DESC:3. Preamble to the description

The following specification describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

Field of the Invention

An IoT enabled automatic digital tyre inflator i.e. the invention is a machine that aids in checking air pressure as well as inflating and/or deflating the air from a tyre automatically to provide a desired, constant and precise pressure in PSI units after inserting air chuck (air nozzle) to the tyre. An android app is provided along with the machine which helps to capture customer data, details/type of vehicle, tyre and other data. This data along with other tyre pressure related parameters is sent to an automation system installed at the outlet via any one of the communication modes such as Wi-Fi, Ethernet and RS-485.

Description of the invention:

An IoT enabled automatic digital tyre inflator i.e. the invention is a machine which aids in checking of air pressure as well as inflating and/or deflating the air from a tyre automatically to provide a desired, constant and precise pressure in PSI units after inserting air chuck (air nozzle) to the tyre. An android app is provided along with the machine which helps to capture customer data, details/type of vehicle, tyre and other data. This data along with other tyre pressure related parameters is sent to an automation system installed at the outlet via any one of the communication modes such as Wifi, Ethernet and RS-485.

The invention consists of a box with different elements contained therein and an openable door / flap.

The different elements/parts contained in the box are as follows :

1. IoT Communication Module
2. CPU card
3. SMPS (Switched Mode Power Supply)
4. Power Failure Detector Module
5. Solenoid Valve
6. Pressure Sensor
7. Illuminated Push Button Switches
8. Segment display
9. Tyre Parameters Data Logger Module (Arduino Nano)
10. Bluetooth Module
11. Front panel Door
12. Air Chuck/Nozzle
13. Buzzer

Two valves and two wires/cables leave the box. One valve is connected to an external Air compressor while the other is connected to Air Chuck/Nozzle (13) via Pneumatic Hose (12). One of the wire’s / cable is connected to SMPS (03), while the other is connected to the Power Supply port (1.6) of IoT Communication Module (01).

The invention comprises of a IoT communication module (01) board characterised in that is an Ethernet port (1.1) is provided as shown in Figure 1. Further, the board contains a RS-485 port (1.2) which is adjacent to the Ethernet port (1.1), and the invention also provides for a WiFi port (1.3), at the top of the board as shown in Figure (1). A power supply port (1.6) is provided at the bottom of the board, adjacent to which a battery slot (1.4) for real time.

The IoT communication module board (01) also provides for a data input port (1.5) which can be obtained from the external CPU Card (02), the said embodiment of the invention is internally arranged within the board for the quick function of the invention within which a circuit called IoT communication module board (01) is provided and placed at the left bottom side of the Instrument.

Another preferred embodiment of the invention is the CPU Card (02) as shown in Figure (2) which is placed on the inside of the openable door/flap i.e., Front Panel Door (11). The said card comprises of Microcontroller (2.6) which takes inputs from various ports available on CPU card (02) and controls various other ports available on a CPU card (02). The CPU card receives power from SMPS (03) and distributes the power to other components of the product such as Pressure Sensor (05), Solenoid valve (06), Seven Segment Display (08), Illuminated Push Button Switches (07) and Buzzer (14). CPU card collects the type of vehicle details from Bluetooth module (10) and tyre related parameters such as Set Pressure (desired final target pressure required by Tyre), initial tyre pressure from Pressure Sensor (06) and time taken to fill the tyre details and sends these parameters to T.P.D.L.M (09) via Tyre Inflator Parameters Output Port (2.8). CPU card (02) also receives the Power failure signal from Power Failure Detector Module (04).

Another preferred embodiment of the invention is the SMPS (03) as shown in Figure (3) which is connected to the CPU Card (02). The SMPS (03) is placed at the right top of the box and comprises of a transformer (3.4), a heat sink (3.3), an AC input port (3.1) and a DC output card port (3.2).

Another preferred embodiment of the invention shown in Figure (4) is that of the power failure detector module (04) which is placed at the left top inside the box and is capable of detecting AC input power failure as shown in Figure 4. The two ends of the power failure detector module (04) are connected by wires. One end is connected to AC input port (3.1) to detect the failure of AC power while the other end is connected to the Power failure detector port (2.5) to send the power failure signal to Microcontroller (2.6).

Another preferred embodiment of the invention which is shown in Figure 5 is the solenoid valve (05), which is placed at the Right bottom inside of the box. The solenoid valve (05) the on front view comprises of a Filling Valve (5.1) on the left side, Releasing valve (5.2) on the right side and Pressure Sensor port (5.3) in the middle. The solenoid valve (05) on the bottom view comprises of 3 ports namely, the Compressor port (5.4) on the left side, the Filling Port (5.5) in the middle and Releasing Port (5.6) on the Right side. Activating the Filling valve (5.1) facilitates the movement of compressed air in to the Tyre via Pneumatic hose (12) and the Air Chuck/Nozzle (13). Activating the Releasing Valve (5.2) facilitates the movement of Air from tyre to atmosphere via the Pneumatic Hose (12), Air Chuck/Nozzle (13) and Releasing Port (5.6).

Another important element of the invention is the pressure sensor (06) which is in Figure 06 and is placed on the middle of the front view of the Solenoid valve (05). The pressure sensor(06) is mounted on the pressure sensor port (5.3) of the Solenoid valve (05). When both Filling valve and Releasing valve are deactivated the Pressure Sensor port (5.3) on front view of Solenoid valve (05) facilitates the measurement of Tyre pressure via the Pressure Sensor (06) and Pressure sensor port (2.1) of the CPU card (02).

Another important element of the invention are 4 stainless steel Illuminated Push buttons (07) which are placed in a row on the front panel below the 7 segment display (08). These buttons helps to provide user input in selecting the desired final target pressure required for the tyre.

Another important element of the invention is T.P.D.L.M (09) which appears in Figure (9) and is placed at Left middle inside of the box. The T.P.D.L.M is connected to CPU card (02) to get the tyre parameters such as desired final target pressure required by the tyre and initial tyre pressure before inflation process, time taken to fill the tyre. The T.P.D.L.M (09) is also connected to Bluetooth module (10) which receives the data of customer and vehicle such as Name of the customer, Mobile No of Customer, Email ID of customer, Vehicle Number and Type of Vehicle (Two-Wheeler, Three-Wheeler or Four-Wheeler) which is entered via an android app either via typing manually or via speech to text feature provided on the app. The T.P.D.L.M (09) combines both the data received from CPU card (02) as well as the Bluetooth Module (10) and forms a single data packet and sends it to IoT communication Board (01).

Another important element of the invention is the pneumatic hose (12) as appearing at Figure 12 one end of which is connected to valve extending out of the box while the other end is connected the air chuck / nozzle (13) appearing in Figure 13.

Another important element of the invention is the Air Chuck/Nozzle (13) as appearing at Figure 13. The Air Chuck is specially designed to have multi-threaded holder (13.1) so that it holds almost 5 threads of the tyre valve which in turn provides a better grip against leakages. This makes it user friendly as the user need not hold the Nozzle on to the tyre throughout the Tyre Inflation/Deflation process.

Another important embodiment of the invention is the buzzer (14) which is reflected as Figure 14.

The front panel openable door / flap (11) as shown in Figure 11, provides for two dedicated 3 digit 2.3” 7 segment display screens (08) having 2 panels, which are placed parallel to each other i.e., one is placed above the other. The panel on the top Upper display (8.1) displays the numerals in blue and reflects the pressure that is desired or set by the operator, while the lower panel i.e. Lower display(8.2) displays and reflects the existing or initial tyre pressure in white and is capable of changing the colour on reaching the desired air pressure set in the upper display panel. The front panel door besides the two display panels, has four dedicated stainless steel illuminated push button switches (07) which are located below the lower display panel. Each of the push buttons has a dedicated function i.e. Flat Tyre, More, Okay and Less.

Working of the invention:

The working of the invention commences with switching on the power which is received by the SMPS (03). The power received by the SMPS (03) is taken by the CPU card (02), which is then distributed by it to all other components of the invention as and when the same is required by them.

Upon the arrival of a vehicle for the purpose of inflation and/or deflation of the air in the tyre or for simply checking the same, the operator access the specialized software installed in his phone, which connects to the invention through Bluetooth with the Bluetooth Module (10) provided in the invention.
Using the software installed in his phone the operator collects KYC details of the customer such as Type of Vehicle (Whether, 2-Wheeler, 3-Wheeler or 4-Wheeler), Name of the Customer, Vehicle Number of the Customer, Mobile Number of the Customer, Email ID of the Customer. The KYC data can be entered into the software installed in the phone by two methods (i) by typing the information manually by punching the buttons available on the screen of the phone, or (ii) through voice command, which can be accessed by pressing the microphone icon against each input text field which is connected to a voice to text conversion software in the background.

The KYC information / data once collated into the software installed in the phone of the operator which is then shared / sent via Bluetooth Module (10) with T.P.D.L.M (09).

The operator will then set the value of desired tyre pressure in PSI units using stainless steel illuminated push button switches (07) available on the front door panel (11). The air pressure is then set by the operator by pressing either of the two push buttons which reflect the words More or Less which set the air pressure while activating the pressure sensor (06). The other two buttons reflecting the word Flat Tyre is used to commence the filling of Flat tyres as there will not be any response from Flat tyre for the instrument to start the filling/releasing process automatically, immediately after Air Chuck/Nozzle (13) is inserted to the tyre valve and OK is used for confirming the user password while instrument is in service mode.

Having set the desired pressure, the operator will then insert the air chuck / nozzle (13) in to the tyre inlet valve, which is connected to a pneumatic hose (12), the other end of which is connected to filling port (5.5) of the Solenoid valve (5.0).

The air chuck / nozzle when inserted into the inlet valve of the tyre, the pressure sensor (06) reads the same in analogue form and converts it into the standard value of measuring air pressure. i.e. Pounds Per Square Inch or PSI by the CPU Card (02) and the same is displayed on lower display (8.2) part of the display panel (08). This reading is known as the initial tyre pressure reading.

The CPU Card (02) upon receiving the initial tyre pressure reading from the pressure sensor (06), compares the same with the air pressure set by the operator which is displayed at on the lower panel of the 7 segment display (08). Once the initial tyre pressure is displayed in the lower display (8.2) in white, the CPU Card (02) determines the type of tyre in terms of volume and the approximate compressor pressure that would be required, based on these two parameters, the CPU Card (02) calculates the time that would be required to fill the remaining air pressure in the tyre, the time to do the same and also the speed at which the process of inflation/deflation would be completed. If the air pressure in the tyre is less than the air pressure set by the operator, then the CPU Card (02) sends a command to the solenoid valve (05) to activate the Filling valve (5.1) which in turn releases the air generated by the compressor to be passed through the compressor port (5.4) to the filling port (5.5) which is then passed through the pneumatic hose (12) making its way through the air chuck / nozzle into the inlet valve of the tyre, thereby inflating the tyre. Upon reaching the air pressure in the tyre being equal to the pressure set by the operator, the pressure sensor (06) communicates the same to CPU Card (02) which then commands the solenoid valve to stop the passage of the air. The change in the tyre pressure is periodically displayed on the lower display (8.1) of the 7 segment display panel (08).

Similarly if the tyre pressure is more than the tyre pressure set by the operator, the same procedure as adopted to inflate the tyre is adopted to deflate the tyre, save and except that the air chuck / nozzle to press the inlet valve of the tyre to release the additional air in the tyre, at a controlled speed, as sensed by the pressure sensor (06). The change in the tyre pressure is periodically displayed on the lower display(8.1) of 7 segment display panel (08).

Upon the completion of the process or upon reaching the air pressure displayed in the top display panel, the numerals appearing in white in the lower display panel turn blue, thereby indicating that the process is completed and the buzzer is activated to make a sound.

Once the Filling/Releasing is complete, the air chuck / nozzle (13) is removed from the tyre.

The invention, in order to prevent tyre burst by overfilling of the air pressure in the tyre during the process of inflation, provides that each inflation iteration is limited to a maximum of few seconds.

During the process of Filling/Releasing the air to/from the tyre, the CPU card (2) captures various parameters like, The Set Pressure, The Initial Tyre Pressure, Time Taken to Fill the tre , Status of DTI, Total No. of Tyres filled etc. After successful completion of Filling or Releasing air to/from the tyre, the CPU Card (02), sends these parameters to Tyre Parameters Data Logger Module (9).

The Tyre Parameters Data Logger Module (09), during the process of inflation/deflation of the tyre, receives details of such as set pressure, actual tyre pressure and time taken to fill each tyre is captured by a dedicated Tyre Parameters Data Logger Module which is placed inside the invention, which it data it collates from the CPU Card (02) and Bluetooth module (10). It clubs the information received from the CPU card (02) as well as the Bluetooth module (10), which it compiles into data packets as per predefined protocol and sends the same to the IoT Communication Module (01), which is then sent to the local automation server which is sent to the local automation server inside the outlet via any one of the available communication modes i.e. Ethernet, WiFi or RS-485 that are present on IoT Communication Module present inside the invention.

When the instrument is in Power ON condition, the instrument can be in any one of the four modes/status namely, Idle Mode, Filling Mode, Error Mode or Service Mode. This status/modes data is also sent by the T.P.D.L.M (09) along with the data captured by CPU card (02) and Bluetooth Module(10) to IoT Communication Board (01) which is then sent to local automation server at the outlet via any one of the available communication modes i.e. Ethernet, WiFi or RS-485 that are present on IoT Communication Module present inside the invention. In Error mode the error code that describes the type of the error, is also sent to local automation server.

Idle mode means that the instrument is in working condition but is not being used for Tyre inflation/deflation purpose at that point of time.

Filling Mode means that the instrument is in working condition and is currently being used for Tyre Inflation/Deflation process at that point of time.

Error Mode means that the instrument is not in working condition. There is a separate error code for each type of error which is as below.

DTC 01 - Pressure sensor faulty

DTC 03 - Low Compressor Pressure

DTC 04 - High Compressor Pressure

DTC 05 - Leakage in the tyre/nozzle

DTC 08 - Filling Solenoid faulty

DTC 09 - Releasing Solenoid Faulty

Service Mode means that the instrument is being serviced now. The service can be a rectification of an earlier breakdown issue or can be a maintenance activity such as calibration.

Flow Chart for Operating Instructions/Working Principle

PCBs Connections

Parts of the instrument

1. IoT Communication Module

2. CPU card.

3. SMPS (Switched Mode Power Supply)

4. Power Failure Detector Module

5. Solenoid Valve

6. Pressure Sensor

7. Illuminated Push Button Switches

8. Seven Segment display

9. Tyre Parameters Data Logger Module (Arduino Nano)

10. Bluetooth Module

11. Front panel Door

12. Pneumatic Hose

13. Air Chuck/Nozzle

14. Buzzer

,CLAIMS:We Claim,

1. An IoT enabled automatic digital tyre inflator which aids in checking of air pressure as well as inflating and / or deflating the air from a tyre to automatically, comprising a box with different elements contained therein and an openable door / flap, and Two valves and two wires / cables leave the box the said One valve is connected to external Air compressor while the other is connected to Air Chuck/Nozzle (13) via Pneumatic Hose (12), One of the wire’s / cable is connected to SMPS (03), while the other is connected to Power Supply port (1.6) of IoT Communication Module (01), a IoT communication module (01) board which is Ethernet port (1.1) is provided as shown in Figure 1, Further, the board has a RS-485 port (1.2) adjacent to the Ethernet port (1.1), a WiFi port (1.3), at the top of the board as shown in Figure (1), a power supply port (1.6) is provided at the bottom of the board, adjacent to which a battery slot (1.4) for real time,

2. An IoT enabled automatic digital tyre inflator as claimed in claim 1, wherein IoT communication module board (01) provides for a data input port (1.5) this can be obtained from the external CPU Card (02), the said embodiment of the invention is internally arranged within the board for quick function of the of invention within which a circuit called IoT communication module board (01) is provided and placed at left bottom side of the Instrument,

3. An IoT enabled automatic digital tyre inflator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the CPU Card (02) as shown in Figure (2) is placed on the inside of the openable door / flap i.e., Front Panel Door (11), The said card consists of Microcontroller (2.6) which takes inputs from various ports available on CPU card (02) and controls various other ports available on CPU card (02), CPU card receives power from SMPS (03) and distributes the power to other components of the product such as Pressure Sensor (05), Solenoid valve (06), Seven Segment Display (08), Illuminated Push Button Switches (07) and Buzzer (14), CPU card collects the type of vehicle details from Bluetooth module (10) and tyre related parameters such as Set Pressure (desired final target pressure required by Tyre), initial tyre pressure from Pressure Sensor (06) and time taken to fill the tyre details and sends these parameters to T.P.D.L.M (09) via Tyre Inflator Parameters Output Port (2.8). CPU card (02) also receives the Power failure signal from Power Failure Detector Module (04),

4. An IoT enabled automatic digital tyre inflator as claimed in claim 1, wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is SMPS (03) as shown in Figure (3) connected to the CPU Card (02). The SMPS (03) which is placed at right top of the box and comprises of a transformer (3.4), a heat sink (3.3), an AC input port (3.1) and a DC output card port (3.2),

5. An IoT enabled automatic digital tyre inflator as claimed in claim 1, wherein a power failure detector module (04) is placed at left top inside the box and is capable of detecting AC input power failure as shown in the Figure 4, the two ends of the power failure detector module (04) are connected by wires, One end is connected to AC input port (3.1) to detect failure of AC power while the other end is connected to Power failure detector port (2.5) to send the power failure signal to Microcontroller (2.6),

6. An IoT enabled automatic digital tyre inflator as claimed in claim 1, wherein a solenoid valve (05), placed at Right bottom inside of the box, the solenoid valve (05) on front view comprises of a Filling Valve (5.1) on left side, Releasing valve (5.2) on right side and Pressure Sensor port (5.3) on the middle, the solenoid valve (05) on bottom view comprises of 3 ports namely, Compressor port (5.4) on left side, Filling Port (5.5) in the middle and Releasing Port (5.6) on Right side, Activating the Filling valve (5.1) facilitates the movement of compressed air in to the Tyre via Pneumatic hose (12) and the Air Chuck/Nozzle (13), Activating the Releasing Valve (5.2) facilitates the movement of Air from tyre to atmosphere via the Pneumatic Hose (12), Air Chuck/Nozzle (13) and Releasing Port (5.6).

7. An IoT enabled automatic digital tyre inflator as claimed in above claims , wherein a pressure sensor (06) is placed on the middle of the front view of the Solenoid valve (05), mounted on the pressure sensor port (5.3) of the Solenoid valve (05), when both Filling valve and Releasing valve are deactivated the Pressure Sensor port (5.3) on front view of Solenoid valve (05), facilitates the measurement of Tyre pressure via the Pressure Sensor (06) and Pressure sensor port (2.1) of the CPU card (02),

8. An IoT enabled automatic digital tyre inflator as claimed in above claims a 4 stainless steel Illuminated Push buttons (07) which are placed in a row on the front panel below the 7 segment display (08), to provide user input in selecting the desired final target pressure required for the tyre,
9. An IoT enabled automatic digital tyre inflator as claimed in above claims a T.P.D.L.M (09) which appears in Figure (9) placed at Left middle inside of the box. The T.P.D.L.M is connected to CPU card (02) to get the tyre parameters such as desired final target pressure required by the tyre and initial tyre pressure before inflation process, time taken to fill the tyre. The T.P.D.L.M (09) is also connected to Bluetooth module (10) which receives the data of customer and vehicle such as Name of the customer, Mobile No of Customer, Email ID of customer, Vehicle Number and Type of Vehicle (Two-Wheeler, Three-Wheeler or Four-Wheeler) which is entered via an android app either via typing manually or via speech to text feature provided on the app. The T.P.D.L.M (09) combines both the data received from CPU card (02) as well as the Bluetooth Module (10) and forms a single data packet and sends it to IoT communication Board (01),

10. An IoT enabled automatic digital tyre inflator as claimed in above claims a pneumatic hose (12) as appearing at Figure 12 one end of which is connected to valve extending out of the box while the other end is connected the air chuck / nozzle (13) appearing in Figure 13, and air Chuck/Nozzle (13) as appearing at Figure 13, the Air Chuck is specially designed to have multi-threaded holder (13.1) so that it holds almost 5 threads of the tyre valve which n turn provides a better grip against leakages.