to the small size of the balancing weight segments, it will be difficult to handle the lighter mass. This leads to a limited weight resolution and thus to a limited accuracy of the balancing.

EP 3040578 discloses an automatic dispensing device for balancing weights. The belt of counterweight segments on the self-adhesive tape is moved to the cutting edge by a drive belt. After a selected number of the balance weight segments have passed the cutting edge, the opposing brackets are pressed against the cutting edge to form a 90 degree angle between the two balance weight segments. The cutting tool is then moved across the cutting edge and under the opposing brackets to cut the belt and separate a selected number of the balance weight segments from the belt.

In automated systems, a robot places a balancing weight onto a rim. The robot can accurately determine the position of the balancing weights on the rim. When manually applying the balancing weight, the person applying the balancing weight has to estimate the correct position of the balancing weight, since the balancing machine usually only indicates the position where the center of the balancing weight is located. If the center of the balancing weight is not fitted to the indicated center position, the wheel is unbalanced.

Disclosure of Invention

The problem addressed by the present invention is to provide a balancing weight, a dispensing device for a balancing weight and a method for marking a balancing weight which allow for precise positioning of a self-adhesive balancing weight on a wheel.

A solution to this problem is described in the independent claims. The dependent claims relate to further developments of the invention.

In a preferred embodiment, a dispensing device for a balancing weight comprises a conveying section and a cutting section. The dispensing device uses a balancing weight tape comprising a plurality of balancing weight segments held together by a self-adhesive tape which may be further backed by a liner.

The conveying section is used to convey the balancing weight belt to provide a desired number or number of balancing weight segments cut from the belt by the cutting section. The cutting section comprises at least one knife or cutting device which moves in a direction at right angles to the length of the balancing weight belt. A cutter moves between adjacent counterweight segments to cut the self-adhesive tape to separate the counterweight segments. Preferably, the further tape layers, such as the liner, are cut simultaneously.

The dispensing device provides a central mark on the balance weight segment by making a partial cut on the self-adhesive tape and/or liner at or near the center of the balance weight segment. The location of the partial cut is the gap between adjacent balance weights closest to the center of the balance weight section. If there is an even number of weight sections, the center of this section is located between adjacent weight sections. If there are an odd number of weight sections, the closest center position between two adjacent weight sections is selected. Alternatively, two partial cuts may be provided on both sides of the central section. Typically, 2 or more partial cuts indicating a central or positioning range may be provided. The depth of the partial cut is chosen such that it is clearly visible, but the segments should not be separated from each other. Preferably, the depth of the partial cuts is between 10% and 80% of the width of the self-adhesive attachment, more preferably between 20% and 50% of the width of the self-adhesive attachment. The section may be curved to better identify the partial cut.

There may be cases where a plurality of cuts are provided in the self-adhesive attachment, for example to simplify bending. In this case, for identification, the partial cut preferably has a shape different from the plurality of cuts described above. For example, the partial cuts may have a greater depth and/or a greater width than the plurality of cuts described above.

It will be appreciated that very short balancing weights having at most three balancing weight segments, and thus having at most a gap between two adjacent balancing weight segments, may not have differently shaped cutouts at all. The incisions may instead likewise be partial. However, for these very short balance weights, on the one hand, the positioning does not actually require a central marking, and on the other hand, the robot or experienced person will still recognize local incisions different from the above-mentioned plurality of incisions.

Alternatively or additionally, the partial cut may be located immediately adjacent to the plurality of cuts in the longitudinal direction of the balancing weight belt, i.e. the partial cut does not longitudinally coincide with the plurality of cuts. Such non-coincident partial cuts may be narrower than the plurality of cuts.

Another embodiment relates to a method of dispensing balance weights by cutting balance weight segments from a balance weight tape and providing a center mark formed by a partial cut as described above.

Yet another embodiment relates to a balancing weight or balancing weight section with a partial cut as described above.

The transport section may comprise at least one transport roller or belt for moving the belt by friction. In order to increase the friction, a counter roller or a counter belt may be provided for pressing the balancing weight belt against the conveying roller. The opposed belts may be held and/or driven by the first and second pulleys.

In order to further increase the friction, the conveyor roller or belt preferably has a plurality of teeth at its outer circumferential surface. Preferably, the teeth have a diameter and length such that they pass through the liner into the adhesive tape. Most preferably, the teeth do not contact and/or damage the balance weight segment. Experiments have shown that this can generate sufficient friction to accurately pull a long belt upwards from stock located at a level significantly below the drive section. The mass of the balancing weight that must be lifted from the stock may be several kilograms. The teeth always allow accurate delivery even with minimal belt slippage. Since the cutting tool must fit precisely into the gap between adjacent counterweight segments, precise feeding is required to make a quick and precise cut at the cutting section. Another advantage of the teeth is that the liner is perforated with smaller holes, reducing the adherence of the liner, which greatly simplifies removal of the liner before the balance weight is applied to the rim.

In order to improve the contact of the balancing weight belt with the conveying roller or belt and thus to provide good friction for the conveying of the balancing weight belt, the counter belt and/or the counter roller is preferably pressed against the conveying roller, which can preferably be done by a tensioner at the belt or at one pulley or at both pulleys.

Further preferably, the counter weight belt is pressed against the second transport roller by at least a second counter roller, which may be spring-loaded.

Preferably, the conveyor roller is driven by a motor, most preferably a stepper motor. There may be gears between the motor and the rollers. A worm gear may be preferred because when the motor is unpowered, this may prevent the belt from moving backwards due to the weight of the balance weight between the stock and the drive portion.

Preferably, the balancing weight section strip comprises a plurality of balancing weight sections held together by an adhesive strip for attaching the balancing weight sections to the rim of the wheel. The plurality of balancing weight segments may also be held together by additional carriers such as plastic straps or metal straps or rods. The weight section preferably comprises a bulk material which may be a metal, such as zinc, lead, steel, tungsten, aluminium, tin or any other suitable material which may be a plastics material, or any combination thereof.

Further preferably, a backing or liner is provided to protect the adhesive surface of the adhesive tape opposite the balance weight.

It is further preferred that the adhesive tape has at least one reinforcing layer to increase the shear strength of the tape, thereby simplifying the transport accomplished by the transport section.

Preferably, the counterbalancing belt is wound into a roll supplied to the conveying section.

Preferably, the conveying section pulls the balancing weights at the balancing weight belt from the stock material, which may be a roll of balancing weights, and the conveying section pushes the balancing weights into the cutting section. Preferably, at least one slideway is provided, which may be part of the cutting section, on which a balancing weight may slide horizontally.

Further preferably, the conveying sections form an angle, preferably in the range between 70 degrees and 110 degrees, most preferably a 90 degree angle. The conveying section preferably receives the balancing weight in a vertical direction, further reorienting the balancing weight to a horizontal direction. This may be done by bending the balancing weight belt at least partially around the conveyor roller. Although the horizontal and vertical directions disclosed herein are preferred, embodiments may be arranged in any other manner.

To convey the desired number of balance weight segments, the length of the belt that has been conveyed may be measured, or the number of balance weight segments may be counted. Both methods can be used together to obtain additional references and to improve reliability. In order to determine the length of the transported balancing weight belt, a sheave with a plurality of slots is preferably provided, which can be detected and/or counted by means of an optical sensor. The sheave is preferably connected to a conveying roller, but may be connected to any other roller or belt. Instead of a sheave, any other means for detecting rotation may be provided, such as a resolver (resolver) or an angular encoder. A drive motor, preferably with an angular encoder or possibly a stepper motor, may also be provided which drives at least one wheel, most preferably the second conveyor roller. In the case of a stepper motor, the number of steps is a measure of the length of the balance weight that has been delivered.

Alternatively or additionally, at least one device for counting the number of balancing weight segments may be provided. This may be done by detecting the gap between the balancing weight segments, for example by means of a light sensor or any optical sensor. To increase the width of the gap, the counterweight belt is preferably curved. Preferably, the balance weight belt is bent around the conveying roller so as to count the balance weights passing through the first opposing roller.

Preferably, the cutting section comprises a belt guide, the transport section pushing the counterbalancing belt against the belt guide. The tape guide is preferably arcuate and forms a bend to bend the balance weight tape in a direction such that the gap between adjacent balance weight segments increases, and a cutting device may be passed between said adjacent balance weight segments to cut the tape into sections, preferably by cutting the adhesive tape and/or liner. The belt guide performs continuous formation of the belt faster and less time than moving the opposed carriages on the belt to form the belt. Due to the continuous movement of the belt at the belt guide and the absence of pressing force against the belt, there is little possibility of damaging, e.g., scratching, the surface of the counterweight segment.

Preferably, the tape guide has an arc shape. The belt guide may have an inner profile of an arcuate segment that may guide the balance weight segment. The radius of the arcuate section may be in the range between 2 to 20, preferably 5 to 10 times the thickness and/or length of the balance weight section. The angle of the arcuate section is preferably in the range between 30 ° and 150 °, most preferably 90 °. Preferably, the arcuate portion is shaped so as to deflect the belt conveyed in a horizontal plane downwardly. Here, the bending of the belt is supported by gravity.

The cutting device should preferably be easy to pass between adjacent balancing weights to be separated. This allows the use of less cutting force and avoids damaging the surface of the balancing weight segment. The cut side of the balance weight segment is the outer side, which is visible when the balance weight segment should be applied to the wheel later. Therefore, there should not be any scratches or other marks.

Preferably, the cutting device has a knife guide holding a knife and configured to move from one side of the balancing weight belt to the other side. The tool can be guided between two counterweight segments. Preferably, the knife is only capable of cutting the adhesive tape (including the backing or liner) connecting the balance weight sections. The cutter is not designed to cut the material of the counterweight segment, which may be steel or aluminum, or any other metal.

In order to avoid jamming of the dispensing device and/or damage to the knife, a position sensor for detecting the gap between adjacent balancing weights is preferably provided. Preferably, the position sensor is located above or near the position of the knife and/or the cutting path of the knife so that it can detect the gap cut by the knife. The position sensor may also be located at a distance of at least one counterweight width from the tool position. If the distance is too far, the distance between the detected position and the open gap may vary due to mechanical tolerances and/or stretching of the tape. The position sensor is preferably an optical sensor, but may also be a magnetic sensor, an inductive sensor or any other sensor suitable for detecting the balancing weight segments and/or the gaps between the balancing weight segments.

In order to dispense a mass of balancing weight, the number of balancing weight segments required may first be calculated, unless this is known. Further, the motor may be run for a certain time, and in the case of a stepper motor, a certain number of steps, to push the required number of balance weight segments towards the tape guide. Preferably, the movement of the motor is stopped after a desired number of counterweight segments have passed and the position sensor has detected a gap. This is preferably done by operating the cutter to move it through the gap and separate the desired number of balance weight segments from the belt.

Bending the tape by the tape guide further reduces stress on the adhesive tape. If the balance weight segments are simply pushed apart to create a gap between the two balance weight segments, the length of the relatively flexible self-adhesive tape or foam will expand, while the less flexible backing or liner will tear or at least separate from the tape. As described above, this is prevented from occurring by bending. For a manually cut balance weight segment, it is critical that the liner remain in place. Otherwise, the cut segment will stick to the tray immediately and the dispensing device will deliver the cut segment to the tray.

After the cutting device has cut a certain number of balancing weight segments, these may slide and/or fall along the preferably vertical side of the cutting device base under the influence of gravity and fall into a tray from which the balancing weight segments can be taken out and attached to the rim of the wheel.

The cutting section and the conveying section are preferably used together as described herein. Alternatively, the cutting section is preferably used without a conveying section or with a different conveying section. For example, the transport section may be simplified and only the first transport roller and the first counter roller are used to generate the required friction against the balancing weight belt.

The embodiments described herein allow for automatic cutting of the desired mass section from the balance weight band. Due to the automatic conveyance and cutting, high speed can be achieved and a large number of balance weights can be handled in a short time interval. Furthermore, standard sized balancing weight segments and smaller or even very small segments can be handled. This may result in a better equilibrium mass resolution (resolution) compared to manual processing. Conventional balance weight segments are typically designed to have a size that is easy to manipulate. Thus, the lightweight sections may be relatively thin, resulting in a larger surface that may be better gripped, or the lightweight sections may be made of a lower density material, resulting in larger dimensions. With these embodiments, the balancing weight segments can be of very small size, as there is no need to increase the size of each segment for manual handling.

Due to the automatic cutting, a more stable and strong adhesive tape can be used. The adhesive tape may even comprise a strong support layer. While it may not be possible to make a manual precision cut to separate out the segments, automatic cutting using a guided knife and holding the balancing weights at a predetermined position at the cutting edge will achieve a precision cut. Further, the size of the balance weight segment may be reduced to a size of 5g, 2g, 1g, or less. This may improve the resolution and thus the balancing accuracy. Such small sizes can only be handled by an automatic dispensing device because the balancing weight segments are too small to be manually handled.

Another embodiment relates to a method for delivering a cut balance weight segment. The method comprises the following steps: the method includes the steps of feeding a number of balancing weight segments as part of a balancing weight belt to a belt guide, bending the extending balancing weights such that a gap is opened between two adjacent balancing weight segments, moving a knife from one side of the balancing weight belt to the other side of the balancing weight belt, and thereby cutting the balancing weights off of the balancing weight belt.