Method and Apparatus for Non-Destructive Detection of Tire Anomalies
First Claim
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1. An impact-acoustic method for testing a tire, comprising:
- providing an actuatable impactor disposed proximate an impact area whereupon the impactor strikes the tire;
providing an acoustic transducer disposed proximate the impact area on a common side of the tire with the impactor, with the acoustic transducer receiving one or more sound waves generated when the impactor strikes the impact area and generating corresponding acoustic signals;
providing a force transducer disposed proximate the impact area for measuring one or more dynamic forces and generating corresponding force signals indicative of impact force;
providing a tire on a test platform such that the impactor strikes the impact area during actuation thereof;
calculating a plurality of discriminator quantities from the acoustic signals and the force signals; and
comparing calculated discriminator quantities with stored discriminator quantities to determine whether an anomaly is present in the tire.
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Abstract
An impact-acoustic method for testing a tire is provided along with a tire anomaly detection system in which an actuatable impactor is provided with an acoustic transducer and a force transducer. A plurality of discriminator quantities is calculated from acoustic signals and force signals and the calculated discriminator quantities are compared with stored discriminator quantities to determine whether an anomaly is present in the tire.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. An impact-acoustic method for testing a tire, comprising:
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providing an actuatable impactor disposed proximate an impact area whereupon the impactor strikes the tire; providing an acoustic transducer disposed proximate the impact area on a common side of the tire with the impactor, with the acoustic transducer receiving one or more sound waves generated when the impactor strikes the impact area and generating corresponding acoustic signals; providing a force transducer disposed proximate the impact area for measuring one or more dynamic forces and generating corresponding force signals indicative of impact force; providing a tire on a test platform such that the impactor strikes the impact area during actuation thereof; calculating a plurality of discriminator quantities from the acoustic signals and the force signals; and comparing calculated discriminator quantities with stored discriminator quantities to determine whether an anomaly is present in the tire. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A tire anomaly detection system, comprising a tire support system comprising a test platform;
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an impact system, comprising; an actuatable impactor disposed proximate an impact area whereupon the impactor strikes a tire placed on the test platform; an acoustic transducer disposed proximate the impact area on a common side of the tire with the impactor, with the acoustic transducer receiving one or more sound waves generated when the impactor strikes the impact area and generating corresponding acoustic signals indicative of the received sound waves; and a force transducer disposed proximate the impact area for measuring one or more dynamic forces and generating corresponding force signals indicative of impact force; wherein a plurality of discriminator quantities are calculated from the acoustic signals and the force signals, and the calculated discriminator quantities are compared with stored discriminator quantities to determine whether an anomaly is present in the tire. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A tire anomaly detection system, comprising:
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a tire support structure for supporting a tire during testing; an impactor disposed proximate the tire for impacting the tire at one or more locations; an acoustic transducer disposed proximate the impactor for receiving a sound wave when the impactor contacts the tire; a force transducer for measuring one or more dynamic forces at locations of impactor contact and generating corresponding force signals indicative of impact force; and one or more computing devices each having a processor with instructions for calculating a plurality of discriminator quantities from the sound wave and the force signals and instructions for comparing the calculated discriminator values with stored discriminator values indicative of an anomaly in the tire. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification