Tire condition estimating apparatus and method

A method for estimating a tire condition amount of a vehicle wheel formed with air enclosed under pressure in an inside portion of a tire mounted on a disc wheel, comprising:

• detecting a vehicle wheel speed of each of a plurality of vehicle wheels;
• obtaining a reflected value reflecting a tire condition amount of each of the plurality of vehicle wheels based on the detected vehicle wheel speed of each of the plurality of vehicle wheels;
• estimating a reflected value of a first vehicle wheel for which it is relatively difficult to accurately obtain the reflected value based upon a vehicle wheel speed of the first vehicle wheel among the plurality of vehicle wheels, during a period corresponding to a period for obtaining the reflected value of the first vehicle wheel, based upon a reflected value obtained for a second vehicle wheel for which it is relatively easy to accurately obtain the reflected value of the second vehicle wheel based upon a vehicle wheel speed of the second vehicle wheel in order to obtain the reflected value of the first vehicle wheel;
• and
• estimating the tire condition amount of each of the plurality of vehicle wheels based upon the obtained reflected value.

A method for estimating a tire condition amount of a vehicle wheel formed with air enclosed under pressure in an inside portion of a tire mounted to a disc wheel, comprising:

• detecting a vehicle wheel speed of the vehicle wheel;
• obtaining a reflected value reflecting a tire condition amount of the vehicle wheel based upon the detected vehicle wheel speed;
• estimating the tire condition amount based upon the obtained reflected value;
• and
• determining that there is a high probability that the tire condition amount of the vehicle wheel is normal if it is relatively difficult to accurately obtain the reflected value based upon the detected vehicle wheel speed, and determining that there is a high probability that the tire condition amount of the vehicle wheel is abnormal if it is relatively easy to accurately obtain the reflected value based upon the detected vehicle wheel speed.

A method for estimating a tire condition amount of a vehicle wheel formed with air enclosed under pressure in an inside portion of a tire mounted on a disc wheel, comprising:

• detecting a first vehicle wheel speed of the first vehicle wheel;
• detecting a second vehicle wheel speed of the second vehicle wheel;
• obtaining a reflected value reflecting a tire condition amount of the second vehicle wheel for which it is relatively easy to accurately obtain the reflected value of the second vehicle wheel based upon the detected second vehicle wheel speed, relative to the first vehicle wheel, during a first period corresponding to a second period in which it is relatively difficult to obtain a reflected value reflecting a tire condition amount of the first vehicle wheel based upon the first vehicle wheel speed;
• estimating the reflected value of the first vehicle wheel based on the obtained reflected value of the second vehicle wheel;
• and
• estimating the tire condition amount of the first vehicle wheel based upon the estimated reflected value of the first vehicle wheel.