The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 15, 2001
Filed:
Nov. 04, 1998
Mark E. Malinowski, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Meritor Heavy Vehicle Systems, LLC, Troy, MI (US);
Abstract
An axle assembly includes an axle, a tire having a predetermined air inflation pressure rotatably supported on the axle, and a tire inflation system for detecting an actual tire inflation pressure less than the predetermined air inflation pressure, replenishing the tire with air, and producing an inflation signal. An inventive electronic recorder receives the inflation signal, increments a count register, and transmits count register data to an output device. In a first embodiment of this invention, the electronic recorder is mounted at an easily accessible location on a vehicle which includes the axle assembly. In a second embodiment of this invention, the tire is mounted to a wheel assembly and the axle assembly further includes an electronic hub odometer for detecting a revolution of the wheel assembly and producing an odometer signal. In this second embodiment, the electronic recorder includes a first count register for receiving the inflation signal, incrementing the first count register, and transmitting first count register data to an output device and a second count register for receiving the odometer signal, incrementing the second count register, determining the distance the wheel assembly has traveled from the second count register, and transmitting distance data to the output device. Preferably, the electronic recorder is mounted to a hub cap of the wheel assembly.