Pulse or digital communications – Systems using alternating or pulsating current
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-16
2001-10-16
Pham, Chi (Department: 2631)
Pulse or digital communications
Systems using alternating or pulsating current
Reexamination Certificate
active
06304610
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a system for sensing a physical characteristic of a rotating wheel of a vehicle, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for encoding data indicating the pressure and temperature of the gas within the vehicle wheel.
It is commonly known to provide vehicles with wheels that include a tire, typically made of rubber or some other elastomeric material. The tire is usually hollow and is usually filled to a given pressure with a gas (commonly air). It is very important that the tire of the vehicle be inflated to the correct pressure for the particular tire. Improper inflation of a vehicle tire adversely effects the wear of the tire and diminishes the efficiency of the vehicle. Therefore, it is important that the vehicle operator check the tires on a regular basis to ensure proper inflation of the tires. However, the process of checking and adding to or subtracting from the air in the tire can be tedious and inconvenient for the typical motor vehicle operator. Moreover, the air pressure in a given tire can vary significantly depending upon the changes in the ambient temperature.
Various systems have been developed to make monitoring of tire pressure more convenient and easy. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,423 describes a tire inspection device for measuring the pressure and temperature of the air in the tire. The device includes a pressure sensor switch
9
connected to a coil
8
, and a hand-held detecting rod
28
. If the tire internal pressure has the proper value, the sensor
9
turns on and a green lamp on the detecting rod
28
lights. If the tire internal pressure has the improper value, the sensor
9
turns off and a red lamp on the detecting rod
28
lights.
Another example of a system for detecting tire pressure is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,375 (Eckardt et al.). The system illustrated in Eckardt et al. is passive in that it does not require a person to take any action to detect the tire pressure. The Eckardt et al. system can also detect tire pressure while the vehicle wheel is rotating.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a system for remote tire pressure sensing that allows remote measurement of the tire pressure and temperature within a vehicle tire. The system utilizes low frequency magnitude field communication, eliminates cross talk between the wheels of the vehicle or the wheels of other vehicles, includes remote power transmission, provides identical transducers for each of the wheels (thereby rendering the wheels totally interchangeable), includes air detection capability, and measures actual pressure and actual temperature of the air in the tire.
The remote tire pressure sensing system includes a transponder mounted on the rim of the tire. The transponder includes a temperature sensor and a pressure sensor which measure the temperature and pressure, respectively, of the air in the tire. The remote tire pressure sensing system also includes a transceiver for each pair of tires on the vehicle. The transceiver is mounted on a frame member of the vehicle and includes a twisted wire pair going to each of the vehicle wheels. The twisted wire pairs are connected to a frame mounted transceiver coil. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the transceiver coil is arcuately shaped so as the match the arc of the inner wall of the wheel rim. This maximizes the communication window between the transponder and the transceiver coil.
More particularly, the invention provides an apparatus including a transmitting circuit adapted to be mounted on the frame member. The transmitting circuit includes a transmitting coil and generates electrical energy in said transmitting coil. The apparatus also includes a receiving circuit adapted to be mounted on the vehicle wheel. The receiving circuit includes a sensor for measuring a physical characteristic of the vehicle wheel and modulating means connected to the sensor for generating a carrier signal including a first component encoding a plurality of consecutive data signals corresponding to the physical characteristic of the vehicle wheel, and a second component identifying the beginning of respective ones of the data signals.
It is an advantage of the invention to provide a system that provides remote measurement of the pressure and temperature of the air within a vehicle tire.
It is another advantage of the invention to provide a system for encoding and transmitting data between a transponder or transmitting circuit and a transceiver or receiving circuit that is in motion relative to the transponder.
It is another advantage of the invention to provide a method of encoding the data that allows the transceiver to synchronize to a given data packet.
Other features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following detailed description and claims.
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Burd Kevin M.
Michael Best & Friedrcih LLP
Pham Chi
SSI Technologies, Inc.
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