|Publication number||US7039508 B2|
|Application number||US 10/778,183|
|Publication date||May 2, 2006|
|Filing date||Feb 17, 2004|
|Priority date||Sep 26, 2003|
|Also published as||US20050071057|
|Publication number||10778183, 778183, US 7039508 B2, US 7039508B2, US-B2-7039508, US7039508 B2, US7039508B2|
|Inventors||Sheng-Hsiang Lin, Chang-Hung Lai|
|Original Assignee||Lite-On Automotive Corp.|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (9), Referenced by (10), Classifications (21), Legal Events (4)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tire monitoring system, and more particularly to a tire monitoring system with a wireless setting capability that wirelessly controls tire status sensors in wheels to set and reset new serial numbers.
2. Description of Related Art
A tire monitoring system basically has a main controller and multiple tire pressure sensors each of which is mounted respectively in wheels. The tire pressure sensor detects the tire pressure and transforms the detected pressure to an RF signal. Each tire pressure sensor has a unique tire serial number so the main controller can identify to which tire the RF signal corresponds and to which tire to respond when the RF signals from different tire status sensors are sent to the main controller. The main controller can display the pressure on a display panel to a driver. The driver can check the display panel and know each wheel's status.
Generally, front wheels and rear wheels of a four-wheel-vehicle are rotated every twenty thousand kilometers. Each new wheel has a tire pressure sensor, each tire pressure sensor has a unique tire serial number, and the serial number represents the wheel position. When the wheels are rotated, the main controller will display the tire pressures in an incorrect wheel pattern on the panel because the main controller identifies the tire pressure by the tire serial number. Under these conditions, the tire pressure sensors must be rotated back to their original-positions. Therefore, rotating wheels is more complex.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a tire monitoring system with a wireless setting capability to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the present invention is to provide a tire monitoring system that has a wireless reset capability to simplify a reset procedure for tire status sensors. The tire monitoring system basically includes a wireless controller and a plurality of tire status sensors, each of which is mounted in a corresponding wheel. The wireless controller resets the tire status sensors to keep from having to replace the tire status sensors in their original positions.
Another objective of the present invention is to integrate the wireless controller directly with a main controller.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
The wireless controller (10) includes a microprocessor (11), a first low frequency (LF) transceiver (XCVR) (12), a display (13) and a keypad (14).
The microprocessor (11) stores a plurality of tire serial numbers, which correspond to different wheel positions. The microprocessor (11) outputs a plurality of control signals in sequence for the tire status sensors (20). Each control signal includes a reset command and a new tire serial number. The microprocessor (11) is further connected to a memory device (111) to store a plurality of tire serial numbers.
The first low frequency transceiver (12) is connected to the microprocessor (11) to convert the control signal to a low frequency signal. In the first embodiment, the first low frequency transceiver (12) has a low frequency antenna (121) and the low frequency signals are output at different times.
The display (13) is connected to the microprocessor (11) to display information about the current control signal that is output from the microprocessor (11). The keypad (14) is connected to the microprocessor (11) to select a specific tire status sensor (20) that the microprocessor (11) resets.
With reference to
The signal processor (21), the plurality of signal sensors (22) and the memory (23) are integrated and are implemented in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) (U1). The data port (DATA) is connected to a data switch (31). The data switch (31) can be implemented with an FET transistor (not numbered) having a gate terminal (not numbered) connected to the data port (DATA), a drain terminal (not numbered) connected to ground (not numbered) and a source terminal (not numbered). The reset port (RES) is connected to a reset switch (30). The reset switch (30) can be an FET transistor (not numbered) having a drain terminal (not numbered), a source terminal (not numbered) and a gate terminal (not numbered). The drain terminal is connected to ground (not numbered), and the source terminal is connected to the reset port (RES).
The second low frequency transceiver (40) includes a low frequency antenna (41) and a signal amplifier (42). The signal amplifier (42) can be a voltage multiplier connected to the low frequency antenna (41). The gate terminal of the reset switch (30) and the source terminal of the data switch (31) are connected to the signal amplifier (42).
With additional reference to
With reference to
With reference to
The external memory (111) also stores a plurality of tire serial numbers corresponding to different wheel positions. Because the main controller (60) is mounted in the vehicle, the plurality of first low frequency transceivers (12 a to 12 d) will be close to the respective wheels. The RF receiver (15) receives the detected data stream from the tire status sensors (20).
Based on the forgoing description, the monitoring system can wirelessly reset the tire status sensors so that the main controller will display the detected value at the correct positions of the wheels. After rotating the front and rear wheels, a person uses the wireless controller or main controller to reset the new tire serial numbers in the tire status sensors. Thus, the procedure of rotating the tires is simplified.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
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|US20130311033 *||Jul 22, 2013||Nov 21, 2013||Ford Global Technologies, Llc||Methods and Systems for Determining a Tire Pressure Status|
|U.S. Classification||701/29.6, 340/447, 73/146.5, 340/442, 701/45, 701/34.4|
|International Classification||B60C23/00, B60C23/20, B60C23/04, G08C17/02, G01L17/00, B60C23/02, B60C19/00, G01M17/00|
|Cooperative Classification||B60C23/0442, B60C23/0416, B60C23/0433, B60C23/0413|
|European Classification||B60C23/04C3C, B60C23/04C4A, B60C23/04C6D|
|Feb 17, 2004||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: LITE-ON AUTOMOTIVE CORP., TAIWAN
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:LIN, SHENG-HSIUNG;LAI, CHANG-HUNG;REEL/FRAME:015194/0220
Effective date: 20030809
|Dec 7, 2009||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|May 2, 2010||LAPS||Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees|
|Jun 22, 2010||FP||Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee|
Effective date: 20100502