Apparatus for tire scanning and methods of using same

A tire scanning apparatus, the tire scanning apparatus comprising:

• a body;
• one or more tire support features attached to the body for supporting a tire in a substantially upright orientation for rotation substantially in place about a rolling axis of the tire;
• and
• a plurality of outer sensors attached to the body to capture outer surface geometry data corresponding to an intersection of an imaging plane and an outer surface of a portion of the tire.

A method of tire scanning, the method comprising:

• supporting a tire in a substantially upright orientation for rotation substantially in place about a rolling axis of the tire;
• capturing first outer surface geometry data corresponding to an intersection of an imaging plane and an outer surface of a first radial slice of the tire;
• rotating the tire about the rolling axis of the tire;
• capturing second outer surface geometry data corresponding to an intersection of the imaging plane and an outer surface of a second radial slice of the tire.