NZ584561A - System for detecting and displaying wheel conditions such a tire pressure - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for detecting and displaying wheel conditions is disclosed. The system includes: at least one wheel; and at least one wheel detecting device (12) with a hollow casing containing a detecting unit (122) and a wireless transmitting unit (123); and a data receiving device (13) with a wireless receiving device (132), a controller (135), a display unit (133), and a universal serial bus (USB) port (134) mounted on the detecting unit's housing. Each wheel has a tyre, a detection valve, and a tyre valve mounted on a rim. The detection valve and a tyre valve are in communication with the inside of the tyre. The detection unit (122) of the wireless transmitting unit (123) is connected detachably to the detection valve, allowing it to detect conditions inside the tyre, and then generate a signal indicative of the condition inside the tyre. A wireless transmitting unit (123) generates, and transmits a signal based on receiving the detection unit's signal. The wireless receiving unit (132), of the data-receiving device (13) receives the signal from the wireless transmitting unit (123). The controller (135) receives output from the wireless receiver (132), controls the display unit to display wheel condition information, and transmits a signal corresponding to wheel condition through the USB port (134), to an external device (200).

Description

Received at IPONZ 12 October 2010 PATENTS FORM NO. 5 Fee No. 4: $250.00 PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION System for Detecting and Displaying Wheel Conditions I Chin-Ying Tsai, a Taiwanese citizen of 6F., No. 226, Dasin Rd., Dashe Township, Kaohsiung County 815, Taiwan hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement; 1 James & Wells Ref: 131587/0 SM Received at IPONZ 12 October 2010 1A SYSTEM FOR DETECTING AND DISPLAYING WHEEL CONDITIONS The invention relates to a wheel assembly, more particularly to a wheel assembly capable of detecting and displaying wheel conditions.

An abnormal tire pressure not only shortens the service life of the tire and increases fuel consumption of the vehicle, but also degrades the brake performance of the vehicle while increasing the risk of flat tires . When tire pressure increases, braking distance 10 increases as well. Therefore, in order to ensure driving safety, tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) are increasingly employed in vehicles. In the United States , for example , the National Highway traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has requested that all vehicles 15 sold in the United States beginning in the year 2 0 0 7 are to be equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems in order to effectively prevent traffic accidents caused by abnormal tire pressure in vehicles.

U.S. Patent No. 7,009,579 discloses mounting of one 20 or more radio frequency devices directly on the wheels (i.e. , directly on the wheel rims) . Each of the radio frequency devices includes a wireless component and an antenna connected to the wireless component for transmitting and receiving radio signals . In this way, 25 the radio frequency devices can be used as detection devices for detecting tire conditions, such as tire Received at IPONZ 12 October 2010 pressure. However, when the wheel rims equipped with the detection devices become damaged and need replacement or it is desired to replace the wheel rims, the detection devices embedded into the wheel rims cannot 5 be reused on the new wheel rims, thereby resulting in higher costs.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0074250 discloses mounting of a wireless data detection device on a tire valve of a wheel . In this 10 way, the wireless data detection device can be reused after removal from the wheel when the wheel wears out and needs replacement. However, the wireless data detection device must be removed from the tire valve prior to pumping, thereby resulting in inconvenience 15 during use.

Therefore, an obj ect of the present invention is to provide a wheel assembly that can overcome the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.

According to the present invention, a wheel assembly 20 comprises: at least one wheel including a rim, a tire mounted to the rim and cooperat ing with the rim to define a chamber therebetween, a tire valve provided on the rim and in spatial communication with the chamber, and a detection 25 valve provided on the rim and in spatial communication with the chamber; at least one wheel detecting device including Received at IPONZ 12 October 2010 a hollow main casing configured with an inner receiving space and connected detachably to the detection valve of the wheel such that the chamber in the wheel is in spatial communication with the inner 5 receiving space through the detect ion valve of the wheel, a detecting unit disposed in the inner receiving space in the main casing for detecting conditions in the chamber in the wheel and for generating a detecting signal based on a detection result made thereby, 10 a wireless transmitting unit disposed in the inner receiving space in the main casing, coupled to the detecting unit for receiving the detecting signal therefrom, and generating and transmitting an detecting output based on the detecting signal; and 15 a data receiving device including a housing, a wireless receiving unit disposed in the housing for receiving the detecting output transmitted by the wireless transmitting unit of the wheel detecting 20 device, a controller disposed in the housing, coupled to the wireless receiving unit and receiving the detecting output received by the wireless receiving unit, and a display unit mounted on the housing, coupled 25 to the control ler, and controlled by the controller to display thereon information corresponding to the conditions in the chamber in the wheel.

Received at IPONZ 12 October 2010 Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 5 Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the first preferred embodiment of a wheel assembly according to the present invention when applied to a car; Figure 2 is a perspective view showing a wheel and a corresponding wheel detecting device of the first 10 preferred embodiment; Figure 3 is a fragmentary schematic sectional of Figure 2 taken along line III-III; Figure 4 is a schematic circuit block diagram illustrating the first preferred embodiment; 15 Figure 5 is a fragmentary schematic sectional view showing a variation of the first preferred embodiment; Figure 6 is a fragmentary schematic sectional view showing the second preferred embodiment of a wheel assembly according to the present invention; and 20 Figure 7 is a fragmentary schematic sectional view showing the third preferred embodiment of a wheel assembly according to the present invention.

Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that like elements are denoted 25 by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.

Referring to Figure 1, the first preferred embodiment Received at IPONZ 12 October 2010 of a wheel assembly according to the present invention is shown to be applied to a car 100, and includes a plurality of wheels 11, a plurality of wheel detecting devices 12, and a data receiving device 13. 5 Referring further to Figures 2 and 3, each wheel 11 includes a rim 111, a tire 112 mounted to the rim 111 and cooperating with the rim 111 to define a chamber 113 therebetween, a tire valve 115 provided on the rim 111 and in spatial communication with the chamber 113 , and a detection valve 114 provided on the rim 111 and in spatial communication with the chamber 113. Each of the tire valve 115 and the detection valve 114 has a valve stem 1151, 1141 operable to move between an open position and a normally closed position, as shown in 1 5 Figure 3 .

Referring further to Figure 4, the wheel detecting devices 12 correspond respectively to the wheels 11. Each wheel detecting device 12 includes a hollow main casing 121, a detecting unit 122, a wireless transmitting 20 unit 12 3 and a radio frequency identification {RFID) tag 120 . For each wheel detecting device 12 , the main casing 121 is configured with an inner receiving space 125, and is connected detachably to the detection valve 114 of a corresponding wheel 11 such that the chamber 25 113 in the corresponding wheel 11 is in spatial communication with the inner receiving space 12 5 through the detection valve 114 of the corresponding wheel 11.

Received at IPONZ 12 October 2010 In this embodiment, the main casing 121 has a base body 1211 formed with a screw hole 124 permitting extension of the detection valve 114 of the corresponding wheel II and engaging threadedly the detection valve 114 of 5 the corresponding wheel 11, a tube body 1212 having opposite open ends, one of which is connected integrally to the base body 1211, a cap body 1213 covering sealingly the other one of the open ends of the tube body 1212 and cooperating with the tube body 1212 and the base 10 body 1211 to define the inner receiving space 12 5 thereamong , and a pressing member 1214 disposed f ixedly in the inner receiving space 125 for pressing the valve stem 1141 of the detect ion valve 114 of the corresponding wheel 11 to move from the closed position to the open 15 position when the main casing 121 is connected to the detection valve 114 of the corresponding wheel 11. As shown in Figure 3, the detecting unit 122 is disposed in the inner receiving space 125 in the main casing 121 for detecting conditions in the chamber 113 in the 20 corresponding wheel 11, i.e., the wheel conditions , such as pressure and temperature in the chamber 113, and for generating a detecting signal based on a detection result made thereby. The RFID tag 12 0 is mounted on the rim III of the corresponding wheel 11 in this embodiment, 25 and is loaded with identification information corresponding to the corresponding wheel 11, such as date of production, specifications of tire and rim, etc .

Received at IPONZ 12 October 2010 In other embodiments, the RFID tag 12 0 can be mounted on the tire 112 of the corresponding wheel 11. The wireless transmitting unit 12 3 is disposed in the inner receiving space 125 in the main casing 121 (see Figure 5 3) , is coupled to the detecting unit 12 2 for receiving the detecting signal therefrom, receives the identification information transmitted by the RFID tag 12 0, and generates and transmits a detecting output based on the detecting signal and the identification 10 information. As a result, the detecting output generated by the wireless transmitting unit 123 contains the identification information.

Figure 5 illustrates a variation of the main casing 121 of each wheel detecting device 12 , where in the base 15 body 1211 of the main casing 121 is partly embedded into the rim 111 of the corresponding wheel 11.

The data receiving device 13 includes a housing 131, a wireless receiving unit 13 2, a controller 135, a display unit 133, a universal series bus (USB) connecting 20 port 134 , and a loudspeaker 136 . The wireless receiving unit 132 is disposed in the housing 131 for receiving the detecting output transmitted by the wireless transmitting unit 123 of each wheel detecting device 12 . The controller 13 5 is disposed in the housing 131, 25 is coupled to the wireless receiving unit 13 2, and receives the detecting output transmitted by the wireless transmitting unit 123 of each wheel detecting Received at IPONZ 12 October 2010 device 12 and received by the wireless receiving unit 132. The display unit 133 is mounted on the housing 131, is coupled to the controller 135, and is controlled by the controller 13 5 to display thereon information 5 corresponding to the conditions in the chamber 113 in each wheel 11. It is noted that, the information further includes the identification information of each wheel 11 . In this embodiment, the display unit 133 includes a liquid crystal display that is configured to display 10 information corresponding to two of the wheels 11 at a time in a known manner. In other embodiments, the display unit 13 3 can further include a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs), each controlled by the controller 13 5 to emit colored light indicative of the 15 conditions in the chamber 113 in a corresponding wheel 11 . For example, a blue light may indicate a normal condition, a flashed red light may indicate a caution condition, and a continuous red light may indicate a dangerous condition. The loudspeaker 13 6 is mounted 20 to the housing 131, and is coupled to the controller 135. The controller 135 enables the loudspeaker 136 to generate an alarm output upon determining that the conditions corresponding to one of the wheels 11 are abnormal, such as abnormal pressure or extremely high 25 temperature, thereby warning the driver of the car 10 0.

The USB connecting port 134 is provided on the housing 131, is coupled to the controller 13 5, and is adapted Received at IPONZ 12 October 2010 to be connected electrically to an external electronic device 200, such as a personal computer. In this embodiment, the data receiving device 13 is capable of storing the detecting outputs from the wheel detecting 5 devices 12 within a time period of about 72 hours using a memory (not shown) . Thereafter, the detecting outputs can be transmitted to the external electronic device 2 0 0 via the USB connecting port 134 for storage and analysis purposes.

In actual use, when the data receiving device 13 is embodied in a mobile terminal capable of wireless communications, using general packet radio service (GPRS), the detecting outputs in the form of packets can be efficiently transmitted to a center monitoring 15 computer (not shown) . In this way, real-time monitoring of the wheels 11 can effectively ensure driving safety.

The following are some of the advantages attributed to the wheel assembly of the present invention: 1. The main casing 121 of each wheel detecting device 20 12 is connected detachably to the detection valve 114 of the corresponding wheel. Therefore, when one rim 111 mounted with the wheel detecting device 12 is damaged and needs replacement, or it is desired to replace all the rims 111, the wheel detecting device (s) 12 can be 25 reused after detachment thereof from therimlll, thereby resulting in lower costs. Furthermore, due to the presence of the tire valve 115 of each wheel 11, pumping Received at IPONZ 12 October 2010 of the wheels 11 is relatively convenient as compared to the aforesaid prior art. 2 . The detecting outputs from the wheel detecting devices 12 can be transmitted to the external electronic 5 device 200. Therefore, effective integration and utilization of the detecting outputs can prevent occurrence of flat tires, thereby ensuring driving safety.

Figure 6 illustrates the second preferred embodiment 10 of a wheel assembly according to this invention, which is a modification of the first preferred embodiment. As compared to the first preferred embodiment, each wheel detecting device further includes a bearing 12 7 sleeved on the tube body 1212 of the main casing 121, and the 15 cap body 1213 of the main casing 121 has an outer surface formed with an engaging groove 1210 adapted to engage a tool (not shown) for detachment of the main casing 121 from the detection valve 114 of the corresponding wheel 11. As a result, when removing the main casing 20 121 from the detection valve 114 of the corresponding wheel 11, the tool is operated to engage the engaging groove 1210 in the main casing 121 and then rotate such that the main casing 11 co-rotates with the tool . In this way, due to the presence of the bearing 127, it 25 is not possible to remove the main casing 121 without the tool, thereby preventing the main casing 121 from inadvertently falling off from the detection valve 114 .

Received at IPONZ 12 October 2010 Figure 7 illustrates the third preferred embodiment of a wheel assembly according to this invention, which is a modification of the first preferred embodiment. As compared to the first preferred embodiment, for each 5 wheel detecting device, the base body 1211 of the main casing 121 has a tubular protrusion 1215 extending toward the rim 111 of the corresponding wheel 11, permits extension of the detecting valve 114 of the corresponding wheel 11, and has a threaded outer annular surface 1216 . 10 Each wheel detecting device further includes a reverse threaded nut 126 sleeved on and engaging threadedly the threaded outer annular surface 1216 of the tubular protrusion 1215. In this way, when removing the main cas ing 121 from the detection valve 114 of the 15 corresponding wheel 11, the reverse threaded nut 126 must be removed f rom the tubular protrus ion 1215 by means of a tool (not shown) first, and the main casing 121 is then detached from the detection valve 114 of the corresponding wheel 11. Therefore, it is not possible 20 for the main cas ing 121 to inadvertently fall off from the detection valve 114.

Received at IPONZ 29 September 2010 12

Claims (10)

CLAIMS;

1. A system for detecting and displaying wheel conditions , said system comprising: a wheel assembly including 5 at least one wheel including a rim, a tire mounted to said rim and cooperat ing with said rim to define a chamber therebetween, a tire valve provided on said rim and in spatial communication with said chamber, and a detect ion valve provided on said rim and in spatial 10 communication with said chamber, and at least one wheel detect ing device including a hollow main casing configured with an inner receiving space and connected detachably to said detect ion valve of said wheel such that said chamber 15 in said wheel is in spatial communication with said inner receiving space through said detection valve of said wheel, a detecting unit disposed in said inner receiving space in said main casing for detecting 20 conditions in said chamber in said wheel and for generat ing a detecting signal based on a detection result made thereby, and a wireless transmitting unit disposed in said inner rece iving space in said main cas ing, coupled to 25 said detect ing unit for receiving the detect ing signal therefrom, and generating and transmitting a detecting output based on the detect ing signal; and Received at IPONZ 29 September 2010 13 a data receiving device including a housing, a wireless receiving unit disposed in said housing for receiving the detecting output transmitted by said 5 wireless transmitting unit of said wheel detecting device, a controller disposed in said housing, coupled to said wireless receiving uni t and receiving the detecting output received by said wireless receiving 10 unit, and a display unit mounted on said housing, coupled to said controller, and controlled by said controller to display thereon information corresponding to the conditions in said chamber in said wheel; 15 wherein said data receiving device further includes a universal serial bus (USB) connecting port provided on said housing, coupled to said controller, and adapted to be connected electrically to an external electronic device such that the detecting output is transmitted 20 from said controller to the external electronic device via said USB connecting port.

2 . The system as claimed in Claim 1, where in said di splay unit includes a liquid crystal display.

3 . The system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said display 25 unit includes at least one 1ight emi11 ing diode controlled by said controller to emit colored 1ight indicative of the conditions in said chamber in said Received at IPONZ 29 September 2010 14 wheel.

4. The system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein: said wheel detecting device further includes a radio 5 frequency identification (RFID) tag mounted on said wheel and loaded with identification information corresponding to said wheel; and said wireless transmitting unit of said wheel detect ing device further receives the identification 10 information transmitted by said RFID tag such that the detecting output generated by said wireless transmitting unit includes the identification information corresponding to said wheel.

5. The system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein: 15 each of said tire valve and said detection valve includes a valve stem operable to move between an open position and a closed position; and said main cas ing of said wheel detecting device has a base body formed with a screw hole permitting extension 20 of said detection valve of said wheel therethorugh and engaging threadedly said det ect ion valve, a tube body having opposite open ends, one of which is connected to said base body, a cap body covering sealingly the other one of said open ends of said tube body and 25 cooperating with said base body and said tube body to define said inner receiving space thereamong, and a pressing member disposed fixedly in said inner receiving

Received at IPONZ 29 September 2010 15 space for pressing said valve stem of said detection valve to move from the closed position to the open position when said main casing is connected to said detection valve. 5 6. The system as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said base body of said main casing of said wheel detecting device is partly embedded into said rim of said wheel.

7 . The system as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said wheel detecting device further includes a bearing sleeved on 10 said tube body of said main casing, said cap body of said main cas ing having an outer surface formed with an engaging groove adapted to engage a tool for detachment of said main casing f rom said detection valve of said wheel. 15

8 . The system as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said base body of said main casing of said wheel detecting device has a tubular protrusion extending toward said rim of said wheel, permitting extension of said detection valve of said wheel therethrough and having a threaded outer 20 annular surface, said wheel detecting device further including a reverse threaded nut sleeved on and engaging threadedly said threaded outer annular surface of said tubular protrusion.

9. The system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein: 25 said data receiving device further includes a loudspeaker mounted to said housing and coupled to said controller; and Received at IPONZ 29 September 2010 16 said controller enables said loudspeaker to generate an alarm output upon detecting that the conditions are abnormal based on the detecting output.

10 . The system substantially as hereinbefore described 5 with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.