Apparatus and method for indicating condition of a rotating body
First Claim
1. An indicator device adapted to be mounted relative to a rotatable body for rotation therewith to energize an electrically operated member, said device comprising:
- a generator unit including a housing member having a longitudinal housing axis and including means for mounting said housing to said body in a manner such that said longitudinal housing axis is fixedly disposed generally normal to the plane of said rotatable body, a stator component including an associated field winding and a rotor component with said stator and rotor components disposed in said housing generally coaxial with said housing axis in spaced apart operative communication with each other, one of said stator and rotor components being mounted for independent rotation about said housing axis with the other of said stator and rotor components being stationarily affixed to said housing, said one component including means for maintaining it in a generally stationary disposition when said housing is mounted to a rotatable body and rotated about the axis of said body whereby relative rotation is obtained between said stator and rotor components solely by the influence of rotation of said body with said relative rotation causing a voltage to be induced in said field winding; and
, an electrically operated member connected to said field winding and energized by said voltage.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and method particularly adapted for detecting over and/or under inflated conditions in a wheel structure of the type comprised of a pneumatic tire mounted on a wheel rim. A generator unit is mounted to the wheel generally coaxial of the axis of wheel rotation and is constructed such that the generator rotor is operably journalled within the generator stator in a manner facilitating rotation of the rotor independently of the remainder of the generator unit and wheel itself. One side of the rotor is weighted so that as the wheel and generator unit are rotated, the rotor disposition remains generally stationary due to the influence of gravity forces on the weighted area. The relative rotation thus achieved between stator and rotor causes a voltage to be induced in the stator field winding which is utilized to energize a small radio transmitter mounted on the wheel with the generator unit. Pressure sensing means communicating with the tire controls energization of the transmitter in response to a predetermined tire pressure condition. The transmitted radio signal is then received by a receiving unit spaced remote from the wheel to cause energization of convenient indicating means located in the vehicle to show that the predetermined air pressure condition has been detected.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. An indicator device adapted to be mounted relative to a rotatable body for rotation therewith to energize an electrically operated member, said device comprising:
a generator unit including a housing member having a longitudinal housing axis and including means for mounting said housing to said body in a manner such that said longitudinal housing axis is fixedly disposed generally normal to the plane of said rotatable body, a stator component including an associated field winding and a rotor component with said stator and rotor components disposed in said housing generally coaxial with said housing axis in spaced apart operative communication with each other, one of said stator and rotor components being mounted for independent rotation about said housing axis with the other of said stator and rotor components being stationarily affixed to said housing, said one component including means for maintaining it in a generally stationary disposition when said housing is mounted to a rotatable body and rotated about the axis of said body whereby relative rotation is obtained between said stator and rotor components solely by the influence of rotation of said body with said relative rotation causing a voltage to be induced in said field winding; and
, an electrically operated member connected to said field winding and energized by said voltage.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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4. An indicator device adapted to be mounted relative to a rotatable body for rotation therewith to energize an electrically operated member, said device comprising:
a generator unit including a housing member having a longitudinal housing axis and including means for mounting said housing to said body, a stator component including an associated field winding and a rotor component with said stator and rotor components disposed in said housing generally coaxial with said housing axis in spaced apart operative communication with each other, one of said stator and rotor components being mounted for independent rotation about said housing axis with the other of said stator and rotor components being stationarily affixed to said housing, said one component including a weighted area associated therewith on one side thereof from said housing axis with said weighted area being acted upon by gravity forces so that said one component will remain in a generally stationary position as said rotating body and housing are rotated about said body axis, whereby relative rotation is obtained between said stator and rotor components for causing a voltage to be induced in said field winding; and
, an electrically operated member connected to said field winding and energized by said voltage.
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7. An indicator device adapted to be mounted relative to a rotatable body for rotation therewith to energize an electrically operated member, said device comprising:
a generator unit including a housing member having a longitudinal housing axis and including means for mounting said housing to said body, a stator component including an associated field winding and a rotor component with said stator and rotor components disposed in said housing generally coaxial with said housing axis in spaced apart operative communication with each other, said rotor component being rotatably journalled about said housing axis and including a plurality of permanent magnetic poles of alternating polarity and said stator component being stationarily affixed to said housing, said rotor components including a weighted area associated therewith and radially disposed on one side thereof from said housing axis so that gravity will cause said rotor component to remain in a generally stationary position as said rotating body and housing are rotated about said body axis, whereby relative rotation is obtained between said stator and rotor components for causing a voltage to be induced in said field winding; and
, an electrically operated member connected to said field winding and energized by said voltage.- View Dependent Claims (8)
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14. A device assembly for continuously monitoring and indicating the tire inflation condition of a conventional vehicle wheel assembly comprised of a rim and pneumatic tire, said device comprising:
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a generator unit generally coaxially mountable on said wheel assembly and including a housing having a longitudinal housing axis, a stator component including an associated field winding and a rotor component with said rotor and stator components disposed in said housing in operative communication with each other, one of said stator and rotor components being mounted for independent rotation about said housing axis with the other of said stator and rotor components being stationarily affixed to said housing, said one component including means for maintaining it in a fixed position when said housing is generally coaxially mounted to a wheel assembly and rotated about the axis of said assembly whereby relative rotation is obtained between said stator and rotor components with said relative rotation inducing a voltage in said field winding; an electrically operated indicating member connected to said field winding and energized by said voltage; and
,sensing means adapted to sense the inflation condition for a pneumatic tire on said wheel assembly, said sensing means selectively energizing said indicating member responsive to sensing a predetermined inflation condition. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method of energizing an electrically operated member associated with a rotating body, said method comprising the steps of:
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mounting a generator unit on said body for rotation therewith about the body axis of rotation, said generator unit including a stator component having a field winding and a rotor component disposed in close spaced operative association with each other, one of said stator and rotor components being mounted for rotation about an axis disposed generally normal to the plane of said rotating body independently of said body and the other of said stator and rotor components, said other component being fixedly mounted to said body; providing means for maintaining said one component in a generally stationary disposition as said body and said other component are rotated about said body axis; rotating said body and said other component about said body axis to obtain relative rotation between said stator and rotor for inducing a voltage in said field winding wherein said relative rotation is effected solely through rotation of said body; and
,connecting said field winding to said electrically operated member for energizing said member by said induced voltage. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method for indicating the inflation condition for a vehicle wheel comprised of a wheel rim and a pneumatic tire, said method comprising the steps of:
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fixedly mounting a generator unit on said wheel generally coaxial of the wheel axis; providing said generator unit with a stator component including a field winding and a rotor component with one of said components being mounted for independent rotation generally coaxially about said wheel axis and the other of said components being fixedly mounted to said unit for rotation therewith about said wheel axis; obtaining relative rotation between said stator and rotor components generally coaxially of said wheel axis during rotation of said wheel thereby causing a voltage to be induced in said field winding; connecting said induced voltage to an electrically energized indicating member; providing sensing means for sensing the inflation condition for said tire; and
,causing selective energization of said indicating member in response to the sensing of a predetermined inflation condition by said sensing means. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification