Antenna system embedded in a support structure for interrogating a tire sensor transponder
First Claim
1. A vehicle tire interrogation system comprising:
- at least one antenna including antenna elements formed on a substrate, said antenna being operable to transmit and receive RF signals for interrogating a sensor within a vehicle tire; and
a support structure encapsulating the antenna, said support structure being operable to be mounted on top of a roadway and being sufficiently durable to withstand collisions from a vehicle tire on a vehicle without adversely affecting the performance of the antenna;
said support structure including an outer support portion defining a cavity and an inner support portion positioned within the cavity, and wherein the at least one antenna is positioned in the cavity between the outer support portion and the inner support portion so that the at least one antenna is substantially surrounded by air.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle tire interrogation system for interrogating sensors embedded in a vehicle tire. The interrogation system both transmits and receives appropriate RF signals to and from the sensors. The system includes antennas operating at two separate frequency bands that have an input impedance at both frequency bands at 50 ohms, are horizontally polarized, and have a gain at a minimum of 2 dBi at the two frequency bands. The antennas may be printed dual band antennas, such as wideband tapered slot antennas, dual band printed dipoles with reflectors or Yagi-Uda array antennas. The antennas can be embedded in various support structures to protect both the antenna and the vehicle tires.
26 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A vehicle tire interrogation system comprising:
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at least one antenna including antenna elements formed on a substrate, said antenna being operable to transmit and receive RF signals for interrogating a sensor within a vehicle tire; and a support structure encapsulating the antenna, said support structure being operable to be mounted on top of a roadway and being sufficiently durable to withstand collisions from a vehicle tire on a vehicle without adversely affecting the performance of the antenna; said support structure including an outer support portion defining a cavity and an inner support portion positioned within the cavity, and wherein the at least one antenna is positioned in the cavity between the outer support portion and the inner support portion so that the at least one antenna is substantially surrounded by air. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 39)
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18. A vehicle tire interrogation system for interrogating sensors in vehicle tires, said system comprising a plurality of drive-by units mounted on top of a roadway in a predetermined configuration, each drive-by unit including a printed antenna having antenna elements formed on a substrate, said antenna elements operating in both a 915 MHz frequency band and a 434 MHz frequency band, said antenna being operable to transmit and receive RF signals for interrogating the sensors, each drive-by unit further including a support structure encapsulating the printed antenna that is sufficiently durable to withstand collisions from a vehicle tire on a vehicle without adversely affecting the performance of the antenna;
said support structure including an outer support portion defining a cavity and an inner support portion positioned within the cavity, and wherein the antenna is positioned in the cavity between the outer support portion and the inner support portion so that the antenna is substantially surrounded by air. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A drive-by unit for a vehicle tire interrogation system, said unit comprising:
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a support structure including an outer support portion defining a cavity and an inner support portion positioned within the cavity, said inner support portion including a plurality of ridges and a plurality of posts; and an antenna positioned in the cavity between the outer support portion and the inner support portion, said antenna including a plurality of antenna elements, a substrate and a plurality of slots formed through the substrate, wherein the plurality of ridges extend through slots in the substrate and the plurality of posts support the antenna. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A vehicle tire interrogation system comprising:
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at least one antenna including antenna elements formed on a substrate, said antenna being operable to transmit and receive RF signals for interrogating a sensor within a vehicle tire; a support structure encapsulating the antenna, said support structure being operable to be mounted to or within a roadway; and at least one metal member for improving a front-to-back ratio of the at least one antenna.
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36. A vehicle tire interrogation system comprising:
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at least one antenna including antenna elements formed on a substrate, said antenna being operable to transmit and receive RF signals for interrogating a sensor within a vehicle tire; a support structure encapsulating the antenna, said support structure being operable to be mounted to or within a roadway; and a light positioned proximate to the at least one antenna for determining the position of the antenna.
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37. A vehicle tire interrogation system comprising:
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a plurality of antenna elements, each antenna element formed on a substrate, said plurality of antenna elements being positioned in a row, said antennas being operable to transmit and receive RF signals for interrogating a sensor within a vehicle tire; a plurality of support structures, each support structure encapsulating an antenna, said support structure being operable to be mounted on or within a roadway; and a plurality of metal members positioned between the plurality of antennas.
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38. A vehicle tire interrogation system comprising:
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at least one antenna including antenna elements formed on a substrate, said antenna being operable to transmit and receive RF signals for interrogating a sensor within a vehicle tire, wherein the antenna elements include a plurality of director elements and reflector elements; and a support structure encapsulating the antenna, said support structure being operable to be mounted to or within a roadway.
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Specification