Portable tire scanners and related methods and systems

Abstract

Disclosed herein are devices and methods for determining the identity of markings on tires. A portable tire scanner can comprise one or more light sources and detector that reflect light off tire markings and capture imagery of them. The scanner is operable to process the imagery to determine the identity of the markings. The marking can be the same color as the area of the tire around the marking (e.g., black-on-black) and the scanner can identify the marking by determining angular edges of the markings. Plural light sources and/or detectors can be used to provide plural perspectives to better determine the edges of the markings. The housing can have a form factor that allows the scanner to be hand-held, such that a user can aim the scanner at tires even while on a vehicle or in hard to reach positions. The scanner can be used to scan and identify several tire marking in succession.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.