Tire condition or vehicle monitoring system and method

Abstract

All tire systems, including tire systems that include self-inflating devices, need to have the ability to regularly and reliably monitor and report vehicle and tire conditions for safety reasons. For a self-inflating tire, this can be accomplished by monitoring the operation of the self-inflation system, and assessing if it is consistent with a tire in good condition.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A riding condition monitoring system comprising:
 a pump unit driven by tire deformation or rotation of a tire of a vehicle; and   a data collector configured to receive data from one or more of the pump unit, a wheel of the vehicle, vehicle, road, driver, operator, a unit outside of vehicle, a pump unit, the tire, a status communication unit and the vehicle; and   a processing unit configured to determine a condition status any one of the tire, wheel, vehicle, road, pump unit, driver or operator, from the received data, the received data including information from one or more of the following parameters: tire deformation; tire footprint size or length or area; tire pressure; tire underinflation; tire overinflation; accumulator pressure; altitude; ambient pressure; geographic coordinates; frequency of inflation cycles of the pump unit; frequency of re-circulation cycles of the pump unit; frequency of opening or closing a regulator of the pump unit; length of time of inflation; distance traveled; tire ambient temperature; vehicle ambient temperature; humidity of air inside of the tire; temperature of ambient air; output generated by an energy harvester of the pump unit; frequency of activation of an energy harvester of the pump unit; tire deflation speed; tire inflation speed; direction of wheel rotation; speed of wheel rotation; speed of vehicle; time of wheel in a stationary status; and characteristics of tire pressure changes over time;   a status communication unit configured to provide the condition status to the vehicle, driver, operator, a unit outside of vehicle, a data collector, a pump unit, the wheel or the tire.   
     
     
         2 . A method for determining the condition of a self-inflating tire of a vehicle by monitoring a characteristic of its functions, comprising:
 receiving data from a self inflation device;   processing the data to determine the condition of the tire based on the data received;   delivering the condition of the tire to the vehicle based on the processed data; and   determining an actual distance traveled for full inflation of the tire based on pump unit cycles or pump capacity or combinations thereof, and comparing a target distance traveled for full inflation of the tires and designating a good tire condition when the actual distance traveled for full inflation is less than the target distance traveled for full inflation.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the target distance traveled for full inflation is based on one or more of a target deflation rate for a tire in good condition, the time the tire is stationary, or pump capacity, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising directly measuring the air volume delivered by the self-inflation system to achieve full inflation and comparing the target air volume for full inflation and designating a good tire condition when the actual air volume to achieve full inflation is less than the target volume. 
     
     
         5 . A method for determining the condition of a self-inflating tire of a vehicle by monitoring a characteristic of its functions, comprising:
 receiving data from a self inflation device;   processing the data to determine the condition of the tire based on the data received;   delivering the condition of the tire to the vehicle based on the processed data; and   determining an actual distance traveled for full inflation of the tire based on input from a tire pressure sensor or pump capacity or combinations thereof, and comparing a target distance traveled for full inflation of the tires and designating a good tire condition when the actual distance traveled for full inflation is less than the target distance traveled for full inflation.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the target distance traveled for full inflation is based on one or more of a target deflation rate for a tire in good condition, the time the tire is stationary, or pump capacity, or combinations thereof.