System for automatically recognizing locations of respective tires

• US 20090289783A1
• Filed: 10/01/2008
• Published: 11/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Inventors: Kim, You Keun
• Granted Patent: US 7,994,904 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/447
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0416 allocating a corresponding wheel position on vehicle, e.g. front/left or rear/right

Abstract

A system for automatically recognizing the locations of respective tires includes tire sensors, startup antennas, and a control unit. Locations of the respective tire sensors can be recognized based information of which antenna is involved and whether signals transmitted are identical. With this system, the locations of respective tires of a vehicle can be recognized in a simpler and more efficient way.

Claims

1. A system for automatically recognizing locations of respective tires of a vehicle, comprising:

tire sensors installed in, on, or near respective tires of a vehicle;

startup antennas installed at or near one of front and rear sides of the vehicle and both right and left sides of the vehicle, each of the startup antennas being configured to send, in response to operation signals, startup signals to a pair of the tire sensors that are closer to each of the respective antennas; and

a control unit configured to send the operation signals to the respective startup antennas, receive Identification (ID) signals from the respective tire sensors, and recognize locations of the respective tire sensors based information of which antenna the ID signals come from and whether the ID signals received are identical.

2. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the startup antennas are Low Frequency (LF) antennas each for sending an LF signal to an ID key of a smart key system.

3. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the control unit comprises:

a smart key system Electronic Control Unit (ECU) for authenticating a user in conjunction with an ID key of the smart key system, and recognizing the locations of the respective tires; and

a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) receiver for receiving information about the locations of the respective tires from the smart key system ECU and sending the information about the locations of the respective tires to a display unit.

4. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the control unit sends the operation signals in an ignition-on state of the vehicle.

5. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

the startup antennas each are installed in, on or near a right door, a left door, and a trunk of the vehicle.

6. The system as set forth in claim 5, wherein the control unit:

recognizes as a rear left tire sensor a tire sensor corresponding to one of the ID signals received from the left door antenna, which is identical to one of the ID signals received from the trunk antenna, and recognizes as a front left tire sensor a tire sensor corresponding to the remaining one of the ID signals received from the left door antenna; and

recognizes as a rear right tire sensor a tire sensor corresponding to one of the ID signals received from the right door antenna, which is identical to one of the ID signals received from the trunk antenna, and recognizes as a front right tire sensor a tire sensor corresponding to the remaining one of the ID signals received from the right door antenna.

7. The system as set forth in claim 5, wherein the startup antennas are Low Frequency (LF) antennas each for sending an LF signal to an ID key of a smart key system.

8. The system as set forth in claim 5, wherein the control unit comprises:

a smart key system Electronic Control Unit (ECU) for authenticating a user in conjunction with an ID key of the smart key system, and recognizing the locations of the respective tires; and

a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) receiver for receiving information about the locations of the respective tires from the smart key system ECU and sending the information about the locations of the respective tires to a display unit.

9. The system as set forth in claim 5, wherein the control unit sends the operation signals in an ignition-on state of the vehicle.

10. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

the startup antennas each are installed in, on or near a right door, a left door, and a hood of the vehicle.

11. The system as set forth in claim 10, wherein the control unit:

recognizes as a front left tire sensor a tire sensor corresponding to one of the ID signals received from the left door antenna, which is identical to one of the ID signals received from the hood antenna, and recognizes as a rear left tire sensor a tire sensor corresponding to the remaining one of the ID signals received from the left door antenna; and

recognizes as a front right tire sensor a tire sensor corresponding to one of the ID signals received from the right door antenna, which is identical to one of the ID signals received from the hood antenna, and recognizes as a rear right tire sensor a tire sensor corresponding to the remaining one of the ID signals received from the right door antenna.

12. The system as set forth in claim 10, wherein the startup antennas are Low Frequency (LF) antennas each for sending an LF signal to an ID key of a smart key system.

13. The system as set forth in claim 10, wherein the control unit comprises:

a smart key system Electronic Control Unit (ECU) for authenticating a user in conjunction with an ID key of the smart key system, and recognizing the locations of the respective tires; and

a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) receiver for receiving information about the locations of the respective tires from the smart key system ECU and sending the information about the locations of the respective tires to a display unit.

14. The system as set forth in claim 10, wherein the control unit sends the operation signals in an ignition-on state of the vehicle.