Spare tire detection

• US 10,000,213 B2
• Filed: 03/02/2016
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2016
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Dudar, Aed M., Tseng, Fling Finn, Ghannam, Mahmoud Yousef
• Primary Examiner(s): Antonucci, Anne M
• Assistant Examiner(s): LAROSE, RENEE MARIE
• Application Number:
  US15/058,661
• Publication Number:
  US 20170253243A1
• Time in Patent Office: 839 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0474 Measurement control, e.g. setting measurement rate or calibrating of sensors; Further processing of measured values, e.g. filtering, compensating or slope monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0477 Evaluating waveform of pressure readings
• 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: B60C 23/0484 Detecting an ongoing tyre inflation
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/04 including control of propulsion units
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/20 including control of steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/30 including control of auxiliary equipment, e.g. air-conditioning compressors or oil pumps
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/021 Means for detecting failure or malfunction
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2422/70 on the wheel or the tire
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2530/20 Tyre data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2756/10 Involving external transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18009 related to particular drive situations
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/12 related to parameters of the vehicle itself , e.g. tyre models
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/038 Limiting the input power, torque or speed
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3415 Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

A pressure of a spare tire of a vehicle is determined. Whether the spare tire is installed is determined based at least in part on the pressure. A vehicle subsystem is actuated based at least in part on whether the spare tire is installed.

Claims

1. A system, comprising a computer including a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the computer to:

determine a first pressure reading of a pressure of a spare tire of a vehicle from a pressure sensor installed in the spare tire;

determine a second pressure reading of the spare tire at a predetermined period of time after initial activation of the vehicle;

determine whether the spare tire is installed when the second pressure reading is greater than the first pressure reading; and

actuate a vehicle subsystem based at least in part on whether the spare tire is installed.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle subsystem is at least one of a propulsion, a brake, a steering, a speed limiter, and a navigation subsystem.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the instructions further include instructions to actuate the speed limiter to limit a vehicle speed to a speed threshold when the determined pressure of the spare tire is below a pressure threshold.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further include instructions to identify a repair destination when the pressure is below a pressure threshold and to actuate the vehicle propulsion and the steering to move the vehicle to the repair destination.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine operating parameters based at least in part on the pressure of the spare tire and to send a notification via a network to the repair destination with the operating parameters.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine whether the tire is present and to actuate the vehicle subsystem upon determining that the spare tire is not present.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine whether the spare tire is present in a spare tire housing and to actuate the vehicle subsystem upon determining that the spare tire is not present in the spare tire housing.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the instructions further include instructions to detect a serial number of a pressure sensor installed in the spare tire to determine whether the spare tire is present.

9. A method, comprising:

determining a first pressure reading of a pressure of a spare tire of a vehicle from a pressure sensor installed in the spare tire;

determining a second pressure reading of the spare tire at a predetermined period of time after initial activation of the vehicle;

determining whether the spare tire is installed when the second pressure reading is greater than the first pressure reading; and

actuating a vehicle subsystem based at least in part on whether the spare tire is installed.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the vehicle subsystem is at least one of a propulsion, a brake, a steering, a speed limiter, and a navigation subsystem.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising actuating the speed limiter to limit a vehicle speed to a speed threshold when the determined pressure of the spare tire is below a pressure threshold.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising identifying a repair destination when the pressure is below a pressure threshold and actuating the vehicle propulsion and the steering to move the vehicle to the repair destination.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining operating parameters based at least in part on the pressure of the spare tire and to send a notification via a network to the repair destination with the operating parameters.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining whether the tire is present and to actuate the vehicle subsystem upon determining that the spare tire is not present.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine whether the spare tire is present in a spare tire housing and to actuate the vehicle subsystem upon determining that the spare tire is not present in the spare tire housing.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising detecting a serial number of a pressure sensor installed in the spare tire to determine whether the spare tire is present.