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:
Nov. 18, 2003
Filed:
Oct. 16, 2002
Hiroaki Kawasaki, Kobe, JP;
Yukio Nakao, Kobe, JP;
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd., Kobe, JP;
Abstract
A method and an apparatus for judging road surface conditions are disclosed. The method includes the steps of: detecting rotational information of tires; storing the rotational information of the respective tires; calculating a vehicle velocity; calculating an acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle; calculating a slip ratio of left-sided front and rear wheels and right-sided front and rear wheels and a slip ratio of front and rear wheels, respectively; calculating an amount of fluctuation in differences in slip ratios between the right and left wheels; obtaining a linear regression coefficient and a correlation coefficient between the slip ratio of the front and rear wheels and the acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle; and setting a threshold for judging road surface conditions. The method and apparatus allow for road surface conditions to be judged accurately.