Abstract: A method of determining crack condition on a sidewall of a tire uses a crack detection tool having a lens on a housing, and a transparent reticle on the housing at the focal plane of the lens. A plurality of spaced lines are provided on the reticle, with the spacing of each pair of indicia conforming to a degree of crack condition of the sidewall of a desired tire. The method includes viewing the sidewall of the desired tire through the lens and the reticle, selecting a crack on the tire sidewall and positioning the reticle over the selected crack so that the sides of the crack are approximately symmetrically located within, on or outside of the pairs of lines. Using the pairs of indicia on the reticle, the tire sidewall condition may be determined based on the degree of crack width.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for detecting cracks in automotive tires using an automated optical imaging system that captures an image of the tire, converts the captured image into a grayscale image and next to a binary image, detects discrete shapes from the binary image, bounding each of the discrete shapes by baseline border shapes, and selects a predetermined baseline border shape. The apparatus and method optionally determine if the discrete shape has a tapered end, and if a tapered end is confirmed, calculate a level of jaggedness for the discrete shape, and measure the maximum width of a discrete shape having a predetermined baseline border shape, a tapered end, and a jagged outline, for comparison with industry standards for tire crack widths.