JP5093130B2 - Tire uneven wear management method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a tire uneven wear management method for managing uneven wear occurring in a tire used in a vehicle.

Vehicle tires wear out as the vehicle travels. A tire management method for automatically managing the tire wear has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).
The tire management method is a management method for normal wear (uniform wear). In contrast, vehicle tires do not wear uniformly due to various causes, and partial wear may progress rapidly. This is called uneven wear.

  If the degree of uneven wear is severe, the tire life will be significantly reduced, causing noise and vibration and making it impossible to drive comfortably. No proposal has been made yet to automatically manage such uneven wear of tires.

A typical example of uneven wear will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, in the drawings (A) to (I), the lower surface shape of the tire is shown in the upper part of the figure, and the cross-sectional shape of the tire is shown in the lower part. In addition, the worn part is displayed in black.
(A) is called center wear, and the center part (center) of the tire is worn faster than the entire tread. This is likely to occur when the air pressure is too high or when used on a drive shaft of a vehicle with a high driving force.

  (B) is referred to as shoulder drop wear, in which only the shoulder portion is worn early as if a “step” was formed at the groove as compared with the entire tread. This occurs due to the effects of toe-in and camber when the tire is mounted on the front. It also occurs when there are many sharp curves, and it is caused by the influence of the road surface inclination.

  (C) is called step wear and is a phenomenon in which the outside of the shoulder portion is intensively worn away. This occurs due to the influence of toe-in and camber when the tire is mounted on the front, as in (B) above. It also occurs when there are many sharp curves, and it is caused by the influence of the road surface inclination.

  (D) is called wavy wear, which is often found in the tread shoulder and is wavy. This occurs when the toe-in and camber are not appropriate when mounted on the front, when the air pressure is insufficient, or when there is a difference in the outer diameter or air pressure between the two wheels.

(E) is what is called both-shoulder drop wear, in which both shoulder portions of the tire are worn early. This occurs when the air pressure is insufficient or overloaded.
(F) is called rail wear, and the edge of the groove of the tire is worn away as the rail passes. This occurs in the case of poor alignment adjustment or insufficient tire position replacement.

  (G) is called rib punching, and only a certain row of blocks excluding the shoulder portion is worn early. This occurs when there is a difference in outer diameter and air pressure between the two wheels. Even when the front is mounted, it may occur due to the effect of alignment.

(H) is called feather edge wear, and is often found on ribs and detail edges, and is worn in the form of saw teeth in the cross-sectional direction of the tire. This occurs mainly when the toe-in is insufficient, the air pressure is insufficient, and there are many sharp curves.
Moreover, it may occur due to the influence of the road surface inclination.

(I) is called one-side wear, and only one side of the tread is worn early. This occurs mainly due to the effect of camber when the front is mounted, and occurs when there are many sharp curves. It also occurs due to the influence of the road surface inclination.
(J) is called heel & toe wear, where the block is worn in the direction of rotation in the shape of a saw tooth. This occurs when the frequency of braking and driving is high, or when the air pressure at the time of rear mounting is insufficient. In addition, (J) has shown the state which looked at the tire from the side surface.

As is apparent from the above explanation of uneven wear, uneven wear of the tire can be suppressed by appropriately performing the following five managements.
(1) Maintain and manage proper air pressure.
(2) Proper tire position exchange (rotation).
(3) Alignment adjustment.
(4) Prevention of the difference in outer diameter and air pressure between the two wheels.
(5) Vehicle maintenance.

  Conventionally, a user, a serviceman, and the like have determined the presence and type of uneven wear by visual observation or by measuring a difference in groove depth inside and outside. Then, depending on the cause of uneven wear, necessary measures such as replacement of the position of the tire are determined and executed to extend the life of the tire.

JP 2002-132994 A

As described above, regarding uneven wear of a tire, a person has performed from detection of uneven wear to determination of countermeasures. For this reason, the knowledge and experience of the workers are required, and the labor is large.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method for managing uneven wear of a tire that automatically performs from detection of uneven wear of a tire to determination of a countermeasure.

The present invention has been made to achieve the above object.
In the tire uneven wear management method of the present invention, the outer shape of a tire is measured by a scanner, and the measured outer shape of the tire is compared with a standard outer shape (outer shape at the time of a new article) to obtain a difference in outer shape. Based on this difference, a corresponding uneven wear type is determined from an uneven wear database (hereinafter, “database” is abbreviated as “DB”) in which the shape of the uneven wear is stored in the storage unit .

Further, in the tire uneven wear management method of the present invention, a position exchange DB is prepared in which a position exchange method for preventing uneven wear is stored in the storage unit for each type of tire uneven wear determined and its tire position. Information on the position exchange method extracted from the tire position exchange DB is displayed as an image .
Thereby, when uneven wear occurs , information on an appropriate tire position exchange method is automatically obtained.

Furthermore, the information of the countermeasure for preventing uneven wear is extracted from the countermeasure DB in which the countermeasure for preventing the uneven wear is stored in the storage unit for each determined type of tire uneven wear.
Information on the type of uneven wear and the extracted countermeasures are displayed as images .
According to the present invention, uneven wear of a tire can be automatically determined, and a countermeasure can be automatically obtained. Therefore, the operator's experience is not required and the labor can be reduced.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the tire uneven wear management method of performing from the detection of the uneven wear of a tire to determination of a countermeasure automatically can be provided.
Further, according to the present invention, in the tire uneven wear management method, information on a countermeasure method against uneven wear and information on a tire replacement method against uneven wear are provided .

It is a figure explaining the partial wear of a tire. It is a figure which shows the circuit structure of the tire uneven wear management apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the process of the apparatus of FIG. The tire selection screen displayed in the process of FIG. 3 is shown. It is a figure which shows the principle of a tire shape comparison in the process of FIG. It is a figure which shows the 1st example of the tire position exchange instruction | indication screen in the process of FIG. It is a figure which shows the 2nd example of the tire position exchange instruction | indication screen in the process of FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 shows a circuit configuration of the tire uneven wear management device.
The tire uneven wear management device 1 is configured by, for example, a mobile personal computer. The tire uneven wear management device 1 includes a control unit 2 composed of a CPU, a storage unit 3, a display unit 4 composed of a liquid crystal display, an input unit 5 composed of a keyboard and the like, and an input / output interface 6.

The tire uneven wear management device 1 may be incorporated in the vehicle terminal described in Patent Document 1 or may be configured independently.
The tire uneven wear management device 1 can be connected to a scanner 7, a transceiver 8, and a host computer 9 via an input / output interface 6. The scanner 7 is for measuring the shape of the tire, and for example, a laser type shape measuring device is used. The transceiver 8 receives data related to the tire transmitted from the transponder mounted in the tire.

The storage unit 3 stores device operation programs and various DBs.
The various DBs include a tire shape DB, a partial wear DB, a countermeasure DB, and a position exchange DB.
All data may be stored in advance in each DB, but only necessary data may be downloaded and stored from the host computer 9 at every inspection work.

The tire shape DB stores data relating to the tire type. As this data, for each tire name, there are a tire ID for identifying a tire, image data of a tire shape when new, and the like.
In the uneven wear DB, the shape of the tire with uneven wear is stored as image data for each type of uneven wear. Moreover, the threshold value used when determining the presence or absence of uneven wear is memorize | stored for every kind of uneven wear.

In the countermeasure DB, countermeasures are stored for each type of uneven wear. In addition, this countermeasure DB can also be incorporated in the uneven wear DB.
The position exchange DB stores a position exchange method according to the tire position where the partial wear is detected and the type of the partial wear.

A method of using the tire uneven wear management device 1 and the operation of the device will be described.
When the dealer goes out for tire inspection, user information is downloaded from the host computer 9 and stored in the storage unit 3.
The host computer 9 stores, as user information, a user name, an office name, a vehicle number of a vehicle deployed at the office, a tire layout diagram for each vehicle, a tire ID for each tire, and a tire shape.

The dealer downloads data related to tires such as a tire layout diagram, a tire ID, and a tire shape of a vehicle belonging to the establishment by specifying the establishment name.
If the above-mentioned various DBs are not stored in the storage unit 3 in advance, necessary data is downloaded from the host computer based on the data obtained from the user information.

The processing by the control unit 2 will be described using the flowchart of FIG.
When the operator performs an operation of reading user information from the input unit 5, the user information read from the storage unit 3 is displayed on the display unit 4 in step S1. An operator selects a vehicle number according to this display.

When the vehicle number is selected, the display unit 4 displays user information, a tire layout diagram, a tire ID, and the like of the corresponding vehicle, and an instruction to select a tire to be measured is given in step S2.
FIG. 4 shows a screen displayed on the display unit 4 in step S2.
Here, display of user information, a tire layout diagram, and “Please investigate the following tires” indicating the tire to be measured is displayed.

In the tire layout diagram, the tire to be measured is displayed blinking. Instead of blinking display, the display color may be different from the display color of other tires.
The screen further displays information on the tires for which the survey has been instructed. This includes the chip ID of the transponder mounted inside the tire.

  When the tire to be measured is determined, the operator connects the transmitter / receiver 8 to the apparatus 1 and receives data from the transponder mounted in the measurement tire. Data on the tire is transmitted from the transponder. This data includes a chip ID for specifying a transponder, a tire ID for specifying a tire name, and the like.

  It is determined whether or not the chip ID included in the data received by the transmitter / receiver 8 matches the chip ID included in the user information. If they match, the process proceeds to the next step S3. If they do not match, the user information is corrected by the operator's operation. Subsequent operations are performed based on the received data. The modified user information is registered in the host computer 9 later. For tires for which user information cannot be corrected, the operation is stopped.

In step S3, the tire shape is read. Here, the scanner 7 is connected to the apparatus 1, the scanner 7 is applied to the tire surface, and the tire surface is scanned. Thereby, the cross-sectional shape of the tire is read as image data.
In step S4, the read tire cross-sectional shape is compared with the new shape. Here, the tire shape DB is searched according to the tire ID, and image data of the tire shape (standard shape) at the time of a new article is read out.

A method of comparing the read tire cross-sectional shape with the new shape will be described with reference to FIG. This comparison is performed by image processing.
The upper part of the figure shows the cross-sectional shape of the loaded tire. The state where the read cross-sectional shape (thin line) and the new shape (thick line) are overlapped is displayed in the lower part of the figure. The difference between the two shapes is the wear shape.

  Note that the read shape includes not only uneven wear but also normal wear. In order to eliminate the influence of this normal wear, image processing is performed to cut the upper end of the new shape into an arc shape. The upper end of the new shape is shaved, and when it hits the upper end of the read shape, the shaving process is stopped. In this state, the tire shape with normal wear is compared with the read tire shape, and the difference shape is extracted.

  In step S5, partial wear is determined. Here, the uneven wear DB is searched based on the above-described difference shape, and the type of uneven wear most similar to the difference shape is extracted by a technique such as pattern matching. At the same time, the amount of uneven wear is calculated from the difference shape, and the presence or absence of uneven wear is determined by comparison with a threshold value.

The uneven wear DB stores a threshold value for each type of uneven wear, and when the uneven wear amount obtained from the differential shape exceeds this threshold value, it is determined that uneven wear has occurred.
In addition, about the heel & toe wear of FIG.1 (J), it cannot judge only by cross-sectional shape. However, when measuring the tire shape by the scanner 7, the measurement is also made in the circumferential direction of the tire, so that it is actually possible to determine the heel and toe wear.

  In step S <b> 6, data regarding uneven wear is stored in the storage unit 3. The uneven wear data stored here includes the presence or absence of uneven wear and the type of uneven wear when there is uneven wear. In this example, the processing described in Patent Document 1 is executed at the same time, and the remaining groove amount and wear life are also stored as data.

In step S7, it is determined whether there is a tire to be investigated next. If there is, the process returns to step S2, and the same processing is performed for the next tire. If the processing for all tires has been completed, the process proceeds to step S8.
In step S <b> 8, the data stored for each tire by the above process is collected as data for one vehicle and stored in the storage unit 3.

In step S9, partial wear comparison within the vehicle is performed. Here, based on the investigation of uneven wear for each tire, it is determined which tire has uneven wear in one vehicle.
In step S10, a tire position exchange instruction is issued. Also, a countermeasure for preventing uneven wear is displayed.

In step S9, when the position of the tire in the vehicle where the partial wear has occurred and the type of the partial wear are specified, the position exchange DB is searched based on this, and the result is displayed on the display unit 4.
6 and 7 show examples of tire position exchange instructions.
When one-side wear is detected in the front right tire, the display of FIG. 6 is displayed.
When heel & toe wear is detected inside and outside the rear front, the display of FIG. 7 is displayed.

  In each screen, tires in which uneven wear has occurred are displayed in a color different from the display color of normal tires. In addition, the method of exchanging tire positions is indicated by an arrow. In FIG. 6, it is instructed to assemble a tire with uneven wear on the back. In FIG. 7, it is instructed to replace the two tires on the right side where uneven wear has occurred with the two corresponding tires on the left side.

  In rare cases, the position exchange method may not be extracted from the uneven wear DB, for example, when uneven wear occurs simultaneously in many tires. At this time, it is displayed on the screen that an appropriate position exchange method could not be automatically extracted.

The tire position is exchanged according to the above instruction. By exchanging the position, the chances of uneven wear of the tire depending on the position are made uniform, and the tire can have a long life.
When the tire position is exchanged and the operator inputs that fact from the input unit 5, the tire position of the user information stored in the storage unit 3 is rewritten. The rewritten user information is registered in the host computer 9 later.

A countermeasure against uneven wear can be displayed at the time of the tire position exchange instruction in step S10.
In the state where the screen shown in FIG. 6 or 7 is displayed, the tire displayed as having uneven wear is clicked on the screen. Then, a countermeasure is extracted from the countermeasure DB of the storage unit 3 based on the type of uneven wear and displayed on the screen.

  As countermeasures, as explained for uneven wear in Fig. 1, (1) maintenance and management of appropriate air pressure, (2) proper tire position exchange, and (3) alignment adjustment, corresponding to the cause of uneven wear , (4) The prevention of the difference between the outer diameters of the double wheels and the difference in air pressure, and (5) the need for vehicle maintenance are displayed.

According to the example described above, an apparatus for automatically obtaining tire position exchange and other countermeasures can be obtained from detection of uneven tire wear. By executing the tire position exchange obtained by this apparatus and other countermeasures, the influence of uneven wear can be minimized and the life of the tire can be extended.
Further, the worker can take measures against tire uneven wear according to the method of exchanging the tire position displayed on the apparatus and other countermeasures without special knowledge and experience.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tire uneven wear management apparatus 2 Control part 3 Memory | storage part 4 Display part 5 Input part 6 Interface 7 Scanner 8 Transceiver 9 Host computer

Claims (5)

A tire uneven wear management device comprising a storage unit that stores tire information for each tire type, stores tire uneven wear shapes for each type of uneven wear, and further stores predetermined information for each type of uneven wear. ,
Tire wear information obtained by measuring the surface of the tire by a scanner, and stored in the storage unit in association with the type of the tire,
Based on the tire wear information, it creates an outer shape image of the tire,
To read out the tire information stored in the storage unit, based on the tire information, to create a standard external shape image according to the type of the tire,
It detects that the external shape image created a difference shape between the standard outside shape image,
To read out the tire uneven wear shape of each type of stored partial wear in the storage unit, comparing the difference shape as the tire uneven wear shape,
When the differential shape matches the tire uneven wear shape, it is determined that there is uneven wear related to the type of uneven wear on the measurement surface of the tire,
Tire uneven wear management method, characterized in that that displays images the predetermined information read based on the type of determine the constant has been the uneven wear.   The tire uneven wear management method according to claim 1, wherein the tire wear information is obtained by measuring the circumferential direction of the tire by the scanner.   3. The tire uneven wear management method according to claim 1, wherein the standard external shape image is created based on an external shape in which normal wear is cut from a new tire shape. 4. Wherein the predetermined information, the tire uneven wear management method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the tire equipment location exchange information der Rukoto. Wherein the predetermined information, the tire uneven wear management method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in countermeasure information der Rukoto.

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