Tire Characterization Probe for Automated Wheel Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tire-wheel assembly manufacturing processes require significant capital investment and human oversight, making them inefficient and costly.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a tire characteristic determination device and a tire-wheel assembly manufacturing system that uses a memory device to store and retrieve tire-engaging data, allowing for the spatial manipulation of tires about wheels through communicative coupling, actuation, and sensing to optimize tire-wheel assembly formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional methodologies are used to assemble tire-wheel assemblies, then the process can be completed with existing equipment, but significant capital investment and human oversight are required
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the tire-wheel assembly process into distinct functional modules: a determination device that measures tire characteristics, a memory device that stores engagement data, and a mounting station that applies the data. This segmentation allows each component to be simpler while the integrated system achieves automation, reducing both capital investment and human oversight requirements.
2Productivity
If automated systems are implemented to reduce human oversight, then productivity increases, but device complexity and capital investment increase
Solution Approach 1:
The determination device automatically measures tire characteristics and the system self-determines optimal engagement values without human intervention. The memory device stores this data and the mounting station automatically applies it, creating a self-service automated system that improves productivity while keeping individual components relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual mechanical operations with automated measurement and data retrieval processes. Instead of human operators physically assessing and mounting tires, the determination device uses sensors and the memory device uses digital data storage to automate the process, improving efficiency without requiring complex mechanical systems.
3Manufacturing precision
If tire characteristics are precisely determined to optimize engagement, then manufacturing precision improves, but measurement and detection difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The determination device acts as an intermediary between the tire and the mounting process. It uses sensors to measure tire characteristics and translates these physical properties into data that the memory device can store and the mounting station can use, simplifying the measurement process while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a digital copy of tire characteristics through the determination device's measurements. This data copy is stored in the memory device and used to guide the mounting process, eliminating the need for direct complex physical measurements during assembly and enabling precise engagement through information replication.
Data Source
AI summary
A tire characteristic determination system is disclosed. The tire characteristic determination system includes a memory device that stores tire-engaging data related to one or more tire-engaging value to be utilized for spatially manipulating a tire about a wheel for forming a tire-wheel assembly. The tire characteristic determination device includes a tire-engaging test probe that is urged adjacent the tire at one or more tire displacement distances or is urged against the tire with one or more amounts of urging forces. The tire characteristic determination device is communicatively-coupled to the memory device for communicating the one or more tire displacement distances or the one or more amounts of urging forces to the memory device.