JP2003228787A - Tire pressure warning system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such a problem not taken into account in the prior art that unsatisfactory air pressure is generated when replaced to a spare tire by a user in a flat tire or the like, or that the air pressure is reduced or punctured after replaced to the spare tire. <P>SOLUTION: A monitor for monitoring the air pressure is imparted to the spare tire. The monitor for monitoring the air pressure is attached to the spare tire, an air pressure value is transmitted by a radio wave to be received in a vehicle side, and the air pressure value of the spare tire is monitored therein. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a tire pressure warning system for an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, automobile accidents caused by insufficient air pressure in automobiles have become a social problem. Tire pressure is
The pressure to use is specified by the automobile company,
After the tire is filled with air, the tire pressure naturally escapes without causing a flat tire, so the user needs to perform a start-up inspection.

However, as a matter of fact, there are few users who certainly perform the start-up inspection.

Therefore, a system has been developed which automatically measures the tire air pressure and gives an alarm to the driver when the air pressure falls below a predetermined value.

As an example, TOYOTA Technical Revie
w Vol.51 No.1, Jun.2001 Introduced on page 30.

[0006]

As described above, spare tires have not been taken into consideration in the system.

That is, when the driver has a flat tire,
When replacing with a spare tire, it is easy to imagine that the spare tire has insufficient air pressure. Alternatively,
After replacing the tire with a spare tire, the air pressure may decrease and other situations may occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tire pressure warning system capable of monitoring the air pressure of a spare tire during storage and use.

[0009]

The above object is achieved by mounting a device for monitoring tire pressure on a spare tire, transmitting the pressure wirelessly, receiving the pressure on the vehicle side, and monitoring the pressure of the spare tire. it can.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, examples of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 shows the overall construction of an embodiment according to the present invention. Tires 1, 2, 3, 4 and a spare tire 5 are mounted on the vehicle 9. Each tire has a control device 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 for measuring and transmitting the tire air pressure and a transmitting antenna 11,
21, 31, 41 and 51 are attached.

On the other hand, on the vehicle side, a control device 1 for each tire is provided.
A device for receiving and displaying signals from 0, 20, 30, 40, 50 is mounted.

That is, the transmitting antenna 11 of each tire,
A receiving antenna 61, a receiver 60, and a display device 62 for receiving wireless signals transmitted from 21, 31, 41, and 51.
Composed of.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of a device mounted on each tire. As will be described later, each device mounted on each tire has the same configuration except for the setting of a code for identifying each tire, and therefore only the device mounted on the tire 1 will be described here as a representative. .

The control device 10 for the tire 1 includes a battery 103 for supplying power to the entire device, a pressure sensor 102 for measuring the air pressure inside the tire 1, and a microcomputer 1 for controlling the operation of the device.
01 and a transmission circuit 100 for wirelessly transmitting transmission data output from the microcomputer.

As the pressure sensor 102, it is only necessary to be able to measure a range of several atmospheric pressures at most, and therefore, a material using silicon may be used.

A code (I
D) is a ROM (Read Only Memor) with a built-in microcomputer 101.
y) is uniquely memorized.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the receiving side.

The radio wave transmitted from each tire is received by the receiving antenna 61 and input to the receiving circuit 600. The receiving circuit 600 reproduces the data on the transmitting side by amplifying the weak radio wave and performing demodulation. The reproduced data is input to the microcomputer 601, and an error or the like is checked to confirm that it has been correctly received.

When the microcomputer 601 determines the transmitted air pressure information and detects an abnormality, the microcomputer 601 informs the fact by communication.
Send to the display device 62. To the microcomputer 601, a switch 602 for confirming the tire replacement is input as will be described later.

The display device 62 comprises a microcomputer 620, a visual display 621 and an auditory display (speaker) 622.

The microcomputer 620 displays according to the command sent from the control device 60. Display device 62
Needless to say, may be shared with the navigation system and the instrument panel.

The data format of wireless communication is as shown in FIG.

From each tire, the ID and the measured air pressure are coded and transmitted.

As the spare tire, there are many cases in which an emergency tire different from the normally used tire is used. In such a tire, there is an example in which the air pressure is set high. Therefore, it needs to be identified as a spare tire. That is, even with normal tires and normal air pressure,
Spare tires may have abnormal air pressure.

Therefore, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, for example, "1" is set at the beginning of the code representing the ID. Set "0" for normal tires.

When the control device 60 determines that the air pressures of the tires 1, 2, 3, 4 that are normally used are abnormal, for example, the display 621 displays a sound such as "Ping pawn" from the speaker 622 as a warning. The display as shown in A is displayed.

If the driver replaces the tire with a spare tire, the switch 602 is pushed to
The display is like B.

Further, when the tire problem is solved and a regular tire is mounted with normal pressure, the switch 6 is turned on again.
By pressing 02, the alarm display screen is cleared.

By continuing the display until the confirmation switch 602 is pressed, it is possible to prevent the driver from forgetting to deal with the abnormality.

When the air pressure of the spare tire 5 drops below a predetermined value during storage (when not in use), a display as shown in FIG.
Encourage the driver to fill the spare tire with air.

In this case as well, the display is maintained until the confirmation switch 602 is pressed.

When the spare tire has a reduced air pressure during use, the same display as in FIG. 5A may be displayed.

In a navigation system, etc.,
In many cases, screen switches (touch switches) are used for human-machine interfaces. If such a switch device is available, the display as shown in FIG. 7 makes it easier for the driver to understand.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, since an air pressure sensor can be attached to a spare tire and constantly monitored, an alarm can be issued regardless of whether the air pressure in the spare tire is stored or in use.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a device mounted on a tire.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a device mounted on the vehicle side.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data format of wireless communication.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an alarm display.

FIG. 6 is an example of an alarm display using a touch switch.

FIG. 7 is an example of an alarm display using a touch switch.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 3, 4 ... Tire, 5 ... Spare tire, 10, 2
0, 30, 40, 50 ... Control device 11, 21, 31,
41, 51 ... Transmission antenna, 60 ... Receiver, 61 ... Reception antenna, 62 ... Display device.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A system for measuring tire air pressure in a vehicle at regular intervals or irregularly and transmitting the air pressure wirelessly, and installing a wireless receiver on the vehicle side to monitor tire air pressure. A tire pressure warning system for measuring and monitoring the tire pressure of a spare tire. 2. The tire pressure warning system according to claim 1, wherein a code capable of identifying a spare tire is added to the wireless data format. 3. A system for measuring tire air pressure in a vehicle at regular intervals or irregularly and transmitting the air pressure wirelessly, and installing a wireless receiver on the vehicle side to monitor tire air pressure. In (1), a tire pressure warning system is characterized in that when a tire pressure abnormality is detected, a tire replacement and inspection instruction is displayed on the display, and the display is continued until the driver's confirmation is obtained. 4. A system for measuring tire air pressure in a vehicle at regular intervals or at irregular intervals and transmitting the air pressure wirelessly, and installing a wireless receiver on the vehicle side to monitor tire air pressure. In the tire pressure warning system, a warning is displayed when a spare tire is being used.