Tire condition sensor communication with duty-cycled, amplified tire-side reception
First Claim
1. A tire condition sensor unit for association with a tire of a vehicle and for communicating a tire condition to a vehicle-based unit, said tire condition sensor unit comprising:
- sensor means for sensing the tire condition;
transmitter means, operatively connected to said sensor means, for transmitting a condition signal that indicates the sensed tire condition; and
receiver means, operatively connected to said sensor means and said transmitter means, for receiving a control signal and for causing operation of said sensor means and said transmitter means during receipt of the control signal.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A tire condition communication system (10) is intended for incorporation into a vehicle (12). A tire condition sensing unit (e.g., 18A) of the system (10) is operable to sense a tire condition and to transmit a signal (e.g., 24A) indicative of the sensed condition. A vehicle-based unit (28) of the system (10) receives the condition indicative signal (e.g., 24A). A communication arrangement (e.g., 42A and 48A) of the system (10) has a first portion (e.g., 40A) associated with the vehicle-based unit (28) and a second portion (e.g., 48A) associated with the tire condition sensing unit (e.g., 18A). The communication arrangement conveys a control signal (e.g., 44A) from the vehicle-based unit (28) to the tire condition sensing unit (e.g., 18A) that causes the tire condition sensing unit to continue operation during conveyance of the control signal.
52 Citations
27 Claims
-
1. A tire condition sensor unit for association with a tire of a vehicle and for communicating a tire condition to a vehicle-based unit, said tire condition sensor unit comprising:
-
sensor means for sensing the tire condition;
transmitter means, operatively connected to said sensor means, for transmitting a condition signal that indicates the sensed tire condition; and
receiver means, operatively connected to said sensor means and said transmitter means, for receiving a control signal and for causing operation of said sensor means and said transmitter means during receipt of the control signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A tire condition sensor unit for association with a tire of a vehicle and for communicating a tire condition to a vehicle-based unit, said tire condition sensor unit comprising:
-
sensor means for sensing the tire condition;
transmitter means, operatively connected to said sensor means, for transmitting a condition signal that indicates the sensed tire condition; and
receiver means, operatively connected to said sensor means and said transmitter means, for receiving a control signal and for causing operation of said sensor means and said transmitter means during a predetermined time period. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A tire condition sensor unit for association with a tire of a vehicle and for communicating a tire condition to a vehicle-based unit, said tire condition sensor unit comprising:
-
sensor means for sensing the tire condition;
transmitter means, operatively connected to said sensor means, for transmitting a condition signal that indicates the sensed tire condition; and
receiver means, operatively connected to said sensor means and said transmitter means, for receiving a control signal and for causing operation of said sensor means and said transmitter means in response to receipt of the control signal, said receiver means including means for amplifying strength of a received control signal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A tire condition communication system for a vehicle, said system comprising:
-
a tire condition sensing unit operable to sense a tire condition and to transmit a signal indicative of the sensed condition;
a vehicle-based unit for receiving the condition indicative signal; and
communication means, having a first portion associated with said vehicle-based unit and a second portion associated with said condition sensing unit, for conveying a control signal from said vehicle-based unit to said tire condition sensing unit that causes said tire condition sensing unit to continue operation during conveyance of the control signal. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
-
-
27. A method of communicating tire condition information from a tire condition sensor unit to a vehicle-based unit, said method comprising:
-
transmitting a control signal to a tire condition sensor unit;
receiving the control signal at the tire condition sensor unit;
sensing a condition at the tire; and
transmitting a signal indicative of the sensed condition from the tire condition sensor unit so long as the control signal is received at the tire condition sensor unit.
-
Specification