Automated Systems in Tire Production

Automated tire assembly line for two-wheeled electric vehicles that reduces labor costs, improves quality, and increases efficiency compared to manual assembly. The line has separate stations for feeding tires, wheel hubs, brake discs, bolt installation, tire changing, and final assembly. Features like tire stacking, grabbing, rotation, and trademark detection automate tire handling. The line progresses tires through these stations using conveyors and manipulators rather than manual operators.

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Fully automated self-sealing tire production line to reduce labor costs and achieve uniform quality compared to semi-automatic lines. The line has sections for scanning tires, weighing, gluing, cooling, and inspection. A robot transfers the tires between sections. After inspection, passed tires go to output and failed ones to rework. This allows fully automated production of self-sealing tires with consistent quality without manual intervention.

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An automated tire inspection system uses thermal imaging to detect defects without manual inspection or liquid agents. The system captures infrared images of a tire section before and after inflation. Air leaks cause temperature decreases, which are identified by comparing the images to locate defects. The system operates fully automatically with cameras, tire positioners, and inflators.

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A high-efficiency tire assembly system that improves tire production speed and quality by implementing automated tire assembly, inspection, and balancing processes. The system consists of feeding, loading, inspection, cage, and delivery units. The feeding unit feeds tires and rims. The loading unit assembles the tires onto rims. The inspection unit performs initial and reinspection. The cage unit holds assembled tires. The delivery unit balances and sorts the tires. Automated balancing machines inspect static, couple, and dynamic balance. This integrated, automated assembly and balancing system improves efficiency and quality compared to manual assembly.

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Tire defect detection system using machine vision and machine learning to improve tire production efficiency by automating defect detection. The system uses a camera to capture tire images, preprocesses them, and applies a trained detection model like YOLOv5 to identify defects like cracks, scratches, perforations, and air bubbles. This avoids subjective human inspection errors and improves speed compared to manual inspection. The model is optimized using distributed learning to accelerate training.

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A tire mounting machine that uses a movable tool holder carriage with multiple arms and tools to efficiently and precisely mount and demount tires on wheels. The machine has a wheel holder unit and a vertical sliding tool carriage that moves down to operate on the top sidewall of the tire. The carriage has arms with tools that can extend, rotate, and move independently to engage the bead, sidewall, and break the bead.

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A self-sealing tire construction and manufacturing method that allows for easy and cost-effective production of puncture-sealing tires with noise reduction. The tire has a foam layer containing a pre-sealant material that breaks down and seals punctures when the tire is vulcanized. The foam layer also reduces road noise. The foam is made by taking advantage of off-gassing during vulcanization that foams the elastomer around the pre-sealant.

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A drive-over system for measuring tire tread thickness using magnetic sensing to provide automated tire tread depth measurements. The system includes a drive-over surface with embedded magnetic sensors and magnets, protected by a non-magnetic layer. When a vehicle drives over the surface, the magnets generate a magnetic field that is disrupted by the steel belts in the tire's tread. The sensors measure this disruption to determine the thickness of the rubber above the belts.

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Online tire detection method for avoiding bad batches in tire production. The method involves using a panoramic camera to take internal pictures of freshly vulcanized tires as they are unloaded. The images are analyzed using AI to detect defects. If defects are found, the vulcanizing machine is stopped to prevent bad tires from being produced. The camera is fixed below the unloading hand and rotates to capture the entire tire interior. Smoke and light are supplied inside to improve image quality.

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Tire manufacturing method and system that improves tire quality by flexibly optimizing the manufacturing process for each individual tire. The method involves attaching position marks on specific ranges of the long tire body during production. Quality measurements are taken in those marked areas. When molding the green tire, the marks are read to identify the specific tire member being used. The quality data from that area is compared to targets. Manufacturing conditions are then adjusted for the current tire being molded to bring the quality closer to target. This feed-forward optimization. Additionally, when making new long bodies, quality data is collected and conditions adjusted to bring future tire quality closer to target. This feedback optimization. By precisely identifying and adjusting the specific sections of the tire being molded, quality can be improved individually and flexibly for each tire.

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A method of building a tire without an inner liner. The method involves spraying an air barrier material onto the inner surface of the tire after curing. The spraying can be done using automated equipment like an extending nozzle from below the tire. This eliminates the need for a separate inner liner layer and saves cost and weight compared to traditional tires.

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Fixture for construction of non-pneumatic tires to improve manufacturing consistency by precisely positioning and adhering the spokes to the hub of the tire. The fixture has movable elements that surround the spokes and are shaped to match the spoke profile. When the elements are radially compressed, they push the spokes inward onto the hub, causing them to bond in a consistent alignment. This ensures the spokes are uniformly positioned on the hub for reliable tire construction.

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A method and apparatus to accurately determine the thickness of each layer in a multi-layer tire tread, even if the outer layer is conductive and absorbs radiation. The apparatus has sensors above and below the tread that emit radiation beams into the tread. The upper sensor measures the thickness of the outer layer by subtracting distances between the sensors and the outer layer surfaces from a fixed sensor separation distance. The lower sensor measures the thickness of the inner layer. By continuously monitoring the tread thickness as it moves, the layer thicknesses can be tracked and controlled during manufacture.

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Process and system to manufacture high self-sealing tires using an automated, precision process that provides a layer of high molecular organic material on the tire's inner liner. The process includes cleaning the tire, spraying heated self-sealing material on the inner liner, and forced cooling. The cleaning involves soaking, scrubbing, rinsing, rotating, and air drying. The spraying uses an accelerated rotating tire and heated material. The forced cooling uses directed air to rapidly cool the sprayed material.

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Automated system for estimating the tread depth of a moving vehicle's tire. An imaging device captures an image of the tire from one side of the inspection lane while an illumination device shines light onto the tire from the other side. The image shows the tread grooves with shadowed sections and illuminated sections. By segmenting the image, measuring the groove width, and knowing the angles of illumination and imaging, the system can estimate the tread depth.

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Efficient and accurate tire assembly method using automated scanning and sorting of tires on conveyor lines to prevent assembly errors. The method involves scanning QR codes on tires as they move along the conveyor to get model and sorting info. This is used to route tires to separate branch lines based on assembly sequence. Tires with wrong models are identified and corrected by supplementing with correct tires before final assembly. This reduces manual verification and errors compared to traditional methods.

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Robotic assembly system for rollers using computer vision to improve efficiency and quality. The system uses a robot, feeding mechanism, press fixture, cameras, and controllers. The robot picks up rollers, feeds them to the press, and uses vision to accurately position and align the rollers before pressing. This eliminates manual positioning and improves consistency compared to traditional methods. The vision system also inspects assembled rollers for defects. The system can be remotely monitored and simulated using digital technology.

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Assembly system for large tires and wheels that improves efficiency and quality of tire mounting on large wheels. The system has units for measuring wheel hub dimensions, adjusting tire height and angle, lubricating the tire, lifting it onto the hub, and tightening it in place. This pre-adjustment reduces errors and eliminates non-conforming hubs and tires. The hub clamping and tire lifting prevent rotation during mounting, allowing smooth insertion. The tire tightening is done in both rotation directions to avoid uneven tire height. The tire pressure is checked after tightening to avoid overinflation.

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Method and apparatus for detecting defects in tire building machines to improve quality control. It involves using cameras to continuously monitor the feeding process of semi-finished tire materials like carcass plies. If a defect like exposed cords, foreign objects, or lack of adhesive is detected, a notification is generated to immediately stop the feed and remove the defective section. This prevents hidden defects from propagating and potentially causing issues later in the tire. The cameras continuously scan the tire materials as they feed through the machine to catch defects early.

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Automated system for reworking tires with incorrect pressure on a tire assembly line. The system has a detection station to measure tire pressure and a rework station with an inflation/deflation device. The system uses the detection station to identify tires with out-of-range pressure. If the pressure is too low, the system inflates the tire. If the pressure is too high, the system deflates the tire. The system stops reworking the tire when it reaches the target pressure range. This automated reworking improves efficiency compared to manual reworking.

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