Tire management system and method for surveying and servicing a vehicle tire

• US 6,826,951 B1
• Filed: 07/14/2000
• Issued: 12/07/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Marketing Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Marketing Corporation
• Inventors: Pace, Timothy G., Schuessler, Warren E. Jr., Buckles, Ray G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lefkowitz, Edward
• Assistant Examiner(s): DAVIS, OCTAVIA L
• Application Number:
  US09/600,369
• Time in Patent Office: 1,607 Days
• Field of Search: 701/29, 701/30, 731/46, 731/465, 73/8, 731/462, 731/463, 340/444, 340/442, 340/447, 434/219, 301/5.24, 141/4, 152/416, 152/415, 152/152.1, 102/531
• 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 23/0479 Communicating with external units being not part of the vehicle, e.g. tools for diagnostic, mobile phones, electronic keys or service stations
• CPC Class Codes: B60S 5/046 using electrical or electronical means

Abstract

In a tire management system and method for surveying and servicing a vehicle tire, a portable hand held computer unit receives and stores data for servicing the vehicle tire and data acquired from the vehicle tire. A desired tire air pressure is input into the portable hand held computer unit and is transmitted from the hand held computer unit to a tire inflation device adapted for automatically inflating or deflating the vehicle tire to the desired tire air pressure. The tire inflation receives the desired tire air pressure and is operated in response to receiving the desired tire air pressure to measure the actual tire pressure of the tire, to transmit the actual tire pressure back to the hand held computer unit for storage therein, to inflate or deflate the tire to the desired tire air pressure and to transmit a final measured tire air pressure back to the hand held computer unit.

Claims

1. A tire management system for surveying and servicing a vehicle tire, the system comprising:

a portable handheld computer unit capable of receiving and storing data for servicing the vehicle tire and data acquired from the vehicle tire, said servicing data comprising a desired tire air pressure; and

a tire inflation device adapted to automatically inflate or deflate the vehicle tire to the desired tire air pressure, the handheld computer unit being adapted for transmitting said servicing data to the tire inflation device from a location remote from the tire inflation device, the tire inflation device being further adapted to receive the desired tire air pressure transmitted by the handheld computer unit and to transmit a signal back to the handheld computer unit once the tire has been serviced by the inflation device to the desired tire air pressure.

2. A tire management system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the signal transmitted by the tire inflation device back to the handheld unit comprises the acquired data, said acquired data including the actual air pressure within the tire.

3. A tire management system as set forth in claim 2 wherein the handheld computer unit has a radio frequency transceiver to permit transmission of said servicing data and reception of said acquired data transmitted by the inflation device, the tire inflation device also having a radio frequency transceiver to permit reception of the servicing data transmitted by the handheld computer unit and transmission of the acquired data back to the handheld unit.

4. A tire management system as set forth in claim 2 further comprising a tread depth probe for measuring the tread depth of the vehicle tire, the tread depth probe being capable of transmitting the measured tread depth to the handheld computer unit for storage therein.

5. A method of surveying and servicing the tire of a vehicle comprising the steps of:

inputting data for servicing the tire into a portable handheld computer unit, said servicing data including a desired tire air pressure for the vehicle tire;

transmitting the desired tire air pressure from the handheld computer unit to a tire inflation device capable of receiving the desired tire air pressure,

operating the tire inflation device in response to receipt of the desired tire air pressure to measure the actual tire pressure of the tire and to transmit the actual tire pressure back to the handheld computer unit for storage therein, and

further operating the tire inflation device in response to receipt of the desired tire air pressure to inflate or deflate the tire to the desired tire air pressure and to transmit a final measured tire air pressure back to the handheld computer unit.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising the step of determining the desired tire air pressure based on historical tire data and the particular vehicle on which the tire is located, said step being performed prior to inputting the desired tire air pressure into the handheld computer unit.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising the step of transmitting the actual measured tire air pressure and final measured tire air pressure from the handheld unit to a remote computer for storage in said remote computer.

8. The method of claim 5 further comprising the step of acquiring data from the vehicle tire other than the measured tire air pressure, said step of acquiring data from the vehicle tire occurring simultaneously with at least one of said transmitting, operating and further operating steps.

9. The method of claim 8 where said step of acquiring data from the vehicle tire comprises measuring the tread depth of the tire with a tread depth probe.