Tire Digitizer
First Claim
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1. A system for digitizing a profile of a tire as it moves within a predefined area comprising:
- a chassis positioned in proximity to the tire within the predefined area;
a plurality of sensing modules mounted on the chassis, where the sensing modules capture a substantially 270 degrees profile of the tire within the predefined area and generate a profile data representative of the profile of a tire; and
a control unit in electrical communication with the sensing modules to process data from the sensing modules and correlate a coordinate space associated with the sensing modules with a common coordinate space.
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Abstract
A tire digitizer system for digitizing the profile of a tire to create a digital model of the tire is described. There is provided a chassis that includes one or more sheet of light triangulation sensors for capturing the profile of a tire moving in a predefined area and outputting coordinate values describing a digital model of the tire. The system may be used during the tire development and manufacturing process to inspect for any defects in the tire.
7 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A system for digitizing a profile of a tire as it moves within a predefined area comprising:
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a chassis positioned in proximity to the tire within the predefined area; a plurality of sensing modules mounted on the chassis, where the sensing modules capture a substantially 270 degrees profile of the tire within the predefined area and generate a profile data representative of the profile of a tire; and a control unit in electrical communication with the sensing modules to process data from the sensing modules and correlate a coordinate space associated with the sensing modules with a common coordinate space. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for digitizing a profile of a tire as the tire moves within a predefined area, the tire having a tread face, a front left sidewall, and a front right sidewall, the method comprising:
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positioning a tire chassis in proximity to the tire within the predefined area; capturing a substantially profile of the tire substantially 270 degrees around the tire within the predefined area; generating a profile data representative of the profile of a tire comprising front left sidewall dimensions of the tire, front right sidewall dimensions of the tire, and tread face dimensions of the tire; electrically transmitting process data from each sensing module to a control unit; and correlating a coordinate space associated with the sensing modules with a common coordinate space by the control unit. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. An operational procedure for a tire digitizer including:
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projecting light beams from an at least one of a plurality of light beam generators; using at least one of a plurality of imagers to capture a profile image of the tire; simultaneously capturing the angle position of a rotary encoder used when rotating the tire; triangulating the image of the tire to produce a profile data set; transmitting the profile data set to a processor; processing the profile data set, such that the resolution values are calibrated according to a reference data set, wherein the profile data set is transformed into coordinates; transforming the profile data set from the plurality of imagers to a data storage system, and cycling through the operational procedure if the processor requests profile data.
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Specification