JPH0471674A - Method for identifying tire size - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable identification even when the output of tires and the kinds of tire sizes to be identified are increased by making an identifier observe each tire and select tire size corresponding to the tire among tire sizes displayed on a display section. CONSTITUTION:The inside diameter and outside diameter of each of successively conveyed tires 1 are automatically measured, one or more kinds of tire sizes depending on the measured values are selected among tire sizes stored in a memory 10 and the selected tire sizes are displayed on a display 12a. An identifier 3 is made to observe the tire 1 and to select tire size corresponding to the tire among the displayed tire sizes. The cost of production of tires is not increased, erroneous identification is nearly prevented and satisfactory identification is enabled even when the output of tires and the kinds of tire sizes to be identified are increased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a tire size identification method, and particularly to a tire identification method that can be suitably applied when selecting the size of product tires. be.

(Prior art) Conventionally, methods for sorting the size of product tires include a method in which tire sizes are identified and sorted by the visual judgment of an identifier, and a method in which tire information written on the sidewall of the tire is automatically determined by a machine. There are ways to read and sort them. A method for reading tire information using a machine is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-229171, in which the inner diameter and outer diameter of the tire are automatically measured,
The system automatically reads a tire identification coat, such as a bar code, stamped on the sidewall of the tire, identifies the tire information, and sorts the tires.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, the method of identifying tire size by visual judgment requires a considerable amount of attention on the part of the person identifying it, and if the person makes the visual judgment for a long time, they may become fatigued and make judgments. The problem was that it was easy to make mistakes. Another problem is that human visual identification has its limits in responding to increases in production volume or types of tires.

On the other hand, in the method of automatically reading tire information,
Because an identification code must be engraved on the tire,
It is necessary to process the mold during the vulcanization process, and maintenance such as periodic cleaning of dirt on the mold is also required, which increases the manufacturing cost. There is also the problem that errors in reading the identification code are likely to occur due to dirt on the lens of the device that reads the identification code or a shift in focus. The present invention solves these problems of visual judgment and automatic judgment, and reduces the number of identification errors, increases production volume, and increases the number of types of tire sizes to be identified, without increasing tire manufacturing costs. The present invention is intended to provide a tire size identification method that can sufficiently handle the tire size.

(Means and effects for solving the problem) In order to solve the above problem, the tire identification method of the present invention automatically measures the inner diameter and outer diameter of tires that are sequentially transported, and stores them in advance in a storage device. At least one tire size corresponding to the measured value is selected from the stored tire sizes and displayed on the display device, and the identifier observes the tire and selects the tire size displayed on the display device. This method is characterized by selecting a tire size corresponding to the tire from among the sizes.

As described above, in the tire size identification method of the present invention, first, the inner and outer diameters of the tire to be identified are automatically measured by a machine, and several types of tire sizes corresponding to this measurement data are automatically determined. The tire size is selected and displayed on a display device, and then an identifier observes the tire and selects one that matches the size of the tire from among the tire sizes displayed on the display device. In other words, since the final identification result based on human visual judgment is selected from among the sizes that have been previously identified by the machine, the burden placed on the person who uses visual judgment is reduced.
The number of identification errors is reduced compared to when identification is performed only by visual judgment. In addition, since the final identification is performed by human visual inspection, there is no need to stamp tire size identification information on the sidewall, and the costs associated with conventional mold processing and maintenance can be reduced. Furthermore, since visual determination is ultimately performed, it is not necessary to measure the inner and outer diameters of the tire with particularly high precision, and therefore, identification errors that depend on the precision of the measuring machine can be significantly reduced.

(Embodiment) FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of a tire size identification device used in the method of the present invention.

In this example, as shown in FIG. 1(A), the tires 1 are conveyed by a roller conveyor 2a and sequentially sent to the inner and outer diameter measurement positions. Another roller conveyor 2b is installed at the inner and outer diameter measurement position, and after automatically measuring the inner and outer diameters of the tire 1, the tire 1 is sent to a visual judgment position.
A visual judgment is performed by the identifier 3. 9 After the visual judgment is completed, the tires 1 are sorted by size according to the results identified by the method of the present invention.

Tire arrival sensors 4a and 4b are provided on both sides of the roller conveyor 2a and the belt conveyor 2C (visual determination position), so that the inner and outer diameters of the tires can be measured at sufficient intervals on the roller conveyor 2b, and the belt On the conveyor 2C, the conveyance of the tires is controlled so that the identification person can identify the tire information in sufficient time.

Above and below the roller conveyor 2b, inner and outer diameter measuring sensors 5 are provided to measure the inner and outer diameters of the tires l being conveyed. Light is projected onto the tire 1 passing through the tire 1, and the inner and outer diameters of the tire are measured based on the amount of light blocked by the tire 1.

The light projecting section 5a projects light onto the tire 1 through a light projecting lens from a plurality of light emitting lights arranged at intervals of, for example, 0.1 inch (2.54 mm). Similarly to the light projecting part, a plurality of photodiodes are arranged in the light receiving part 5b at intervals of 0.1 inch, and each receives light from the light emitting diode of the light projecting part 5a.

The tire outer diameter is measured when the tip of the tire 1 conveyed on the roller conveyor 2b enters the detection field of the inner and outer diameter measurement sensor 5 and blocks 1 to 2 bits of the light emitted from the light emitting part 5a ( Then, as tire 1 is transported, the tip of the inner diameter of the tire enters the detection field of view, and when there is light or light from one or two pits in the center, the inner diameter of the tire is measured (incident light is counted). Pit count). When the rear end of the tire's inner diameter exits the detection field of view, light will no longer enter the inner diameter, and at this point the measurement of the inner diameter is completed. When the tire is further transported and the rear end of the tire's outer diameter leaves the detection field of view, all bits enter the light-receiving state and the measurement of the tire's outer diameter is completed. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a light shielding state when the center of the tire 1 enters the detection field of view. At this point, the number of light incident pits based on the inner diameter and the light shielding width based on the outer diameter reach their maximum values, and the inner and outer diameters are calculated and stored from their respective maximum values.

Under the control of the controller 6, the number of bits that block or enter light through the outer diameter or inner diameter of the tire is processed by the signal processing circuit 7 as a serial signal. This serial signal is supplied to the inner/outer diameter calculation circuit 8, which calculates the maximum value of the light shielding width due to the tire outer diameter and the maximum value of the light incident pit due to the tire inner diameter, and converts it into data on the inner and outer diameters of the tire. The data is converted into several types of classification based on the inner diameter and outer diameter, and the data or the corresponding classification is used as a size signal. For example, the inner diameter is 14. Finchill 15.6 inches is defined as a 15-inch section, and any tire whose measured inner diameter falls within this section is converted into a tire with an inner diameter of 15 inches. An example of classification is inner diameter 14. Finchill 15.6 inches into 15 inch sections, 15.
Finch ~ 16.8 inches into 16 inch divisions, 16
．． There are 9 inches to 17.8 inches divided into 17.5 inch sections. Similarly, the outer diameter is divided into several categories and the measured data is converted.

The data on the inner and outer diameters converted in this way is stored in the memory 9.

On the other hand, the inner and outer diameter data of all types of tires conveyed to this identification device are stored in the inner and outer diameter data storage device IO, and the inner and outer diameter data of the tire stored in the memory 9 are stored in the storage device 10. A comparison circuit 11 compares the stored data.

The comparison circuit 11 selects the relevant tire data from among the data registered in the inner/outer diameter data storage device 7, and displays it on the display device 12a of the operation panel 12. FIG. 3 shows the display section 12a of the operation panel 12.
There is a line diagram showing the data, and a light-emitting mark is attached to the data that is lit up.

As shown in FIG. 1, the identifier 3 is located between the operation panel 12 and the belt conveyor 2c, and observes the tire 1 that has been conveyed onto the belt conveyor 2c after measuring the inner and outer diameters. The driver then performs pattern recognition, selects data corresponding to the tire from among the data lit and displayed on the display section 12a, and presses the lit display button. The pattern recognition performed by the identifier includes recognition of the tread pattern, the color of the tread mark line, the recognition of the size mark written on the sidewall of the tire, and the like.

The tires whose sizes have been identified in this manner are sent to a sorted position by the roller conveyor 2d, and are sorted by size according to data selected by the identifier.

(Effects of the Invention) In the method of the present invention, the inner and outer diameters of the tire are automatically detected, several candidates of sizes corresponding to the tire are automatically selected and displayed on the display section, and the identifier is , the tire is observed and the size that matches the tire is selected from among the tire size candidates displayed on the display, which reduces the effort of the person identifying the tire size. There are two things you can do to reduce identification errors. Furthermore, it is possible to easily cope with an increase in the number of tires to be identified and an increase in the number of sizes. Furthermore, since there is no need to stamp the tire size on the sidewall, there is no need for a complicated and expensive device to read it, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the light shielding state of the inner and outer diameter measurement sensor, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the display section of the operation panel. It is a diagram showing an example. l... Tires 2a, 2b, 2c, 2cl = conveyor 3... identifiers 4a, 4b... photoelectric switch 5... inner and outer diameter measurement sensor 6... controller 7
... Signal processing circuit 8 ... Inner diameter outer diameter calculation circuit 9
...Memory 10...Inner and outer diameter data storage device 11...Comparison circuit 12...Operation panel 12a...
・Display section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Automatically measure the inner diameter and outer diameter of the tires that are sequentially transported, and select at least one tire size according to the measured values from among the tire sizes stored in advance in the storage device. 1. A method for identifying a tire size, which comprises displaying the tire on a display device, having an identifier observe the tire, and selecting a tire size corresponding to the tire from among the tire sizes displayed on the display device.