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US 12,112,464 B2Granted
Apparatus and method for onboard stereoscopic inspection of vehicle tires
OwnerGary B. Levininventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An autonomous and non-autonomous vehicle tire imaging and inspection system and methods thereof installed onboard a vehicle providing frequent status for inner and outer tire sidewalls, tire tread wear and tread depth, recorded in memory, transmitted to an onboard diagnostics unit, displayed on a dashboard and optionally transmitted to a network. Autonomous and non-autonomous vehicle vehicles may require passing a safety compliance inspection before driving and receive an insurance compliance approval to operate said vehicles.
Claims10
An apparatus, comprising:
- an integration of a stereoscopic imaging unit and an image processing and hardware control unit (SIU & IPHWCU) for a self-contained unit mounted on a vehicle, configured to couple visually with a vehicle tire and operative to capture at least one three-dimensional tire tread image pair;
- an image processing code operative to process the at least one three-dimensional tire tread image pair for a tire inspection and a detection of tire condition defects;
- a program instruction code operative to run the image processing and hardware control unit and host the image processing code, wherein the program instruction code provides hardware circuit interfaces drivers to communicate with the stereoscopic imaging unit and other interface circuits;
- and
- a code configured to execute a service request upon the detection of tire condition defects, wherein the service request triggers a vehicle tire maintenance operation;
- wherein at least one SIU & IPHWCU is operative to couple over a physical transmission media with at least one on board diagnostics (OBD) unit;
- wherein the SIU and IPHWCU is operative to couple over the physical transmission media couple to a vehicle control unit;
- and
- wherein the vehicle control unit comprises:
- steering control units, generic vehicle computer units, and transmission control units;
- wherein the vehicle control unit can act as a master controller for the vehicle and the SIU & IPHWCU can act as a peripheral device.
8 more elements
A method of imaging and inspection of a vehicle tire comprising:
- capturing at least one three-dimensional image pair of the vehicle tire by a stereoscopic imaging unit and operative to transfer the at least one three-dimensional image pair to at least one image processor and hardware control unit (IPHWCU);
- processing at least one three-dimensional image pair of the vehicle tire in at least one IPHWCU utilizing image processing software for inspecting tires;
- detecting a tire condition defect in the at least one three-dimensional image pair of the vehicle tire;
- and triggering a service request for a tire maintenance service;
- wherein a vehicle ownership is selected from a group consisting of:
- a federal agency, state, county, local government, private ownership, and corporate entity;
- wherein a vehicle is a non-autonomous vehicle, or the vehicle is an autonomous self-driving vehicle;
- wherein triggering the service request for the tire maintenance service is saved in an optional onboard diagnostics (OBD), where an OBD configuration receives data from one or more IPHWCU for generation of one or more diagnostic codes associated with one or more vehicle tire inspections and the OBD is operative for storing tire inspection results in a non-volatile memory;
- wherein the OBD may log compliance verification to the non-volatile memory for servicing and insurance policy compliance.
6 more elements
A tire inspection apparatus mounted onboard a vehicle operating, comprising:
- a stereoscopic imaging unit (SIU) and an image processing and hardware control unit (IPHWCU) mounted on a vehicle with a mounting hardware, the SIU configured to couple visually with a vehicle tire for monitoring a tire status and operative to capture at least one three-dimensional tire tread image pair and capture at least one three-dimensional tire inner sidewall image pair and at least one three-dimensional tire outer sidewall image pair;
- and
- an image processing code to inspect a tire tread, an inner tire sidewall, and an outer tire sidewall for damage, wear, defects, and text, the image processing code configured to detect tire damage, wear, defects, and text for execution of a service request to trigger a vehicle tire maintenance operation;
- wherein the mounting hardware further comprises a stepper motor or a direct-current motor to enable mechanical movements for positioning and aiming of image sensors;
- and
- wherein the mechanical movements comprise an element selected from a group comprising:
- (1) an epicyclic train allowing for adjusting an angular image capture of the tire tread, inner tire sidewall, and outer tire sidewall or sidewall;
- (2) a rectilinear slide motion, whereby a screw guides the image sensors to a more favorable FOV position;
- and
- (3) a wheel to produce rotary motion from a circular motion of a screw for guiding the image sensors;
- wherein the SIU includes a plurality of two or more image sensors.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.