Patent ID: 8498759
Filing Date: 2013-07-30
Classification: B60C

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for determining a condition and relative location of an inner tire and an outer tire of a tire pair mounted on one side of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: tire-based sensor assemblies, the inner tire and the outer tire each having an associated tire-based sensor assembly, each tire-based sensor assembly including (i) an associated tire condition sensor for sensing a tire condition and providing a tire condition signal indicative thereof and (ii) an associated acceleration sensor for sensing acceleration and providing an acceleration signal as its associated tire rotates, the associated acceleration sensor of the inner tire and the associated acceleration sensor of the outer tire of the tire pair each having an axis of sensitivity in a predetermined orientation relative to each other, each tire-based sensor assembly further including a tire-based transmitter coupled to its associated tire condition sensor and associated acceleration sensor for transmitting, in response to its associated acceleration signal, a unique tire identification signal and its associated sensed tire condition signal; tire rotation sensor mounted externally of the tire pair for sensing rotation of said tire pair during vehicle movement and providing a tire rotation signal indicative thereof; and a vehicle-based controller for receiving the transmitted signals from each tire-based transmitter of the tire pair and the tire rotation signal, said vehicle-based controller including means for associating each of the unique identification signals with one of the inner tire location and the outer tire location responsive to a phase relationship between the received transmitted signals from the tire-based sensor assemblies and the tire rotation signal.