Electronic Nose for Tire Mold Bladder Leak Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for detecting leaks in tire mold bladders are either time-consuming, unreliable, or fail to detect smaller leaks, leading to significant tire scrap rates due to under-cured tires produced with damaged bladders.
Innovation Solution
The method involves using an electronic nose to sense odors indicative of bladder leaks by analyzing particulates carried by tires after they are removed from the mold, allowing for timely detection and minimization of tire scrap.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If visual inspection method is used to detect bladder leaks, then detection capability is provided, but time consumption increases and tire scrap rate remains high due to cooling buffer
Solution Approach 1:
The electronic nose performs leak detection immediately after the mold opens and the tire is removed, before the tire enters the cooling circuit buffer. This preliminary action captures the odor of uncured rubber particles while they are still present on the tire surface, enabling detection before time is lost to the cooling buffer period.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual visual inspection method with an electronic nose system that uses sensor arrays and signal processing to detect bladder leaks. This substitution eliminates the time-consuming nature of visual inspection and enables automated, rapid detection immediately after tire removal from the mold.
2Reliability
If humidity measurement method is used to detect bladder leaks, then leak detection is possible, but reliability is reduced due to false positives from steam or moisture
Solution Approach 1:
The electronic nose uses odorant molecules as intermediaries to detect bladder leaks. Instead of directly measuring humidity, the system detects the unique odor signature of uncured rubber particles that are present when the bladder leaks, providing specific and accurate leak detection without false positives from steam or moisture.
Solution Approach 2:
The electronic nose detects changes in the odor profile (chemical signature) of the tire surface. The system identifies the presence of uncured rubber odor that indicates bladder leakage, analogous to detecting color changes, providing reliable and precise leak detection independent of humidity conditions.
3Reliability
If steam injection counting method is used to detect bladder leaks, then large leaks can be detected, but smaller leaks are missed reducing dependability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the steam injection counting method with an electronic nose system that directly samples and analyzes odorant molecules from the tire surface. This substitution enables detection of both large and small leaks by sensing the presence of uncured rubber odor particles, providing superior measurement precision and dependability across all leak sizes.
Solution Approach 2:
The electronic nose system changes the detection parameter from counting steam injections (macro-level parameter) to detecting odorant molecule concentrations (micro-level parameter). This parameter change enables the system to detect even small leaks that would not cause significant steam injection frequency changes, thereby improving both reliability and measurement precision.
4Ease of manufacture
If electronic nose detection is performed after cooling buffer, then tire can be inspected, but six or seven undercured tires are produced before leak is caught
Solution Approach 1:
The electronic nose performs detection as a preliminary action immediately when the tire is removed from the mold, before the tire enters the cooling circuit buffer and before any undercured tires are produced. This timing eliminates the loss of six or seven tires that occurs with delayed inspection methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The system rushes through the detection process immediately upon tire removal, skipping the waiting period associated with the cooling buffer. By performing detection without delay, the system identifies leaking bladders before multiple undercured tires are produced, thereby minimizing tire scrap rate.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach effectively reduces tire scrap rates by accurately identifying leaking bladders, potentially limiting under-cured tire production to just one or two tires per batch, compared to six or seven with existing methods.
Implementation Method 1
an electronic nose 24 that senses the odor of a fluid 22 that leaks from the bladder 14
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of detecting tire mold (10) bladder (14) leakage is provided that includes placing an uncured tire (12) into a mold (10), and inflating a bladder (14), that has a fluid (22), within the mold. Sufficient heat and pressure are applied to at least partially cure the tire when the uncured tire is in the mold (10). The mold (10) is opened and electronic smelling is conducted on the at least partially cured tire (12). The electronic smelling is performed in order to determine whether the bladder (14) is leaking the fluid (22).