Patent ID: 8679382

Claim:
A method for reducing a uniformity characteristic of a tire through deformation, the tire having sidewalls, the tire defining a circumferential direction, an equator, and a mid-circumferential plane, the method comprising the steps of: generating a signal indicative of the magnitude and location about the circumferential direction of the uniformity characteristic for the tire; selecting at least one position about the circumferential direction of the tire for constraint during deformation of the tire, wherein the at least one position is selected as a function of the location of the uniformity characteristic as determined from the signal; determining a non-zero angle θ for a contact surface that will contact at least one sidewall of the tire at the at least one position and at the equator, where angle θ is the angle between the contact surface and the mid-circumferential plane of the tire; constraining the sidewall of the tire using the contact surface having angle θ; and permanently deforming the tire so as to simultaneously reduce the uniformity characteristic while minimizing deformation to the at least one sidewall at the at least one position.