Patent ID: 6907777

Claim:
Apparatus for non-destructively testing a vehicular tire, the tire having a carcass with a pair of opposing sidewalls, an inner surface, an outer surface, and at least one integral steel belt portion, the tire presenting a rotational axis, the apparatus comprising: a high-potential electrical power source; and a detecting head portion including: a body portion made from electrically insulating material; a first elongate electrode operably coupled with the body portion and operably electrically connected with the high-potential power source; and a second elongate electrode operably coupled with the body portion and spaced apart from the first electrode portion, the second electrode operably electrically connected with an electrical ground potential source, wherein each of the first and second electrodes have at least one portion adapted to be contactable with the inner surface of the tire carcass and to be slidable thereon as the tire is rotated about the rotational axis, so that as either electrode is passed over a flaw in the tire carcass, an electrical arc occurs through the flaw between the steel belt portion and the electrode nearest the flaw, and wherein when said at least one portion of each of the first and second electrodes is contacted with the inner surface of the tire, no portion of either of the first and second electrodes contacts the outer surface of the tire.