Tire pressure monitoring system and pressure monitoring unit

• US 8,279,055 B2
• Filed: 05/26/2010
• Issued: 10/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Isomura, Makoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Caputo, Lisa
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dunlap, Jonathan
• Application Number:
  US12/787,775
• Publication Number:
  US 20100300192A1
• Time in Patent Office: 860 Days
• Field of Search: 731/46, 731/463, 731/464, 340442-447
• US Class Current: 340/442
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0408 transmitting the signals by non-mechanical means from the wheel or tyre to a vehicle body mounted receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0415 Automatically identifying wheel mounted units, e.g. after replacement or exchange of wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0488 Movement sensor, e.g. for sensing angular speed, acceleration or centripetal force

Abstract

After the running wheels 12FR, 12FL, 12RR and 12RL are replaced from the summer wheel set to the winter wheel set (non-mounted wheels 12), when the vehicle 10 is running at a speed more than a predetermined speed, and if all ID numbers contained in the data received within a predetermined time are entirely identical to the sensor IDs corresponding to the non-mounted wheels 12, the sensor IDs identified in the sensor ID identification portion 54 are automatically switched from the sensor IDs corresponding to the summer wheel set to the sensor IDs of the winter wheel set.

Claims

1. A tire pressure monitoring system, comprising:

a pressure sensor unit which is mounted on a running wheel of a vehicle and provided with a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure of a tire of the running wheel and a centrifugal force sensor for detecting a centrifugal force due to rotation of the tire; and

a pressure monitoring unit to which a data containing a detection value of the pressure sensor and an identification number which is uniquely assigned to the pressure sensor unit is transmitted if a detection value of the centrifugal force sensor becomes a predetermined value and over with a frequency higher than the frequency when the detection value of the centrifugal force sensor is less than the predetermined value, and which monitors a lowering of the pressure of the tire by comparing the detection value of the pressure sensor contained in the data with a predetermined check threshold value if an identification number of the received data is identical to the identification number of the pressure sensor unit mounted on the running wheel of the vehicle,

wherein a plurality of wheel sets each of which consists of a number of wheels identical to a number of the running wheels of the vehicle are prepared in the vehicle;

wherein the vehicle mounts one wheel set selected as the running wheels from the plurality of the wheel sets; and

wherein the pressure monitoring unit stores the identification number of the pressure sensor unit mounted on each wheel included in the plurality of wheel sets by the wheel set and identifies the identification number corresponding to the selected one wheel set as the identification number of the pressure sensor unit mounted on the running wheel of the vehicle,

wherein when the vehicle is running at a predetermined speed and over and if the identification numbers contained in the data received within a predetermined time are identical to all identification numbers corresponding to another wheel set among the plurality of the wheel sets except for the one wheel set, the identification numbers corresponding to the another wheel set are newly identified as the identification numbers of the pressure sensor units mounted on the running wheels of the vehicle by replacing the identification numbers corresponding to the one wheel set.

2. The tire pressure monitoring system according to claim 1,

wherein the pressure monitoring unit stores a set pressure value of a wheel included in the plurality of wheel sets by the wheel set;

wherein the set pressure value corresponding to the one wheel set is set as the check threshold value;

wherein when the identification number being identified as the identification number of the pressure sensor unit mounted on the running wheel of the vehicle is replaced from the identification number corresponding to the one wheel set to the identification number corresponding to the another wheel set, the set pressure value corresponding to the another wheel set is set as the predetermined check threshold value by replacing the set pressure value corresponding to the one wheel set.

3. The tire pressure monitoring system according to claim 1,

wherein if identification numbers contained in the data received within the predetermined time are identical to the identification numbers ranging and corresponding to different wheel sets of the plurality of the wheel sets, the identification number being identified as the identification number of the pressure sensor unit mounted on the running wheel of the vehicle is not replaced.

4. The tire pressure monitoring system according to claim 2,

wherein if identification numbers contained in the data received within the predetermined time are identical to the identification numbers ranging and corresponding to different wheel sets of the plurality of the wheel sets, the identification number being identified as the identification number of the pressure sensor unit mounted on the running wheel of the vehicle is not replaced.

5. A pressure monitoring unit which is applied to a vehicle in which a plurality of wheel sets on each of whose wheels a pressure sensor unit is fixed are prepared as mounting wheel sets, a predetermined one set among the prepared plurality of the mounting wheel sets is selected and mounted as a running wheel set, and a non-selected mounting wheel set which is ready and waiting is selected and mounted later as the running wheel set by replacing the running wheel set currently mounted by the wheel set, the pressure monitoring unit configuring a tire pressure monitoring system together with the pressure sensor unit, the pressure monitoring unit comprising:

a storage which has;

an information list of identification numbers indicating a correspondence between the identification numbers of the pressure sensor units fixed on the wheels and the mounting wheel sets of the vehicle;

current mounting information indicating the mounting wheel set which is currently mounted as the running wheel set; and

set pressure value information indicating a correspondence between set pressure values and monitoring wheel sets, and

a controller which monitors the pressure using pieces of the information stored in the storage and the pressure data which is transmitted by the pressure sensor unit fixed on the running wheel and contains the pressure of the running wheel and the identification number of the pressure sensor unit,

wherein when a number of identification numbers identical to the identification numbers of the information list as many as a number of running wheels mounted on the vehicle are read out within a predetermined time except for the duplication, the controller updates the current mounting information in the storage using the read out identification numbers and executes a pressure monitoring processing using the set pressure value of each running wheel which is determined from the set pressure value information in the storage and the updated current mounting information.