Material waste and product changeover downtime have been cut at Pirelli Tyres’ UK manufacturing plant in Carlisle following the installation of bi-parting electric linear actuators from Hoerbiger-Origa. These adjust knives that cut a continuous rubber web to form an inner casing for the ply of car tyres. The knives cut the rubber web, which is 0.5 to 1.2mm gauge, evenly about a centre line at up to 25m/minute. The strip varies from 250mm wide for small city cars to 500mm for the high performance sports tyres. The actuators are 32mm bore versions of Hoerbiger-Origa’s OSP-E belt driven units. They are fitted in pairs, with one driven by a small servomotor and the other slaved to it in a reversing drive configuration. The range of linear actuators includes belt and screw electric drives, plus a rodless pneumatic version. The range is modular, being based on a common extruded aluminium profile with double dovetail rails on three sides for mounting of valves and sensors.
