ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,344,044, issued on July 1.
"Tire scanning diagnostic apparatus and system" was invented by Ryan Eade (Durham, N.C.), M. Scot Wingo (Durham, N.C.), Zach Fearnside (Durham, N.C.), Mark Welker (Durham, N.C.) and Shannon Kotraba (Durham, N.C.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The tire sensing and analysis system may comprise a measurement device and local application software. The measurement device may make contact with a tire of a vehicle such that the measurement device is positioned at a specific distance and orientation relative to the tire. The measurement device may capture multiple images of the tire using an RGB camera and a pair of inf...