Importance

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Abstract

A method of controlling uniformity during tire manufacture includes the steps of selecting a target attribute and assigning a target value thereto, measuring the target attribute in a subject tire at a first rotational speed approximating highway speed and measuring in the subject tire indicator attributes a second rotational speed lower than the first rotational speed. The indicator attributes are condensed via a multivariate process to determine which attributes are the most strongly related to the target attribute. Next, a plurality of predictors for the target attribute is determined, each predictor having components including at least one indicator attribute. From the plurality of predictors, at least one best predictor is selected. The measurements for the indicator attributes making up the selected predictor are compared to limit values for the indicator attributes, and, responsive to the comparison, the tire manufacturing process may be controlled to correct any deviation between the measured attribute and the limit value for at least an additional subject tire. Production tires are measured for the components of the selected predictor at the second rotational speed, and a value for the target uniformity attribute is predicted based on the selected predictor for the additional subject tire. The predicted value is compared to the target value to allow for sorting or grading the tires.

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First Claim