METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY IDENTIFYING THE LOCATION OF PRESSURE SENSORS IN A TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A method of operating a tire pressure monitoring system for a vehicle having a plurality of tire locations and a memory comprising:
- activating a first initiator signal from a first initiator at a first tire location of the plurality of tire locations, said initiator signal generated from a first coil having a first longitudinal axis and a second coil having a second longitudinal axis substantially orthogonal to the first axis, said initiator signal having a duty cycle of less than about 50 percent;
periodically detecting a presence of an electric field on a sensor coil;
when an electric field exists, generating a first sensor signal having a first tire identification in response to the first initiator signal;
receiving a first sensor signal;
storing the first sensor identification in the memory associated with the first of the plurality of tire locations when the first sensor identification is not in the memory; and
repeating the steps of activating, generating, receiving and storing for each of the plurality of tire locations.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A tire pressure monitoring system (12) for a vehicle (10) has a plurality of tires (14A-D) in respective rolling locations having a respective plurality of tire transmitters (16A-D) that generate a respective plurality of transmitter identification signals. A respective plurality of initiators (20A-D) are fixedly attached to the vehicle at a respective plurality of locations. The initiators may include orthogonal coils (112, 114). A controller (22) activates the plurality of initiators using the coils (112, 114) and receives a plurality of respective sensor signals having respective tire identifications. The activations may occur with a duty cycle of less than about fifty percent.
-
Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A method of operating a tire pressure monitoring system for a vehicle having a plurality of tire locations and a memory comprising:
-
activating a first initiator signal from a first initiator at a first tire location of the plurality of tire locations, said initiator signal generated from a first coil having a first longitudinal axis and a second coil having a second longitudinal axis substantially orthogonal to the first axis, said initiator signal having a duty cycle of less than about 50 percent;
periodically detecting a presence of an electric field on a sensor coil;
when an electric field exists, generating a first sensor signal having a first tire identification in response to the first initiator signal;
receiving a first sensor signal;
storing the first sensor identification in the memory associated with the first of the plurality of tire locations when the first sensor identification is not in the memory; and
repeating the steps of activating, generating, receiving and storing for each of the plurality of tire locations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A tire pressure monitoring system for a vehicle comprising:
-
a memory;
a plurality of initiators fixedly attached to the vehicle at a respective plurality of locations, at least one of the plurality of initiators comprising a first coil having a first longitudinal axis and a second coil having a second longitudinal axis substantially orthogonal to the first axis;
a plurality of tires having a respective plurality of tire transmitters periodically detecting a presence of an electric field on a sensor coil, in response to the presence of an electric field generating sensor signals having a respective plurality of transmitter identifications; and
a controller coupled to the plurality of initiators, said controller activating said plurality of initiators, receiving a plurality of respective sensor signals having respective tire identifications and storing the tire identifications in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A tire pressure monitoring system for a vehicle comprising:
-
a memory;
a plurality of initiators fixedly attached to the vehicle at a respective plurality of locations, said initiator generating an initiator signal having a duty cycle of less than about 50 percent;
a plurality of tires having a respective plurality of tire transmitters generating a respective plurality of transmitter identification signals, said tire transmitters comprising a sensor coil, said initiator transmitter periodically sampling the sensor coil to determine a presence of an electric field; and
a controller coupled to the plurality of initiators, said controller activating said plurality of initiators to generate an initiator signal, receiving a plurality of respective sensor signals having respective tire identifications and storing the tire identifications in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
-
Specification