Non-destructive belt detection apparatus and method

A tire buffing machine, comprising:

• a controller enabling the buffing machine to buff a casing while monitoring the location of a belt package disposed therein, the controller including instructions stored on non-transient data media to cause the controller to be configured to:
• maintain a database containing a plurality of casing profiles, each casing profile including corresponding buffing parameters;
• operate a buffer to buff the casing in accordance with buffing parameters associated with one of the plurality of casing profiles;
• determine a first belt depth at a first lateral position within the casing and a second belt depth at a second lateral position within the casing using a belt detection apparatus having two or more sensors including a first sensor configured to detect the first belt depth and a second sensor configured to detect the second belt depth within the casing;
• adjust the operation of the buffer based on the first belt depth or the second belt depth;
• determine, by a third sensor of the two or more sensors, a lateral distance between the first sensor and the second sensor;
• and
• operate the buffer in response to determining that the lateral distance between the first sensor and the second sensor is within a predetermined distance range associated with one of the casing profiles.

A method of manufacturing a retreaded tire casing defining a first lateral side and a second lateral side opposite the first lateral side, the method comprising:

• maintaining, in a database, a plurality of casing profiles, each casing profile including corresponding buffing parameters;
• operating a buffer to buff the casing in accordance with buffing parameters in one of the plurality of casing profiles;
• determining, by a controller, a first belt depth at a first lateral position proximate the first lateral side within a tire casing and a second belt depth at a second lateral position proximate the second lateral side within the tire casing using a belt detection apparatus having two or more sensors including a first sensor and a second sensor respectively configured to detect the first belt depth at the first lateral side and the second belt depth at the second lateral side within the tire casing;
• adjusting, by the controller, the operation of the buffer based on the first belt depth or the second belt depth;
• determining, by a third sensor of the two or more sensors, a lateral distance between the first sensor and the second sensor;
• and
• operate the buffer in response to determining that the lateral distance between the first sensor and the second sensor is within a predetermined distance range associated with one of the casing profiles.