Tire pressure drop detecting device

• US 5,940,781 A
• Filed: 02/26/1998
• Issued: 08/17/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries Limited (Sumitomo Corporation), Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited
• Original Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries Limited (Sumitomo Corporation), Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited
• Inventors: Nakajima, Yoshio
• Primary Examiner(s): Barlow, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): VO, HIEN XUAN
• Application Number:
  US09/030,927
• Time in Patent Office: 537 Days
• Field of Search: 702/98, 702/140, 702/96, 340/442, 340/444, 340/443, 340/445, 73/146.2-146.5, 701/70
• US Class Current: 702/98
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/061 by monitoring wheel speed measuring distance traversed on the ground by vehicles G01C22/00

Abstract

An apparatus for detecting the drop in air pressure of any of tires mounted on a vehicle. The device finds, in finding an initial correction factor for eliminating the effect of a difference in effective rolling radius depending on an initial difference among the tires on the rotational angular velocities of the tires, the ratio of the rotational angular velocities of a predetermined pair of the tires as an initial correction factor, averaging and updating the initial correction factor for each sampling period, and taking the initial correction factor found when the number of times of the updation reaches a predetermined number of times as the final initial correction factor. When it is judged that the air pressure of any of the tires drops before the final initial correction factor is found, the calculation of the initial correction factor is stopped.

Claims

1. A device for detecting a drop in air pressure of any of tires mounted on a vehicle, comprising:

rotational angular velocity detection means for detecting a rotational angular velocity of each of the tires for each of predetermined sampling periods;

initial correction factor calculation means for finding an initial correction factor for eliminating an effect of a difference in effective rolling radius depending on an initial difference among the tires on the rotational angular velocities, the initial correction factor calculation means including means for finding as the initial correction factor a ratio of the rotational angular velocities of a predetermined pair of the tires on the basis of the rotational angular velocities detected by the rotational angular velocity detection means, means for averaging and updating the initial correction factor for each sampling period, and means for taking the initial correction factor found when a number of times of the updating reaches a predetermined number of times as a final initial correction factor;

correction means for correcting the rotational angular velocities detected by the rotational angular velocity detection means for each sampling period on the basis of the initial correction factor found by the initial correction factor calculation means;

judgment means for finding a judged value on the basis of the rotational angular velocities corrected by the correction means and judging whether the air pressure of any of the tires has dropped on the basis of the found judged value; and

calculation stop means for stopping operation of the initial correction factor calculation means when it is judged by the judgment means that the air pressure of any of the tires has dropped before the final initial correction factor is taken in the initial correction factor calculation means.

2. A tire pressure drop detecting device according to claim 1, further comprising

range judgment means for judging whether the judged value found by the judgment means is less than a predetermined value after the operation of the initial correction factor calculation means is stopped by the calculation stop means, and

calculation resumption processing means for judging that the air pressure of the tire is returned to normal internal pressure when it is judged in the range judgment means that the judged value is less than the predetermined value and performing processing relating to the resumption of the operation of the initial correction factor calculation means.

3. A tire pressure drop detecting device according to claim 2, wherein

the calculation resumption processing means automatically resumes the operation of the initial correction factor calculation means from a beginning point.

4. A tire pressure drop detecting device according to claim 1, further comprising

sign judgment means for judging whether or not the sign of a judged value found by the judgment means after the operation of the initial correction factor calculation means is stopped by the calculation stop means (hereinafter referred to as a "first judged value") differs from the sign of a judged value found by the judgment means when the operation of the initial correction factor calculation means is stopped by the calculation stop means (hereinafter referred to as a "second judged value");

and

calculation resumption processing means for judging that the air pressure of the tire is returned to normal internal pressure when it is judged by the sign judgment means that the sign of the first judged value and the sign of the second judged value differ from each other and performing processing relating to the resumption of the operation of the initial correction factor calculation means.

5. A tire pressure drop detecting device according to claim 1, further comprising

power supply turn-on judgment means for judging whether or not a power supply is turned on not fewer than a predetermined number of times after the operation of the initial correction factor calculation means is stopped by the calculation stop means;

and

calculation resumption processing means for judging that the air pressure of the tire is returned to normal internal pressure when it is judged by the power supply turn-on judgment means that the power supply is turned on not fewer than a predetermined number of times and performing processing relating to the resumption of the operation of the initial correction factor calculation means.