Tyre monitor
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorAndrew Bill
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tire monitor 11 includes a sensor device 12 arranged to detect an operating parameter of a tire and a protective housing 14 for the device, the device being retained on a ring 15 having spaced end portions 16a, 16b, the ring being resiliently radially biased. The provision of a retaining ring facilitates installation of the tire monitor within a tire assembly, so that the sensor device can directly monitor the operating parameter of the tire. The protective housing protects the sensor device from impact, vibration and temperature extremes.
Claims19
A tire monitor comprising:
- a sensor device arranged to detect an operating parameter of a tire,
- a protective housing configured to house the sensor device, and
- a resiliently radially biased ring attached to the protective housing and sensor device, the ring being configured to be mounted within a tire such that the ring is resiliently radially biased adjacent an inner circumferential surface of the tire or an outer circumferential surface of a rim supporting the tire,
- wherein the ring includes spaced end portions separated by a gap aligned with a circumference of the ring, wherein the gap is present while the ring is mounted within the tire.
A method of installing a tire monitor including a sensor device arranged to detect an operating parameter of a tire and a protective housing for the device, wherein the sensor device is retained on a ring having spaced end portions and the ring is resiliently radially biased, the method comprising:
- moving the end portions of the ring against the bias of the ring,
- introducing the monitor into an interior of a tire,
- releasing the end portions, and
- by the releasing of the end portions causing the ring either to expand circumferentially in the tire to be resiliently biased against an inner circumferential surface of the tire or to contract circumferentially to be biased against an outer circumferential surface of a rim supporting the tire,
- wherein the end portions of the ring are separated by a gap after the end portions are released and the ring is resiliently biased against the inner circumferential surface of the tire or biased against the outer circumferential surface of the rim.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.