Off-the-road tire temperature and pressure monitoring system
First Claim
1. Apparatus for measuring a pressure and temperature of gases in an interior of an off-the-road vehicle tire that is mounted to a wheel rim and inflated through a valve stem, the gases having a compressibility factor and a vapor pressure, comprising:
- a Y-block coupled to the valve stem, the Y-block having first and second branches;
an elongated temperature sensor leading through the first branch of the Y-block and through the valve stem into the interior of the vehicle tire;
a pressure sensor coupled to the second branch of the Y-block; and
a signal processor receiving from the pressure and temperature sensors data indicative of a current pressure and temperature of the gases in the interior of the vehicle tire, the signal processor employing the compressibility factor, the vapor pressure, and the current pressure and temperature of the gases to calculate for a target temperature of the gases a predicted pressure of the gases.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A tire pressure and temperature measurement system adapts a Y-block (30) to an existing valve stem (20). One branch (44) of the Y-block accepts a conventional valve core (42) and another branch (38) accepts a flexible tubular temperature sensor (36) that leads "down the throat" of the existing valve stem and into the interior of a tire (14, 18). Another embodiment is adapted for use on inside dual tires (18). Making a measurement entails attaching a pressure sensor (40) to the valve stem and attaching a hand-held processor (112) to the sensors. The hand-held processor reads the current tire pressure and temperature; executes a program (Eqs. 1-6) that accounts for measured and target temperatures, vapor pressures, and gas compressibility; and indicates how much pressure to add or subtract to the tire to achieve an accurate final tire operating pressure. In yet another embodiment, a spherical protective housing (70) enclosing pressure and temperature sensors (72), a controller 76, and a data transceiver (74) is loosely placed within the interior of a tire when it is mounted to a rim. A remote measurement system (80) receives at another data transceiver (108) pressure and temperature data transmitted from inside the tire while the vehicle is moving and conveys the data to a processor (112) for executing the above-described program.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. Apparatus for measuring a pressure and temperature of gases in an interior of an off-the-road vehicle tire that is mounted to a wheel rim and inflated through a valve stem, the gases having a compressibility factor and a vapor pressure, comprising:
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a Y-block coupled to the valve stem, the Y-block having first and second branches; an elongated temperature sensor leading through the first branch of the Y-block and through the valve stem into the interior of the vehicle tire; a pressure sensor coupled to the second branch of the Y-block; and a signal processor receiving from the pressure and temperature sensors data indicative of a current pressure and temperature of the gases in the interior of the vehicle tire, the signal processor employing the compressibility factor, the vapor pressure, and the current pressure and temperature of the gases to calculate for a target temperature of the gases a predicted pressure of the gases. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. Apparatus for measuring a pressure and a temperature of gases in an interior of an off-the-road tire, comprising:
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a housing loosely enclosed within the interior of the off-the-road tire; pressure and temperature sensors mounted within the housing and sensing a current pressure and a current temperature of the gases in the interior of the off-the-road tire; a transmitter conveying to outside the off-the-road tire data indicative of the current pressure and the current temperature of gases in the interior of the off-the-road tire; a receiver receiving the data indicative of the current pressure and the current temperature of gases in the interior of the off-the-road tire; and a processor coupled to the receiver for processing the data indicative of the current pressure and current temperature of gases in the interior of the tire to predict for a predetermined future temperature of the interior of the tire an accurate future pressure of the gases in the interior of the off-the-road tire. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for measuring a pressure and a temperature of gases in an interior of a tire, comprising:
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inserting a housing within the interior of the tire; mounting pressure and temperature sensors within the housing; sensing a current pressure and a current temperature of the gases in the interior of the tire; transmitting data indicative of the current pressure and the current temperature of gases in the interior of the tire; receiving the data indicative of the current pressure and the current temperature of gases in the interior of the tire; and processing the data indicative of the current pressure and current temperature of gases in the interior of the tire to generate for a predetermined future temperature of the interior of the tire an accurate prediction of a future pressure of the gases in the interior of the tire. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification