ON-BOARD LOW-POWER VEHICLE CONDITION INDICATOR

• US 20100117817A1
• Filed: 11/12/2009
• Published: 05/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pressure Systems International LLC
• Original Assignee: Stemco LP (Enpro Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Harding, Daniel J., Massey, Michael James, Kranz, Mark J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,090,206 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/463
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/009 having wheels on a trailer
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0406 Alarms noticeable from outside the vehicle, e.g. indication in side mirror, front light or audible alarms B60C23/0403, B60C23/0405 take precedence
• 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 1/26 the devices being primarily intended to indicate the vehicle, or parts thereof, or to give signals, to other traffic
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/305 Indicating devices for towed vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/508 specific to vehicles driving in fleets or convoys
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/543 for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle indicating taxis' state of hire or fare G07B13/045
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2900/30 Lamps commanded by wireless transmissions

Abstract

A monitoring unit wirelessly monitors sensor(s) associated with a vehicle and includes (a) a radio frequency (RF) receiver that receives RF signals from one or more sensors; (b) a processing unit connected to the RF receiver that monitors information related received RF signals from the sensor(s); (c) the processing unit monitoring the received RF signals and a status of an output of the sensor(s) associated with the vehicle. The received RF signals may include information on a value of an output of the sensor and limits of acceptable values, and the processing unit generates an alarm when the value of the output is outside of the limits of acceptable values. The alarm may be a visual indication visible from the exterior of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A vehicle sensor monitoring apparatus, comprising:

a housing mounted to an exterior surface of a vehicle;

a radio frequency (RF) receiver within the housing that receives RF signals from one or more sensors associated with a vehicle;

a processing unit within the housing and operably interconnected to the RF receiver that monitors information related to received RF signals from the one or more sensors, the processing unit operable to activate the RF receiver during time periods when RF signals are expected to be received, and deactivate the RF receiver during time periods when RF signals are not expected to be received; and

a visual alarm indicator at least partially within the housing, operably interconnected to the processing unit, comprising an indicator that changes state and is visible from an exterior of the vehicle,

the processing unit being operable to monitor an output of the one or more sensors associated with the vehicle and generate change a state of the visual alarm indicator when the output is outside of an alarm limit.

2. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the received RF signals include information on a value of an output of the sensor and limits of acceptable values, and the processing unit changes a state of the visual alarm indicator when the value of the output is outside of the limits of acceptable values.

3. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a memory operably interconnected to the processing unit, and wherein the processing unit is further operable to store an identifier of the one or more sensors that are associated with the vehicle in the memory.

4. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensor(s) are associated with at least one of a vehicle tire, vehicle hub, and vehicle axle.

5. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 4, wherein the one or more sensor(s) monitor air pressure in at least one vehicle tire associated with the sensor.

6. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a telemetry unit operably interconnected to the processing unit and operable to communicate a status of the one or more sensors associated with the vehicle to a remote system that monitors a fleet of vehicles.

7. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the visual alarm indicator requires power to change states and does not require power when not changing states.

8. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the visual alarm indicator comprises a flip dot display.

9. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing unit activates the RF receiver based on a time of a prior received RF signal from a sensor and a time of the next expected transmission of an RF signal from the sensor.

10. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 9, wherein the processing unit further monitors a rate of drift of the time between received RF signals from a sensor and adaptively changes a listening envelope for the sensor based on the rate of drift.

11. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing unit activates the RF receiver based on a time of a prior received RF signal from a first sensor and a time of the next expected transmission of an RF signal from a second sensor.

12. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a self-contained power supply selected to provide power for the lifetime of the apparatus.

13. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 12, wherein the lifetime of the self-contained power supply is independent of the number of sensors monitored by the apparatus.

14. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a programming input that prompts the processing unit to activate the RF receiver and bind a sensor that is adjacent to the apparatus at the time of the prompt.

15. A system for monitoring a property of a vehicle and generating a visible indication of an out-of-limit condition for the property, comprising:

at least one sensor unit associated with the vehicle, the sensor unit comprising;

a sensor that is operably interconnected with the vehicle and that outputs a value corresponding to the sensed parameter of the vehicle;

a radio frequency (RF) transmitter operably interconnected to the sensor that transmits the output of the sensor; and

a monitor, comprising;

a housing mounted to an exterior surface of a vehicle;

a radio frequency (RF) receiver within the housing that receives RF signals from one or more sensors associated with a vehicle;

a processing unit within the housing and operably interconnected to the RF receiver that monitors information related to received RF signals from the one or more sensors; and

a visual alarm indicator at least partially within the housing comprising an visual indicator that changes state and is visible from an exterior of the vehicle, wherein the visual alarm indicator requires power to change states and does not require power when not changing states,

the processing unit being operable to monitor an output of the one or more sensors associated with the vehicle and generate change a state of the visual alarm indicator when the output is outside of an alarm limit.

16. The system, as claimed in claim 15, wherein the RF receiver receives RF signals from a plurality of sensors, and the one or more associated sensor(s) are a subset of the plurality of sensors.

17. The system, as claimed in claim 15, wherein the received RF signals include information on a value of an output of the sensor and limits of acceptable values, and the processing unit changes a state of the visual alarm indicator when the value of the output is outside of the limits of acceptable values.

18. The system, as claimed in claim 15, the monitor further comprising a memory operably interconnected to the processing unit, and wherein the processing unit is further operable to store an identifier of the one or more sensors that are associated with the vehicle in the memory.

19. The system, as claimed in claim 18, wherein the processing unit stores the identifier of a sensor in memory when a programming input is triggered.

20. The system, as claimed in claim 15, the monitor further comprising:

a telemetry unit operably interconnected to the processing unit and operable to communicate a status of the one or more sensors associated with the vehicle to a remote system that monitors a fleet of vehicles.

21. The system, as claimed in claim 15, wherein the processing unit activates the RF receiver during time periods when RF signals are expected to be received, and deactivate the RF receiver during time periods when RF signals are not expected to be received.

22. The system, as claimed in claim 21, wherein the processing unit activates the RF receiver based on a time of a prior received RF signal from a first sensor and a time of the next expected transmission of an RF signal from a second sensor.

23. The system, as claimed in claim 15, wherein the monitor further comprises a self-contained power supply selected to provide power for the lifetime of the monitor.

24. The system, as claimed in claim 23, wherein the lifetime of the self-contained power supply is independent of the number of sensors monitored by the monitor.