Wheel diagnostic monitoring

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9636956-B2
Application number	US-201414532588-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 4, 2014
Priority date	Nov 4, 2014
Publication date	May 2, 2017
Grant date	May 2, 2017

Abstract

A method, apparatus and program product to monitor a vehicle for wheel related issues based at least in part on temperature data collected for tires of the vehicle. Received temperature data for each of a plurality of tires of the vehicle may be received and analyzed to determine whether a status of each tire is normal. Responsive to determining that a status for at least one tire is not normal, wheel related issues present for the vehicle may be detected based at least in part on the temperature data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of monitoring a vehicle for wheel related issues, the method comprising:
measuring, by a plurality of tire pressure monitoring system sensors installed respectively on each of a plurality of tires of a vehicle, temperature data for the plurality of tires;
analyzing, by a processor, the temperature data to determine whether a status of each tire of the vehicle is normal; and
in response to determining that a status for at least one tire of the plurality of tires is not normal, determining, by the processor, whether a wheel related issue is present for the vehicle based at least in part on the temperature data for the at least one tire, and signaling an alarm for an operator regarding the wheel related issue when determined to be present,
wherein the wheel related issue comprises at least one of an alignment issue, a brake issue, and a wheel bearing issue, and wherein the wheel related issue does not include issues associated specifically with a tire, including tire pressure and tire wear, and
wherein determining whether a wheel related issue is present for the vehicle based at least in part on the temperature data for the at least one tire comprises:
analyzing the temperature data for the at least one tire using a particular model corresponding to each type of wheel related issue, the particular model defined by patterns of temperature data that have been previously associated with at least one of an alignment issue, a brake issue, and a wheel bearing issue, such that the temperature data for the at least one tire can be compared to the patterns of temperature data to identify the wheel related issue when present.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the temperature data to determine whether the status of each tire of the vehicle is normal comprises:
determining a variance between temperature values of a pair of related tires of the vehicle, wherein analyzing the temperature data to determine whether the status of each tire of the vehicle is normal is based at least in part on the variance between the temperature values of the pair of related tires of the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein analyzing the temperature data to determine whether the status of each tire of the vehicle is normal is based at least in part on whether the variance between temperature values of the pair of related tires of the vehicle is within a predefined threshold.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the temperature data to determine whether a status of each tire of the vehicle is normal comprises:
determining a weighted average temperature value for each tire of the vehicle for a defined time period.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein analyzing the temperature data to determine whether a status of each tire of the vehicle is normal comprises:
determining a variance between the weighted average temperature value of each tire and the weighted average temperature value for at least one related tire; and
comparing each respective variance to a threshold variance that is associated with the respective variance , wherein analyzing the temperature data to determine whether a status of each tire of the vehicle is normal is based at least in part on whether each respective variance is within the associated threshold variance.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
filtering the temperature data based at least in part on odometer data associated with the vehicle.

7. An apparatus, comprising:
a plurality of tire pressure monitoring system sensors installed respectively on each of a plurality of tires of a vehicle, the plurality of tire pressure monitoring system sensors measuring temperature data for the plurality of tires;
at least one processor communicating with the plurality of tire pressure monitoring system sensors; and
program code configured upon execution by the at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to receive temperature data for each of a plurality of tires of a vehicle, analyze the temperature data to determine whether a status of each tire of the vehicle is normal, and responsive to determining that a status for at least one tire of the plurality of tires is not normal, determine whether a wheel related issue is present for the vehicle based at least in part on the temperature data for the at least one tire,
wherein the wheel related issue comprises at least one of an alignment issue, a brake issue, and a wheel bearing issue, and wherein the wheel related issue does not include issues associated specifically with a tire, including tire pressure and tire wear,
wherein the program code is configured to cause the at least one processor to determine whether a wheel related issue is present for the vehicle based at least in part on the temperature data for the at least one tire by:
analyzing the temperature data for the at least one tire using a particular model corresponding to each type of wheel related issue, the particular model defined by patterns of temperature data that have been previously associated with at least one of an alignment issue, a brake issue, and a wheel bearing issue, such that the temperature data for the at least one tire can be compared to the patterns of temperature data to identify the wheel related issue when present.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the program code is configured to cause the at least one processor to analyze the temperature data to determine whether the status of each tire of the vehicle is normal by:
determining a variance between temperature values of a pair of related tires of the vehicle, wherein analyzing the temperature data to determine whether the status of each tire of the vehicle is normal is based at least in part on the variance between the temperature values of the pair of related tires of the vehicle.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the program code is configured to cause the at least one processor to analyze the temperature data to determine whether the status of each tire of the vehicle is normal based at least in part on whether the variance between temperature values of the pair of related tires of the vehicle is within a predefined threshold.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the program code is configured to cause the at least one processor to analyze the temperature data to determine whether the status of each tire of the vehicle is normal by:
determining a weighted average temperature value for each tire of the vehicle for a defined time period;
determining a variance between the weighted average temperature value of each tire and the weighted average temperature value for at least one related tire; and
comparing each respective variance to a threshold variance that is associated with the respective variance, wherein analyzing the temperature data to determine whether a status of each tire of the vehicle is normal is based at least in part on whether each respective variance is within the associated threshold variance.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the program code is further configured upon execution to cause the at least one processor to generate an alarm that includes information corresponding to the wheel related issue and the vehicle responsive to determining that a wheel related issue is present for the vehicle.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the program code is further configured upon execution to cause the at least one processor to filter the temperature data based at least in part on odometer data associated with the vehicle.

Assignees

• Goodyear Tire & Rubber

Inventors

• Xu Su

Classifications

• B60C23/20 Primary

  Devices for measuring or signalling tyre temperature {only} · CPC title

• B60W40/12

  related to parameters of the vehicle itself {, e.g. tyre models} · CPC title