Tire uniformity through identification of process signatures
First Claim
1. A method for improving the uniformity of tires in tire manufacture, comprising:
- providing a set of test tires manufactured in a known order;
identifying at least one candidate cyclic process effect and a corresponding rate of introduction of the at least one candidate cyclic process effect, the at least one candidate cyclic process effect having a period that does not fit an integer number of times within a tire circumference associated with the set of test tires;
measuring a given uniformity parameter for each tire in the set of test tires, wherein the measured uniformity parameter contains one or more tire harmonics and process harmonics;
concatenating measured data points for the set of test tires into a concatenated composite waveform;
separating at least one process harmonic associated with each of the at least one candidate cyclic process effects from the tire harmonics in the concatenated composite waveform; and
building a new tire to improve uniformity based on knowledge of each separated process harmonic.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and related method for improving tire uniformity includes providing a number (n) of test tires manufactured in a known order and identifying at least one candidate cyclic process effect with a corresponding frequency of introduction (f). A given uniformity parameter, such as radial or lateral run-out, balance, mass variation, radial lateral or tangential force variation, is measured for each tire in the test set, and measured data points are combined into a concatenated composite waveform. At least one process harmonic associated with each identified cyclic process effect is separated from the tire harmonics, for example, by Fourier transformation with identification of the process harmonics as positive integer multiples of the mth harmonic of the measured uniformity parameter where m=n/f. Once the process harmonics are extracted, filtered uniformity measurements can be provided or new tires can be built with the process effect minimized.
17 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for improving the uniformity of tires in tire manufacture, comprising:
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providing a set of test tires manufactured in a known order; identifying at least one candidate cyclic process effect and a corresponding rate of introduction of the at least one candidate cyclic process effect, the at least one candidate cyclic process effect having a period that does not fit an integer number of times within a tire circumference associated with the set of test tires; measuring a given uniformity parameter for each tire in the set of test tires, wherein the measured uniformity parameter contains one or more tire harmonics and process harmonics; concatenating measured data points for the set of test tires into a concatenated composite waveform; separating at least one process harmonic associated with each of the at least one candidate cyclic process effects from the tire harmonics in the concatenated composite waveform; and building a new tire to improve uniformity based on knowledge of each separated process harmonic. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for improving the uniformity of tires in tire manufacture, comprising:
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a first memory adapted for storing a plurality of concatenated data points for at least one measured uniformity parameter for a set of test tires manufactured in a known order, wherein the at least one measured uniformity parameter includes one or more tire harmonics and process harmonics; a second memory adapted for storing software in the form of computer-executable instructions; and at least one processor coupled to said first and second memories and configured to selectively implement the computer-executable instructions stored in the second memory to analyze the concatenated data points stored in the first memory; wherein said at least one processor implements the computer-executable instructions stored in said second memory in order to separate at least one process harmonic associated with at least one candidate cyclic process effect having a corresponding identified frequency of introduction from the tire harmonics in a composite waveform formed from the plurality of concatenated data points, the at least one candidate cyclic process effect having a period that does not fit an integer number of times within a tire circumference associated with the set of test tires. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification