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US 12,059,930 B1Granted
System and method for automatic pressure management
AssigneeAperia Technologies, Inc.
InventorBrandon Richardson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pressure management system for a tire assembly on a vehicle including: a housing unit, a pump, and a power interface.
Claims20
A pressure management system, comprising:
- a dual wheel assembly mounted to a wheel hub, the dual wheel assembly comprising an inboard tire and an outboard tire;
- a wheel-end inflation system mounted at a wheel-end of the wheel hub along an exterior face of the dual wheel assembly, the wheel-end inflation system comprising:
- a housing arranged radially inward of the outboard tire and mounted to the wheel end inboard of a sidewall of the outboard tire;
- a pressurized fluid source arranged within the housing and fluidly connected to the inboard and outboard tires with a first and second hose, respectively;
- a rotary electrical joint statically connected to the housing and physically electrically connecting the pressurized fluid source to a vehicle power source;
- and
- a set of sensors;
- and
- a controller electrically connected to the vehicle power source and communicatively coupled to the set of sensors, the controller configured to:
- automatically generate control instructions for the pressurized fluid source based on sensor data from the set of sensors;
- and
- based on the control instructions, directly control the vehicle power source to provide power to the pressurized fluid source via the rotary electrical joint.
9 more elements
A pressure management system, comprising:
- a housing configured to mount to a wheel end and against an outboard, exterior face of a wheel which mounts a tire;
- a pressurized fluid source arranged within the housing and fluidly connected to the tire, the pressurized fluid source comprising a pump mounted to the housing;
- a rotary electrical joint arranged along an inboard side of the housing and coaxial with an axis of wheel rotation, the rotary electrical joint comprising a rotary coupler mechanically coupled to the housing at an inboard end and a stationary coupler mechanically coupled to a non-rotating component of an axle at an outboard end, wherein the rotary coupler is in physical contact with the stationary coupler, wherein the rotary electrical joint is configured to electrically connect the pump and a set of electrically-powered components within the housing to an onboard vehicle power source via different electrically isolated paths;
- a set of sensors located at the wheel end;
- control instructions being automatically generated based on data from the sensors;
- and
- a controller configured to directly control the onboard vehicle power source based on the control instructions to provide power to the pressurized fluid source via the rotary electrical joint.
4 more elements
A decentralized tire inflation system for a vehicle, comprising:
- a vehicle power source;
- a plurality of independently-controllable, wheel-end pressurization systems, each configured to operate based on vehicle operation data from a vehicle CAN bus and using power from the vehicle power source, each comprising:
- a housing configured to mount to a respective wheel end of the vehicle against an outboard, exterior face of a respective wheel which mounts a respective tire;
- a pressurized fluid source arranged within the housing and fluidly connected to the tire, the pressurized fluid source comprising a pump mounted to the housing;
- and
- a rotary electrical joint arranged along an inboard side of the housing and coaxial with an axis of wheel rotation, the rotary electrical joint comprising a rotary coupler mechanically coupled to the housing at an inboard end and a stationary coupler mechanically coupled to a non-rotating component of an axle at an outboard end, wherein the rotary coupler is in physical contact with the stationary coupler, wherein the rotary electrical joint is configured to electrically connect the pump and a set of electrically-powered wheel-mounted components to the vehicle power source via different electrically isolated paths;
- a set of sensors located at a respective wheel end;
- control instructions being automatically generated based on data from the sensors;
- and
- a controller configured to directly control the vehicle power source based on the control instructions to provide power to the pressurized fluid source of a wheel-end pressurization system of the plurality of independently controllable, wheel-end pressurization systems via the rotary electrical joint of the wheel-end pressurization system.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.