METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY IDENTIFYING THE LOCATION OF PRESSURE SENSORS IN A TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM

• US 20060259214A1
• Filed: 05/11/2005
• Published: 11/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: McQuade, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 7,369,043 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0413 Wireless charging of active radio frequency circuits
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0416 allocating a corresponding wheel position on vehicle, e.g. front/left or rear/right
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/044 Near field triggers, e.g. magnets or triggers with 125 KHz
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0471 System initialisation, e.g. upload or calibration of operating parameters

Abstract

A tire pressure monitoring system (12) for a vehicle (10) has a plurality of tires (14A-D) in respective rolling locations having a respective plurality of tire transmitters (16A-D) that generate a respective plurality of transmitter identification signals. A respective plurality of initiators (20A-D) are fixedly attached to the vehicle at a respective plurality of locations. The initiators may include orthogonal coils (112, 114). A controller (22) activates the plurality of initiators using the coils (112, 114) and receives a plurality of respective sensor signals having respective tire identifications. The activations may occur with a duty cycle of less than about fifty percent.

Claims

1. A method of operating a tire pressure monitoring system for a vehicle having a plurality of tire locations and a memory comprising:

activating a first initiator signal from a first initiator at a first tire location of the plurality of tire locations, said initiator signal generated from a first coil having a first longitudinal axis and a second coil having a second longitudinal axis substantially orthogonal to the first axis, said initiator signal having a duty cycle of less than about 50 percent;

periodically detecting a presence of an electric field on a sensor coil;

when an electric field exists, generating a first sensor signal having a first tire identification in response to the first initiator signal;

receiving a first sensor signal;

storing the first sensor identification in the memory associated with the first of the plurality of tire locations when the first sensor identification is not in the memory; and

repeating the steps of activating, generating, receiving and storing for each of the plurality of tire locations.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the duty cycle is less than about 30 percent.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the duty cycle is less than about 20 percent.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the duty cycle is about 10 percent.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein activating comprises activating the first coil simultaneously with the second coil.

6. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein activating comprises activating the first coil sequentially with the second coil.

7. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the first tire comprises a spare tire in a spare tire location.

8. A tire pressure monitoring system for a vehicle comprising:

a memory;

a plurality of initiators fixedly attached to the vehicle at a respective plurality of locations, at least one of the plurality of initiators comprising a first coil having a first longitudinal axis and a second coil having a second longitudinal axis substantially orthogonal to the first axis;

a plurality of tires having a respective plurality of tire transmitters periodically detecting a presence of an electric field on a sensor coil, in response to the presence of an electric field generating sensor signals having a respective plurality of transmitter identifications; and

a controller coupled to the plurality of initiators, said controller activating said plurality of initiators, receiving a plurality of respective sensor signals having respective tire identifications and storing the tire identifications in the memory.

9. A tire pressure monitoring system as recited in claim 8 wherein the first coil is activated simultaneously with the second coil.

10. A tire pressure monitoring system as recited in claim 8 wherein the first coil is activated sequentially with the second coil.

11. A tire pressure monitoring system as recited in claim 8 wherein at least one of said plurality of initiators generates an initiator signal having a duty cycle of less than about 50 percent.

12. A tire pressure monitoring system as recited in claim 8 wherein at least one of said plurality of initiators generates an initiator signal having a duty cycle of less than about 30 percent.

13. A tire pressure monitoring system as recited in claim 8 wherein at least one of said plurality of initiators generates an initiator signal having a duty cycle of less than about 20 percent.

14. A tire pressure monitoring system as recited in claim 8 wherein at least one of said plurality of initiators generates an initiator signal having a duty cycle of about 10 percent.

15. A tire pressure monitoring system for a vehicle comprising:

a memory;

a plurality of initiators fixedly attached to the vehicle at a respective plurality of locations, said initiator generating an initiator signal having a duty cycle of less than about 50 percent;

a plurality of tires having a respective plurality of tire transmitters generating a respective plurality of transmitter identification signals, said tire transmitters comprising a sensor coil, said initiator transmitter periodically sampling the sensor coil to determine a presence of an electric field; and

a controller coupled to the plurality of initiators, said controller activating said plurality of initiators to generate an initiator signal, receiving a plurality of respective sensor signals having respective tire identifications and storing the tire identifications in the memory.

16. A tire pressure monitoring system as recited in claim 15 wherein at least one of the plurality of initiators comprising a first coil having a first longitudinal axis and a second coil having a second longitudinal axis substantially orthogonal to the first axis.

17. A tire pressure monitoring system as recited in claim 15 wherein the duty cycle is less than about 30 percent.

18. A tire pressure monitoring system as recited in claim 15 wherein the duty cycle is less than about 20 percent.

19. A tire pressure monitoring system as recited in claim 15 wherein the duty cycle is about 10 percent.