Method and device for locating the position, on the right or on the left, of a wheel of a vehicle

• US 7,392,119 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2005
• Issued: 06/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Continental Automotive France (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Continental Automotive France (Continental AG)
• Inventors: Dulac, Gilles, Allard, Pierre-Yves
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Khoi H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): GOLDFARB, JONATHAN A
• Application Number:
  US11/293,256
• Publication Number:
  US 20060142911A1
• Time in Patent Office: 932 Days
• Field of Search: 701 29- 36, 701/1, 340445-448
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0416 allocating a corresponding wheel position on vehicle, e.g. front/left or rear/right

Abstract

A method and device for locating the position, on the right or on the left, of a vehicle wheel. The wheel is equipped with two magnetic sensors having axes of maximum sensitivity lying in a plane that is secant to the axis of rotation of the wheel and which are offset from one another in this secant plane by a predetermined angle θ. As the vehicle moves in a given travel direction, a signal generated by the variation in a magnetic field is measured at the terminals of each of the magnetic sensors to deliver two periodic signals phase-shifted from one another by an angular value equal to (+ or −) θ, this phase shift is used to determine the direction of wheel rotation, and from such direction and the travel direction, the location, on the right or on the left, of the wheel is deduced.

Claims

1. A device for locating the position, on the right or on the left, of a wheel (2) of a vehicle (3), comprising:

two magnetic sensors (4, 5) having axes of maximum sensitivity (S4, S5) lying in a plane that is intersecting to the axis of rotation (R) of the wheel (2) and which axes are offset from one another in the intersecting plane by a predetermined angle θ

, the two magnetic sensors mounted on said wheel and configured to detect and provide, at terminals of each of the sensors, a signal representative of variations in values of a magnetic field,

means (7, 8) for measuring the signal at the terminals of each of the magnetic sensors (4, 5), the measuring means being able to deliver two periodic signals phase-shifted from one another by an angular value equal to (+ or −

) θ

, each of the two periodic signals representative of the variations in the values of the magnetic field as detected by said magnetic sensors during a revolution of the wheel (2), and

a calculation unit (9) programmed to determine, from the phase shift between the two periodic signals, the direction of rotation of the wheel (2) and, from this direction of rotation and from the direction of travel of the vehicle (3), to deduce the location, on the right or on the left side of the vehicle, of the wheel (2).

2. The location device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the two magnetic sensors (4, 5) are positioned in such a way that the axes of maximum sensitivity (S4, S5) lie in a plane orthogonal to the axis of rotation (R) of the wheel (2).

3. The location device as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the two magnetic sensors (4, 5) are positioned in such a way that the axes of maximum sensitivity (S4, S5) lie orthogonal to one another.

4. The location device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a magnet (10) mounted fixedly on the body of the vehicle (3) and fixed with respect to the wheel (2) equipped with the two magnetic sensors (4, 5), said magnet being positioned and having a power suitable for generating a magnetic field covering a zone through which said magnetic sensors pass as said wheel rotates.

5. The location device as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a magnet (10) mounted fixedly on body of the vehicle (3) and fixed with respect to the wheel (2) equipped with the two magnetic sensors (4, 5), said magnet being positioned and having a power suitable for generating a magnetic field covering a zone through which said magnetic sensors pass as said wheel rotates.

6. The device as claim in claim 1, wherein,

the two magnetic sensors (4, 5) are configured to detect and provide, at the terminals of each of the sensors, a signal representative of variations in values of the earth magnetic field.

7. The location device as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a magnet (10) mounted fixedly on the body of the vehicle (3) and fixed respect to the wheel (2) equipped with the two magnetic sensors (4, 5), said magnet being positioned and having a power suitable for generating a magnetic field covering a zone through which said magnetic sensors pass as said wheel rotates so that said sensor measures the magnetic field generated by said magnet in addition to measuring the earth magnetic field variations.

8. The location device as claimed in claim 1, wherein,

the means for measuring is located on the wheel,

a first of the two magnetic sensors comprises, mounted on the wheel, a coil (4) comprising a core that forms the axis of maximum sensitivity of the coil, each coil positioned such that a longitudinal axis of the core coincides with an axis tangential to a circle centered on the axis of rotation (R) of the wheel (2), and

a second of the two magnetic sensors comprises, mounted on the wheel, a flat coil (5) formed of a flat winding that forms the axis of maximum sensitivity S5 of the coil, a longitudinal axis of the winding coincides with said radial axis.

9. The location device as claimed in claim 1, wherein,

the means for measuring is located on the wheel,

the two magnetic sensors (4, 5) are positioned in such a way that the axes of maximum sensitivity (S4, S5) lie in a plane orthogonal to the axis of rotation (R) of the wheel (2),

the two magnetic sensors (4, 5) are aligned along a radial axis aligned with respect with respect to the axis of rotation (R) of the wheel (2),

a first of the two magnetic sensors comprises, mounted on the wheel, a coil (4) comprising a core that forms the axis of maximum sensitivity of the coil, each coil positioned such that a longitudinal axis of the core coincides with an axis tangential to a circle centered on the axis of rotation (R) of the wheel (2), and

a second of the two magnetic sensors comprises, mounted on the wheel, a flat coil (5) formed of a flat winding that forms the axis of maximum sensitivity of the coil, a longitudinal axis of the winding coincides with said radial axis.

10. The location device as claimed in claim 1, wherein,

each of the two sensors comprises a coil mounted on the wheel,

as the wheel (2) rotates, i) each of the coils exhibits, between the terminals of the coil, a potential difference that varies according to a sinusoidal function with a period equal to the period of rotation of the wheel, and ii) each of the coils moves in a circular path to detect a variable magnetic field and the potential difference measured at the terminals of the sensor exhibits corresponding cyclic variations.

11. The location device as claimed in claim 1, wherein,

each of the two sensors comprises a coil mounted on the wheel, and

the coils are mounted on the wheel so that axes of maximum sensitivity (S4, S5) of the coils are orthogonal.

12. The location device as claimed in claim 9, further comprising:

a magnet fixed to the car body so that a magnetic field created by said magnet is detected by each of the two magnetic sensors mounted on a corresponding wheel.

13. The location device as claimed in claim 10, further comprising:

a magnet fixed to the car body so that a magnetic field created by said magnet is detected by each of the two magnetic sensors mounted on a corresponding wheel.

14. The location device as claimed in claim 11, further comprising:

a magnet fixed to the car body so that a magnetic field created by said magnet is detected by each of the two magnetic sensors mounted on a corresponding wheel.

15. The location device as claimed in claim 9, wherein, there is no magnet fixed to the car body that creates a magnetic field detected by each of the two magnetic sensors mounted on a corresponding wheel.

16. The location device as claimed in claim 10, wherein, there is no magnet fixed to the car body that creates a magnetic field detected by each of the two magnetic sensors mounted on a corresponding wheel.

17. The location device as claimed in claim 11, wherein, there is no magnet fixed to the car body that creates a magnetic field detected by each of the two magnetic sensors mounted on a corresponding wheel.