Tire maintenance support apparatus, and tire maintenance support program

Abstract

To provide a tire maintenance support apparatus and a tire maintenance support program which can enhance a work efficiency in planning a maintenance plan by calculating the number of tires to be exchanged.SOLUTION: A tire maintenance support apparatus 100 according to the present invention has a tire information acquiring unit 31, a replacement timing calculating unit 32, and a replacement tire number calculating unit 33. The tire information acquiring unit 31 acquires prediction data of a residual groove amount of a tire fitted to each of a plurality of vehicles under operation management. The replacement timing calculating unit 32 calculates a replacement timing for each tire based on the prediction data of the residual groove amount acquired by the tire information acquiring unit 31. The replacement tire number calculating unit 33 collects the replacement timing calculated by the replacement timing calculating unit 32 with respect to each period on a time axis and calculates the number of tires requiring replacement in each period.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a tire maintenance assistance device and a tire maintenance assistance program for assisting in the maintenance of tires mounted on a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Generally, tires wear depending on driving conditions and distance traveled, and the amount of wear also varies depending on the axle position on which the tire is mounted. When the remaining tread depth, which is the depth of the grooves in the tire, falls below a specified level, maintenance such as tire replacement is required.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a conventional tire management method. A tire management server used in this tire management method is connected to a vehicle terminal, a vehicle management terminal, and a dealer terminal via a communication network. The tire management server receives data indicating the tire condition from the vehicle terminal or the dealer terminal, judges the tire condition based on this data, and if it is determined that urgent attention is required for the tire, it notifies the vehicle terminal and the dealer terminal of the dealer that can handle the condition of the tire. If it is determined that some kind of attention is required for the tire but not urgent, it performs a scheduling process for the vehicle management terminal of the vehicle and the dealer terminal of the specified dealer. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2002-132994 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The tire management method described in Patent Document 1 displays the tire conditions on a vehicle terminal mounted on each vehicle. However, for transportation companies and the like that own and manage a plurality of transport vehicles such as trucks, it is difficult to grasp the timing of maintenance such as tire replacement for the plurality of vehicles under their management, and therefore it has been difficult to adequately plan budgets for maintenance costs, etc. The present inventors thought that, in planning tire maintenance plans for the plurality of vehicles under their management, it would be possible to improve the work of planning maintenance plans by predicting the timing of maintenance from maintenance information on the tires mounted on each vehicle.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a tire maintenance support device and a tire maintenance support program that can calculate the number of tires that need to be replaced and improve the work efficiency of developing a maintenance plan. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A tire maintenance support device according to one embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that it comprises a tire information acquisition unit that acquires predicted data on the remaining tread depth of tires fitted to each of a plurality of vehicles under operational management, a replacement time calculation unit that calculates the replacement time for each tire from the predicted tread depth data acquired by the tire information acquisition unit, and a replacement number calculation unit that tallys up the replacement times calculated by the replacement time calculation unit for each period on a time axis to calculate the number of tire replacements for each period.

[0008] Another aspect of the present invention is a tire maintenance support program, which is characterized by having a computer execute the following steps: a tire information acquisition step of acquiring predicted data on remaining tread depth of tires mounted on each of a plurality of vehicles under operational management, a replacement timing calculation step of calculating replacement timing for each tire from the predicted data on remaining tread depth acquired by the tire information acquisition step, and a replacement number calculation step of tallying up the replacement times calculated by the replacement time calculation step for each period on a time axis to calculate the number of tire replacements for each period. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, the number of tires to be replaced can be calculated to improve the efficiency of maintenance planning. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a maintenance support system including a tire maintenance support device according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the tire management server device. FIG. [Diagram 3] 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining wear amount estimation and learning of a computation model. FIG. [Figure 4] 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the tire maintenance assistance device. FIG. [Diagram 5] 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for a process of displaying the number of tire replacements performed by the tire maintenance support device. [Figure 6] 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of axle arrangement information and tire remaining groove depth data; FIG. [Figure 7] 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a display of the number of tire changes by a display processing unit. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments with reference to Figures 1 to 7. The same or equivalent components and members shown in each drawing are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated descriptions are omitted as appropriate. The dimensions of the members in each drawing are enlarged or reduced as appropriate for ease of understanding. Some of the members that are not important for explaining the embodiments are omitted in each drawing.

[0012] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a maintenance support system 110 including a tire maintenance support device 100 according to an embodiment. The maintenance support system 110 includes a tire wear amount measuring device 60, an on-board measuring device 70, a tire management server device 80, and a tire maintenance support device 100. The tire maintenance support device 100 acquires information related to the maintenance of tires 7 mounted on a plurality of vehicles under operational management from the tire management server device 80, and provides information such as the time when tires need to be changed to an operator. In the following description, information related to the maintenance of tires 7 will be referred to as maintenance information.

[0013] The tires 7 are mounted on a plurality of vehicles, such as trucks for transport, whose operation is managed by a transport company or the like. The transport company can obtain maintenance information for the tires 7 provided by the tire maintenance support device 100 for the plurality of tires 7 mounted on each vehicle. The maintenance information for the tires 7 is, for example, predicted data on the remaining tread depth of the tires 7, time-varying air pressure data of the tires 7, and tire load data based on at least one of the air pressure and temperature of the tires 7.

[0014] The tire wear measuring device 60 directly measures the depth of the grooves provided in the tread of the tire 7 multiple times over a predetermined period (several months to several years) to obtain the wear of the tire 7. The tire wear measuring device 60 transmits data on the measured wear of the tire 7 to the tire management server device 80 via the communication network 9. A tire worker may measure the depth of each groove using a measuring tool, a camera, visual inspection, or the like, and the tire wear measuring device 60 may store the measurement data input by the worker. Alternatively, the tire wear measuring device 60 may be a dedicated device that measures the groove depth by a mechanical or optical method and stores the wear.

[0015] Specifically, for example, if a tire has four grooves, the tire wear measuring device 60 measures at four locations in the width direction, and further measures at three locations in the circumferential direction of the same groove, for example, at 120° intervals. As a result, uneven wear data in the width direction or circumferential direction of the tire is also stored in the tire wear measuring device 60. Note that the tire wear measuring device 60 may indirectly measure the groove depth by calculation from the travel distance and the tire rotation speed / speed information, since the diameter of the tire changes due to wear. In addition, a device that directly measures the groove depth may be used in combination with a device that predicts the depth by calculation from the travel distance and the tire rotation speed / speed.

[0016] The on-vehicle measuring device 70 is mounted on a vehicle, has a pressure sensor and a temperature sensor provided on the tire 7, and measures the air pressure, temperature, etc. of the tire 7. The temperature sensor and pressure sensor are disposed on the air valve, etc. of the tire 7 mounted on the vehicle, or are firmly wrapped around and fixed to the wheel with a belt, etc. The temperature sensor may be disposed on the inner liner, etc. of the tire 7. The on-vehicle measuring device 70 transmits data such as the air pressure and temperature of the tire 7 to the tire management server device 80 via the communication network 9.

[0017] The on-vehicle measurement device 70 also measures the vehicle speed, the vehicle's current position information (latitude, longitude, and altitude), the vehicle's acceleration in three axial directions, etc., using a speedometer, a GPS receiver, an acceleration sensor, etc. mounted on the vehicle. The on-vehicle measurement device 70 transmits data such as the vehicle speed, the vehicle's position information, and the vehicle's acceleration to the tire management server device 80 via the communication network 9.

[0018] 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the tire management server device 80. The tire management server device 80 has a communication unit 81, a vehicle information acquisition unit 82, a tire wear amount calculation unit 83, a tire load calculation unit 84, and a storage unit 85. Each unit in the tire management server device 80 can be realized in terms of hardware by electronic elements and mechanical parts such as a computer CPU, and in terms of software by a computer program, but here, functional blocks realized by cooperation between them are depicted. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by combinations of hardware and software.

[0019] The communication unit 81 is connected to the communication network 9 via wireless or wired communication, and communicates with the tire wear amount measuring device 60, the in-vehicle measuring device 70, and the tire maintenance support device 100.

[0020] The vehicle information acquisition unit 82 acquires vehicle measurement information, such as vehicle speed and position information, and tire measurement information, such as air pressure and temperature measured in the tires 7, from the on-board measurement device 70 via the communication unit 81. The vehicle information acquisition unit 82 also acquires measurement data on the amount of wear of the tires 7 measured by the tire wear amount measuring device 60 via the communication unit 81.

[0021] The vehicle information acquisition unit 82 can calculate and acquire the mileage based on the position information of the vehicle measurement information. The mileage of the vehicle may also be calculated based on the speed data in the vehicle measurement information and the time data associated with the speed data. That is, the mileage of the vehicle can be calculated by multiplying the speed data arranged in chronological order by the time difference until the next time point. If information regarding the mileage of the vehicle is provided from the vehicle or an external device for vehicle management, the vehicle information acquisition unit 82 does not need to calculate the mileage by itself, and may acquire information regarding the mileage from the vehicle or the external device.

[0022] The vehicle information acquisition unit 82 outputs the acquired vehicle travel distance and tire measurement information (tire temperature, air pressure, etc.) to the tire wear amount calculation unit 83. When the tire wear amount calculation unit 83 estimates the amount of tire wear based on a calculation model that uses the acceleration of the vehicle as an input element, the vehicle information acquisition unit 82 outputs the acceleration data in the vehicle measurement information to the tire wear amount calculation unit 83.

[0023] The storage unit 85 is a storage device configured by, for example, an SSD (Solid State Drive), a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD, etc. The storage unit 85 stores operation management information 85a, axle arrangement information 85b, tire identification information 85c, tire remaining groove depth data 85d, tire pressure data 85e, tire load data 85f, and data provided in advance regarding the specifications of various vehicles and tires 7, etc.

[0024] The traffic management information 85a is information about a plurality of vehicles managed by a transportation company or the like, and includes the name of the vehicle, vehicle identification information given to each vehicle, etc. The traffic management information 85a is stored in the storage unit 85 by grouping for each of a plurality of transportation companies. The axle arrangement information 85b is information indicating the axles of each vehicle and the positions of the tires 7 to be mounted thereon.

[0025] The tire identification information 85c is information such as a serial number assigned to each tire 7, and the tire identification information is readably stored, for example, in an RFID tag embedded in the tire 7. The tire identification information may be stored in the storage unit 85 in association with the vehicle on which the tire 7 is mounted and the axle position on the vehicle on which the tire is mounted.

[0026] The tire remaining tread depth data 85d is data on the remaining tire tread depth obtained by subtracting the amount of tire wear estimated by the tire wear amount calculation unit 83, and data on the remaining tire tread depth obtained by subtracting the amount of wear of the tires 7 periodically measured by the tire wear amount measurement device 60. The tire remaining tread depth data 85d includes data calculated in the past by the tire wear amount calculation unit 83, and data calculated as a predicted value for the future using average values ​​of the travel distance and the air pressure and temperature of the tires 7.

[0027] The tire pressure data 85e includes time transition of past air pressure data of the tires 7 measured by the on-board measuring device 70. The tire load data 85f is calculated by the tire load calculation unit 84 based on at least one of the air pressure and temperature of the tires 7, as described later, and stored in the storage unit 85.

[0028] The tire wear amount calculation unit 83 reads and acquires data used appropriately for estimating the wear amount of the tire 7, such as vehicle and tire specification data, from the storage unit 85. The tire wear amount calculation unit 83 also acquires information stored in the storage unit 85, such as axle arrangement information 85b and tire identification information 85c.

[0029] The tire wear amount calculation unit 83 has a calculation model 83a and estimates the wear amount of the tire 7. The calculation model 83a is a learning model that calculates the wear amount of the tire 7 based on input information. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the wear amount estimation and learning of the calculation model 83a. The input data to the calculation model 83a is roughly classified into each system of vehicle measurement information, tire measurement information, and other information.

[0030] The input data related to the vehicle measurement information includes the acceleration and the distance traveled of the vehicle. The distance traveled is acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 82 as described above. The input data related to the tire measurement information includes the air pressure and the temperature of the tire 7. The acceleration of the vehicle is used as input data to the calculation model 83a as appropriate.

[0031] The input data based on other information includes road surface conditions estimated based on meteorological information, the maximum load capacity of the vehicle included in the vehicle specification data, and the wear resistance performance of the tire 7 included in the tire specification data. The wear resistance performance of the tire 7 is measured using, for example, a tire wear index value obtained by indexing the wear resistance performance of various tread blends based on a Lambourn abrasion test with a standard blend being set at 100.

[0032] The computation model 83a uses a learning model such as a neural network. The computation model 83a is constructed using a method such as a deep neural network (DNN) or a decision tree. The computation model 83a may be a multiple linear regression model for input information, and may be generated by learning.

[0033] The wear data of the tire 7 measured by the tire wear measuring device 60 is used as training data for learning the calculation model 83a. In the learning process of the calculation model 83a, the wear amount of the tire 7 as output data is estimated by the calculation model 83a based on the input information and compared with the training data. The calculation model 83a compares the estimated wear amount of the tire 7 with the training data, and newly sets various coefficients in the calculation process such as weighting in the calculation model 83a, and learning is performed by repeatedly updating the model.

[0034] The tire wear amount calculation unit 83 estimates the amount of wear of the tire 7 using the trained calculation model 83a, and accumulates the remaining tire groove depth obtained by subtracting the amount of wear of the tire 7 in the memory unit 85 as tire remaining groove amount data 85d.

[0035] When the air pressure of the tire 7 is lower than a predetermined threshold value and when the temperature of the tire 7 is higher than a predetermined threshold value, the tire load calculation unit 84 calculates the tire load amount by multiplying each of the air pressure and temperature by the vehicle travel distance and integrating the results, and stores the results as tire load data 85f in the storage unit 85. The tire load calculation unit 84 may calculate the tire load amount using at least one of the air pressure and the temperature of the tire 7.

[0036] 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the tire maintenance support device 100. The tire maintenance support device 100 includes a communication unit 10, an operation unit 12, a display unit 14, a storage unit 20, and a control unit 30, and predicts the number of tires 7 to be replaced in the future and provides the predicted number to an operator.

[0037] Each unit in the tire maintenance support device 100 can be realized in hardware terms by electronic elements and mechanical parts such as a computer CPU, and in software terms by a computer program, but here, functional blocks realized by the cooperation of these are depicted. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by combining hardware and software.

[0038] The communication unit 10 is connected to the communication network 9 by wireless or wired communication and communicates with the tire management server device 80. The operation unit 12 is an operable input device such as a touch panel, a switch, a keyboard, and a mouse. The display unit 14 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display.

[0039] By operating the operation unit 12, the operator can obtain maintenance information on the tires 7 from the tire management server device 80, estimate the number of tires 7 to be replaced and the cost within a predetermined period such as a year or half a year, or within a specified period, and display the estimated number on the display unit 14. The tire maintenance support device 100 may display the minimum number of tires to be replaced by rotating the tires in each vehicle on the display unit 14. The tire rotation is not limited to rotation within a vehicle, but may be rotation between multiple vehicles, such as rotating tires between a vehicle that runs on a highway and a vehicle that runs only on general roads. The number of tires 7 to be replaced and the cost may be displayed in parallel with the number of tires and the cost of tires with different specifications in addition to the tires currently attached to the vehicle. For example, the number of tires to be replaced and the cost of tire B, which is cheaper and has a lower rolling resistance than tire A currently attached, may be displayed alongside the number of tires to be replaced and the cost of tire A. In this case, the fuel reduction amount, the reduced fuel cost, the reduced carbon dioxide emission amount, etc., when the tires are replaced may be displayed.

[0040] The storage unit 20 is a storage device configured, for example, with an SSD (Solid State Drive), a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD, etc. The storage unit 20 stores a computer program executed by the control unit 30, vehicle axle arrangement information acquired from the tire management server device 80, and maintenance information for the tires 7. The vehicle axle arrangement information is determined in correspondence with, for example, the vehicle name and vehicle model, and may be stored in the storage unit 20.

[0041] The control unit 30 includes a tire information acquisition unit 31, a replacement time calculation unit 32, a replacement number calculation unit 33, and a display processing unit 34. The tire information acquisition unit 31 acquires, from the tire management server device 80, maintenance information on tires 7 mounted on a plurality of vehicles operated and managed by one transport company selected from a plurality of transport companies, for example, by an operator operating the operation unit 12. The tire information acquisition unit 31 acquires, as the maintenance information on the tires 7, tire remaining tread depth data 85d of each tire 7 mounted on the vehicle.

[0042] The replacement time calculation unit 32 estimates and calculates the replacement time of the tire 7 based on the maintenance information of the tire 7 acquired by the tire information acquisition unit 31. The replacement time calculation unit 32 calculates the time when the remaining tread depth will be equal to or less than a threshold value at which the tire needs to be replaced, based on predicted data of the remaining tread depth in the tire remaining tread depth data 85d.

[0043] The tire replacement number calculation unit 33 counts the replacement times calculated by the replacement time calculation unit 32 for each predetermined period on the time axis to calculate the number of tire replacements for each period. The predetermined period for calculating the number of tire replacements may be, for example, one month, three months, etc. The replacement number calculation unit 33 may calculate the maintenance cost (replacement cost) incurred in each period based on the calculated number of tire replacements. The replacement cost incurred when replacing tires is calculated by adding, for example, the cost of purchasing new tires, the cost of disposing of old tires, the labor cost of tire replacement work, etc. For example, when the replacement work is performed at a time other than the time when replacement from summer tires to winter tires is concentrated, the replacement number calculation unit 33 may calculate the cost of purchasing new tires, the cost of disposing of old tires, the labor cost of tire replacement work, etc. by discounting them.

[0044] The display processing unit 34 displays on the display unit 14 the number of tire replacements calculated by the replacement number calculation unit 33 for each period. The display processing unit 34 may display on the display unit 14 the replacement costs for each period calculated by the replacement number calculation unit 33. The display processing unit 34 may also display on the display unit 14 the identification information of the vehicle fitted with the tire 7 whose replacement time has been calculated by the replacement time calculation unit, and its position in the axle arrangement.

[0045] Next, the operation of the tire maintenance support device 100 will be described. Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the display process of the number of tire replacements by the tire maintenance support device 100. The tire information acquisition unit 31 of the tire maintenance support device 100 selects one transport company from among a plurality of transport companies based on the operation of the operation unit 12 by the worker (S1). The tire information acquisition unit 31 notifies the tire management server device 80 of the identification information of the selected transport company via the communication unit 10.

[0046] The tire management server device 80 transmits, based on the notified identification information of the transport company, tire remaining tread depth data 85d of the tires 7 mounted on all vehicles operated and managed by the transport company via the communication network 9. The tire information acquisition unit 31 receives and acquires the tire remaining tread depth data 85d transmitted by the tire management server device 80 (S2).

[0047] The replacement time calculation unit 32 estimates and calculates the replacement time of the tire 7 based on the remaining tread depth data 85d of the tire 7 acquired in step S2 (S3). The replacement number calculation unit 33 counts the replacement times calculated in step S3 for each period on the time axis and calculates the number of tire replacements for each period (S4). The display processing unit 34 displays the number of tire replacements calculated in step S4 on the display unit 14 by period (S5), and ends the process.

[0048] In step S4, the replacement number calculation unit 33 calculates the replacement cost corresponding to the number of tire replacements for each period, and in step S5, the display processing unit 34 may display the replacement cost divided by period on the display unit 14. Also, in step S5, the display processing unit 34 may display on the display unit 14 the identification information of the vehicle on which the tire 7 is mounted and its position in the axle arrangement.

[0049] Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of axle arrangement information and tire remaining groove depth data 85d. In the example shown in Fig. 6, the axle arrangement information 85b shows three axles A1, A2, and A3 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and tire positions B11, B12, etc., mounted on each axle. The axle arrangement information 85b shown in Fig. 6 shows the minimum value of the remaining groove depth of the multiple grooves of each tire as a numerical value. For example, the tire at tire position B11 has a current minimum remaining groove depth of 12.7 mm.

[0050] 6, tire remaining tread depth data 85d shows past data and future predicted data for tires at tire positions B11, B32, and B33, with the current time as the boundary. Also, the threshold of the remaining tread depth at which a tire needs to be changed is shown by a dashed line.

[0051] 6, it can be seen that the tire at position B11 is still far from due for replacement, the tire at position B33 will need to be replaced in one month, and the tire at position B32 should be replaced immediately. The replacement time calculation unit 32 calculates that the tire at position B33 will need to be replaced in one month, and the tire at position B32 will need to be replaced in zero months. The replacement time calculation unit 32 calculates the replacement times for tires 7 mounted on all vehicles operated and managed by the transportation company.

[0052] Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the display of the number of tire changes by the display processing unit 34. Fig. 7 shows the number of tire changes from July to December 2022, tabulated for each month in the bottom row. In the example shown in Fig. 7, information such as the vehicle identification number, tire size, and tire position in the axle arrangement is included.

[0053] The symbols B11, B22, etc. in the table of Fig. 7 represent tire positions in the axle arrangement, similar to the axle arrangement information 85b shown in Fig. 6. Also, while Fig. 7 shows the number of tire changes in a six-month period, the display may be switched by the operator's operation of the operation unit 12 to show the number of tire changes in a one-year period, a two-year period, etc.

[0054] The tire maintenance support device 100 can calculate the number of tire replacements for each period by tallying up the replacement times calculated by the replacement number calculation unit 33 for each period on the time axis, thereby improving the work efficiency of formulating a maintenance plan. In addition, the tire maintenance support device 100 can easily formulate a budget plan for expenses by calculating the replacement cost corresponding to the number of tire replacements for each period by the replacement number calculation unit 33.

[0055] The tire maintenance support device 100 displays on the display unit 14 the number of tires that need to be replaced by dividing them into periods, thereby allowing workers and the transportation company's operations manager to easily know how many tires will need to be replaced and when in the future.

[0056] The display processing unit 34 displays the identification information of the vehicle equipped with the tire 7 whose replacement time has been calculated, and its position in the axle arrangement, thereby allowing the worker to easily obtain information about the tire that needs replacement.

[0057] (Modification) In the above embodiment, the tire maintenance support device 100 calculates the number of tire replacements using the tire remaining groove depth data 85d. The tire maintenance support device 100 may acquire the tire pressure data 85e and the tire load data 85f from the tire management server device 80 by the tire information acquisition unit 31, and calculate the number of tire replacements by the replacement time calculation unit 32 using the predicted data of the tire pressure and load of the tire 7 in the future. For example, the tire pressure and tire load in the future can be calculated and predicted based on the current tire pressure increase / decrease rate, the trend of change in tire temperature (including seasonal factors), and the average value of the vehicle's travel distance per period. The tire pressure and tire load in the future may be calculated by the tire load calculation unit 84 of the tire management server device 80, or may be calculated by the replacement time calculation unit 32 of the tire maintenance support device 100.

[0058] In this case, the tire maintenance support device 100 may display the number of tire replacements and the cost based on the load on the tires of the selected vehicle (tire load data 85f) and the number of tire replacements and the cost based on the average load on the tires of the vehicles of the transport company on the display unit 14. By providing such information by the tire maintenance support device 100, the difference in the number of tire replacements between vehicles can be understood, and driving guidance can be given to drivers of vehicles that require a large number of tire replacements and high costs, thereby reducing the number of tire replacements and the cost.

[0059] In addition, the display processing unit 34 of the tire maintenance support device 100 is configured to display the number of tires to be replaced as shown in FIG. 7, but it may also be configured to display axle arrangement information 85b, tire remaining tread depth data 85d, tire air pressure data 85e, and tire load data 85f.

[0060] Next, features of the tire maintenance support device 100 and the tire maintenance support program according to the embodiment will be described. The tire maintenance support device 100 includes a tire information acquisition unit 31, a replacement time calculation unit 32, and a replacement number calculation unit 33. The tire information acquisition unit 31 acquires predicted data on the remaining tread depth of tires 7 mounted on each of a plurality of vehicles under operational management. The replacement time calculation unit 32 calculates the replacement time of each tire 7 from the predicted data on the remaining tread depth acquired by the tire information acquisition unit 31. The replacement number calculation unit 33 counts the replacement times calculated by the replacement time calculation unit 32 for each period on the time axis to calculate the number of tire replacements for each period. This allows the tire maintenance support device 100 to calculate the number of tire replacements for each period, thereby improving the work efficiency of formulating a maintenance plan.

[0061] Furthermore, the replacement number calculation unit 33 calculates the replacement cost corresponding to the number of tire replacements tallied for each period. This allows the tire maintenance support device 100 to facilitate the creation of a budget plan for costs, etc.

[0062] The tire maintenance support device 100 further includes a display processing unit 34 that divides the number of tire replacements calculated by the replacement number calculation unit 33 by period and displays the divided number on the display unit 14. In this way, the tire maintenance support device 100 allows the worker to easily know how many tires will need to be replaced and when in the future.

[0063] Furthermore, the display processing unit 34 displays the identification information and the position in the axle arrangement of the vehicle equipped with the tire 7 whose replacement time has been calculated by the replacement time calculation unit 32. In this way, the tire maintenance support device 100 allows the worker to easily obtain information about the tire 7 that needs replacement.

[0064] Furthermore, the tire information acquisition unit 31 acquires information relating to the load amount of the tires 7. The replacement time calculation unit 32 calculates the replacement time of each tire 7 from the load amount prediction data acquired by the tire information acquisition unit 31. This enables the tire maintenance support device 100 to calculate the number of tire replacements based on the information relating to the load amount of the tires 7, thereby improving the work efficiency of formulating a maintenance plan.

[0065] The tire maintenance support program causes a computer to execute a tire information acquisition step, a replacement time calculation step, and a replacement number calculation step. The tire information acquisition step acquires predicted data on the remaining tread depth of tires 7 mounted on each of a plurality of vehicles under operational management. The replacement time calculation step calculates the replacement time for each tire 7 from the remaining tread depth predicted data acquired in the tire information acquisition step. The replacement number calculation step calculates the number of tire replacements per period by tallying up the replacement times calculated in the replacement time calculation step for each period on the time axis. This tire maintenance support program can calculate the number of tire replacements per period, thereby improving the work efficiency of developing a maintenance plan.

[0066] The above description is based on the embodiments of the present invention. These embodiments are merely examples, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the claims of the present invention, and that such modifications and changes are also within the scope of the claims of the present invention. Therefore, the descriptions and drawings in this specification should be treated as illustrative rather than restrictive. [Explanation of symbols]

[0067] 31 tire information acquisition unit, 32 replacement time calculation unit, 33 replacement number calculation unit, 34 display processing unit, 100 tire maintenance support device.

Claims

1. a tire information acquisition unit that acquires tire remaining tread depth data including predicted data of remaining tread depth of tires mounted on each of a plurality of vehicles under operational management; a tire replacement timing calculation unit that calculates a replacement timing for each tire from the tire remaining groove depth data acquired by the tire information acquisition unit; a tire replacement number calculation unit that calculates the number of tire replacements for each period on a time axis by tallying up the replacement times calculated by the replacement time calculation unit; A tire maintenance assistance device comprising:

2. The tire maintenance support device according to claim 1, further comprising a display processing unit that displays the tire replacement numbers calculated by the tire replacement number calculation unit on a display unit by dividing the tire replacement numbers by period.

3. 3. The tire maintenance assistance device according to claim 2, wherein the display processing unit displays identification information of a vehicle equipped with a tire whose replacement time has been calculated by the replacement time calculation unit, and a position of the vehicle in an axle arrangement.

4. A tire maintenance support device as described in Claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the display processing unit displays the tire model number and tire size of the tires mounted on the vehicle.

5. The tire maintenance support device according to claim 1 , wherein the tire replacement number calculation unit calculates a tire replacement cost corresponding to the number of tire replacements tallied for each period.

6. A tire maintenance support device as described in Claim 5, characterized in that the replacement cost is calculated by adding the cost of purchasing new tires, the cost of disposing of old tires, and the labor costs for tire replacement work.

7. The tire maintenance support device of claim 2, characterized in that the display processing unit displays side by side the number and cost of replacing tires of different specifications from the currently installed tires, and the number and cost of replacing tires that are the same as the currently installed tires.

8. the tire information acquisition unit acquires information regarding a load amount of a tire, 3. The tire maintenance support device according to claim 1, wherein the replacement time calculation unit calculates the replacement time for each tire from the predicted data of the load amount acquired by the tire information acquisition unit.

9. A tire maintenance support device as described in Claim 8, further characterized in that it is provided with a display processing unit that displays on the display unit the number of tire replacements and cost based on the amount of load on the tires of a selected vehicle, and the number of tire replacements and cost based on the average amount of load on the tires of vehicles at the transportation company.

10. a tire information acquisition step of acquiring tire remaining tread depth data including predicted data of remaining tread depth of tires mounted on each of a plurality of vehicles under operational management; a replacement timing calculation step of calculating a replacement timing for each tire from the tire remaining groove depth data acquired in the tire information acquisition step; a replacement number calculation step of calculating the number of tire replacements for each period on a time axis by tallying up the replacement times calculated in the replacement time calculation step; A tire maintenance assistance program that causes a computer to execute the above steps.

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