US Patent Issued to Paul E. Hawkinson on March 4 for "Tire defect detection system that images localized cooling at a defect" (Minnesota, North Dakota Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,241,809, issued on March 4, was assigned to Paul E. Hawkinson Co. (St. Michael, Minn.).

"Tire defect detection system that images localized cooling at a defect" was invented by Gary William Box (Golden Valley, Minn.), Brian B. Brasch (Fargo, N.D.) and Anthony S. Rike (Ramsey, Minn.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tire defect detection system for detecting defects in a tire. The system includes at least one infrared camera, a pneumatic source and a computing device. The pneumatic source inflates the tire to a predetermined pressure. After inflation, the infrared camera captures a reference frame of a section of the tire. A period of time...