Smart laser sensors simplify tire and rubber inspection

Dec. 1, 2005
Thousands of laser based sensors are in use today in tire manufacturing operations, both for in-process monitoring and final tire inspection. This White Paper focuses on significant recent developments that offer major enhancements to implementing laser sensors in tire operations.
By Dr. Walt Pastorius and Mike Snow, LMI TechnologiesAS TIRE specifications become more stringent, tire manufacturers require their suppliers to develop faster, more sophisticated and more accurate measurement and inspection devices for both on and off line applications. The basic need is for dependable devices that inspect tires with better throughput, higher sampling rates and longer stand-off distances without sacrificing accuracy. Reducing overall system cost is another recognized requirement. Manual re-inspection of false rejects must also be minimized. For all in-process and finished product applications, laser sensors are used in the rubber and tire industry to enhance competitiveness by improving productivity. The basic benefits of using laser sensors for quality control include: increasing yield and productivity, increasing quality by providing 100% product inspection, reducing scrap production and rejects, and in-process inspection to detect and correct trends quickly before production of scrap.