Torsional mode tire wear state estimation system and method

1. A tire wear state estimation system comprising:

at least one tire supporting a vehicle;

tire pressure measuring means affixed to the one tire for measuring tire inflation pressure and generating tire inflation pressure data;

tire torsional mode measuring means for measuring tire torsional mode frequency and generating tire torsional mode frequency data;

tire identification means mounted to the one tire operably utilized in generating tire-specific frequency mode coefficients using tire-specific identification data; and

tire wear estimation means for calculating an estimation of a tire wear state based upon the tire inflation pressure data and a spectral analysis of the torsional mode frequency data employing the tire-specific frequency mode coefficients.

2. The tire wear state estimation system of claim 1 , wherein the tire pressure measuring means comprises a tire-mounted pressure measuring device operative to measure by a pressure sensor a tire cavity pressure and transmit the tire inflation pressure data from the tire cavity pressure measurement.

3. The tire wear state estimation system of claim 2 , wherein the tire-specific identification data is stored within and accessible from the tire-mounted pressure measuring device.

4. The tire wear state estimation system of claim 3 , wherein the tire-specific torsional frequency mode coefficients are generated using a wheel speed signal or a hub mounted accelerometer sensor signal.

5. The tire wear state estimation system of claim 4 , wherein the measurement of the tire torsional mode frequency is from a wheel-mounted accelerometer or a tire crown-mounted accelerometer.

6. The tire wear state estimation system of claim 4 , wherein the tire wear estimation means comprises a correlation model between the tire wear state and the tire torsional mode frequency.

7. The tire wear state estimation system of claim 6 , wherein the correlation model comprises a recursive least squares algorithm based on a polynomial model capturing a dependency between a wear state of the tire, the tire inflation pressure data and the tire torsional mode frequency.

8. The tire wear state estimation system of claim 1 , wherein the tire wear estimation means comprises a correlation model between the tire wear state and the tire torsional mode frequency.

9. The tire wear state estimation system of claim 8 , wherein the correlation model comprises a recursive least squares algorithm based on a polynomial model capturing a dependency between the tire wear state, the tire inflation pressure data, and the tire torsional mode frequency.

10. A tire wear state estimation system comprising:

at least one tire for supporting a vehicle;

a tire-mounted pressure measuring device affixed to the one tire operative to measure a tire cavity pressure and transmit tire inflation pressure data from the tire cavity pressure measurement;

tire-specific identification data stored within and accessible from a tire-mounted data storage device;

tire torsional mode measuring means for measuring tire torsional mode frequency and generating tire torsional mode frequency data;

tire identification means mounted to the one tire operably utilized in generating tire-specific torsional mode frequency coefficients using the tire-specific identification data and wheel speed signal or longitudinal acceleration signal measurement of a tire torsional mode frequency; and

tire wear estimation means for calculating an estimation of a tire wear state based upon the tire inflation pressure data and a spectral analysis of the tire torsional mode frequency data utilizing the tire-specific torsional mode coefficients.

11. The tire wear state estimation system of claim 10 , wherein the measurement of the tire torsional mode frequency is from a wheel-mounted accelerometer or a tire crown-mounted accelerometer.

12. The tire wear state estimation system of claim 10 , wherein the tire wear estimation means comprises a correlation model between the tire wear state and the tire torsional mode frequency.

13. The tire wear state estimation system of claim 12 , wherein the correlation model comprises a recursive least squares algorithm based on a polynomial model capturing a dependency between a wear state of the tire, the tire inflation pressure data and the tire torsional mode frequency.

14. A method of tire wear state estimation comprising:

affixing a tire pressure measuring device to a vehicle-supporting tire, the pressure measuring device having at least one pressure sensor measuring a tire cavity inflation pressure and generating tire inflation pressure data;

measuring tire torsional mode frequency and generating tire torsional mode frequency data;

affixing a tire-specific identification device to the vehicle-supporting tire operable to provide tire-specific identification data:

generating tire-specific torsional mode coefficients based on the tire-specific identification data; and

calculating an estimation of a tire wear state based upon the tire inflation pressure data and a spectral analysis of the measured torsional mode frequency data utilizing the tire-specific frequency mode coefficients based on the tire-specific identification data.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein further comprising generating the tire-specific torsional mode coefficients using a wheel speed signal or a longitudinal acceleration signal measurement of a tire torsional mode frequency.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein further comprising measuring the tire torsional mode frequency from a wheel-mounted accelerometer or a tire crown-mounted accelerometer.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein calculating an estimation of the tire wear state comprises employing a correlation model between the tire wear state and the tire torsional mode frequency.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein further comprising configuring the correlation model to comprise a recursive least squares algorithm based on a polynomial model capturing a dependency between the tire wear state, the tire inflation pressure data and the tire torsional mode frequency.