Tire protecting apparatus

• US 20040050151A1
• Filed: 08/08/2003
• Published: 03/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Kojima, Hiroyoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,461,713 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/146
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0408 transmitting the signals by non-mechanical means from the wheel or tyre to a vehicle body mounted receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/20 Devices for measuring or signalling tyre temperature only

Abstract

A tire protecting apparatus mounted on a vehicle provided with a wheel having a tire on a wheel filled with pressurized air, which protects the tire from abnormally deforming while the vehicle is running, is provided with a tire temperature sensor that detects a temperature of the tire, and a determinator that determines whether it is necessary to cool the tire based on the tire temperature detected by the tire temperature sensor when there is a possibility that abnormal tire deformation will occur. Accordingly, the invention protects the tire from abnormally deforming by considering the temperature of the tire while the vehicle is running.

Claims

1. A tire protecting apparatus mounted on a vehicle provided with a wheel having a tire filled with pressurized air, which protects the tire from abnormally deforming while the vehicle is running, comprising:

a tire temperature sensor that detects a temperature of the tire; and

a determinator that determines whether it is necessary to cool the tire based on the tire temperature detected by the tire temperature sensor when there is a possibility that abnormal tire deformation will occur.

2. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tire is cooled by a flow of air moving around the tire as the vehicle runs.

3. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determinator determines a reference temperature used for determining whether it is necessary to cool the tire in order to prevent abnormal tire deformation based on at least one of a heating factor that heats the tire and a cooling factor that cools the tire, and determines whether it is necessary to cool the tire based on a relationship between the determined reference temperature and the tire temperature detected by the tire temperature sensor.

4. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, when a temperature of air outside of the vehicle is higher than the actual tire temperature, the heating factor includes at least one of that outside air temperature, a tire load acting on the tire, and a state of the road surface with which the tire makes contact.

5. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the tire load includes at least one of the tire load acting on the tire and a wheel speed which is a rotational speed of the tire.

6. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the tire load includes at least one of a vertical load, a longitudinal force, and a side force acting on the tire.

7. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, when the temperature of the air outside the vehicle is lower than the actual temperature of the tire, the cooling factor includes at least one of that outside air temperature, a temperature of an object adhered to the tire during running of the vehicle, which is lower than the actual temperature of the tire, and a flow of air moving around the tire as the vehicle runs.

8. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determinator determines a reference temperature to determine whether it is necessary to cool the tire in order to prevent abnormal tire deformation based on at least one of a heating factor that heats the tire and a cooling factor that cools the tire, and determines that it is necessary to cool the tire when the tire temperature detected by the tire temperature sensor has exceeded or is about to exceed the determined reference temperature.

9. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the determinator further determines that there is a possibility that abnormal tire deformation will occur upon the fulfillment of all of at least one condition, including a condition that the tire temperature detected by the tire temperature sensor exceeds a critical temperature which is preset as a temperature that the tire should not exceed to prevent abnormal tire deformation, and determines the reference temperature based on the critical temperature and at least one of the heating factor and the cooling factor.

10. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a warning device which warns a user of the vehicle when it has been determined by the determinator that it is necessary to cool the tire.

11. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a cooling effect control device which controls a cooling effect on the tire so that the temperature of the tire does not rise when it has been determined by the determinator that it is necessary to cool the tire.

12. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the tire is cooled by the flow of air moving around the tire when the vehicle is running, and the cooling effect control device controls the vehicle speed such that the cooling effect on the tire from the flow of air around the tire when the vehicle is running does not diminish when it has been determined by the determinator that it is necessary to cool the tire.

13. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising:

a load reducing device that controls the vehicle such that the tire load acting on the tire is reduced when there is a possibility of abnormal tire deformation occurring.

14. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the tire is cooled by the flow of air around the tire as the vehicle runs, the load reducing device decelerates the vehicle when it has been determined by the determinator that there is a possibility of abnormal tire deformation occurring, and the cooling effect control device stops deceleration of the vehicle when it has been determined by the determinator that it is necessary to cool the tire after the load reducing device has started to operate.

15. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the determinator determines the reference temperature to determine whether it is necessary to cool the tire in order to prevent abnormal tire deformation based on at least one of a heating factor that heats the tire and a cooling factor that cools the tire, and determines that it is necessary to cool the tire when the tire temperature detected by the tire temperature sensor has exceeded or is about to exceed the determined reference temperature.

16. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an air pressure sensor which detects an air pressure of the tire,

wherein the determinator determines whether there is a possibility of abnormal tire deformation based on at least one of the air pressure detected by the air pressure sensor and a change gradient of that air pressure, and at least one of the tire temperature detected by the tire temperature sensor and the change gradient of that tire temperature.

17. A tire protecting apparatus mounted on a vehicle provided with a wheel having a tire on a wheel filled with pressurized air, which protects the tire from abnormally deforming while the vehicle is running, comprising:

a tire temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the tire; and

a vehicle speed control device that controls a vehicle speed of the vehicle based the tire temperature detected by the tire temperature sensor when there is a possibility of abnormal tire deformation occurring.

18. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the vehicle speed control device controls the vehicle speed such that the vehicle speed is gradually reduced following an interval during which the vehicle speed is not actively controlled.

19. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising:

a target temperature determining device which determines a target temperature of the tire based on at least one of a heating factor that heats the tire and a cooling factor that cools the tire; and

a control unit which controls the vehicle speed such that the actual temperature of the tire approaches the determined target temperature.

20. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the target temperature determining device determines the target temperature based on a critical temperature that the tire should not exceed in order to prevent abnormal tire deformation and at least one of the heating factor and the cooling factor, and the control unit controls the vehicle speed such that the actual temperature of the tire approaches the determined target temperature, thereby preventing the actual temperature of the tire from exceeding the critical temperature.

21. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the target temperature determining device determines the target temperature as a temperature that is less than the critical temperature based on the critical temperature and the heating factor.

22. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the control unit controls the vehicle speed such that the actual temperature of the tire approaches the target temperature by successively detecting and feeding back the tire temperature using the tire temperature sensor, and thereby controls the actual temperature of the tire so as not to exceed the critical temperature.

23. The tire protecting apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising:

a target speed gradient determining device which determines a target speed gradient of the vehicle speed based on at least one of the heating factor that heats the tire and the cooling factor that cools the tire,

wherein the control unit controls the vehicle speed according to the determined target speed gradient.