Tire pressure measurement device, an integrated circuit, a printed circuit board, a method and a computer program for a vehicle to receive data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11065922-B2
Application number	US-201916675896-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 6, 2019
Priority date	Nov 25, 2015
Publication date	Jul 20, 2021
Grant date	Jul 20, 2021

Abstract

Embodiments provide a tire pressure measurement device that includes an electromechanical transducer configured to convert mechanical energy from tire deformation of a tire into electrical energy for powering the tire pressure measurement device; and an energy harvesting circuit configured to receive and store the electrical energy from the electromechanical transducer, where the energy harvesting circuit is further configured to supply the stored electrical energy to the tire pressure measurement device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tire pressure measurement device configured to be mounted in a tire, comprising:
an electromechanical transducer configured to convert an acoustical receive signal into an electrical signal, the electrical signal being a first receive signal;
a first receiver configured to receive and process the first receive signal as a data signal, including decoding the first receive signal to extract data therefrom; and
a controller configured to receive the first receive signal from the electromechanical transducer and couple the first receive signal to the first receiver for data reception of the data signal.

2. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 1 , wherein the acoustical receive signal is sound applied to the tire.

3. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 1 , wherein the first receiver is a low-frequency receiver configured to process signals within a low-frequency band.

4. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 1 , wherein the electromechanical transducer is configured to convert mechanical energy from tire deformation of the tire into electrical energy for powering the tire pressure measurement device.

5. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 4 , further comprising:
an energy harvesting circuit configured to receive and store the electrical energy from the electromechanical transducer, wherein the energy harvesting circuit is further configured to supply the stored electrical energy to the tire pressure measurement device.

6. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 5 , wherein the energy harvesting circuit is a battery.

7. A tire pressure measurement device configured to be mounted in a tire, comprising:
an electromechanical transducer configured to convert an acoustical receive signal into an electrical signal, the electrical signal being a first receive signal;
a first receiver configured to receive and process the first receive signal;
a controller configured to receive the first receive signal and couple the first receive signal to the first receiver; and
a sound measurement circuit configured to receive the first receive signal and measure a sound characteristic of the acoustical receive signal based on the first receive signal.

8. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 7 , wherein the sound measurement circuit is configured to measure a tread depth of the tire based on the measured sound characteristic.

9. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 7 , wherein the sound measurement circuit is configured to detect water contact with the tire based on the measured sound characteristic.

10. A tire pressure measurement device configured to be mounted in a tire, comprising:
an electromechanical transducer configured to convert an acoustical receive signal into an electrical signal, the electrical signal being a first receive signal;
a first receiver configured to receive and process the first receive signal;
a controller configured to receive the first receive signal and couple the first receive signal to the first receiver; and
a radio frequency (RF) receiver configured to receive an RF signal and provide a second receive signal, based on the RF signal, to the controller,
wherein the controller is configured to couple the second receive signal to the first receiver.

11. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 10 , wherein the RF signal comprises a frequency band outside a low frequency band used by the first receiver, and
the controller is configured to convert the second receive signal into a low frequency receive signal, and output the low frequency receive signal to the first receiver.

12. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to switchably couple and decouple the first receive signal to the first receiver, and switchably couple and decouple the second receive signal to the first receiver.

13. A tire pressure measurement device configured to be mounted in a tire, comprising:
an electromechanical transducer configured to convert an acoustical receive signal into an electrical signal, the electrical signal being a first receive signal;
a first receiver configured to receive and process the first receive signal;
a controller configured to receive the first receive signal and couple the first receive signal to the first receiver; and
a low-frequency coil configured to receive a low-frequency electromagnetic signal, convert the low-frequency electromagnetic signal into a second receive signal, and provide the second receive signal to the controller,
wherein the controller is configured to couple the second receive signal to the first receiver.

14. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to switchably couple and decouple the first receive signal to the first receiver, and switchably couple and decouple the second receive signal to the first receiver.

15. A tire pressure measurement device configured to be mounted in a tire, comprising:
an electromechanical transducer configured to convert mechanical energy from tire deformation of the tire into electrical energy for powering the tire pressure measurement device; and
an energy harvesting circuit configured to receive and store the electrical energy from the electromechanical transducer, wherein the energy harvesting circuit is further configured to supply the stored electrical energy to the tire pressure measurement device,
wherein the electromechanical transducer is further configured to convert an acoustical receive signal into an electrical data signal, the electrical data signal being a first receive signal,
wherein the tire pressure measurement device further comprises:
a first receiver configured to receive and process the first receive signal, including decoding the first receive signal to extract data therefrom; and
a controller configured to receive the first receive signal from the electromechanical transducer and couple the first receive signal to the first receiver for receiving the data in the first receive signal.

16. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 15 , wherein the energy harvesting circuit is a battery.

17. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 15 , wherein the acoustical receive signal is sound applied to the tire.

18. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 15 , further comprising:
a radio frequency (RF) receiver configured to receive an RF signal and provide a second receive signal, based on the RF signal, to the controller,
wherein the controller is configured to couple the second receive signal to the first receiver.

19. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 18 , wherein:
the RF signal comprises a frequency band outside a low frequency band used by the first receiver, and
the controller is configured to convert the second receive signal into a low frequency receive signal, and output the low frequency receive signal to the first receiver.

20. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 18 , wherein the controller is configured to switchably couple and decouple the first receive signal to the first receiver, and switchably couple and decouple the second receive signal to the first receiver.

21. The tire pressure measurement device of claim 15 , further comprising:
a sound measurement circuit configured to receive the first receive signal and measure a sound characteristic of the acoustical receive signal based on the first receive signal.

Assignees

• Infineon Technologies Ag

Inventors

• Darrer Franz Michael
• Schuchter Walter

Classifications

• B60C23/044 Primary

  Near field triggers, e.g. magnets or triggers with 125 KHz · CPC title

• H04B1/082

  to be used in vehicles (H04B1/086 takes precedence; holding or mounting accessories B60R11/02) · CPC title

• B60C23/0486

  comprising additional sensors in the wheel or tyre mounted monitoring device, e.g. movement sensors, microphones or earth magnetic field sensors · CPC title

• B60C23/0461

  externally triggered, e.g. by wireless request signal, magnet or manual switch · CPC title

• B60C23/0433 Primary

  Radio signals · CPC title