Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire LLC (BFNT) is evaluating "Glyph" technology as an alternative method for marking and tracking tires.
"The technology allows each tire to be marked with key data and tracked easily with automatic equipment," says Don Smith, BFNT mechanical engineering manager.
"The InfoGlyph laser-made mark is barely visible to the human eye but is readable with the equipment tested so far. More testing is planned but at this time, InfoGlyph appears to be an alternative with a lot of potential."
When fully implemented, the technology will be able to identify date of manufacture, specify certain manufacturing information, "and even make identifying the ultimate purchaser of the tire easier and more efficient," according to BFNT officials.
InfoGlyph can place symbols within corporate trademarks or logos and on a wide variety of surfaces.
BFNT plans to develop a prototype tire marking station to be used for testing purposes.
