Determination of wheel sensor position using shock sensors and a wireless solution
First Claim
1. A remote tire monitor system comprising:
- a control unit; and
a plurality of tire monitors mountable on respective wheels of a vehicle to transmit radio signals to the control unit, the respective tire monitors each including a pair of sensors to produce first and second sensor signals which are proportional to a change in force applied to the sensors, and a control circuit configured to determine position information for the respective tire monitor based on the first and second sensor signals from the pair of sensors.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A remote tire monitor system includes a control unit and a plurality of tire monitors mountable on respective wheels of a vehicle to transmit radio signals to the control unit. The tire monitors each include a pair of motion sensors such as shock sensors and a control circuit configured to determine position information for the respective tire monitor based on first and second shock sensor signals from the pair of shock sensors. The shock sensors produce an output voltage proportional to a change in applied force. Therefore, the offset created by centrifugal force in previously used accelerometers is absent, simplifying design of the tire monitors.
99 Citations
34 Claims
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1. A remote tire monitor system comprising:
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a control unit; and
a plurality of tire monitors mountable on respective wheels of a vehicle to transmit radio signals to the control unit, the respective tire monitors each including a pair of sensors to produce first and second sensor signals which are proportional to a change in force applied to the sensors, and a control circuit configured to determine position information for the respective tire monitor based on the first and second sensor signals from the pair of sensors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A tire monitor configured for mounting on a vehicle, the tire monitor comprising:
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a first shock sensor to produce a first motion signal;
a second shock sensor to produce a second motion signal; and
a circuit coupled to the first shock sensor and the second shock to determine right side-left side position information for the tire monitor based on the first motion signal and the second motion signal. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A tire monitor method comprising:
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detecting state of a motion detection signal in a tire monitor mountable on a wheel of a vehicle;
based on the state of the motion detection signal, determining if the tire monitor is moving;
if the tire monitor is moving, determining a lag-lead relationship between two motion detection signals; and
based on the lag-lead relationship, estimating position information for the tire monitor. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for determining position information for respective tire monitors in a remote tire monitor system including a control unit, the method comprising:
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monitoring radio frequency data transmitted by the respective tire monitors and received at a receiver, the radio frequency data including right side-left side position information determined at a transmitting respective tire monitor using first and second shock sensors which produce motion signals in response to motion of the transmitting respective tire monitor;
when a number of data transmissions exceeds a threshold, assigning left hand side positions and right hand side positions for the respective tire monitors based on the right side-left side position information contained in the radio frequency data from the respective tire monitors;
assigning front and rear positions for the respective tire monitors; and
storing new tire monitor positions at the control unit. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method in a receiver of a tire monitor system, the method comprising:
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receiving radio transmissions from tire sensors of the tire monitor system;
determining received signal strength indication (RSSI) values for the received radio transmissions;
decoding the radio transmissions to determine tire temperature information; and
compensating the RSSI values according to the tire temperature information to reduce variance in the RSSI values.
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31. A tire monitor method comprising:
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detecting state of a motion detection signal in a tire monitor mountable on a wheel of a vehicle;
based on the state of the motion detection signal, determining if the tire monitor is moving;
if the tire monitor is moving, determining a lag-lead relationship between two motion detection signals;
based on the lag-lead relationship, deciding if the tire monitor is mounted on a right hand side position or a left hand side position on the vehicle;
based on the decision, incrementing a right hand counter which stores a right hand counter value or a left hand counter which stores a left hand counter value;
transmitting to a remote control unit information about the decided right hand side position or left hand side position; and
transmitting to the remote control unit information about confidence in the decision. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. A tire monitor method comprising:
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detecting an acceleration signal in a tire monitor mountable on a wheel of a vehicle;
based on period of the acceleration signal, estimating rotation period of the wheel;
transmitting to a remote control unit of the vehicle information about the estimated rotation period; and
correlating data based on the estimated rotation period with vehicle speed data. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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Specification