Method for detecting the state of a tire

• US 8,332,092 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2007
• Issued: 12/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Laermer, Franz, Pannek, Thorsten
• Primary Examiner(s): Jayne, Darnell
• Assistant Examiner(s): Varghese, Sasha T
• Application Number:
  US12/227,368
• Publication Number:
  US 20090210111A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,059 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/29, 701/29.5, 701/29.1, 340442-448, 702/189, 731/46, 731/462
• US Class Current: 701/29.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/064 comprising tyre mounted deformation sensors, e.g. to determine road contact area
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2210/12 Friction
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2210/14 Rough roads, bad roads, gravel roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/1725 Using tyre sensors, e.g. Sidewall Torsion sensors [SWT] for tyre pressure and temperature detection B60C23/00

Abstract

A method for detecting the state of a vehicle tire and/or a roadway, in which at least one sensor, in particular an acceleration sensor, disposed in the tire interior generates a signal that is assigned to physical variables of the vehicle tire and/or the roadway. A tire state and/or characteristics of the roadway are/is determined on the basis of the signal.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of a tire monitoring system having at least one computer processor for detecting a state of a vehicle tire and a roadway, the method comprising:

generating, using at least one acceleration sensor disposed in a tire interior, a signal that represents periodically alternating phases of a centripetal acceleration and is assigned to physical variables of the vehicle tire and the roadway in those phases in which the signal drops below a lower limit value; and

determining a tire state and characteristics of the roadway based on the signal;

wherein a signal spectrum is obtained from the signal, and wherein the determined signal spectrum at least partially includes vibrations that are generated by a movement of a part of a running surface of the vehicle tire adjacent to the acceleration sensor when rolling on the roadway;

wherein a vehicle tire is assigned a setpoint signal strength and a setpoint frequency spectrum of the signal spectrum, and an actual signal strength and an actual frequency spectrum of the signal spectrum are determined, and a profile height and material characteristics of the vehicle tire are determined by a comparison of the actual signal strength with the setpoint signal strength and the actual frequency spectrum with the setpoint frequency spectrum.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal spectrum is filtered, and signal components determined in the process are analyzed according to their signal strength in order to obtain quantitative information with regard to the state of the tire and the roadway.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a tire pressure in the vehicle tire is determined based on the signal.

4. A device for detecting a state of a vehicle tire and a roadway, comprising:

at least one acceleration sensor, disposed in a tire interior generating a first signal that represents periodically alternating phases of a centripetal acceleration and is assigned to physical variables of the vehicle tire and the roadway in those phases in which the first signal drops below a lower limit value, wherein a tire state and characteristics of the roadway are determined based on the first signal, and wherein a signal spectrum is obtained from the first signal, and wherein the determined signal spectrum at least partially includes vibrations that are generated by a movement of a part of a running surface of the vehicle tire adjacent to the acceleration sensor when rolling on the roadway;

wherein a vehicle tire is assigned a setpoint signal strength and a setpoint frequency spectrum of the signal spectrum, and an actual signal strength and an actual frequency spectrum of the signal spectrum are determined, and a profile height and material characteristics of the vehicle tire are determined by a comparison of the actual signal strength with the setpoint signal strength and the actual frequency spectrum with the setpoint frequency spectrum.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the first signal is forwarded to an evaluation device provided inside the vehicle tire or in a vehicle interior, at least one display arrangement being disposed in the vehicle, which indicates the state of the tire and the roadway in response to a second signal from the evaluation device.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein the acceleration sensor is a piezoelectric transformer element and is vulcanized into the vehicle tire.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer program executable on a processor, comprising:

a program code arrangement having program code for detecting a state of a vehicle tire and a roadway by performing the following;

generating, using at least one acceleration sensor disposed in a tire interior, a signal that represents periodically alternating phases of a centripetal acceleration and is assigned to physical variables of the vehicle tire and the roadway in those phases in which the signal drops below a lower limit value; and

determining the tire state and characteristics of the roadway based on the signal;

wherein a signal spectrum is obtained from the signal, and wherein the determined signal spectrum at least partially includes vibrations that are generated by a movement of a part of a running surface of the vehicle tire adjacent to the acceleration sensor when rolling on the roadway;

wherein a vehicle tire is assigned a setpoint signal strength and a setpoint frequency spectrum of the signal spectrum, and an actual signal strength and an actual frequency spectrum of the signal spectrum are determined, and a profile height and material characteristics of the vehicle tire are determined by a comparison of the actual signal strength with the setpoint signal strength and the actual frequency spectrum with the setpoint frequency spectrum.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the signal spectrum is filtered, and signal components determined in the process are analyzed according to their signal strength in order to obtain quantitative information with regard to the state of the tire and the roadway.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein a tire pressure in the vehicle tire is determined based on the signal.

10. A computer-implemented method of a tire monitoring system having at least one computer processor for detecting a state of a vehicle tire and a roadway, the method comprising:

generating, using at least one acceleration sensor disposed in a tire interior, a signal that represents periodically alternating phases of a centripetal acceleration and is assigned to physical variables of the vehicle tire and the roadway in those phases in which the signal drops below a lower limit value; and

determining the tire state and characteristics of the roadway based on the signal;

wherein a signal spectrum is obtained from the signal, and wherein the determined signal spectrum at least partially includes vibrations that are generated by a movement of a part of a running surface of the vehicle tire adjacent to the acceleration sensor when rolling on the roadway,

wherein the signal spectrum is filtered, and signal components determined in the process are analyzed according to their signal strength in order to obtain quantitative information with regard to the state of the tire and the roadway, and

wherein a vehicle tire is assigned a setpoint signal strength and a setpoint frequency spectrum of the signal spectrum, and an actual signal strength and an actual frequency spectrum of the signal spectrum are determined, and a profile height and material characteristics of the vehicle tire are determined by a comparison of the actual signal strength with the setpoint signal strength and the actual frequency spectrum with the setpoint frequency spectrum.

11. A device for detecting a state of a vehicle tire and a roadway, comprising:

at least one acceleration sensor, disposed in a tire interior generating a first signal that represents periodically alternating phases of a centripetal acceleration and is assigned to physical variables of the vehicle tire and the roadway in those phases in which the first signal drops below a lower limit value, wherein a tire state and characteristics of the roadway is determined based on the first signal;

wherein a signal spectrum is obtained from the signal, and wherein the determined signal spectrum at least partially includes vibrations that are generated by a movement of a part of a running surface of the vehicle tire adjacent to the acceleration sensor when rolling on the roadway,

wherein the signal spectrum is filtered, and signal components determined in the process are analyzed according to their signal strength in order to obtain quantitative information with regard to the state of the tire and the roadway, and

wherein a vehicle tire is assigned a setpoint signal strength and a setpoint frequency spectrum of the signal spectrum, and an actual signal strength and an actual frequency spectrum of the signal spectrum are determined, and a profile height and material

characteristics of the vehicle tire are determined by a comparison of the actual signal strength with the setpoint signal strength and the actual frequency spectrum with the setpoint frequency spectrum.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium having a computer program executable on a processor, comprising:

a program code arrangement having program code for detecting a state of a vehicle tire and a roadway by performing the following;

generating, using at least one acceleration sensor disposed in a tire interior, a signal that represents periodically alternating phases of a centripetal acceleration and is assigned to physical variables of the vehicle tire and the roadway in those phases in which the signal drops below a lower limit value; and

determining the tire state and characteristics of the roadway based on the signal;

wherein a signal spectrum is obtained from the signal, and wherein the determined signal spectrum at least partially includes vibrations that are generated by a movement of a part of a running surface of the vehicle tire adjacent to the acceleration sensor when rolling on the roadway,

wherein the signal spectrum is filtered, and signal components determined in the process are analyzed according to their signal strength in order to obtain quantitative information with regard to the state of the tire and the roadway, and

wherein a vehicle tire is assigned a setpoint signal strength and a setpoint frequency spectrum of the signal spectrum, and an actual signal strength and an actual frequency spectrum of the signal spectrum is are determined, and a profile height and material characteristics of the vehicle tire are determined by a comparison of the actual signal strength with the setpoint signal strength and the actual frequency spectrum with the setpoint frequency spectrum.