SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ANTICIPATORY TIRE PRESSURE CONTROL

• US 20160347130A1
• Filed: 08/10/2016
• Published: 12/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Chan, Alistair K., Deane, Geoffrey F., Duncan, William D., Eckhoff, Philip A., Ferren, Bran, Gates, William, Hillis, W. Daniel, Hyde, Roderick A., Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Jung, Edward K.Y., Kare, Jordin T., Latham, John, Myhrvold, Nathan P., Petroski, Robert C., Tegreene, Clarence T., Tuckerman, David B., Weaver, Thomas A., Whitmer, Charles, Wood, Lowell L. Jr., Wood, Victoria Y.H.
• Granted Patent: US 9,844,983 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/002 by monitoring conditions other than tyre pressure or deformation
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/20 Devices for measuring or signalling tyre temperature only

Abstract

A vehicle tire pressure control system includes a road sensor configured to acquire road data regarding a road at an advanced location ahead of a current location of a vehicle; a pressure regulator configured to control the air pressure within a tire of the vehicle during operation of the vehicle; and a controller configured to control operation of the pressure regulator and vary the air pressure within the tire based on the road data.

Claims

1. A method of controlling tire pressure, comprising:

receiving road data from a road sensor regarding a road at an advanced location ahead of a current location of a vehicle;

determining a target pressure for a tire based on the road data; and

controlling an air pressure of the tire based on a current air pressure and the target pressure such that the air pressure of the tire is at the target pressure when the vehicle is at the advanced location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the road sensor includes at least one of a radar device, a lidar device, a multi-spectral sensor, a polarization sensor, an infrared sensor device, and an ultraviolet sensor.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the road sensor includes a micropower impulse radar device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the road sensor includes a Doppler sensor.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the road sensor includes at least one of a still image camera and a video camera.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the road data includes a surface state of the road at the advanced location.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the surface state includes at least one of a degree of wetness, a depth of water, a presence of snow or ice, a presence of oil, a presence of a hole, a presence of surface roughness, and a presence of an obstacle.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the road data includes a surface type of the road at the advanced location.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the surface type includes at least one of gravel, dirt, concrete, asphalt, and pavement.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the road data provides an indication in an upcoming curve in the road.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the road data provides an indication of an upcoming change in elevation of the road.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving tire data regarding the tire; and

controlling the air pressure of the tire based on the tire data.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the tire data includes at least one of a temperature of the tire, a tread condition of the tire, a tread pattern of the tire, a width of the tire, and a compliance of the tire.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the tire data includes at least one of a recommended tire pressure, a UTQG rating of the tire, a traction, a friction coefficient of the tire, and a relationship between the friction coefficient of the tire and tire pressure.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the air pressure of the tire is controlled further based on at least one of a vehicle speed, a vehicle acceleration, and a braking condition of the vehicle.

16. A method of controlling tire pressure, comprising:

receiving road data from a road sensor regarding a road for an advanced location ahead of a current location of a vehicle;

determining a target pressure for a tire of the vehicle based on the road data; and

controlling an air pressure of the tire based on the target pressure such that the air pressure of the tire is at the target pressure at least one of before and as the vehicle arrives at the advanced location.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the road sensor includes at least one of a radar device, a lidar device, a multi-spectral sensor, a polarization sensor, an infrared sensor device, an ultraviolet sensor, a micropower impulse radar device, a Doppler sensor, a still image camera, and a video camera.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the road data includes at least one of a surface state of the road at the advance location, a surface type of the road at the advance location, an indication in an upcoming curve in the road, an indication of an upcoming change in elevation of the road, and an indication of a weather condition to an exterior of the vehicle.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the surface state includes at least one of a degree of wetness, a depth of water, a presence of snow or ice, a presence of oil, a presence of a hole, a presence of surface roughness, and a presence of an obstacle.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the surface type includes at least one of gravel, dirt, concrete, asphalt, and pavement.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the weather condition includes at least one of wind, snow, fog, and rain.

22. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving tire data regarding the tire; and

controlling the air pressure of the tire further based on the tire data.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the tire data includes at least one of a temperature of the tire, a tread condition of the tire, a tread pattern of the tire, a width of the tire, and a compliance of the tire.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the tire data further includes at least one of a recommended tire pressure, a UTQG rating of the tire, a traction, a friction coefficient of the tire, and a relationship between the friction coefficient of the tire and tire pressure.

25. The method of claim 16, wherein the air pressure of the tire is controlled further based on at least one of a vehicle speed, a vehicle acceleration, a braking condition of the vehicle, a weight of the vehicle, a load distribution of the vehicle, an ambient pressure at an exterior of the vehicle, and an ambient temperature at the exterior of the vehicle.

26. The method of claim 16, wherein the tire includes a plurality of tires, and wherein the air pressure varies between the plurality of tires.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising varying the air pressure between the plurality of tires based on at least one of an anticipated turn in the road, a loading distribution of the vehicle, a tire condition for each of the plurality of tires, and a spatial difference between road conditions.

28. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining a predicted tire condition at the advanced location;

monitoring an actual tire condition at the advanced location; and

adjusting a target air pressure for the tire based on the predicted and actual tire conditions at the advanced location.

29. The method of claim 16, wherein the air pressure of the tire is controlled further based on at least one of historic data stored in memory and remote source data received from a remote source.

30. A method of controlling tire pressure, comprising:

receiving road data regarding an advanced location ahead of a current location of a vehicle on a road;

receiving environment data regarding an environment at an exterior of the vehicle;

receiving vehicle data regarding operation of the vehicle;

determining a target air pressure for a tire based on the road data, environment data, and the vehicle data; and

controlling an air pressure of the tire based on the target air pressure and a current air pressure of the tire such that the air pressure of the tire is at the target air pressure at least one of before and as the vehicle arrives at the advanced location.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising storing historic data regarding at least one of a tire pressure, tire data, and a road condition for the current location of the vehicle in memory.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising controlling the air pressure of the tire further based on the historic data.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the road data includes at least one of a surface state of the road at the advance location, a surface type of the road at the advance location, an indication in an upcoming curve in the road, an indication of an upcoming change in elevation of the road, and an indication of a weather condition to an exterior of the vehicle.

34. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

receiving tire data regarding the tire; and

controlling the air pressure of the tire further based on the tire data.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the tire data includes at least one of a temperature of the tire, a tread condition of the tire, a tread pattern of the tire, a width of the tire, a compliance of the tire, a recommended tire pressure, a UTQG rating of the tire, a traction, a friction coefficient of the tire, and a relationship between the friction coefficient of the tire and tire pressure.