Tire management device, program and tire management method

Abstract

A tire management device 10 includes a control unit 15 for acquiring information on an internal pressure of a tire 21 mounted on a vehicle 20, acquiring information on a remaining tread depth of the tire 21, acquiring temperature information after a predetermined period, estimating the internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period on the basis of the information on the internal pressure and the temperature information, calculating, on the basis of the estimated internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period, a first performance index of the internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period on grip performance and brake performance, calculating, on the basis of the remaining tread depth of the tire 21, a second performance index of the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 on grip performance and brake performance, and determining a risk state of the tire 21 after the predetermined period on the basis of the first performance index and the second performance index.

Description

Tire management device, program, and tire management method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a tire management device, a program, and a tire management method.

[0002] Properly managing the condition of tires ensures that they perform as expected and can be used safely, so it is extremely important to properly manage the condition of tires.

[0003] In particular, tire pressure and remaining tread depth have a significant impact on tire grip and braking performance, which are essential for safe driving, so it is necessary to appropriately manage tire pressure and remaining tread depth.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for assisting tire maintenance by providing tire maintenance information including time-varying tire air pressure data, predicted tire tread depth, and the like.

[0005] JP 2024-64104 A

[0006] The tire maintenance support method disclosed in Patent Document 1 allows a user to know when maintenance is likely to be required, but it is difficult for the user to determine the degree of risk based on the condition of the tire.

[0007] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a tire management device, a program, and a tire management method that enable the degree of risk of a tire to be determined with high accuracy.

[0008] (1) A tire management device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a control unit that acquires information on the internal pressure of a tire mounted on a vehicle, acquires information on the remaining tread depth of the tire, acquires temperature information after a predetermined period of time, estimates the internal pressure of the tire after the predetermined period based on the internal pressure information and the temperature information, calculates a first performance index that the internal pressure of the tire will affect grip performance and braking performance after the predetermined period based on the estimated internal pressure of the tire after the predetermined period, calculates a second performance index that the remaining tread depth of the tire will affect grip performance and braking performance based on the remaining tread depth of the tire, and determines a risk state of the tire after the predetermined period based on the first performance index and the second performance index.

[0009] (2) A tire management device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, in the tire management device described in (1) above, wherein the control unit transmits the risk status to a first terminal device owned by the user of the vehicle.

[0010] (3) A tire management device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, in the tire management device described in (1) or (2) above, wherein the control unit transmits maintenance suggestion information to the first terminal device when the risk indicators included in the risk state are above a predetermined threshold.

[0011] (4) A tire management device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is the tire management device described in any one of (1) to (3) above, further comprising a memory unit, wherein the memory unit stores a first relational expression relating the internal pressure of the tire to the first performance index, and a second relational expression relating the remaining tread depth of the tire to the second performance index.

[0012] (5) A tire management device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a tire management device according to any one of (1) to (4) above, wherein the storage unit stores a database that associates the first performance indicator and the second performance indicator with the risk status.

[0013] (6) A tire management device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is the tire management device described in any one of (1) to (5) above, wherein the control unit acquires location information of the vehicle, estimates a storage location of the vehicle based on the acquired location information, and acquires the temperature information of an area including the estimated storage location.

[0014] (7) A tire management device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is the tire management device described in any one of (1) to (6) above, wherein the control unit determines the risk state of the tires of the plurality of vehicles after the predetermined period, calculates for each region the proportion of vehicles in the region whose risk index included in the risk state is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and generates a risk map associating the region with the proportion.

[0015] (8) A tire management device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a tire management device described in any one of (1) to (7) above, wherein the control unit transmits the risk map to a first terminal device owned by a user of the vehicle.

[0016] (9) A tire management device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a tire management device described in any one of (1) to (8) above, wherein the control unit transmits the risk map to a second terminal device owned by a tire dealer.

[0017] (10) A program according to an embodiment of the present disclosure causes a tire management device to perform operations including: acquiring information on the internal pressure of a tire mounted on a vehicle; acquiring information on the remaining tread depth of the tire; acquiring temperature information after a predetermined period of time; estimating the internal pressure of the tire after the predetermined period based on the internal pressure information and the temperature information; calculating a first performance index that indicates the effect that the internal pressure of the tire will have on grip performance and braking performance after the predetermined period of time based on the estimated internal pressure of the tire after the predetermined period of time; calculating a second performance index that indicates the effect that the remaining tread depth of the tire will have on grip performance and braking performance based on the remaining tread depth of the tire; and determining a risk state of the tire after the predetermined period of time based on the first performance index and the second performance index.

[0018] (11) A tire management method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a tire management method in a tire management device, and includes: acquiring information on the internal pressure of a tire mounted on a vehicle; acquiring information on the remaining tread depth of the tire; acquiring temperature information after a predetermined period of time; estimating the internal pressure of the tire after the predetermined period based on the internal pressure information and the temperature information; calculating a first performance index that indicates the effect that the internal pressure of the tire will have on grip performance and braking performance after the predetermined period based on the estimated internal pressure of the tire after the predetermined period of time; calculating a second performance index that indicates the effect that the remaining tread depth of the tire will have on grip performance and braking performance based on the remaining tread depth of the tire; and determining a risk state of the tire after the predetermined period of time based on the first performance index and the second performance index.

[0019] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a tire management device, a program, and a tire management method that enable the degree of risk of a tire to be determined with high accuracy.

[0020] 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a tire management system including a tire management device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a tire management device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of a tire management device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of how to divide areas when generating a risk map.

[0021] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0022] Figure 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a tire management system 1 including a tire management device 10 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] The tire management system 1 includes a tire management device 10, a vehicle 20, a first terminal device 30, a second terminal device 40, and a weather server 50. The tire management device 10, the vehicle 20, the first terminal device 30, the second terminal device 40, and the weather server 50 are communicatively connected via a network 60. The network 60 may be a network including a mobile communication network, the Internet, or the like.

[0024] The tire management device 10 is, for example, a dedicated computer configured to function as a server, or may be a general-purpose PC (Personal Computer).

[0025] The vehicle 20 is equipped with a tire 21. The tire 21 is a tire that is a target for management by the tire management device 10. The tire management device 10 can determine the risk state of the tire 21. Details of the process by which the tire management device 10 determines the risk state of the tire 21 will be described later.

[0026] The vehicle 20 may be any type of vehicle. The vehicle 20 may be, for example, a passenger car, a truck, a bus, a construction vehicle, etc. Although one vehicle 20 is shown in FIG. 1 , the tire management system 1 may include multiple vehicles 20.

[0027] The first terminal device 30 is a terminal device owned by the user of the vehicle 20. The first terminal device 30 may be, for example, a smartphone or a tablet.

[0028] The second terminal device 40 is a terminal device owned by a tire company. A tire company is a business that sells and maintains tires. The second terminal device 40 is operated by an employee of the tire company. The second terminal device 40 may be a general-purpose PC, smartphone, or tablet.

[0029] The weather server 50 is a server that provides information about weather. The tire management device 10 can acquire information about weather from the weather server 50.

[0030] Before describing the details of the operation of the tire management device 10, the configuration of the tire management device 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 2 .

[0031] The tire management device 10 includes a communication unit 11 , a storage unit 12 , an input unit 13 , an output unit 14 , and a control unit 15 .

[0032] The communication unit 11 includes a communication module that connects to the network 60. For example, the communication unit 11 may include a communication module that corresponds to a LAN (Local Area Network). In one embodiment, the tire management device 10 is connected to the network 60 via the communication unit 11. The communication unit 11 transmits and receives various information via the network 60. The communication unit 11 can communicate with the vehicle 20, the first terminal device 30, the second terminal device 40, and the weather server 50 via the network 60.

[0033] The storage unit 12 may be, for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic memory, an optical memory, or the like, but is not limited to these. The storage unit 12 may function, for example, as a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 12 stores any information used in the operation of the tire management device 10. For example, the storage unit 12 may store a system program, an application program, and various information received by the communication unit 11. The information stored in the storage unit 12 may be updateable, for example, with information received from the network 60 via the communication unit 11. A portion of the storage unit 12 may be installed external to the tire management device 10. In this case, the externally installed portion of the storage unit 12 may be connected to the tire management device 10 via any interface.

[0034] The input unit 13 includes one or more input interfaces that detect user input and acquire input information based on the user's operation. For example, the input unit 13 includes, but is not limited to, physical keys, capacitive keys, a touch screen integrated with the display of the output unit 14, or a microphone that accepts voice input.

[0035] The output unit 14 includes one or more output interfaces that output information to notify the user. For example, the output unit 14 includes, but is not limited to, a display that outputs information as an image, a speaker that outputs information as sound, etc.

[0036] The control unit 15 includes at least one processor, at least one dedicated circuit, or a combination of these. The processor is a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for specific processing. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The control unit 15 controls each part of the tire management device 10 and executes processing related to the operation of the tire management device 10.

[0037] (Operation of Tire Management Device) Next, the operation of the tire management device 10 will be described.

[0038] The vehicle 20 is equipped with a system that monitors the state of the tires 21. The vehicle 20 may be equipped with, for example, a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS).

[0039] The vehicle 20 transmits information on the internal pressure of the tire 21 and information on the temperature of the tire 21 to the tire management device 10 at a predetermined interval.

[0040] The communication unit 11 of the tire management device 10 receives the information on the internal pressure of the tire 21 and the information on the temperature of the tire 21 transmitted by the vehicle 20. The control unit 15 acquires the information on the internal pressure of the tire 21 and the information on the temperature of the tire 21 transmitted by the vehicle 20 via the communication unit 11.

[0041] The control unit 15 of the tire management device 10 acquires temperature information from the weather server 50 for a predetermined period of time. The predetermined period may be a period set according to the timing at which the internal pressure of the tire 21 is to be estimated. For example, if the internal pressure of the tire 21 is to be estimated three days later, the predetermined period may be three days. Also, for example, if the internal pressure of the tire 21 is to be estimated one week later, the predetermined period may be one week. Also, for example, if the internal pressure of the tire 21 is to be estimated one month later, the predetermined period may be one month.

[0042] When the control unit 15 obtains temperature information for a predetermined period from the weather server 50, it may obtain temperature information for the region including the storage location of the vehicle 20. For example, if the storage location of the vehicle 20 is in Tokyo, the control unit 15 may obtain temperature information for Tokyo for a predetermined period. This allows the control unit 15 to obtain temperature information for the vehicle 20's storage location for a predetermined period.

[0043] The control unit 15 may acquire location information of the vehicle 20 from the vehicle 20, and estimate the storage location of the vehicle 20 based on the acquired location information. In this case, the location information of the vehicle 20 may be, for example, location information detected by the vehicle 20 using a global positioning system (GPS) installed in the vehicle 20. Furthermore, the control unit 15 may, for example, estimate the location where the vehicle 20 has spent the longest time among the location information of the vehicle 20 as the storage location of the vehicle 20.

[0044] The control unit 15 estimates the internal pressure of the tire 21 after a predetermined period of time based on the internal pressure information of the tire 21 acquired from the vehicle 20 and the temperature information after a predetermined period of time acquired from the weather server 50. The information on the internal pressure of the tire 21 may be, for example, trend information based on the change in the internal pressure of the tire 21. For example, if the temperature after the predetermined period of time is high and it is predicted that the trend of a decrease in the internal pressure due to temperature change will be smaller than the increase in the internal pressure, the internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period of time will be high. On the other hand, if the temperature after the predetermined period of time is low, the internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period of time will be low.

[0045] After estimating the internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period, the control unit 15 calculates a first performance index that the internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period will affect the grip performance and braking performance based on the estimated internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period. The first performance index may be an index that indicates, for example, by what percentage the grip performance will decrease depending on the internal pressure of the tire 21 and by what percentage the braking performance will decrease depending on the internal pressure of the tire 21.

[0046] The storage unit 12 stores a first relational expression that associates the internal pressure of the tire 21 with the first performance index. The first relational expression may be in any format that can associate the internal pressure of the tire 21 with the first performance index. The first relational expression may be, for example, a function or a table.

[0047] When calculating the first performance index, the control unit 15 refers to the first relational equation stored in the memory unit 12 and calculates the first performance index based on the estimated internal pressure of the tire 21 after a predetermined period of time.

[0048] The user of the vehicle 20 operates the first terminal device 30 to transmit information about the remaining tread depth of the tires 21 of the vehicle 20 to the tire management device 10. The user of the vehicle 20 may transmit the information about the remaining tread depth of the tires 21 to the tire management device 10 via an app installed on the first terminal device 30, for example.

[0049] The user of the vehicle 20 may measure the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 of the vehicle 20 by various methods. For example, the user can measure the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 using a tread gauge. Alternatively, for example, the user can measure the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 using an automatic tire remaining tread depth measuring device installed at a gas station, parking lot, or the like. Alternatively, for example, the user can measure the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 by photographing the tire 21 and using software that calculates the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 from the image.

[0050] The communication unit 11 of the tire management device 10 receives information on the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 transmitted by the first terminal device 30. The control unit 15 acquires the information on the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 transmitted by the first terminal device 30 via the communication unit 11.

[0051] The control unit 15 of the tire management device 10 calculates a second performance index that the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 affects on grip performance and braking performance, based on the information on the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 acquired from the first terminal device 30. The second performance index may be, for example, an index that indicates by what percentage the grip performance decreases depending on the remaining tread depth of the tire 21, and by what percentage the braking performance decreases depending on the remaining tread depth of the tire 21.

[0052] The memory unit 12 stores a second relational expression that associates the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 with the second performance index. The second relational expression may be in any format that can associate the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 with the second performance index. The second relational expression may be, for example, a function or a table format.

[0053] When calculating the second performance index, the control unit 15 refers to the second relational expression stored in the memory unit 12 and calculates the second performance index based on the remaining tread depth of the tire 21.

[0054] After calculating the first performance index and the second performance index, the control unit 15 determines the risk state of the tire 21 after a predetermined period of time based on the calculated first performance index and second performance index.

[0055] The risk state of the tire 21 may include, for example, a risk index and details of the risk. The risk index included in the risk state of the tire 21 may be a predetermined numerical value that indicates the degree of risk of the tire 21. The risk index may be, for example, a five-point scale that indicates the degree of risk of the tire 21. Alternatively, the risk index may be, for example, a percentage that indicates the degree of risk of the tire 21.

[0056] The content of the risk included in the risk state of the tire 21 may be expressed in words, for example. For example, if the internal pressure of the tire 21 is low, the content of the risk may be "difficulty in draining water," "heavy steering," "risk of bursting," etc. For example, if the internal pressure of the tire 21 is high, the content of the risk may be "longer braking distance," etc. For example, if the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 is low, the content of the risk may be "general deterioration in wet performance," etc.

[0057] The storage unit 12 stores a database that associates the first and second performance indicators with risk states. The database that associates the first and second performance indicators with risk states may be in any format. For example, the database that associates the first and second performance indicators with risk states may be in a table format.

[0058] When determining the risk state of the tire 21 after a predetermined period of time, the control unit 15 refers to the database stored in the memory unit 12 and determines the risk state of the tire 21 after the predetermined period of time based on the first performance index and the second performance index.

[0059] When the control unit 15 determines the risk status of the tire 21 after a predetermined period, it transmits the risk status of the tire 21 after the predetermined period to the first terminal device 30 via the communication unit 11. This allows the user of the vehicle 20 on which the tire 21 is installed to understand the risk status of the tire 21 after the predetermined period.

[0060] If the risk indicators included in the risk status of the tire 21 after a predetermined period are above a predetermined threshold, the control unit 15 may transmit maintenance suggestion information, along with the risk status of the tire 21 after a predetermined period, to the first terminal device 30 via the communication unit 11. The maintenance suggestion information may be, for example, information suggesting that the internal pressure of the tire 21 be increased by a predetermined period, information suggesting that the internal pressure of the tire 21 be decreased by a predetermined period, or information suggesting that the tire 21 be replaced by a predetermined period. This allows the user of the vehicle 20 on which the tire 21 is installed to understand how to maintain the tire 21 by a predetermined period.

[0061] An example of the operation of the tire management device 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0062] Step S101 : The control unit 15 of the tire management device 10 acquires information on the internal pressure of the tire 21 from the vehicle 20 .

[0063] Step S102: The control unit 15 obtains temperature information from the weather server 50 after a predetermined period.

[0064] Step S103: The control unit 15 estimates the internal pressure of the tire 21 after a predetermined period of time based on the internal pressure information of the tire 21 obtained from the vehicle 20 and the temperature information after a predetermined period of time obtained from the weather server 50.

[0065] Step S104: When the control unit 15 estimates the internal pressure of the tire 21 after a predetermined period of time, it calculates a first performance index that the internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period of time will have on the grip performance and braking performance based on the estimated internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period of time.

[0066] Step S105 : The control unit 15 acquires information about the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 from the first terminal device 30 .

[0067] Step S106: The control unit 15 calculates a second performance index that the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 has on grip performance and braking performance, based on the information on the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 obtained from the first terminal device 30.

[0068] Step S107: The control unit 15 calculates the first performance index and the second performance index, and then determines the risk status of the tire 21 after a predetermined period of time based on the calculated first performance index and the second performance index.

[0069] Step S108: When the control unit 15 determines the risk status of the tire 21 after a predetermined period, it transmits the risk status of the tire 21 after the predetermined period to the first terminal device 30.

[0070] Steps S105 to S106 described above may be performed before step S101. Alternatively, steps S105 to S106 described above may be performed in parallel with steps S101 to S104.

[0071] <Risk Map Generation> The control unit 15 of the tire management device 10 may determine the risk status of the tires 21 of multiple vehicles 20 after a predetermined period of time.

[0072] The control unit 15 determines the risk status of multiple vehicles 20 after a predetermined period, and calculates the percentage of vehicles 20 in each region whose risk indicators included in the risk status are above a predetermined threshold.

[0073] The regions can be divided in any way you like, but for example, they can be divided into Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kinki, Chugoku, and Kyushu. Figure 4 shows an example where the regions are divided into Hokkaido 201, Tohoku 202, Kanto 203, Chubu 204, Kinki 205, Chugoku 206, Shikoku 207, and Kyushu 208. Note that this is just one example, and the regions can also be divided by prefecture, or by city, town, or village.

[0074] After calculating the percentage of vehicles 20 whose risk index is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold for each region, the control unit 15 generates a map that associates the regions with the calculated percentages. Hereinafter, the map that associates the regions with the percentages of vehicles 20 whose risk index is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold will be referred to as a "risk map."

[0075] When the control unit 15 generates the risk map, it transmits the generated risk map to the first terminal device 30 via the communication unit 11. This allows the user of the vehicle 20 to understand the contents of the risk map. For example, if a user living in the Kanto region 203 receives the risk map and learns that after a predetermined period of time, a high proportion of vehicles 20 in the Kanto region 203 have high risk indices, the user can drive the vehicle 20 carefully, for example, by keeping a wider following distance, so as not to be involved in an accident involving a vehicle 20 driven by another person.

[0076] Furthermore, when the control unit 15 generates the risk map, it transmits the generated risk map to the second terminal device 40 owned by the tire dealer via the communication unit 11. This allows the tire dealer who owns the second terminal device 40 to understand the contents of the risk map. For example, if a tire dealer based in the Kanto region 203 receives the risk map and learns that after a predetermined period of time, a high proportion of vehicles 20 in the Kanto region 203 have a high risk index, the tire dealer can use this information when providing safety guidance to users or providing maintenance information to users.

[0077] As described above, in the tire management device 10 according to this embodiment, the control unit 15 acquires information about the internal pressure of the tire 21 mounted on the vehicle 20, acquires information about the remaining tread depth of the tire 21, acquires temperature information after a predetermined period of time, estimates the internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period of time based on the internal pressure information and the temperature information, calculates a first performance index that the internal pressure of the tire 21 will affect grip performance and braking performance after the predetermined period of time based on the estimated internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period of time, calculates a second performance index that the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 will affect grip performance and braking performance based on the remaining tread depth of the tire 21, and determines the risk state of the tire 21 after the predetermined period of time based on the first and second performance indexes. In this way, the tire management device 10 according to this embodiment determines the risk state of the tire 21 based on two performance indexes, the first performance index calculated based on the internal pressure of the tire 21 and the second performance index calculated based on the remaining tread depth of the tire 21, and therefore can accurately determine the degree of risk of the tire 21.

[0078] Furthermore, the tire management device 10 according to this embodiment estimates the internal pressure of the tire 21 after a predetermined period of time based on information about the internal pressure of the tire 21 and information about the air temperature after the predetermined period of time, and therefore can accurately estimate the internal pressure of the tire 21 after the predetermined period of time, taking into account the air temperature after the predetermined period of time. Therefore, the tire management device 10 according to this embodiment can accurately determine the degree of risk of the tire 21 after the predetermined period of time, taking into account the air temperature after the predetermined period of time.

[0079] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that those skilled in the art would easily be able to make various modifications or alterations based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are included within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions included in each component or step can be rearranged so as not to cause logical inconsistencies, and multiple components or steps can be combined or divided into one. The embodiments of the present disclosure can also be realized as a storage medium on which a program executed by a processor included in an apparatus is recorded. It should be understood that these are also included within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0080] For example, a general-purpose electronic device such as a computer or a smartphone can be configured to function as the tire management device 10 according to the above-described embodiment. Specifically, a program describing the processing content for realizing each function of the tire management device 10 according to the embodiment can be stored in the memory of the electronic device, and the program can be read and executed by a processor of the electronic device. Therefore, the disclosure according to one embodiment can also be realized as a program executable by a processor.

[0081] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the tire management device 10 acquires information about the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 from the first terminal device 30. However, this is just an example. The tire management device 10 may acquire information about the remaining tread depth of the tire 21 from a device other than the first terminal device 30.

[0082] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the storage location of the vehicle 20 is estimated based on the position information of the vehicle 20 detected by the GPS installed in the vehicle 20 has been described, but the tire management device 10 may pre-store information on the storage location of the vehicle 20. In this case, the storage location of the vehicle 20 may be, for example, the address of the user of the vehicle 20.

[0083] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Tire management system 10 Tire management device 11 Communication unit 12 Memory unit 13 Input unit 14 Output unit 15 Control unit 20 Vehicle 21 Tire 30 First terminal device 40 Second terminal device 50 Weather server 60 Network

Claims

1. A tire management device comprising: a control unit that acquires information on the internal pressure of a tire mounted on a vehicle; acquires information on the remaining tread depth of the tire; acquires temperature information after a predetermined period of time; estimates the internal pressure of the tire after the predetermined period based on the internal pressure information and the temperature information; calculates a first performance index that indicates the effect that the internal pressure of the tire will have on grip performance and braking performance after the predetermined period of time based on the estimated internal pressure of the tire after the predetermined period of time; calculates a second performance index that indicates the effect that the remaining tread depth of the tire will have on grip performance and braking performance based on the remaining tread depth of the tire; and determines the risk state of the tire after the predetermined period of time based on the first performance index and the second performance index.

2. A tire management device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit transmits the risk status to a first terminal device owned by a user of the vehicle.

3. A tire management device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit transmits maintenance suggestion information to the first terminal device when the risk index included in the risk state is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.

4. A tire management device according to claim 1, further comprising a memory unit, wherein the memory unit stores a first relational expression relating the internal pressure of the tire to the first performance index, and a second relational expression relating the remaining tread depth of the tire to the second performance index.

5. A tire management device according to claim 4, wherein the memory unit stores a database that associates the first performance index and the second performance index with the risk state.

6. A tire management device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit acquires location information of the vehicle, estimates a storage location of the vehicle based on the acquired location information, and acquires the temperature information of an area including the estimated storage location.

7. A tire management device as described in claim 1, wherein the control unit determines the risk state of the tires of the plurality of vehicles after the predetermined period, calculates for each region the proportion of vehicles in the region whose risk index included in the risk state is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and generates a risk map that associates the regions with the proportions.

8. A tire management device according to claim 7, wherein the control unit transmits the risk map to a first terminal device owned by a user of the vehicle.

9. A tire management device according to claim 7, wherein the control unit transmits the risk map to a second terminal device owned by a tire dealer.

10. A program that causes a tire management device to perform operations including: acquiring information on the internal pressure of tires mounted on a vehicle; acquiring information on the remaining tread depth of the tires; acquiring temperature information after a predetermined period of time; estimating the internal pressure of the tires after the predetermined period based on the internal pressure information and the temperature information; calculating a first performance index that indicates the effect that the internal pressure of the tires will have on grip performance and braking performance after the predetermined period of time based on the estimated internal pressure of the tires after the predetermined period of time; calculating a second performance index that indicates the effect that the remaining tread depth of the tires will have on grip performance and braking performance based on the remaining tread depth of the tires; and determining the risk state of the tires after the predetermined period of time based on the first performance index and the second performance index.

11. A tire management method in a tire management device, comprising: acquiring information on the internal pressure of a tire mounted on a vehicle; acquiring information on the remaining tread depth of the tire; acquiring temperature information after a predetermined period of time; estimating the internal pressure of the tire after the predetermined period based on the internal pressure information and the temperature information; calculating a first performance index that indicates the effect that the internal pressure of the tire will have on grip performance and braking performance after the predetermined period based on the estimated internal pressure of the tire after the predetermined period of time; calculating a second performance index that indicates the effect that the remaining tread depth of the tire will have on grip performance and braking performance based on the remaining tread depth of the tire; and determining the risk state of the tire after the predetermined period of time based on the first performance index and the second performance index.

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