Abstract: A vent hole cleaning method for cleaning a vent hole provided on a molding surface of a mold for vulcanizing a rubber product includes a step of detecting a shape of the molding surface; a step of calculating a position of the vent hole by comparing the shape of the molding surface obtained in the step of detecting with molding surface information stored in a controlling device in advance and including a position of the vent hole; a step of moving a cleaning means to the vent hole based on the calculated position of the vent hole; and a step of cleaning the vent hole by the cleaning means.

Abstract: To provide a vent hole cleaning apparatus and a vent hole cleaning method which can accurately calculate a position of a vent hole and can automatically clean the vent hole. [Solution] An apparatus 1 for cleaning a vent hole 5 provided on a molding surface 4 of a mold 3 for vulcanizing a rubber product. The apparatus 1 comprises a detecting means 11 for detecting a shape of the molding surface 4, a cleaning means 12 for cleaning the vent hole 5, a controlling means 13 for storing molding surface information in advance and including shape information of the molding surface 4 including a position of the vent hole 5 and for calculating the position of the vent hole 5 by comparing the shape of the molding surface 4 obtained by the detecting means 11 with the molding surface information, and a guiding means 14 for moving the cleaning means 12 based on the calculated position of the vent hole 5.