Claims:We Claim:
1. A method for monitoring fluid pressure in a tire, said method comprising:
scanning (100), by an electronic reader, an optically compatible data disposed on said tire;
encoding (102), by a processor said scanned data into a binary data set;
comparing (104), by said processor, said binary data set with a data map; and
displaying (106), on said electronic reader whether said tire is over and/ or under inflated based on said comparison.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said optically compatible data is a barcode.

3. A processor for monitoring fluid pressure in a tire, said processor adapted to:
encode (200) a scanned data received from by an electronic reader data into an image; and
compare (202)said binary data set with a data map stored in said processor.
, Description:Field of the invention
[0001] This invention relates to the field of monitoring the pressure of fluid in a tire.

Background of the invention
[0002] Tire pressure monitoring (TPM) system is used to determine and monitor the pressure of air/ fluid in the tire. Two methods of TPM are known in the art. Direct method and indirect method. Direct method of TPM makes use of pressure sensor directly mounted on the wheels or tires of a vehicle. The pressure inside the tire is measured using a pressure transducer with the pressure information being subsequently sent to the vehicle to warn the driver of under or over inflation of a tire.
In the case of Indirect method of tire pressure monitoring there are no pressure sensors inside the tires and the detection happens by comparing relative wheel speeds via the Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) wheel speed sensors. The above mentioned methods require additional sensors to monitor the tire pressure. For low cost markets there is need to detect and monitor pressure without the use of sensors.

[0003] Prior art GB2323453 discloses an apparatus that measures the tire pressure, and optionally temperature and controls actuator to adjust the tire pressure to a desired value. The desired value is input to the CPU controlling the apparatus from a data reading device, which is preferably a barcode reader. The barcode may be located on the valve cap or valve stem as shown, or on a data card. The system may produce an alarm when the change of tire pressure required exceeds a predetermined value.

Brief description of the accompanying drawing
[0004] Different modes of the invention are disclosed in detail in the description and illustrated in the accompanying drawing:

[0005] FIG. 1 illustrates a method for monitoring fluid pressure in a tire.

Detailed description of the embodiments
[0006]FIG. 1 illustrates a method for monitoring fluid pressure in a tire. An optically compatible data disposed on a tire, is scanned 100 by an electronic reader. A processor encodes 102 the scanned data into a binary data set. The binary data set is compared 106 with a data map. Under inflation and/ or over inflation of tire is displayed 108 based on the comparison. In an embodiment the optically compatible data may be a barcode.

[0007]The working of the method will be explained in further detail. The disclosed method is used to monitor fluid pressure in the tire without making use of any sensors, like, for example, pressure sensor and/ or wheel speed sensor. An optically compatible data disposed on a tire. This may be in the form of a barcode. An electronic reader is used to scan the optically compatible data. The electronic reader may be a camera of a mobile phone or any other device capable of scanning the information that is present in the optically compatible data. A processor encodes 102 the scanned data into a binary data set. The process of encoding is explained further. Upon receiving the scanned optically compatible data, the processor converts the data into a set of images. These images are assigned to a binary data set. In other words the number 0 or 1 will represent a particular image. For the sake of better understanding, if the scanned image is in the form of black and white strip, then 1 will be black and 0 will be white. For better sensitivity and ease of monitoring, the image is converted into a binary data set. By converting the image into a binary data set, the color variations obtained from the image can be eliminated. The processor compares 104 the binary data set with a data map. The data map contains data of pressure values for a particular binary data set. Based on the comparison 104, over and/ or under inflation of tire is displayed 106 on the electronic reader.

[0008] A processor may be used for monitoring fluid pressure in a tire. The processer may be hand held computing device. Alternately the processor may be a stand-alone computing device capable of communicating with the electronic reader. The processor is adapted to encode (200) a scanned data received from by an electronic reader data into a binary data set. The processor disclosed herein helps a user to monitor the pressure in a tire without use of sensors. The processor encodes the scanned data into a binary data set. This binary data set is then compared 202 with a data map. The data map is stored in the processor. The data map contains the pressure value for a particular binary data set. Hence, by comparing the binary data set and the data map, it is now possible to monitor the pressure in a particular tire without the use of sensors. By using the above mentioned method, it is possible to monitor the pressure in a tire without making use of pressure or speed sensors thereby saving cost.

[0009] It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention in terms of the type of processor used or the device that is used to scan the optically compatible data. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.