Tire uniformity improvement through improved process harmonic resolution

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10126738-B2
Application number	US-201414892338-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 18, 2014
Priority date	Jun 18, 2013
Publication date	Nov 13, 2018
Grant date	Nov 13, 2018

Abstract

Methods and systems for improving tire uniformity through identification of characteristics of one or more candidate process effects are provided. The magnitudes of process harmonics associated with one or more candidate process effects can be identified by combining uniformity measurements for a set of tires to achieve an enhanced resolution for a sampling of the process harmonic. The enhanced resolution approach can combine uniformity measurements for a set of a plurality of tires that are slightly offset from one another to generate a composite process harmonic sampling. In particular, the composite process harmonic sampling can be generated by aligning the uniformity measurements for each tire in the set of tires based on the azimuthal location of the maximum magnitude of the process harmonic on each tire. The magnitude of the process harmonic can then be determined using the composite process harmonic sampling.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of improving the uniformity of a tire, comprising:
identifying at least one candidate process effect;
obtaining uniformity measurements of a uniformity parameter for each tire in a set of a plurality of tires, the uniformity measurements for each tire being obtained for a plurality of points about the tire, the uniformity measurements containing a process harmonic associated with the candidate process effect;
aligning, with one or more computing devices, the uniformity measurements for the set of tires based at least in part on an azimuthal location of a maximum magnitude of the process harmonic on each tire in the set of tires to construct a composite process harmonic sampling;
estimating, with the one or more computing devices, a magnitude of the process harmonic from the composite process harmonic sampling; and
modifying tire manufacture based on the magnitude of the process harmonic;
wherein the uniformity measurements for each tire are obtained for the plurality of points about the tire at a first sampling resolution, the composite process harmonic sampling being associated with a second sampling resolution, the second sampling resolution being greater than the first sampling resolution.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composite process harmonic sampling comprises a waveform associated with one cycle of the candidate process effect.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein aligning, with the one or more computing devices, the uniformity measurements for the set of tires comprises:
modeling the uniformity measurements for each tire in the set of tires using a mathematical model including a process harmonic term;
estimating coefficients for the process harmonic term of each tire; and
determining a phase angle for each tire based on the estimated coefficients for the process harmonic term of the tire.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the coefficients of the process harmonic term are estimated using a regression analysis or a programming analysis.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein aligning, with the one or more computing devices, the uniformity measurements for the set of tires determined for each tire comprises:
determining a point shift for each tire based on the phase angle determined for the tire; and
re-indexing the uniformity measurements for each tire based on the point shift determined for the tire.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the composite process harmonic sampling is constructed by combining the uniformity measurements re-indexed for each tire in the set of tires.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the magnitude of the process harmonic is estimated from the composite process harmonic sampling by:
modeling the composite process harmonic sampling using a model including a process harmonic term;
estimating coefficients for the process harmonic term; and
determining the magnitude of the process harmonic based on the estimated coefficients.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein aligning, with the one or more computing devices, the uniformity measurements for the set of tires comprises:
obtaining Fourier coefficients associated with the process harmonic for each tire;
estimating a phase angle from the Fourier coefficients associated with the process harmonic for each tire;
adjusting the Fourier coefficients associated with the process harmonic for each tire based at least in part on the phase angle to obtain adjusted Fourier coefficients.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein estimating, with the one or more computing devices, a magnitude of the process harmonic from the composite process harmonic comprises:
obtaining a set of baseline Fourier coefficients for the candidate process effect; and
estimating the magnitude of the process harmonic based at least in part on the adjusted Fourier coefficients for the set of tires and the baseline Fourier coefficients for the candidate process effect.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the magnitude of the process harmonic is estimated using a regression analysis or a programming analysis.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of tires in the set of tires are made in a similar manufacturing process such that the process harmonic will manifest in each of the plurality of tires in the set of tires.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of tires are not manufactured in a sequential order during the manufacturing process.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the uniformity parameter comprises one or more of radial run out (RRO), lateral run out (LRO), mass variance, balance, radial force variation (RFV), lateral force variation (LFV) and tangential force variation (TFV).

14. A system for improving the uniformity of tires, the system comprising:
a uniformity measurement machine configured to measure a uniformity waveform for each tire in a plurality of tires, the uniformity waveform for each tire comprising a plurality of uniformity measurements of a uniformity parameter for a plurality of measurement points about the tire; and
one or more computing devices coupled to the measurement machine, the one or more computing devices comprising one or more processors and at least one memory, the memory storing computer-readable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations, the operations comprising:
obtaining uniformity measurements of a uniformity parameter for each tire in a set of a plurality of tires, the uniformity measurements for each tire being obtained for a plurality of points about the tire, the uniformity measurements containing a process harmonic associated with the candidate process effect;
aligning, with one or more computing devices, the uniformity measurements for the set of tires based at least in part on an azimuthal location of a maximum magnitude of the process harmonic on each tire in the set of tires to construct a composite process harmonic sampling;
estimating, with the one or more computing devices, a magnitude of the process harmonic from the composite process harmonic sampling; and
modifying tire manufacture based on the magnitude of the process harmonic;
wherein the uniformity measurements for each tire are obtained for the plurality of points about the tire at a first sampling resolution over an interval of the process harmonic, the composite process harmonic sampling being associated with a second sampling resolution over an interval of the process harmonic, the second sampling resolution being greater than the first sampling resolution.

Assignees

• Michelin & Cie
• Michelin Rech Tech

Inventors

• Mawby William David

Classifications

• G01M17/02

  Tyres · CPC title

• G05B19/418

  Total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, e.g. direct or distributed numerical control [DNC], flexible manufacturing systems [FMS], integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] or computer integrated manufacturing [CIM] · CPC title

• G05B2219/32348

  Process reengineering, rethink manufacturing process, continuous improve · CPC title

• G01M17/024 Primary

  combined with tyre surface correcting or marking means · CPC title

• G01L5/16

  for measuring several components of force · CPC title