DEVICE AND ASSEMBLY FOR DETECTING TIRE PARAMETERS OF TRANSITING VEHICLES

• US 20160214446A1
• Filed: 09/25/2013
• Published: 07/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ste Industries S.r.l.
• Original Assignee: S.T.E. srl
• Inventors: MOIRAGHI, Paolo Maria, CORTESE, Mauro
• Granted Patent: US 10,358,004 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0433 Radio signals
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0479 Communicating with external units being not part of the vehicle, e.g. tools for diagnostic, mobile phones, electronic keys or service stations
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C

Abstract

A device for detecting tire parameters of transiting vehicles, comprising an electronic unit for processing radio signals that carry measurements of at least one parameter of at least one tire of a vehicle, such as the pressure, and further comprising a detector of the transit of vehicles for the activation of the processing of the radio signals.

Claims

1-16. -16. (canceled)

17. (canceled)

18. A device for detecting tire parameters of transiting vehicles, comprising an electronic unit for processing radio signals that carry measurements of at least one parameter of at least one tire of a vehicle, such as the pressure, further comprising a detector of the transit of vehicles for an activation of said electronic unit for processing radio signals.

19. The device according to claim 18, wherein said vehicle transit detector is a metal detector or a detector of the variation of the terrestrial magnetic field, particularly a magnetometer.

20. The device according to claim 18, wherein the electronic components of said detection device, which include said electronic processing unit, are normally in a sleep or low power consumption state and can be activated by means of an internal activation signal generated by means of said vehicle transit detector.

21. The device according to claim 18, wherein said electronic processing unit comprises, or is connected to, a receiver of said radio signals, which are pulsed radio signals with PPM modulation of words that correspond to measurement values.

22. The device according to claim 18, wherein said electronic processing unit comprises at least one communication port for connection to at least one slave unit adapted to receive from said at least one slave unit additional measurements of tire parameters of transiting vehicles.

23. The device according to claim 18, wherein said electronic processing unit comprises, or is connected to, a communication module that is adapted to transmit to a remote processing unit information on said measurements received by means of said radio signals and/or via said communication port according to the preceding claim.

24. The device according to claim 23, wherein said communications module is a communications module on a mobile telephone network.

25. An assembly for detecting tire parameters of transiting vehicles, comprising, arranged in different positions along a drivable path, a master unit, which comprises a detection device according to claim 18, and at least one slave unit, which comprises a respective unit for receiving said radio signals, said master unit and said at least one slave unit being mutually connected by means of a local communications network.

26. The detection assembly according to claim 25, wherein said local communication network is a wireless network, operating at a frequency in the ISM or SRD system band.

27. The detection assembly according to claim 25, wherein said master unit and said at least one slave unit are arranged on mutually opposite sides of said drivable path.

28. The detection assembly according to claim 25, wherein said master unit is configured to generate an external activation signal and to transmit it in said local communications network, and wherein said at least one slave unit is configured to keep the respective electronic components of said at least one slave unit in a state of sleep or low power consumption and to activate them with the reception of said external activation signal.

29. The detection assembly according to claim 28, wherein said master unit and said at least one slave unit are configured to make the respective electronic components return to the sleep or low power consumption state.

30. The detection assembly according to claim 29, wherein said master unit is configured so as to verify, by means of said vehicle transit detector, whether at the end of a first preset time interval there are other transiting vehicles and so as to generate, if there are, an additional external activation signal.

31. The detection assembly according to claim 25, wherein said at least one slave unit comprises a transmission unit connected to said local communications network and adapted to transmit to said master unit, via said local communications network, the measurements carried by said radio signals received from the respective reception unit of said at least one slave unit.

32. The detection assembly according to claim 31, wherein said external activation signal comprises a data collection message, said at least one slave unit being configured to transmit to said master unit said measurements following the reception of said data collection message.

33. The detection assembly according to claim 25, wherein said electronic processing unit of the master unit is configured to transmit to a remote processing unit, within a second preset time interval and via said communications module, the measurements of the radio signals received by said master unit and the measurements of said at least one slave unit received by the master unit via said local communications network.

34. The detection assembly according to claim 33, wherein said electronic processing unit of the master unit is configured additionally to perform a comparison, with at least one threshold value, of the measurements of the radio signals received by said master unit and/or of the measurements of said at least one slave unit received by the master unit via said local communications network and to transmit said measurements to the remote processing unit via said communications module as soon as said comparison yields a negative result.