Method for automatically determining the position of the front and rear wheels of a motor vehicle

• US 20040083034A1
• Filed: 09/15/2003
• Published: 04/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH (Continental AG), Siemens AG
• Inventors: Lefaure, Philippe, Brillon, Alain, Fonzes, Georges, Goeser, Gerhard
• Granted Patent: US 6,895,315 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0416 allocating a corresponding wheel position on vehicle, e.g. front/left or rear/right

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for automatically determining the position of the wheels of a motor vehicle (10), characterised in that it consists in:—measuring (21) the temperature of each wheel (12) of the vehicle; and determining (23) the position of the wheels on the vehicle according to the temperature measured. The invention also relates to a corresponding position-finding device. The device is particularly suitable for monitoring the pressure inside tires.

Claims

1. A process for automatically locating the wheels (12) of a motor vehicle (10), characterized in that it consists in:

measuring (21) the temperature of each wheel of the vehicle; and

determining (23) the position of the wheels on the vehicle according to the temperature measured.

2. The automatic location process as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the temperature is measured using a sensor (11) and in that when the speed of the vehicle is constant the temperature sensors (11) measuring the highest temperature values are considered as belonging to the same axle of the vehicle.

3. The process as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that, when the vehicle has front wheel drive, the sensors measuring the highest temperatures are identified as belonging to the front axle A₁.

4. The automatic location process as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, the temperature is measured using a sensor (11) and in that the temperature sensors (11) measuring the most rapid temperature variations are identified as belonging to the same axle.

5. The process as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that, after prolonged braking, the sensors measuring the most rapid temperature variations are identified as belonging to the front axle.

6. The automatic location process as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the temperature variation (Δ

T) is established by comparison of the derivatives (22a) of the temperature measured for each wheel and/or by comparison of the difference (22b) of the temperatures measured for each wheel and/or by comparison of the time integral (22c) of the temperatures measured for each wheel.

7. The process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it consists in making a front/rear location and a right/left location wheel of the same axle, by combining an analysis of the steering wheel angles and the changes in the temperature.

8. The process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is carried out continuously, each time the vehicle is started.

9. The process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, after a predetermined time delay has elapsed, the temperature measurements are interrupted and a position on the vehicle is assigned to each sensor.

10. A system for automatically locating the wheels (12) of a motor vehicle, of the type comprising a number of pressure sensors (11) each placed on a wheel (12) of the vehicle and transmitting, to a central processing unit (13), the pressure values measured in each wheel, and an identifier specific to each sensor, said system being characterized in that the pressure sensors (11) also measure the temperature (T) within each wheel and transmit the measured values to the central processing unit (13), said central processing unit being designed to determine the location of each wheel according to the temperatures measured.