Continental Aktiengesellschaft

Continental Tire North America, Inc.

Continental Automotive Licensing Corp.

James Michael Giustino

Thomas Becherer

Robert Yen Liu

Alan Roger Bichler

Marius Goslar

Duane Marle Oxley

Frank Paul Papp

A Yuecel Cetin

A system and method for detecting changes in tire status in real time, e.g., changes in tire pressure or changes that might indicate an imminent tread separation or other failure, using magnetic sidewall torsion (SWT) signatures for tires. A measured magnetic signature of a tire is compared to a stored magnetic signature that describes the tire in an undamaged state or otherwise acceptable state. If the measured magnetic signature deviates too much from the stored signature, or if a change in tire pressure is detected, the system and method can further provide an associated warning to the driver and/or provide an input to a vehicle control system, which would automatically take action to correct or at least mitigate the effects of the failing tire, e.g., by decelerating the vehicle.

Tire status detection system and method

A method for monitoring an operating condition of a vehicular tire. The method includes providing magnetized areas in the tire and magnetic field sensors on the chassis of the vehicle. Rotation of the tire produces magnetic field pattern signatures which characterize the tire's materials, construction and deformation conditions. Changes in magnetic field pattern signatures from a baseline are indicative of impending abnormalities in tire integrity that can be recognized in advance to forestall vehicle accidents attributed to tire faults.

Tire status detection system

A system and method for predicting the forces generated in the tire contact patch from measurements of tire deformations, including separating the lateral force, the vertical force, and the circumferential torque using measurements of tire deformations. A system and method for using a trained neural network or bilinear equations to determine any combination or permutation of one or more of any of the following from tire sidewall deformation sensors, e.g., magnetic tire sidewall torsion measuring (SWT) sensors: the lateral force acting on the tire, the circumferential torque acting on the tire, the longitudinal force acting on the tire, the vertical force acting on the tire, and forces and/or torques having any one or more of the foregoing as components thereof.

System and method for predicting tire forces using tire deformation sensors

Rubber compositions filled with an unusually high content of solid magnetizable particles such as iron oxide or strontium ferrite but having great resistance to crack initiation and crack growth. This allows generation of strongly magnetized areas in rubber articles built with a rubber composition according this invention. This gives&mdash;also in those applications where a large distance between a row of magnetized areas and a sensor is necessary due to deformation&mdash;well-reproducible and well-recognizable signals despite existence of disturbing magnetic fields. The magnetizable particles are bonded to a rubber matrix by a bonding agent, namely an organo-functional silane.

Rubber composition containing solid magnetizable particles of greater stiffness than the rubbery compounds

The present invention provides a tire with a sidewall having a magnetized outer layer. The sidewall outer layer is peripherally divided into sections with radially extending ribs between each adjacent pair of sections. The ribs protrude above the sections. In the peripheral direction, the ribs are significantly narrower than the sections. The sections are magnetized in a peripheral direction, but with alternating polarity. The ribs close the circles of magnetic flux by allowing lines of magnetic flux to enter and exit the sidewall outer layer after moving through the surrounding air and the magnetized sections, respectively. The ribs focus the location of the entry and exit of the lines of magnetic flux into and out of the sidewall outer layer. This focused entry and exit is achieved by the accumulation of magnetized material in the ribs which causes the lines of magnetic flux moving through the ribs to point in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the tire sidewall. As a result of this focused entry and exit, sharp edges between the areas of opposite polarization are achieved which enables the precise measurement of the peripheral locations of the lines of magnetic flux. By enabling such a precise measurement, the present invention provides for a more accurate determination of information relating to the dynamic behavior of the tire.

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Waxhaw, NC, United States of America

James Michael Giustino