Patent ID: 8044783

Claim:
A tire condition detection system for use with a vehicle having an axle, a wheel coupled to the axle, and a tire mounted on the wheel, the axle having an axle axis and the wheel rotating about a wheel axis, the tire including resilient tire material and conductive reinforcement material that is embedded in and surrounded by the resilient tire material, said tire condition detection system comprising: an external solenoid fixed in proximity to the outside of said tire and radiating a primary alternating magnetic field that is substantially perpendicular to a side surface of said tire and that generates a primary induced alternating current in said reinforcement material, said external solenoid being disposed adjacent a side surface of said tire and having an external solenoid axis that is substantially perpendicular to the side surface of said tire; a coreless internal solenoid having an internal solenoid axis, said internal solenoid being fixed in an inner space between said wheel and said tire such that said internal solenoid does not circumscribe said wheel axis and said internal solenoid axis is substantially parallel to said wheel axis, said internal solenoid receiving a secondary alternating magnetic field that is generated in the space inside said tire due to said primary induced alternating current generated in said reinforcement material, and outputting a secondary alternating current, said internal solenoid having two ends and having an internal solenoid axis that is substantially parallel to said wheel axis; a power source, fixed in said inner space and said tire, electrically connected to said two ends of said internal solenoid and converting said secondary alternating current into direct current power and outputting source power; and a detector, fixed in said inner space and said tire and operated by said source power, detecting predetermined conditions inside said tire and transmitting the detected signal to said external solenoid via said internal solenoid and said reinforcement material.