US 2,004,130,442 · Filed 2003-11-04
The Wireless Tire Temperature Sensor That Needs No Battery
Imagine tiny heat-sensing devices glued around your tire that can detect hot spots without any wires or batteries. They get power beamed to them wirelessly — kind of like how your phone charger works, but from a distance — and they radio back information about whether your tire is wearing unevenly or getting dangerously hot.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a system for mounting thermal radiation sensors around a tire's circumference that detect temperature at different points, analyze the data to spot uneven heating patterns, and trigger a response (like a dashboard warning) if a problem is found. What's protected is the wireless power delivery to these sensors — whether that power comes through inductive coupling, capacitive coupling, or radio frequency energy transfer — and the method of comparing temperatures across the tire's circumference to diagnose wear or failure.
Why it matters
This patent addresses a real safety gap: tire failures often start with localized overheating that traditional tire pressure monitoring systems miss. By wirelessly powering tiny temperature sensors distributed around the tire, this approach eliminates the need for batteries that would need replacing, making continuous tire health monitoring practical for mass production. It's a clever workaround to a hardware constraint — getting power to a spinning, moving object without a physical connection.
Real-world use
When you hit a pothole or your suspension is misaligned, one section of your tire heats up faster than the others; these wireless sensors would catch that temperature spike before it causes a blowout.
Original USPTO abstract
Arrangement and method for monitoring a tire mounted to the vehicle in which a thermal radiation detecting device detects the temperature of the tire at different circumferential locations along the circumference of the tire. The detected temperatures of the tire are analyzed to determine, for example, whether a difference in thermal radiation is present between the circumferential locations of the tire, and if so, an action is effected in response to the analysis. The thermal radiation detecting devices are preferably supplied with power wirelessly, e.g., through an inductive system, a capacitive system or a radio frequency energy transfer system.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 2,004,130,442
- Filing date
- 2003-11-04
- Grant date
- Application — not yet granted
- Assignee
- Breed David S. / Duvall Wilbur E. / Johnson Wendell C. / Kolomeyko Anatoliy V. / Shostak Oleksandr T.
- Inventor(s)
- BREED DAVID S., DUVALL WILBUR E., JOHNSON WENDELL C., KOLOMEYKO ANATOLIY V., SHOSTAK OLEKSANDR T.
- CPC class
- B60C19/00
Want to file your own patent?
If you're designing a sensor for vehicles or remote monitoring, use our free patent scanner to check whether your wireless power concept overlaps with existing claims in automotive tech.
Free patentability scan