Patent Application
20210016526
The present invention is in the field of smart wheel and self-repairing tires. The present invention further relates to the field of automobile related technologies. The implementation is not limited to a specific product or technology, and applies to either the invention as an individual component or an inclusion of the present invention within larger systems, which may be combined.
Flat tires are always a nuisance. At best, they are inconvenient. At worst, they are costly and potentially dangerous. Due to the influence that tire pressure has on vehicle safety and efficiency, tire-pressure monitoring (TPM) was first adopted by the European market as an optional feature for luxury passenger vehicles in the 1980s. In the late 1990s, after more than 100 deaths from rollovers following tire tread-separation, the United States Congress legislates the TREAD Act. The Act mandated the use of a suitable TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) technology in all light motor vehicles (under 10,000 pounds), to help alert drivers of under-inflation events. This act affects all light motor vehicles sold after Sep. 1, 2007. Phase-in started in October 2005 at 20%, and reached 100% for models produced after September 2007. In the United States, as of 2008 and the European Union, as of Nov. 1, 2012, all new passenger car models (M1) released must be equipped with a TPMS. From Nov. 1, 2014, all new passenger cars sold in the European Union must be equipped with a TPMS. For N1 vehicles, TPMS are not mandatory, but if a TPMS is fitted, it must comply with the regulation. On Jul. 13, 2010, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs announced a pending partial-revision to the Korea Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (KMVSS), specifying that “TPMS shall be installed to passenger vehicles and vehicles of GVW 3.5 tons or less, . . . [effective] on Jan. 1, 2013 for new models and on Jun. 30, 2014 for existing models”. Further countries to make TPMS mandatory include Russia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Israel, Malaysia and Turkey. After the TREAD Act was passed, many companies responded to the market opportunity by releasing TPMS products using battery-powered radio transmitter wheel modules [1]. An internal OEM TPMS sensor (1) is shown in
The introduction of run-flat tires further improved safety, but this technology is quite expensive. A run-flat tire is a pneumatic vehicle tire that is designed to resist the effects of deflation when punctured, enabling the vehicle to continue to be driven at reduced speeds—under 56 mph (90 km/h) for limited distances, generally between 10 mi (16 km) to 50 mi (80 km), depending on the type of tire.
Nowadays, more and more cars adopt OE (Original Equipped) emergency flat tire repair products that promise of getting you back on the road quickly, without having to mount a spare tire or call a tow truck. Aftermarket tire repairing kit are also available.
These type of products have been around for years. They work by pumping a sealant containing small rubber particles into a flat tire, plugging small punctures from the inside. Sealant kit popularity has been accelerating as they become common-place on new cars, where they are replacing the traditional spare tire for sake of weight and fuel consumption savings. Pressurized-can sealers, such as the ubiquitous Fix-A-Flat, are one-time-use products that have a dispensing tube that connect to tire's air-inflation valve. These sealers can both patch a hole and inflate the tire. More expensive tire-sealant kits combine a portable 12-volt air compressor and a replaceable container of sealant.
Despite their roles, these products are not spare tires in a can. They should only be used for tires that are technically repairable, by sealing a small hole only in the tread, and with the understanding that the fix is strictly temporary. No attempt should be made to repair a hole larger than 6 mm in diameter or a cut or hole in a sidewall. With that kind of damage, the only option is replacing the tire. If a tire sealant is used, the tire should be repaired or replaced professionally as quickly as possible (typically within 100 miles or as directed by the product). However, when a tire is punctured, all flat tire-repairing kits force the driver to get off the car, with great stress and waste of time. Whereas, even if run-flat technology avoids the driver from getting out of the car, it does not prevent tire damaging and, consequently, the expensive tire replacement.
In the recent years, several companies have introduced a new kind of tire embedding electronic components so as to enable exchange of information toward a central system. These new kind of tires, usually referred to as smart tires, aim to embed different functions, such as the ability to monitor pressure, temperature or other local parameters and transmit the collected data to a central unit. The present invention describes a new solution to implement smart wheels including and not limited to a tire self-repairing system aimed to overcome the above described limitations of conventional tire repair kits.
The disclosed system comprises a sensor/actuation/communication hub between the wheel and a central unit, and it incorporates a integrated or removable tank containing a sealing foam and/or air, electronics, actuators and/or sensors, and one or more energy sources. In one of its embodiments, the disclosed system comprises a balanced belt/ring shaped tank hooked around the wheel rim (in the removable system version), or integrated in the wheel rim itself (in the integrated solution). With respect to state-of-the-art products, the proposed low-cost approach provides a modular solution to preserve tire conditions in case of tire puncturing and avoid cumbersome manual tire repairing operations, saving stress and time to the driver. Moreover, the proposed system, by preventing punctured tire from further damaging, becomes very cost-effective with respect to run-flat solutions. With respect to self-repairing tire solutions, where one or more layers of sealant are integrated in the tire itself, the proposed solution allows to detect puncturing events and to warn the driver about tire problems greatly enhancing car safety. Moreover, since statistically cars undergo to one tire repair every 47,000 mi (75,000 km) and full tires replacement every 15,700 mi (25,000 km), one tire repair will happen on average only once every 3 full replacements, i.e., once every 12 tires changes, which makes the self-repairing tire solution not very cost effective. The proposed system is instead reusable in case of tire replacement or, depending from the implementation, even car replacement. Finally, the proposed system is easy to assemble and adaptable to different rim sizes and contributes to carbon dioxide emission reduction.
The features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention when read in conjunction with the drawings in which:
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known details have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.
The disclosed tire repairing system according to the present invention comprises one or more of the following elements: a communication module to enable information exchange between the wheel and a central or mobile unit, an integrated or removable tank containing a sealing foam and/or air, electronics, actuators and/or sensors, and one or more energy sources. A balanced belt that forms a ring around a rim, or a disk attached to the external part of the rim, are used in the removable version to enable the smart wheel functionalities by implementing a positioning, sensing, actuation and communication hub; in the “integrated” version of the system the tank and the electronics are directly integrated inside the wheel rim.
When TPMS reveals that a tire is punctured, the driver, by a command, forces the liquid sealant foam to flow out of the tank in order to repair the tire. If desired, the system can be also completely automatic by setting a threshold on the deflating speed and/or level, so that the liquid sealant foam is automatically forced to exit the tank in order to repair the tire if the tire deflates too fast and/or under an unsafe level.
With respect to the state-of-the-art products, the proposed low-cost solution, by a simple command or automatically, allows to avoid to the driver tedious and stressing manual tire repairing operations (typical of flat-tire repairing kits) while enhancing car safety. Indeed, the prompt intervention of the proposed system preserves the damaging of the punctured tire, thus being very cost-effective with respect to the run-flat solution. The advantages of the proposed solution, with respect to TPMS and run-flat solutions, are schematically depicted in the following table.
In its general implementation, the present invention comprises a controlled or self-actuating tire repairing system based on an integrated or removable tank containing a sealing liquid foam. A first embodiment of the present invention, depicted in
In the integrated implementation of the present invention depicted in
In the illustrated embodiments of
The tank system can be completely flexible or completely rigid, or it can comprise flexible, and/or rigid, and/or semi-rigid portions; tank cavity has a shape belonging to the group comprising circular, elliptic, square, rectangular, polygonal, and shapes comprising flat and curved sides. In the removable embodiment shown in
In further embodiment of the present invention, the tank is formed with a flexible inflating air-chamber, discussed in more details in [0042] (similar to the inner tube used in a bicycle tire) placed around the internal rim. This particular type of tank allows the system to be easily assembled around the wheel rim before mounting the tire.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the smart wheel system is implemented in an external add-on structure, e.g. an external disk (23) as shown in
In one embodiment of the present invention, a communication module is used to control the actuation mechanism or to warn the driver that the actuation mechanism has been enabled. The communication link can be established with a central unit in the car or by means of a phone paired with the system with dedicated app allowing the system control from the phone itself. In general, however, a smart wheel according to the present invention can be efficiently equipped with different types of communication modules. Furthermore, different smart wheels of a vehicle can implement and/or have different functions. For example, all four (or more in case of a truck) smart wheels of a vehicle could comprise RF modules such as but not limited to Sub-GHz, Bluetooth Low Energy or Zigbee RF modules to exchange data with the computer of the car, and only one smart wheel, named “master smart wheel”, could further implement any combination of Wi-Fi, GSM, LTE or 5G RF modules to enable connection with communication networks external to the car. A global navigation satellite system module (e.g., GPS, GLONASS, Compass, Galileo, DORIS, IRNSS, QZSS, etc . . . ) could be mounted only in one smart wheel of the car (typically the master) to determine the wheel/car positioning. Other sensors able to analyze the air quality and the combustion fumes, or accelerometers, IR sensors and video cameras able to analyze the road surface conditions, corrosion, etc . . . , could be mounted on a part of the bodywork of the car and exchange data with the computer car through at least one smart wheel.
The set of smart wheels of all cars equipped with the proposed system, which mutually exchange data between each other using car-to-car communication networks and protocols or exploiting any internet access point infrastructure in the vicinity of the road, create the INTERNET-OF-WHEELS concept. This telecommunication system between smart wheels of different cars, by means of proper algorithms, could monitor and share information on the reliability of the road surface and on the quality of the surrounding air and/or provide real time traffic information. For example, the INTERNET-OF-WHEELS could be exploited to send alarm signals immediately after an accident and to give detailed information in the event of a fire following an accident, or to report the presence of road potholes to the competent authorities, or to warn other cars of a slippery road surface due to the presence of oils, water, debris or sand. Moreover, the INTERNET-OF-WHEELS concept could be exploited to automatically signal the presence of forest fires, landslides, sightings of animals on the street or the presence of cars in need of help on the road.
In the illustrated embodiment of
In the embodiment of
Instead of using an electro-valve as actuation mechanism, a motorized actuator, said micro motor, can be used. Moreover, instead of using a non-return valve as tank pressure balancing mechanism, a termination piston can be used. An example of such implementation is shown in
Micro motor to actuated piston connection (27) can be rigid, semi-rigid or wire-bonded, as depicted in
Another implementation of the actuation mechanism, is based on a 2-way Open/Open-Closed/Closed (OO-C) Electro Valve (37), as schematically depicted in
In the alternative embodiment of
Optionally, the system could have autonomous sensors (such as, accelerometers, vibration sensors, temperature sensors, etc . . . ) in the electronic circuit implementing the sensing module (10), for example, to automatically activate the actuated piston (24) thus opening the tank (4) when a significant pressure variation inside the tire is sensed (Local TPMS or an in-wheel one could be exploited to collect info).
The second extreme of the tank, the one not comprising the actuation mechanism, can be simply closed in a permanent or semi-permanent way (e.g. by means of a plug) or it can be used to help to control the pressure inside the tank. This can be done, for example and not limited, by using a non-return valve (such as element (11) in
In the case where a wire-bonded connection (35) is used between the micro motor (26) and the actuated piston (24), such as in
In other embodiments of the present invention where the pressure balancing mechanism is not implemented, the non-return valve (11) of
In
In the embodiment of
In
In the embodiments of
Another embodiment of the recharging system shown in
In the embodiment of
A custom designed valve (58) can be exploited in order to allow selection of inflation of air or sealant, as needed.
One or more energy sources and one or more supply connections are required to supply energy at least to the actuation mechanism, the sensing module and the communication module. The energy source or batteries may or may not be accessible to be changed.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the energy source (12) can also be complemented and/or in part (or totally) replaced with an appropriate energy harvesting system (e.g., magnetic or electromagnetic energy harvesting, or a system that exploits vibration energy produced by the movement of the car or the rotatory movement of the wheel).
In the following are discussed in details, few more embodiments examples of the present invention, so as to further clarify how to implement the disclosed system.
In
The proposed system according to the preferred embodiment is assembled around the wheel rim before the tire is mounted around the rim; the system is empty and it needs only to be secured around the wheel; when the tire (63) is mounted around the rim but not inflated, the valve (56) will permit to inflate sealant liquid foam into the modified air-chamber (62); then air will be inflated into the tire (63) by the pneumatic valve (55) up to the desired pressure. The axial movement of the termination piston (45) inserted in the rigid cylinder (64) will assure isostatic pressure between the sealant liquid foam in the air-chamber (62) and the pressurized air in the tire (63); upon a command (or automatically if pre-set so) the valve (56) can be electrically or manually controlled to allow the sealant liquid foam to flow out from the air-chamber. In the event of a tire change with the air-chamber (62) still full of the sealant liquid foam, this pressure stabilizing mechanism avoids the spill of sealant liquid foam or unwanted opening of the terminations. In a more general way, the aforementioned or others pressure stabilization mechanisms can be placed in any position of the tank or air-chamber.
In the most general implementation of the present invention, many other sensors and actuators can be integrated with the proposed invention. E.g., vibrational sensors can be used to monitor the amount of car vibration so as to increase car safety (e.g. alerting the driver if the car vibrations average had changed over time which can signal a damage in the car). Other possible monitoring systems includes balancing monitoring with or without automatic compensation, temperature monitoring, tire wear degradation monitoring (this can also be monitored by an IR system placed under the car fenders). In addition, the TPMS can be integrated in the proposed system or replaced by an infrared system placed under the car fenders. Furthermore, many electronic components and/or the energy source and/or the communication module of the disclosed system could be mounted outside the tire air-chamber and connected to the actuation mechanism through a valve.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the ring (or wheel) comprises also a mini-compressor that is used to maintain the air pressure inside the tires constant or in general to allow for easy inflation of the same when required. The mini-compressor can comprise a valve connected to the external side of the wheel so as to be able to pump air inside the tire when the inside pressure drops under a preselected threshold level.
In order to increase the flow rate of the sealant, from the tank to the tire chamber, when the system is activated, the discosed system can embedd a mechanical system comprising springs, pistons, plungers, pumps and/or compressed air chamber sectors inside the cavity
As it is clear to those skilled in the art, this basic system can be implemented in many specific ways, and the above descriptions are not meant to designate a specific implementation.
