Tire distortion detecting method, distortion detector, and tire thereof

Abstract

The present invention provides a tire distortion detecting method, a distortion detector, and a tire which can reduce the occurrence of a deterioration and can be used for a control system such as a stability control system. That is, series of conductors composed of a plurality of conductor pieces are provided in two different layers. The conductor pieces are embedded in lines at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction of a tire. A pulsed electromagnetic wave is radiated to the surfaces of metal foils in the layers from a monitoring device provided in a tire house of a vehicle. The monitoring device receives a pulsed electromagnetic wave reflected from the metal foils in the layers or a member other than the metal foils. Time from the radiation of a pulsed electromagnetic wave to the reception of a reflected pulsed magnetic wave is measured repeatedly, time at which no distortion occurs on the tire is stored as a reference value, and the measured time and the stored reference value are compared with each other to detect a distortion of the tire.

1 . A tire distortion detecting method for detecting a distortion of a tire comprising: 
 embedding a plurality of conductors in at least two different depths of the tire;    transmitting an electromagnetic wave, wherein the at least one conductor reflects the electromagnetic wave;    detecting the reflected electromagnetic wave; and    determining the difference between an initial time related to the time of the transmitting of the electromagnetic wave and a final time related to the time of the reflection of the electromagnetic wave.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising embedding a first plurality of conductors along a first line in the tire at a first depth; and embedding a second plurality of conductors along a second line in the tire at a second depth.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a plurality of electromagnetic waves at a frequency of about 1 GHz or more.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising embedding a first plurality of conductors along a first line in the tire; and embedding a second plurality of conductors along a second line in the tire, wherein the first plurality of conductors are offset along the circumferential direction from the second plurality of conductors.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising embedding a first plurality of conductors along a first line in the tire; and embedding a second plurality of conductors along a second line in the tire, wherein the first plurality of conductors overlap with the second plurality of conductors along the circumferential direction.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of conductors comprise aluminum.  
   
   
       7 . A tire distortion detector comprising: 
 a radiation unit configured to transmit electromagnetic waves at a predetermined frequency;    a receiving unit configured to receive reflected electromagnetic waves reflected by a conductor on a tire;    a distortion detector configured to store round-trip times of the received electromagnetic waves based upon differences of the times that the reflected electromagnetic waves were received and the times that the electromagnetic waves were transmitted; and    a control unit configured to detect a distortion of the tire based upon the stored round-trip time.    
   
   
       8 . The tire distortion detector of  claim 7 , wherein the distortion detector is configured to average the stored round-trip times.  
   
   
       9 . The tire distortion detector of  claim 7 , wherein the predetermined frequency is about 1 GHz or more.  
   
   
       10 . The tire distortion detector of  claim 7 , further comprising a plurality of receiving units.  
   
   
       11 . A tire distortion detector comprising: 
 means for reflecting electromagnetic waves, the means for reflecting being embedded in at least two different depths of the tire;    means for transmitting an electromagnetic wave;    means for detecting the reflected electromagnetic wave; and    means for determining the difference between an initial time related to the time of the transmitting of the electromagnetic wave and a final time related to the time of the reflection of the electromagnetic wave.