Tire air pressure monitoring device

• US 9,783,012 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2016
• Issued: 10/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Taki, Yuji
• Primary Examiner(s): La, Anh V
• Application Number:
  US15/338,590
• Publication Number:
  US 20170129294A1
• Time in Patent Office: 344 Days
• Field of Search: 340442-449, 73146, 731465, 731463, 116 34 R, 116 34 A, 116 34 B
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0401 characterised by the type of alarm
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0476 Temperature compensation of measured pressure values
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0486 comprising additional sensors in the wheel or tyre mounted monitoring device, e.g. movement sensors, microphones or earth magnetic field sensors

Abstract

A warning control unit of this tire air pressure monitoring device starts giving a driver a tire air pressure fall warning when a tire air pressure is equal to or lower than a first threshold. The warning control unit stops the warning when the tire air pressure becomes equal to or higher than a second threshold that is set based on a tire temperature in a case where the warning is being given. The warning control unit uses a constant value unrelated to a detected tire temperature as the first threshold, and uses a value obtained by adding a variable value, which is obtained by adding a positive constant value to a value that increases as a temperature difference obtained by subtracting a tire temperature at the time of the issuance of the warning from a current tire temperature increases, to the first threshold, as the second threshold.

Claims

1. A tire air pressure monitoring device comprising:

an air pressure sensor that detects a tire air pressure as an air pressure of a tire of a vehicle;

a temperature sensor that detects a tire temperature as a temperature of the tire; and

a warning control unit that is configured to

start giving a driver a warning that the tire air pressure has fallen, when the detected tire air pressure is equal to or lower than a first threshold that is a constant value unrelated to the detected tire temperature,

acquire the tire temperature detected at a moment of start of the warning, as a warning issuance temperature,

set a value obtained by adding a variable value, which is obtained by adding a positive constant value to a value that increases as a temperature difference obtained by subtracting the warning issuance temperature from the currently detected tire temperature increases, to the first threshold, as a second threshold, and

stop the warning when the detected tire air pressure becomes equal to or higher than the second threshold in a case where the warning is being given.

2. The tire air pressure monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein

the warning control unit is configured to limit the second threshold such that a difference value obtained by subtracting the first threshold from the second threshold does not become equal to or larger than a first difference upper limit when a speed of the vehicle is equal to or lower than a predetermined speed, and limit the second threshold such that the difference value does not become equal to or larger than a second difference upper limit that is larger than the first difference upper limit when the speed of the vehicle is higher than the predetermined speed.

3. The tire air pressure monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein

the warning control unit is configured to acquire the detected tire air pressure as an adjustment air pressure when the air pressure of the tire is adjusted, and limit the second threshold such that the second threshold does not become equal to or larger than an upper limit that is determined based on the acquired adjustment air pressure.

4. The tire air pressure monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein

the warning control unit is configured to continue the warning instead of stopping the warning regardless of the detected tire air pressure, until a predetermined time lapses from start of the warning.