Integrated Tire Pressure Diagnostic System and Method

• US 20080133081A1
• Filed: 11/29/2007
• Published: 06/05/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hunter Engineering Company
• Original Assignee: Hunter Engineering Company
• Inventors: Strege, Timothy A., Colarelli, Nicholas J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,392,048 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/34
• 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: G01B 21/26 for testing wheel alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 2210/26 Algorithms, instructions, databases, computerized methods and graphical user interfaces employed by a user in conjunction with the wheel aligner

Abstract

A computer-based vehicle service system, such as a wheel alignment system, is configured to acquire and utilize measurements of the air pressure in the tires of a vehicle undergoing a service procedure.

Claims

1. An improved vehicle wheel alignment system having a processing system configured with at least one vehicle wheel alignment software application, and at least one sensor operatively coupled to the processing system for acquiring data utilized to determine at least one vehicle measurement, the improvement comprising:

at least one supplemental sensor operatively coupled to the processing system, said supplemental sensor configured to communicate with at least one tire pressure monitoring system sensor disposed in a wheel assembly of a vehicle, and to receive at least one tire pressure measurement signal there from; and

wherein said supplemental sensor is configured to communicate said received at least one tire pressure measurement to the processing system.

2. The improved vehicle wheel alignment system of claim 1 wherein the wheel alignment system is configured to directly measure a tire pressure at said wheel assembly;

and

wherein the processing system is further configured to compare said direct measure of said tire pressure with said communicated tire pressure measurement received from said supplemental sensor.

3. The improved vehicle wheel alignment system of claim 1 wherein said at least one supplemental sensor is configured to receive a plurality of tire pressure measurement signals from tire pressure monitoring system sensors disposed in a plurality of wheel assemblies of a vehicle;

and

wherein said supplemental sensor is further configured to communicate said received plurality of tire pressure measurements to the processing system.

4. The improved vehicle wheel alignment system of claim 3 wherein the processing system is configured to direct an alteration of a tire pressure in at least one of said plurality of wheel assemblies.

5. The improved vehicle wheel alignment system of claim 1 wherein said at least one supplemental sensor is configured to identify a defective tire pressure monitoring system sensor disposed in a wheel assembly of a vehicle.

6. The improved vehicle wheel alignment system of claim 1 further including a radio-frequency identification (RFID) interrogator.

7. An improved vehicle service system having a processing system configured with at least one vehicle wheel alignment software application, and at least one sensor operatively coupled to the processing system for acquiring data utilized to determine at least one vehicle measurement, the improvement comprising:

wherein the processing system is configured to acquire an air pressure measurement from a tire pressure monitoring system sensor associated with at least one wheel assembly of a vehicle.

8. The improved vehicle wheel alignment system of claim 7 wherein the processing system is configured to acquire said air pressure measurement from an electronic control unit of said vehicle.

9. The improved vehicle wheel alignment system of claim 8 wherein the processing system is further configured to acquire an air pressure specification associated with said at least one wheel assembly from said electronic control unit of said vehicle.

10. The improved vehicle wheel alignment system of claim 7 wherein the processing system is further configured to direct an alteration in air pressure associated with said at least one wheel assembly.

11. The improved vehicle wheel alignment system of claim 7 wherein the processing system is further configured to determine an operational status of either a tire pressure monitoring system associated with said vehicle or at least one tire pressure sensor associated with said vehicle.

12. The improved vehicle wheel alignment system of claim 7 wherein the processing system is further configured to facilitate calibration of a tire pressure sensor associated with said vehicle.

13. An operational method for a vehicle wheel alignment system having a processing system configured with at least one vehicle wheel alignment software application, and at least one sensor operatively coupled to the processing system for acquiring data utilized to determine at least one vehicle measurement, the method comprising:

measuring, via a vehicle tire pressure monitoring system, the air pressure in at least one vehicle wheel assembly;

communicating said measured air pressure to the processing system of the vehicle wheel alignment system; and

utilizing said communicated air pressure measurement during a vehicle service procedure.

14. A vehicle service system, comprising:

a sensor configured to measure air pressure in a vehicle wheel assembly;

a means to receive air pressure data from a tire pressure monitoring system sensor installed in said vehicle wheel assembly;

a processor operatively coupled to said sensor and to said receiver means, said processor configured to utilize a measure of air pressure and said received air pressure data during a vehicle service procedure.

15. The vehicle service system of claim 14 wherein said processor is further configured to receive air temperature data;

and

wherein said processor is further configured to utilize said received air temperature data to direct a change in air pressure in said vehicle wheel assembly.

16. The vehicle service system of claim 15 wherein said air temperature data is representative of an expected ambient air temperature range for normal vehicle operations.

17. The vehicle service system of claim 15 wherein said air temperature data is received from said tire pressure monitoring system sensor.

18. The vehicle service system of claim 14 wherein said receiver means is a wireless transceiver adapted to receive data directly from said tire pressure monitoring system sensor.

19. The vehicle service system of claim 14 wherein said receiver means is adapted to receive data from a vehicle control unit.

20. The vehicle service system of claim 14 wherein said processor is further configured to utilize said measure of air pressure and said received air pressure data to evaluate operational functionality of said tire pressure monitoring system sensor.

21. The vehicle service system of claim 14 wherein said processor is further configured to direct a change in air pressure in said vehicle wheel assembly.

22. The vehicle service system of claim 14 wherein said processor is further configured with at least one vehicle wheel alignment software application.

23. A method for tire pressure monitoring in a vehicle wheel alignment system having a processing system configured with at least one vehicle wheel alignment software application, and at least one sensor operatively coupled to the processing system for acquiring data utilized to determine at least one vehicle measurement, comprising:

communicating, to the processing system, at least one tire pressure measurement acquired by at least one tire pressure monitoring system sensor disposed in a wheel assembly of a vehicle;

acquiring at the processing system, a direct measurement of the tire pressure at said wheel assembly of the vehicle; and

comparing said direct measurement of said tire pressure with said communicated tire pressure measurement received from said supplemental sensor, wherein a difference exceeding a selected threshold is identified.

24. The method of claim 23 further including the steps of

altering a tire pressure in said wheel assembly of the vehicle;

and

monitoring changes in said direct measurement of said tire pressure and said communicated measure of said tire pressure during said step of altering said tire pressure.

25. The method of claim 23 further including the step of identifying a defective tire pressure monitoring system sensor responsive to said comparison of said direct measurement and said communicated measurement of said tire pressure.