James R Mathis

US Patent:

52712842, Dec 21, 1993

Filed:

Oct 8, 1991

Appl. No.:

7/772991

Inventors:

Donald O. Still - Akron OH
James E. Mathis - Clinton OH
Louis F. Szabo - Broadview Hts. OH

Assignee:

Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. - Akron OH

International Classification:

G01B 2106
G01B 1104

US Classification:

738658

Abstract:

A body ply splice width monitor is provided to sense the leading and trailing edges of a lateral splice in a web of tire body ply material and to produce an indication upon a monitor as to whether such splice satisfies certain dimensional criteria. A first pair of sensors is maintained along one edge of the web, while a second pair of sensors is maintained along the opposite edge. An encoder tracks the movement of the web through the array of sensors and provides output pulses corresponding to finite dimensional lengths of the web. The number of pulses between the sensed leading edge and sensed trailing edge of the splice is used to indicate and determine the total splice width.