Method and system for measuring vehicle tire deformation and a tire having such a system
First Claim
1. A vehicle tire comprising:
- a tread;
a pair of sidewalls connected to the tread for supporting the tread on a rim, whereby the rim and the tire secured thereon are rotatable about an axis of rotation, at least one of the sidewalls having at least a radially inner track and a radially outer track, the radially inner track being formed of a plurality of magnetically active sectors arranged in an angular serial manner to one another with each sector being delimited from the next following sector by a respective sector transition and having a different magnetic property than the next following sector and the radially outer track being formed of a plurality of magnetically active sectors arranged in an angular serial manner to one another with each sector being delimited from the next following sector by a respective sector transition and having a different magnetic property than the next following sector, the sectors of the radially inner track being at a first radial spacing from the axis of rotation and the sectors of the radially outer track being at a second radial spacing from the axis of rotation greater than the first radial spacing and, within any given one of the radially inner track and the radially outer track, a first group of the sector transitions have a radial extent forming a first angle relative to a radius of the tire and a second group of the sector transitions have a radial extent forming a second angle relative to a radius of the tire which is different than the first angle formed by the first group of sector transitions of the given one of the tracks.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle tire comprising a tread and a pair of sidewalls has a radially inner track and a radially outer track on a sidewall, each track being formed of a plurality of magnetically active sectors arranged in an angular serial manner to one another. Each sector is delimited from the next following sector by a respective sector transition and has a different magnetic property than the next following sector. A first group of the sector transitions have a radial extent forming a first angle relative to a radius of the tire and a second group of the sector transitions have a radial extent forming a second angle relative to a radius of the tire which is different than the first sector transition angle. Conclusions concerning the tangential tire deformation can be drawn from signals generated by magnetically sensing the phase shift of the magnetically active track sectors.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A vehicle tire comprising:
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a tread;
a pair of sidewalls connected to the tread for supporting the tread on a rim, whereby the rim and the tire secured thereon are rotatable about an axis of rotation, at least one of the sidewalls having at least a radially inner track and a radially outer track, the radially inner track being formed of a plurality of magnetically active sectors arranged in an angular serial manner to one another with each sector being delimited from the next following sector by a respective sector transition and having a different magnetic property than the next following sector and the radially outer track being formed of a plurality of magnetically active sectors arranged in an angular serial manner to one another with each sector being delimited from the next following sector by a respective sector transition and having a different magnetic property than the next following sector, the sectors of the radially inner track being at a first radial spacing from the axis of rotation and the sectors of the radially outer track being at a second radial spacing from the axis of rotation greater than the first radial spacing and, within any given one of the radially inner track and the radially outer track, a first group of the sector transitions have a radial extent forming a first angle relative to a radius of the tire and a second group of the sector transitions have a radial extent forming a second angle relative to a radius of the tire which is different than the first angle formed by the first group of sector transitions of the given one of the tracks. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for measuring the deformation of a vehicle tire, the vehicle tire having a tread and a pair of sidewalls connected to the tread for supporting the tread on a rim, whereby the rim and the tire secured thereon are rotatable about an axis of rotation and at least one of the sidewalls having at least a radially inner track and a radially outer track, each track having a plurality of magnetically active sectors arranged in an angular serial manner to one another in the track with each sector being delimited from the next following sector by a respective sector transition and having a different magnetic property than the next following sector and the sectors of the track being at a second radial spacing from the axis of rotation greater than the first radial spacing and each track having a first group of the sector transitions each with a radial extent forming a first angle relative to a radius of the tire and a second group of the sector transitions each with a radial extent forming a second angle relative to a radius of the tire which is greater than the first angle formed by the first group of sector transitions and the vehicle tire undergoing a tangential deformation upon the application of deforming force thereto, the system comprising:
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an inner track magnetic field sensor oriented relative to the radially inner track for magnetically sensing its plurality of magnetically active sectors;
an outer track magnetic field sensor oriented relative to the radially outer track for magnetically sensing its plurality of magnetically active sectors; and
an evaluation unit operably coupled to the inner track magnetic field sensor and the outer track magnetic field sensor for evaluating the phase angles between the signals generated by the inner track magnetic field sensor and the outer track magnetic field sensor as they sense the magnetically active sectors of the tracks passing therepast, the evaluation unit being operable to render an evaluation of the phase angles between the signals generated with respect to the first group of sector transitions as one indication of the tangential deformation of the vehicle tire and to render an evaluation of the phase angles between the signals generated with respect to the second group of sector transitions as another indication of the tangential deformation of the vehicle tire which varies relatively more strongly as a function of the damping characteristic of the vehicle tire than the one indication varies as a function of the damping characteristic of the vehicle tire. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 15)
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14. A method for measuring the deformation of a vehicle tire, the vehicle tire having a tread and a pair of sidewalls connected to the tread for supporting the tread on a rim, whereby the rim and the tire secured thereon are rotatable about an axis of rotation and at least one of the sidewalls having at least a radially inner track and a radially outer track, each track having a plurality of magnetically active sectors arranged in an angular serial manner to one another in the track with each sector being delimited from the next following sector by a respective sector transition and having a different magnetic property than the next following sector and the sectors of the track being at a second radial spacing from the axis of rotation greater than the first radial spacing and each track having a first group of the sector transitions each with a radial extent forming a first angle relative to a radius of the tire and a second group of the sector transitions each with a radial extent forming a second angle relative to a radius of the tire which is greater than the first angle formed by the first group of sector transitions and the vehicle tire undergoing a tangential deformation upon the application of deforming force thereto, the method comprising:
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magnetically sensing the plurality of magnetically active sectors of the radially inner track and the plurality of magnetically active sectors of the radially outer track;
evaluating the phase angles between the signals generated with respect to the first group of sector transitions as one indication of the tangential deformation of the vehicle tire; and
evaluating the phase angles between the signals generated with respect to the second group of sector transitions as another indication of the tangential deformation of the vehicle tire which varies relatively more strongly as a function of the damping characteristic of the vehicle tire than the one indication varies as a function of the damping characteristic of the vehicle tire.
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Specification