Patent 7340946 was granted and assigned to Bridgestone on March, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A method and a device for inspecting a tire, the method comprising the steps of, in a rim assembly station (G) separated from an inspection station (K) having a tire inspector (58) installed thereon, forming a rim/tire assembly (44) in a setup by assembling one side and the other side rims (19) and (20) with an inspected tire (15) and, when an inspection is performed, transforming the rim/tire assembly (44) from the rim assembly station (G) to the tire inspector (58) on the inspection station (K), whereby a preparatory operation time in the tire inspector (58) can be shortened to shorten a cycle time.