Tire sensing method for enhanced safety and controllability of vehicles
First Claim
1. An apparatus for sensing or monitoring one or more tire parameters related to tire deformation comprising;
- a deformable tire body having an outer wall for contact with a surface, opposite side walls, and an inside;
at least one flexible sensing assembly positioned across an area on the inside of the tire body, wherein the at least one flexible sensing assembly is positioned to sense tire deformation at the area and produce sensor data;
the flexible sensing assembly comprising a soft dielectric capacitor, soft resistor, or combined soft capacitor and resistor sensing assembly structure comprising;
(1) a bonding layer disposed to bond the sensing assembly structure to the area on the inside of the tire body without affecting compliancy of the sensing assembly with deformation of the tire at the area;
(2) a compliant dielectric layer comprising a soft, elastic dielectric material having a first surface and a second surface and which is compliant with deformation of the tire at the area, anda thickness defined between the first surface and the second surface, a deformation of the soft dielectric material producing a change in capacitance and/or resistance, and(3) electrodes disposed in opposition on the first and second surfaces of the soft dielectric material, wherein the electrodes are configured to operate in conjunction with the compliancy of the soft dielectric material;
a communications interface operatively connected with the flexible sensing assembly to communicate signals representative of capacitance and/or resistance from which the parameters related to tire deformation can be derived.
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Abstract
A method for tire sensing includes providing a tire comprising (a) a tire body having an outer wall for contact with a surface and opposite side walls, and an inside surface and (b) at least one flexible strain gauge positioned along the inside surface of the tire body, wherein the at least one flexible strain gauge is positioned to sense tire deflections or strain. The method further includes sensing tire data indicate of the tire deflections using the at least one flexible strain gauge and communicating the tire data to a data acquisition system, control system, or computer system. The flexible strain gauge(s) may be soft dielectric capacitive sensors, soft resistive sensors, or soft capacitive/resistive sensors.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. An apparatus for sensing or monitoring one or more tire parameters related to tire deformation comprising;
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a deformable tire body having an outer wall for contact with a surface, opposite side walls, and an inside; at least one flexible sensing assembly positioned across an area on the inside of the tire body, wherein the at least one flexible sensing assembly is positioned to sense tire deformation at the area and produce sensor data;
the flexible sensing assembly comprising a soft dielectric capacitor, soft resistor, or combined soft capacitor and resistor sensing assembly structure comprising;(1) a bonding layer disposed to bond the sensing assembly structure to the area on the inside of the tire body without affecting compliancy of the sensing assembly with deformation of the tire at the area; (2) a compliant dielectric layer comprising a soft, elastic dielectric material having a first surface and a second surface and which is compliant with deformation of the tire at the area, and a thickness defined between the first surface and the second surface, a deformation of the soft dielectric material producing a change in capacitance and/or resistance, and (3) electrodes disposed in opposition on the first and second surfaces of the soft dielectric material, wherein the electrodes are configured to operate in conjunction with the compliancy of the soft dielectric material; a communications interface operatively connected with the flexible sensing assembly to communicate signals representative of capacitance and/or resistance from which the parameters related to tire deformation can be derived. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for tire deformation sensing comprising:
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(a) providing a deformable tire body having an outer wall for contact with a surface; (b) bonding to the area of the tire body at least one flexible sensing assembly without affecting compliancy of the sensing assembly with deformation of the tire at the area, wherein the at least one flexible sensing assembly is positioned to sense tire deformation at the area by a soft, elastic dielectric capacitor, soft resistor, or combined soft capacitor and resistor which is compliant with deformation of the tire at the area, and at least a pair of electrodes configured to operate in conjunction with the compliancy of the soft dielectric capacitor, soft resistor, or combined soft capacitor and resistor; (c) sensing a change in capacitance and/or resistance of the flexible sensing assembly at the area of the tire; (d) converting the sensed change in capacitance and/or resistance into tire sensory data and transmitting/communicating the tire sensory data to a data acquisition system, control system, or computer system for correlating the sensory data with parameters related to tire deformation. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system for smart tire sensing comprising:
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(a) a deformable tire body having an outer wall for contact with a surface, opposite side walls, and an inside; (b) an array of flexible sensing assemblies positioned across one or more areas on the tire body to sense tire deformation at the areas, each said flexible sensing assembly comprising a soft dielectric capacitor, soft resistor, or soft combined capacitor and resistor sensing assembly structure comprising; (1) a bonding layer disposed to bond the sensing assembly structure to the tire body without affecting compliancy of the sensing assembly with deformation of the tire at the area; (2) a compliant dielectric layer comprising a soft, elastic dielectric material having a first surface and a second surface and which is compliant with deformation of the tire at the area, (3) a thickness defined between the first surface and the second surface, a deformation of the soft dielectric material producing a change in capacitance or resistance, and (4) electrodes disposed in opposition on the first and second surfaces of the soft dielectric material, wherein the electrodes are configured to operate in conjunction with the compliancy of the soft dielectric material; and (c) a communication system for converting the change in capacitance or resistance to tire sensory data and transmitting/communicating the tire sensory data to a data acquisition system, control system, or computer system for correlation to one or more parameters related to tire deformation.
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Specification