Multi-function warning system for vehicle and related control method

• US 20070159314A1
• Filed: 04/29/2004
• Published: 07/12/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beijing Times Bright China Electronics Technology Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Beijing Times Bright China Electronics Technology Company Limited
• Inventors: Zhu, Susheng
• Granted Patent: US 7,557,693 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/442
• 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: B60Q 1/52 for indicating emergencies
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/02 Tyres

Abstract

This is a multi-functional warning system for a vehicle and the related control method. This system is composed of a host unit and branch units. The branch unit is deposed in a tire, which includes sensor(s) for monitoring the pressure, temperature or other information about the tire; if it detected a tire in deflated high temperature or loosed status, it would generate a RF signal that would be sent to the host unit. The hosts unit deals with not only aforesaid RF signals, but also signals from acceleration sensor and signals about high-water-temp, low-oil pressure etc., a CPU processes all information and then gives a corresponding indication in voice, digital and light to warn the driver. Upon severe tire failure or high deceleration of the vehicle, the host unit send out a warning signal, make a warning light flicker to provide the follow-on vehicle with a warning, in bad weather it can turn on the warning light to guide and prevent rear-end collision. The system has advantage of giving an intelligent warning for tires, devices in the vehicle, and the trouble like high deceleration, which secure the safety of the personnel and the vehicle.

Claims

1. A multi-function alarm system for vehicle comprising a host unit (12) and at least one extension unit (11),

wherein the host unit (12) at least comprises:

a central processing unit (CPU) (34);

an acceleration sensor (39);

an acceleration processor CPU(38);

an RF transceiver (31);

a power supply regulator (37); and

an output unit (32, 33);

further wherein the acceleration sensor (39) is connected to the CPU (34) through the acceleration processor CPU (38), the input end of the power supply regulator (37) is connected to the power supply controlled by the key of the vehicle while the output end of the same is connected to the CPU (34), and the RF transceiver (31) is also connected to the CPU (34) for receiving instructions and communicating with the at least one extension unit (11);

wherein the at least one extension unit (11) at least comprises;

a central processing unit (CPU) (24);

a sound wave sensor (23);

a transmission module (25); and

power supply means (26, 27);

further wherein the sound wave sensor (23) is connected to the CPU (24) for transmitting detection signals to the CPU (24) under the control of the CPU (24), the power supply means (26, 27) is connected to the CPU (24) for supplying power to the at least one extension unit, and the transmission module (25) is connected to the CPU (24) for transmitting the detected data to the host unit (12); and

wherein detection of tires, devices and high deceleration are performed during the run of a vehicle, and when abnormal conditions, if any, are detected, the at least one extension unit transfers relevant data to the host unit which then analyzes and processes data from the acceleration processor and sends out warning messages.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said at least one extension unit (11) further comprises a pressure sensor (21) for transmitting data to the host unit through the transmission module (25) when the detected tire pressure value offsets a preset pressure reference, in which case, a warning message of abnormal pressure is sent out by the host unit.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein said at least one extension unit (11) further comprises a temperature sensor for transmitting data to the host unit through the transmission module (25) when the detected tire temperature value offsets a preset temperature reference, in which case, a warning message of abnormal temperature is sent out by the host unit.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein said power supply means further comprises a reverse power supply (27) and a dynamic-state sensor (26), wherein said dynamic-state sensor controls the operation of the reverse power supply (27) so as to discontinuously supply power to the CPU (24) during the run of the vehicle.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein said dynamic-state sensor (26) is a cylindrical metal tube, inside the center of which is a spring fixed by an insulator from each end of which two poles are respectively led out;

in static state, the metal tube is disconnected from the spring, while in dynamic state, the mechanism composed of the cylindrical metal tube and the spring is discontinuously conductive.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein said host unit (12) further comprises an instruction control 35, which controls the output unit (32, 33) through the CPU (34) to repetitively display or play recorded data.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein said host unit (12) further comprises a warning light (30) composed of a high-luminance LED, a laser light or a flickering light, said warning light flashing in a given frequency when receiving a signal for turning on the light from the CPU (34), thus sending out a warning message to a following vehicle.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein said host unit (12) further comprises a vehicle failure level input end (36) which is connected to the positive poles of the indicator lights respectively warning failures of high temperature of water, handbrake-on, lack of gas, and door-open etc.;

further in response to any of said failures, a high/low level signal is output from the positive pole of the relevant indicator light, which controls an output unit (32, 33) to output corresponding information of the failure when processed by the CPU (34) and a relevant software program, whereby a warning message for the failure of the operation or the device of a vehicle is sent out.

9. The system according to any claim 1, wherein said output unit comprises a voice module (32) and a display module (33), the two of which are respectively connected to the CPU (34) for outputting warning message in either sound or text.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein said voice module (32) comprises solid-state recording devices to record sound that reads out relevant data and announces a warning message, whereby a sound database is formed in said voice module that is able to synthesize hundreds of sentences.

11. A multi-function alarm system for vehicle, comprising a host unit (12) and at least one extension unit (11),

wherein the host unit (12) at least comprises:

a central processing unit (CPU) (34);

an acceleration sensor (39);

an acceleration processor CPU (38);

an RF transceiver (31);

a power supply regulator (37);

an warning light (30),

an instruction control 35; and

an output unit (32, 33);

further wherein the acceleration sensor (39) is connected to the CPU (34) through the acceleration processor CPU (38), the input end of the power supply regulator (37) is connected to the power supply controlled by the key of the vehicle while the output end of the same is connected to the CPU (34), and the RF transceiver (31) is also connected to the CPU (34) for receiving instructions and communicating with at least one extension unit, the instruction control 35 is connected to the CPU (34) and controls the output unit (32, 33) for repetitively display or play the recorded data, and the warning light (30) is connected to the CPU (34) and flashes in a given frequency when receiving a signal for turning on the light from the CPU (34);

wherein the at least one extension unit at least comprises;

a central processing unit (CPU) (24);

a sound wave sensor (23);

a transmission module (25);

power supply means (26, 27);

a pressure sensor (21); and

a temperature sensor (22);

further wherein the sound-wave sensor (23) is connected to the CPU (24) for transmitting detection signals to the CPU (24) under the control of the CPU (24), the power supply means (26, 27) is connected to the CPU (24) for supplying power to the at least one extension unit, the transmission module (25) is connected to the CPU (24) for transmitting the detected data to the host unit (12), the pressure sensor (21) is connected to the CPU (24) for transmitting data to the host unit through the transmission module (25) when the detected tire pressure value offsets a preset pressure reference, and the temperature sensor (22) is for transmitting data to the host unit through the transmission module (25) when the detected tire temperature value offsets a preset temperature reference; and

wherein detection of tires, devices and high deceleration are performed during the run of a vehicle, and when abnormal conditions, if any, are detected, the at least one extension unit transfers relevant data to the host unit which then analyzes and processes data from the acceleration processor and sends out warning messages.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein said power supply means further comprises a reverse power supply (27) and a dynamic-state sensor (26), wherein said dynamic-state sensor controls the operation of the reverse power supply (27) so as to discontinuously supply power to the CPU (24) during the run of the vehicle.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein said dynamic-state sensor (26) is a cylindrical metal tube, inside the center of which is a spring fixed by an insulator from each end of which two poles are respectively led out;

in static state, the metal tube is disconnected from the spring, while in dynamic state, the mechanism composed of the cylindrical metal tube and the spring is discontinuously conductive.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein said host unit (12) further comprises a vehicle failure level input end (36) which is connected to the positive poles of the indicator lights respectively warning failures of high temperature of water, handbrake-on, lack of gas, and door-open;

further in response to any of said failures, a high level signal is output from the positive pole of the relevant indicator light, which controls an output unit (32, 33) to output corresponding information of the failure when processed by the CPU (34) and relevant software program, whereby a warning message for the failure of the operation or the device of a vehicle is sent out.

15. The system according to claim 11, wherein said output unit comprises a voice module (32) and a display module (33), the two of which are respectively connected to the CPU (34) for outputting warning message in either sound and/or text.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein said voice module (32) comprises solid-state recording devices to record sound that reads out relevant data and announces a warning message, whereby a sound database is formed in said voice module that is able to synthesize hundreds of sentences.

17. A warning method for a multi-function alarm system for vehicle, comprising the following steps:

(a) setting various parameters for the host unit (12) and the at least one extension unit (11) and initializing the reference tire pressure for the tire provided with the at least one extension unit (11) after the vehicle is started;

(b) enabling the CPU (24) of the at least one extension unit (11) to periodically access at least one of the pressure sensor, the temperature sensor and the sound wave sensor and then analyze the accessed data so as to control the transmission module (25) to transmit the data to the host unit (12) when the data is found abnormal; and

(c) enabling the host unit (12) to receive data from the at least one extension unit (11) and analyze data respectively from the acceleration processor CPU (38) and the vehicle failure level input end so as to control the output unit (32, 33) to send out a warning message when the data received is found abnormal.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein said step (a) further comprises a substep in which the CPU (34) of the host unit (12) writes the pressure data measured at the first 2-4 times by each extension unit to a memory, further wherein the written data is used as reference pressures for corresponding tires.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein said pressure data of each tire is measured three times.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein a self-detection step follows said step (a), such that each extension unit (11) transfers a pressure data to the host unit (12) for self-detection during the first several starting minutes of the vehicle.

21. The method according to claim 17, further comprising a step according to which the reverse power supply (27) of the at least one extension unit (11) still supplies power for a delayed time period after the vehicle stops;

thereafter, the power supply is stopped.

22. The method according to claim 17, further comprising a step according to which the host unit (12) controls the following functions through corresponding keys on the instruction control 35:

repeatedly displaying text data, repeatedly playing sound data, manually turning on/off the warning light, and selecting tire sequence numbers.

23. The method according to claim 17, further comprising a step according to which the at least one extension unit (11) transmits the vibration signals of the detected tire to the CPU (24) which further compares the received vibration signals with the prestored data so as to determine whether the tire is loose. If the tire is loose, the CPU (24) controls the transmission module (25) to send high speed warning data to the host unit for the detection of a tire loose failure.

24. The method according to claim 18, further comprising a step according to which the CPU (24) of the at least one extension unit (11) switches from a standby state to a working state every second utilizing a watch dog;

in working state, the CPU accesses the pressure sensor (21), the temperature sensor (22) and the sound wave sensor (23) respectively so as to detect whether the data therefrom are within a normal range, and controls the transmission module (25) to send warning messages to the host unit when abnormal data is detected.

25. The method according to claim 19, further comprising a step according to which the acceleration sensor (39) with high sensibility of the host unit (12) dynamically monitors a high deceleration failure through the acceleration processor CPU (38) and relevant software programs, and sends abnormal signals, if any, to the CPU (34) that controls the RF transceiver (31) and the warning light (30) to warn a following vehicle, further wherein the warning is canceled when the failure is removed.

26. The method according to claim 17, wherein said output unit comprises a voice module (32) and a display module (33), the two of which are respectively connected to the CPU (34) for outputting warning messages in either sound or text.

27. The method according to claim 26 further comprises a step according to which the voice module (32) sends out voice alarms of different dangers, pressure data and temperature data under the control of the CPU (34) of the host unit (12) and relevant software programs to the driver.