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:
Dec. 11, 2001
Filed:
Apr. 21, 1998
Holger Oldenettel, Garbsen, DE;
Continental AG, , DE;
Abstract
A method for determining the tread depth of a vehicle tire during driving includes the step of determining the angle of a radially outer tire location relative to hub-based a coordinate system based of the vehicle tire by a sensor fastened to the vehicle. A signal containing harmonic oscillation sent by the sensor is then analyzed and, based on the signal, the resonant frequency is determined corresponding to the torsional oscillation component of the tire belt relative to the wheel. The mass moment of inertia of the tire belt about the axis of rotation is then computed based on the torsional stiffness of the tire sidewall and the determined resonant frequency. The actual mass and changes of the tire diameter are then calculated based on the computed mass moment of inertia and based on a mass function of the vehicle tire that is a function of the tire diameter. The loss of tread depth is then calculated based on the changes of the tire diameter.