Tire pneumatic pressure monitoring system

• US 20040189457A1
• Filed: 03/30/2004
• Published: 09/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Watabe, Nobuya
• Granted Patent: US 7,075,419 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/445
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/007 having multiple wheels arranged side by side
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/008 having wheels on more than two axles
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0408 transmitting the signals by non-mechanical means from the wheel or tyre to a vehicle body mounted receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0442 the transmitted signal comprises further information, e.g. instruction codes, sensor characteristics or identification data

Abstract

Tires of wheels of a vehicle incorporate detectors that detect the pneumatic pressures and transmit them wirelessly to a plurality of receivers installed on the vehicle. A monitoring device monitors the pneumatic pressures in the tires based on the tire data obtained by the receivers. The receivers and the monitoring devices are connected together through a single communication line, and the monitoring device obtains tire data from the receivers by polling. For each receiver, a receiver ID necessary for the communication with the monitoring device of the vehicle-side is set through a connector that connects the single communication line and the power source line to the receiver.

Claims

1. A monitoring system for monitoring tire pneumatic pressures, comprising:

a plurality of detector means incorporated in a plurality of tires of a vehicle to detect pneumatic pressures in the tires and to transmit tire data obtained by imparting identification data of the tires to detected pressures;

a plurality of receiver means for receiving signals transmitted from the detector means to obtain the tire data from the tires;

monitoring means for monitoring the pneumatic pressures in the tires based on the tire data obtained by the receiving means;

a single communication line connecting the plurality of receiver means and the monitoring means so that the monitoring means obtains the tire data of the tires by executing communication with the receiver means through the single communication line; and

an identification data imparting means provided at places where the receiver means are installed on the vehicle so that the receiver means are imparted, from a vehicle-side, with the identification data for communication necessary for the communication with the monitoring means.

2. The monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising:

electric connectors that connect the single communication line to the receiver means,

wherein the identification data imparting means are incorporated in the connectors, and

wherein the receiver means are imparted with the identification data for communication when the receiver means are installed on the vehicle and are connected to the connectors for the first time.

3. The monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein:

the receiver means transmit the tire data obtained from the detector means to the single communication line when a request signal including its own identification data for communication is received through the single communication line; and

the monitoring means successively outputs the request signals including the identification data for communication of the receiver means to the single communication line thereby to obtain the tire data from the receiver means through the single communication line.

4. The monitoring system according to claim 3, wherein the monitoring means is programmed to, prior to starting the operation for monitoring the pneumatic pressures:

successively select the identification data for communication out of a plurality of identification data for communication that are registered in advance;

successively output the request signal including the selected identification data for communication onto the single communication line;

determine that the receiver means is the one mounted on the vehicle when there is the receiver means that transmits the tire data in response to the request signal that is output;

store the identification data for communication included in the request signal that is output as identification data for monitoring; and

obtain the tire data from the receiver means based on the identification data for communication stored as the data for monitoring, when the pneumatic pressures are to be monitored.

5. The monitoring system according to claim 2, wherein:

each connector has a plurality of terminals; and

the identification code is defined with a combination of grounding and non-grounding of the plurality of terminals.