VALVE ID REGISTRATION SYSTEM

• US 20130054079A1
• Filed: 08/20/2012
• Published: 02/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai RIKA Denki Seisakusho
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai RIKA Denki Seisakusho
• Inventors: KUMAGAI, Katsuhide, SHIBATA, Yasuhiro, MOCHIZUKI, Shingo, MATSUSHITA, Masahiro
• Application Number:
  US13/589,442
• Publication Number:
  US 20130054079A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29.2
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0415 Automatically identifying wheel mounted units, e.g. after replacement or exchange of wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0472 to manually allocate ID codes or mounting positions, e.g. by service technicians
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0477 Evaluating waveform of pressure readings
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0484 Detecting an ongoing tyre inflation

Abstract

A valve ID registration system includes a sudden pressure decrease detector that detects a sudden pressure decrease in the tire and a transmission unit that transmits a valve signal. When the detector detects a sudden pressure decrease, the transmission unit transmits the valve signal, which includes sudden pressure decrease information, with more frames than normal. A sudden pressure decrease monitoring unit monitors the received valve signal for sudden pressure decrease information. After the valve signal including the sudden pressure decrease information is received with more frames than normal, when a new valve signal is received including the same valve ID as that in the valve signal including the sudden pressure decrease information and the new valve signal indicates an increase in air pressure, a registration unit determines that the valve signals were transmitted from the tire of the vehicle and registers the valve ID.

Claims

1. A valve ID registration system for use with a tire pressure monitoring system that monitors air pressure of a tire mounted on a vehicle, wherein the valve ID registration system uses a valve signal including air pressure information transmitted from a tire valve coupled to the tire, and the valve ID registration system registers a valve ID of the tire valve included in the valve signal to a controller arranged in the vehicle, the valve ID registration system comprising:

a sudden pressure decrease detector that detects a sudden pressure decrease in the tire;

a transmission unit that transmits the valve signal, wherein when the sudden pressure decrease detector detects a sudden pressure decrease, the transmission unit is configured to transmit the valve signal, which includes sudden pressure decrease information, with more frames than normal;

a receiver that receives the valve signal;

a sudden pressure decrease monitoring unit that monitors whether or not the received valve signal includes the sudden pressure decrease information;

a frame number monitoring unit that monitors a frame number of the received valve signal;

a pressure increase monitoring unit that monitors whether or not a pressure increase has occurred in the tire after the sudden pressure decrease; and

a registration unit that registers the valve ID in a registration mode, wherein after the valve signal including the sudden pressure decrease information is received with more frames than normal in the registration mode, when a new valve signal is received including a valve ID that is the same as the valve ID in the valve signal including the sudden pressure decrease information, and the new valve signal includes air pressure information indicating an increase in air pressure, the registration unit determines that the valve signals were transmitted from the tire of the vehicle and registers the valve ID.

2. The valve ID registration system according to claim 1, wherein

when the receiver receives the valve signal including the sudden pressure decrease information with more frames than usual, the registration unit is configured to temporarily store the valve ID and air pressure information, which indicates an air pressure, of the valve signal, and

when the receiver receives the new valve signal including a valve ID, which is the same as the temporarily stored valve ID, and the air pressure information of the new valve signal indicates an air pressure increased from the temporarily stored air pressure, the registration unit is configured to register the temporarily stored valve ID.

3. The valve ID registration system according to claim 2, wherein when the new valve signal including the same valve ID as the temporarily stored valve ID is received by the receiver and the air pressure information of the new valve signal indicates an air pressure decreased from the air pressure indicated by the temporarily stored air pressure information, the registration unit is configured to temporarily store the air pressure information again.

4. The valve ID registration system according to claim 2, wherein when the new valve signal includes a valve ID that differs from the temporarily stored valve ID and is received with more frames than normal by the receiver, the registration unit is configured to temporarily store again the valve ID and air pressure information of the new valve signal.

5. The valve ID registration system according to claim 2, wherein when the air pressure information in the valve signal indicates an air pressure corresponding to a flat tire, the registration unit does not temporarily store the valve ID of the valve signal.

6. The valve ID registration system according to claim 1, wherein

the tire is one of a plurality of tires mounted on the vehicle,

the tire valve is coupled to each of the tires,

for each tire of the vehicle, the registration unit is configured to temporarily register the valve ID included in the valve signal when determining that the received valve signal is transmitted from the tire valve of the tire, and

when a number of the temporarily registered valve IDs is the same as the number of the tires mounted on the vehicle, the registration unit is configured to register all of the valve IDs.

7. The valve ID registration system according to claim 1, wherein

the tire is one of a plurality of tires mounted on the vehicle,

the tire valve is coupled to each of the tires,

in the registration mode, the registration unit sequentially designates a location of each of the tires and instructs a sudden pressure decrease operation to be performed to associate the designated tire location with the valve ID when registering the valve ID.

8. The valve ID registration system according to claim 1, wherein the tire valve transmits the valve signal including the sudden pressure decrease information for a predetermined period after detecting the sudden pressure decrease.