Mitsubishi advances tire inspection systems

Hiroshima, Japan – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machinery Systems Ltd (MHI-MS) is introducing a new range of tire-inspection systems that address the increasing trend of small-scale production of wide variety of tires. 

“Tire inspection machines capable of handling wide ranges of tires with shortest rim-change time are being demanded more than ever before,” according to an MHI-MS spokesman.

The Japanese machinery major has, therefore, designed and constructed systems to measure uniformity, dynamic balancing and geometry of the tire in a single integrated line.

“These designs have achieved top levels of line cycle time of 19.6 seconds per tire, with measurement accuracy repeatability of ? ? 1.69N,” the spokesman said in a written statement to ERJ.

This system, he added, achieved a rim-change time of 45 seconds in case of uniformity measurement units, and 60 seconds for dynamic balance measurement units.

The design also eliminates the need for calibrations after each rim-change, while a high precision tapered shaft-engagement system – like that used for automatic changes of machine tools – is applied to the rim change unit.

Precise radial and lateral runout of the rim is ensured by the engagement at the tapered area of main spindle and rim, the spokesman further explained.

“A turret type rotating table, on which the upcoming rim to be arranged nearby the main spindle, will automatically replace the rim according to the information of the next tire,” he stated.