Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60C—VEHICLE TYRES; TYRE INFLATION; TYRE CHANGING; CONNECTING VALVES TO INFLATABLE ELASTIC BODIES IN GENERAL; DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS RELATED TO TYRES
  • B60C23/00—Devices for measuring, signalling, controlling, or distributing tyre pressure or temperature, specially adapted for mounting on vehicles; Arrangement of tyre inflating devices on vehicles, e.g. of pumps or of tanks; Tyre cooling arrangements
  • B60C23/02—Signalling devices actuated by tyre pressure
  • B60C23/04—Signalling devices actuated by tyre pressure mounted on the wheel or tyre
  • B60C23/0408—Signalling devices actuated by tyre pressure mounted on the wheel or tyre transmitting the signals by non-mechanical means from the wheel or tyre to a vehicle body mounted receiver
  • B60C23/0415—Automatically identifying wheel mounted units, e.g. after replacement or exchange of wheels
  • B60C23/0416—Automatically identifying wheel mounted units, e.g. after replacement or exchange of wheels allocating a corresponding wheel position on vehicle, e.g. front/left or rear/right
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60C—VEHICLE TYRES; TYRE INFLATION; TYRE CHANGING; CONNECTING VALVES TO INFLATABLE ELASTIC BODIES IN GENERAL; DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS RELATED TO TYRES
  • B60C23/00—Devices for measuring, signalling, controlling, or distributing tyre pressure or temperature, specially adapted for mounting on vehicles; Arrangement of tyre inflating devices on vehicles, e.g. of pumps or of tanks; Tyre cooling arrangements
  • B60C23/02—Signalling devices actuated by tyre pressure
  • B60C23/04—Signalling devices actuated by tyre pressure mounted on the wheel or tyre
  • B60C23/0408—Signalling devices actuated by tyre pressure mounted on the wheel or tyre transmitting the signals by non-mechanical means from the wheel or tyre to a vehicle body mounted receiver
  • B60C23/0422—Signalling devices actuated by tyre pressure mounted on the wheel or tyre transmitting the signals by non-mechanical means from the wheel or tyre to a vehicle body mounted receiver characterised by the type of signal transmission means
  • B60C23/0425—Means comprising permanent magnets, e.g. Hall-effect or Reed-switches

Definitions

• TITLED AUTO-LOCATION FOR TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEMS
• the present subject matter concerns Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) for use with vehicle tires. More particularly, the present subject matter concerns enhancements to such systems, especially apparatus and methodology for automatically identifying the location of each tire with respect to each wheel position associated with a vehicle.
• TPMS Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems
• Tire electronics may include sensors and other components for relaying tire identification parameters and also for obtaining information regarding various physical parameters of a tire, such as temperature, pressure, tread wear, number of tire revolutions, vehicle speed, etc. Such performance information may become useful in tire monitoring and warning systems, and may even potentially be employed with feedback systems to regulate proper tire parameters or vehicle systems operation and/or performance.
• Yet another potential capability offered by electronics systems integrated with tire structures corresponds to asset tracking and performance characteristics for commercial as well as other type vehicular applications.
• Commercial truck fleets, aviation craft and earth mover/mining vehicles are all viable industries that could utilize the benefits of tire electronic systems and related information transmission.
• Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can be utilized to provide unique identification for a given tire, enabling tracking abilities for a tire.
• Tire sensors can determine the distance each tire in a vehicle has traveled and thus aid in maintenance planning for such commercial systems.
• TPMS Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems
• TPMS Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems
• location sensitive applications may include tire pressure- monitoring applications wherein it may be important to a vehicle operator to know that the right front tire, for example, as opposed to a rear tire, is currently experiencing a low-pressure condition.
• Such a low-pressure condition may become of critical importance if the low-pressure condition suddenly becomes extreme upon occurrence of, for example, a rapid air loss, which may affect directional control or stability of the vehicle especially if the vehicle is being operated at highway speeds.
• An additional example of a sensor location significant application is one where the tire sensors may be actively employed in the real time control of certain functions of the vehicle. Examples of these functions may include anti-lock or antiskid braking systems.
• a transceiver associated with a particular tire sensor periodically transmits a request to a tag physically located in a tire well to transmit information contained within the tag.
• the contained information may include previously stored information relating to the specific location of the wheel well on the vehicle.
• the transmitted information is then received by the tire sensor associated transceiver and stored for future use.
• a third previously known methodology for identifying vehicle specific tire locations relates to methodologies for automatically determining relative tire location based on operational characteristics of the tires during specific operations of the vehicle. Generally these methodologies involve the determination of specific tire locations based on differences in wheel rotational speed during turns.
• the vehicle may be driven in one or more specific patterns and the TPMS device determines the specific location of each tire/wheel combination based on knowledge of the specific direction(s) driven by the vehicle and measurements of the differing speeds of the tire/wheel combinations.
• U.S. Published Applications US 2002/0092345 Al to Van Niekerk et a!., published July 18, 2002; US 2002/0092347 Al to Niekerk et a!., published July 18, 2002; and US 2003/0076222 Al to Fischer et al.. published April 24, 2003 representatively illustrate this third methodology for identifying vehicle specific tire locations.
• wheel well may be used herein, such should be construed to include not only the physical structure of what is commonly referred to as a wheel well, but also the general area proximate to an area of a vehicle where tire and wheel combinations may normally be mounted. Note, for example, that so called “flat bed” trucks as well as other vehicles may not actually have a "well” partially surrounding a tire/wheel combination even though the tire/wheel combination is physically mounted to, for example, an axle attached to the vehicle.
• a wheel mounting location specific tag is placed in or proximate to one or more of a vehicle's wheel mounting locations (e.g. wheel wells).
• wheel well specific tags may comprise one or more magnets configured to provide a unique magnetic pattern associated with each wheel well.
• an exemplary wheel well specific tag may comprise an encoded field generator designed to uniquely identify a wheel well in which the tag may be affixed.
• the present technology is principally directed to an encoded array of permanent magnets; however, such is not a limitation of the present technology.
• encoded arrays of various field generating devices or mechanisms may be employed to provide wheel well specific identification tags.
• Non-exhaustive examples of such include not only the permanent magnets previously mentioned but also electro-magnets, both paired with appropriate sensors for detecting the generated magnetic or electromagnetic fields.
• suitable sensors for detecting magnetic or electromagnetic fields include the following: Fluxgate, Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID), Hall Effect, Magnetoresistive, Proton Precession, and Optically Pumped sensors. It should be clearly understood that the present technology is not limited to magnetic or electromagnet fields and paired sensors but rather envisions the use of any available field generating device or mechanism paired together with appropriate field sensors.
• Such field generating devices or mechanisms and sensors may include, but are not limited to the use of, magnetic and electromagnetic fields, optical wavelength radiation, nuclear radiation, and acoustic wavelength radiation.
• an array of permanent magnets may be configured to produce a unique magnetic pattern in each wheel well.
• the unique magnetic pattern provides a coded informational identification of the location of the various wheel wells.
• Sensors associated with a tire mounted on a wheel within the wheel well detect the unique magnetic pattern in each wheel well when the tire rotates and, thereby, positively identifies the exact location of the tire relative to the vehicle on which it is mounted.
• Positive aspects of this form of information transmission methodology include circuit simplification and power savings. For example, instead of requiring the tire pressure monitoring system circuitry associated with the tire to transmit an interrogation signal and listen for a transmitted response as in some previously known systems, the sensed encoded information is conveyed through the detection of continuously produced magnetic fields. Such methodology provides for the transmission of encoded location information without the necessity of providing an additional power source.
• Another positive aspect of this type of information transmission is that the information transmitted is not subject to human data entry error as may occur with other previously known systems. For example, in the previously known systems wherein manual entry of data is required, such data may be entered incorrectly or not at all.
• methodologies have been developed to lessen the influence of human error and/or oversight on the accuracy of tire/wheel combination location detection devices and systems. More particularly, methodologies have been developed to lessen the possibility of data entry errors and/or non-entry of data in Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems wherein the accurate identification of tire/wheel combination locations is of importance to the operation of vehicle devices and systems.
• Figure 1 diagrammatically illustrates an operational relationship between a field generating tag assembly mounted in a wheel well and a sensor associated with a Tire Pressure
• Figure 2 diagrammatically illustrates the relative motion between the unique field generators of the present technology past a field sensor device
• Figures 3 (a) - 3(d) diagrammatically illustrate basic configurations of a unique field pattern generating tag device with which the methodologies of the present subject matter may be implemented;
• Figures 4(a) - 4(d) illustrate corresponding exemplary waveforms produced by a sensor associated with the automatic tire location detection component of a Tire Pressure
• the present subject matter is particularly concerned with methodologies for tire/wheel location data entry in Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems wherein the specific location of the various tires mounted on a vehicle is of importance to vehicle or system operations.
• Unique field pattern generator 40 is secured within the wheel well 30 such that a field- detecting sensor 50 mounted internally of tire 10 may detect the unique field pattern generated by the unique field pattern generator 40.
• Field-detecting sensor 50 may be included as a part of a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) or may be a stand-alone sensor that may or may not be associated with a TPMS. It should be kept in mind that while it is significant to the present technology that the unique field pattern generator 40 and field- detecting sensor 50 are provided to uniquely identify the location of a particular tire/wheel combination on a vehicle and the technology is herein presented for use in or with a TPMS, such use is not necessarily limiting to the present technology as such location information may be useful in any number of environments.
• FIG. 1 also illustrates alternative mounting locations for the field-detecting sensor and unique field pattern generator so that field-detecting sensor 50' may be located in a side wall portion of tire 10 while unique field pattern generator 40' may be located in a portion of the wheel well facing the side wall portion of tire 10.
• field-detecting sensor 50 or 50' and unique field pattern generators 40 or 40' may be located in any portion of the tire and wheel well respectively or on the contrary, so long as the selected locations provide for relative motion between the two devices upon rotation of the tire with movement of the vehicle.
• Fig. 2 diagrammatically illustrated therein is a representation of the relative locations for field-detecting sensor 50 and unique field pattern generator 40.
• field-detecting sensor 50 and unique field generator 40 move relative to each other such that individual field generating elements 80, 82, 84, 86 move past field-detecting sensor 50 seriatim so that field-detecting sensor 50 produces a series of signals, as will be more fully described later, to generate a unique location identifying signal.
• unique field pattern generator 40 has been represented as comprising a plurality of individual field generating elements 80, 82, 84, 86 mounted on a carrier or support surface 60.
• the illustrated support surface 60 may, in fact, comprise the inside surface of the wheel well, per se, or may comprise an actual support surface to which the individual field generating elements are attached, which support surface 60 may then be secured to the inside surface of a wheel well.
• Figs. 3(a) - 3(d) illustrated therein is an exemplary arrangement of a first embodiment of unique field pattern generator 40.
• a plurality of permanent magnets may be employed as the field generating elements.
• Each of Figs. 3 (a) - 3(d) individually represent a unique arrangement of individual field generating elements that may represent, respectively, a left front tire, a right front tire, a left rear tire, and a right rear tire.
• the unique field pattern generating element arrangement representing a left front tire is illustrated in Fig. 3 (a) by two permanent magnets 100, 130 oriented to present their respective south poles directed toward field-detecting sensor 50.
• Field generating elements 110, 120 in this example comprise null elements, that is, these positions are empty and, thereby, characterized by a null field.
• field generating elements 200 and 230 are similar to elements 100 and 130 respectively of Fig. 3 (a) and, in like manner, may be implemented as permanent magnets oriented to present their respective south poles directed toward field-detecting sensor 50.
• field generating element 210 like field generating element 110 comprises a null element so that a null, i.e., no, field is generated at that location.
• Field generating element 220 may be embodied as a permanent magnet oriented to present its north pole directed toward field- detecting sensor 50.
• the unique field pattern thus present by the "right front" tire unique field pattern generator is represented sequentially as a south pole, a null, a north pole, and a south pole.
• These pole or null representations are illustrated symbolically in Figs 3(a) - 3(d) as circles with respective over struck characters "X" representing a south pole, "+” representing a north pole and "/" representing a null or no field (i.e., no magnet present).
• Figs. 3(c) and 3(d) it will be understood that Fig.
• FIG. 3(c) representing a unique field pattern indicating a left rear tire is sequentially represented by elements 300, 310, 320, and 330 each respectively implemented by a south pole, a north pole, a null, and a south pole.
• Fig. 3(d) in a similar manner, represents a unique field pattern indicating a right rear tire by sequential presentation of elements 400, 410, 420, and 430 representing respectively a south pole, a north pole, a north pole and a south pole.
• the arrangements illustrated in Figs. 3(a) - 3(d) are exemplary only both as to pole and null configuration as well as total number of field generating elements.
• Figs. 4(a) - 4(d) display representations of an exemplary form of detected signal produced by field-detecting sensor 50.
• Figs. 4(a) - 4(d) display a relatively negatively going pulse in those instances where a south pole of the field generating permanent magnet is presented to the field-detecting sensor 50, a relatively positively going pulse in those instances where a north pole of the field generating permanent magnet is presented to the field-detecting sensor 50, and no pulse when a null field, i.e. no magnet, is presented to the field-detecting sensor 50.
• a first alternative is to select a symmetrical code as the individual unique field patterns generated. Such a selection would completely avoid the issue of determining the travel direction of the vehicle.
• a second alternative solution might involve the use of information obtained from an onboard vehicle local area network (LAN) that, for other purposes, may be aware or informed of the direction of travel of the vehicle.
• LAN onboard vehicle local area network
• the tire/wheel location determination system could be directed to either ignore readings from the unique field pattern generator if the vehicle is traveling in a reverse direction or be directed to decode readings from the unique field pattern generator in reverse order to obtain the correct data.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Arrangements For Transmission Of Measured Signals (AREA)
• Measuring Fluid Pressure (AREA)

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• 2005
  • 2005-03-28 CN CNA2005800479316A patent/CN101115634A/zh active Pending
  • 2005-03-28 EP EP05732396A patent/EP1863655A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2005-03-28 WO PCT/US2005/010319 patent/WO2006104484A1/en active Application Filing

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