Air pressure warning device of vehicle tire

• US 20030126920A1
• Filed: 12/04/2002
• Published: 07/10/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
• Inventors: Hayashi, Toshio, Sakamoto, Kiyoshi, Adachi, Kazufumi, Andou, Fumitaka
• Granted Patent: US 6,622,553 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/146.3
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0408 transmitting the signals by non-mechanical means from the wheel or tyre to a vehicle body mounted receiver

Abstract

An air pressure warning device of a vehicle tire has an excessive/deficient amount calculation module (10b) for calculating an excessive/deficient amount on the basis of the difference between a normal air pressure stored in a normal air pressure storage module (10a) and a detected tire air pressure, an informing control module (10c) for controlling an informing module (11) to inform an excessive/deficient state of the tire air pressure determined based on the calculated excessive/deficient amount, and a normal air pressure correction module 10e for increasing the readout normal air pressure by a predetermined value when an expressway traveling detection module (10d) detects that the vehicle is on an expressway.

Claims

1. An air pressure warning device of a vehicle tire, which comprises tire air pressure detection means, attached to a vehicle tire, for detecting a tire air pressure, and informing means for informing a tire air pressure state on the basis of the tire air pressure detected by the tire air pressure detection means, comprising:

storage means for storing a normal air pressure of the tire;

calculation means for calculating an excessive/deficient amount of a measured air pressure of the tire from the normal air pressure on the basis of a relationship between the normal air pressure stored in said storage means and the air pressure detected by the tire air pressure detection means;

expressway traveling detection means for detecting if the vehicle is traveling on an expressway or if the vehicle will travel on the expressway before the beginning of actual traveling; and

informing control means for controlling the informing means to inform the excessive/deficient amount calculated by said calculation means as an air pressure state of the tire,

wherein said informing control means controls the informing means to inform a deficient amount larger than an actual amount upon informing the deficient amount of the measured air pressure of the tire from the normal air pressure, by correcting to increase the normal air pressure read out from said storage means by a predetermined value, and setting the corrected normal air pressure in said calculation means, when said expressway traveling detection means detects that the vehicle is traveling on the expressway, or detects possibility of traveling on the expressway before the beginning of actual traveling.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said expressway traveling detection means detects, on the basis of a communication for expressway toll collection between a communication unit mounted on the vehicle and a unit equipped on the road side, if the vehicle is traveling on the expressway.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein said expressway traveling detection means comprises navigation means which includes current position detection means for detecting a current position of the vehicle, and travel route setting means for setting a travel route of the vehicle to a destination, and

said expressway traveling detection means detects that the vehicle is traveling on the expressway or predicts that the vehicle will travel on the expressway, when the current position of the vehicle detected by said current position detection means indicates that the vehicle is present on the expressway, or when the travel route set by said travel route setting means includes the expressway.

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein said navigation means includes display means for displaying the current position of the vehicle detected by said current position detection means and the travel route to the destination set by said travel route setting means together with a map image, and

when said calculation means calculates the excessive/deficient amount of the tire air pressure, said informing control means controls said navigation means to display information associated with a facility where the tire air pressure can be adjusted on a travel route from the current position of the vehicle to an approach ramp of the expressway.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein when said display means displays the information associated with the facility where the tire air pressure can be adjusted, said navigation means can guide the travel route to the destination by way of that facility.

6. The device according to claim 3, wherein when said calculation means calculates the excessive/deficient amount of the tire air pressure, said navigation means can guide a travel route that excludes the expressway detected by said expressway traveling detection means as the travel route from the current position of the vehicle to the destination.

7. An air pressure warning device of a vehicle tire, which comprises a tire air pressure sensor, attached to a vehicle tire, for detecting a tire air pressure, and an informing unit for informing a tire air pressure state on the basis of the tire air pressure detected by the tire air pressure sensor, comprising:

a storage module for storing a normal air pressure of the tire;

a calculation module for calculating an excessive/deficient amount of a measured air pressure of the tire from the normal air pressure on the basis of a relationship between the normal air pressure stored in said storage module and the air pressure detected by the tire air pressure sensor;

an expressway traveling detection module for detecting if the vehicle is traveling on an expressway or if the vehicle will travel on the expressway before the beginning of actual traveling; and

an informing control module for controlling the informing unit to inform the excessive/deficient amount calculated by said calculation module as an air pressure state of the tire,

wherein said informing control module controls the informing unit to inform a deficient amount larger than an actual amount upon informing the deficient amount of the measured air pressure of the tire from the normal air pressure, by correcting to increase the normal air pressure read out from said storage module by a predetermined value, and setting the corrected normal air pressure in said calculation module, when said expressway traveling detection module detects that the vehicle is traveling on the expressway, or detects possibility of traveling on the expressway before the beginning of actual traveling.

8. The device according to claim 7, wherein said expressway traveling detection module detects, on the basis of a communication for expressway toll collection between a communication unit mounted on the vehicle and a unit equipped on the road side, if the vehicle is traveling on the expressway.

9. The device according to claim 7, wherein said expressway traveling detection module comprises a navigation unit which includes a current position detection module for detecting a current position of the vehicle, and a travel route setting module for setting a travel route of the vehicle to a destination, and

said expressway traveling detection module detects that the vehicle is traveling on the expressway or predicts that the vehicle will travel on the expressway, when the current position of the vehicle detected by said current position detection module indicates that the vehicle is present on the expressway, or when the travel route set by said travel route setting module includes the expressway.

10. The device according to claim 9, wherein said navigation unit includes a display device for displaying the current position of the vehicle detected by said current position detection module and the travel route to the destination set by said travel route setting module together with a map image, and

when said calculation module calculates the excessive/deficient amount of the tire air pressure, said informing control module controls said navigation unit to display information associated with a facility where the tire air pressure can be adjusted on a travel route from the current position of the vehicle to an approach ramp of the expressway.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein when said display device displays the information associated with the facility where the tire air pressure can be adjusted, said navigation unit can guide the travel route to the destination by way of that facility.

12. The device according to claim 9, wherein when said calculation module calculates the excessive/deficient amount of the tire air pressure, said navigation unit can guide a travel route that excludes the expressway detected by said expressway traveling detection module as the travel route from the current position of the vehicle to the destination.