System and method for leak testing green tire assembly enclosures
AssigneeBridgestone Bandag, LLC
InventorsMatthew J. Abraham, Seth D. Taylor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for leak testing an envelope for a tire assembly can include a rim, an envelope sized to accommodate a green tire assembly and secured to the rim, a vacuum system in fluid communication with the envelope, and a controller. The controller can be configured to pressurize the envelope to a predetermined pressure, compare a slope of pressure over time to a predetermined value, and enable proceeding with a depressurization of the envelope responsive to determining the slope of the pressure over time being more than or equal to the predetermined value.
Claims20
A system for leak testing an envelope for a tire assembly, the system comprising:
- a rim;
- an envelope sized to accommodate a green tire assembly and secured to the rim;
- a vacuum system in fluid communication with the envelope;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- depressurize the envelope to a predetermined vacuum;
- compare a slope of vacuum over time to a predetermined value;
- and
- enable proceeding with a depressurization of the envelope responsive to determining the slope of the vacuum over time being less than or equal to the predetermined value.
A process for leak testing an envelope for a tire assembly, the process comprising:
- pressurizing an envelope containing a green tire assembly mounted to a rim to a predetermined pressure using a vacuum system;
- comparing a slope of vacuum over time to a predetermined value;
- and
- enabling proceeding with a depressurization of the envelope responsive to determining the slope of the vacuum over time being less than or equal to the predetermined value or activating an indicator responsive to determining the slope of the vacuum over time being more than the predetermined value.
An apparatus for leak testing an envelope for a tire assembly, the apparatus comprising:
- a vacuum system in fluid communication with an envelope, the envelope sized to accommodate a green tire assembly;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- depressurize the envelope to a predetermined vacuum;
- compare a slope of vacuum over time to a predetermined value;
- and
- enable proceeding with a depressurization of the envelope responsive to determining the slope of the vacuum over time being less than or equal to the predetermined value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.