Tire location positioning method and apparatus and tire pressure monitoring system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11084335-B2
Application number	US-202016931168-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 16, 2020
Priority date	Jan 19, 2018
Publication date	Aug 10, 2021
Grant date	Aug 10, 2021

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of automotive technologies, and disclose a tire location positioning method and apparatus, a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) receiver, a tire pressure sensor, a TPMS and an automobile. The method includes: controlling a first exciter to send a first excitation signal, and controlling a second exciter to send a second excitation signal; respectively receiving response signals that are generated according to the first excitation signal or the second excitation signal by all tire pressure sensors; performing positioning on front and rear wheels according to times when the response signals are received, to identify response signals sent by tire pressure sensors of the front and rear wheels; and performing positioning on left and right wheels according to the signal strength information, to identify response signals sent by tire pressure sensors of the left and right wheels.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tire location positioning method, applied to an automobile, the automobile comprising a left front wheel, a right front wheel, a left rear wheel and a right rear wheel, and each of the wheels being provided with a tire pressure sensor, wherein the automobile further comprises a first exciter and a second exciter, the first exciter is configured to send a first excitation signal to the left front wheel and the right front wheel, and a distance between the first exciter and the left front wheel is unequal to a distance between the first exciter and the right front wheel; the second exciter is configured to send a second excitation signal to the left rear wheel and the right rear wheel, and a distance between the second exciter and the left rear wheel is unequal to a distance between the second exciter and the right rear wheel; and the method comprises:
controlling the first exciter to send the first excitation signal, and controlling the second exciter to send the second excitation signal, wherein a time when the first excitation signal is sent is different from a time when the second excitation signal is sent;
respectively receiving response signals that are generated according to the first excitation signal or the second excitation signal by all the tire pressure sensors, wherein the response signals comprise signal strength information, the signal strength information being used for representing signal strength of receiving the first excitation signal or the second excitation signal;
wherein, each of the response signals is transmitted by a tire pressure sensor according to a delay time, the delay time is determined according to a corresponding signal strength, the delay time t is calculated by a formula of t=k*p, k is a natural number, p is the corresponding to signal strength;
performing positioning on front and rear wheels according to times when the response signals are received, to identify response signals sent by tire pressure sensors of the front and rear wheels; and
performing positioning on left and right wheels according to the signal strength information, to identify response signals sent by tire pressure sensors of the left and right wheels.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the time when the first excitation signal is sent is earlier than the time when the second excitation signal is sent; and
the performing positioning on front and rear wheels according to times when the response signals are received, to identify response signals sent by tire pressure sensors of the front and rear wheels comprises:
setting two response signals that are received earlier as response signals sent by tire pressure sensors of front wheels, wherein the front wheels comprise the left front wheel and the right front wheel; and
setting two response signals that are received later as response signals sent by tire pressure sensors of rear wheels, wherein the rear wheels comprise the left rear wheel and the right rear wheel.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the distance between the first exciter and the left front wheel is less than the distance between the first exciter and the right front wheel, and the distance between the second exciter and the left rear wheel is less than the distance between the second exciter and the right rear wheel; and
the performing positioning on left and right wheels according to the signal strength information, to identify response signals sent by tire pressure sensors of the left and right wheels comprises:
setting two response signals whose signal strength is greater than a preset signal strength threshold as response signals sent by tire pressure sensors of left wheels, wherein the left wheels comprise the left front wheel and the left rear wheel; and
setting two response signals whose signal strength is less than the preset signal strength threshold as response signals sent by tire pressure sensors of right wheels, wherein the right wheels comprise the right front wheel and the right rear wheel.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
controlling the first exciter to resend the first excitation signal and controlling the second exciter to resend the second excitation signal if a quantity of received response signals is less than a preset quantity threshold.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the automobile further comprises a spare tire, the spare tire being provided with a tire pressure sensor; and the method further comprises:
after the left front wheel, the right front wheel, the left rear wheel and the right rear wheel are determined according to the positioning on the front and rear wheels and the positioning on the left and right wheels, setting, if a periodic positioning signal is received, the positioning signal as a positioning signal sent by the tire pressure sensor of the spare tire.

6. A tire location positioning method, applied to an automobile, the automobile comprising a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) receiver, wherein the method comprises:
receiving an excitation signal;
generating a response signal according to the excitation signal, wherein the response signal comprises signal strength information, the signal strength information being used for representing signal strength of receiving the excitation signal;
determining, according to the signal strength information, a delay time for the generated response signal; and
sending the response signal to the TPMS receiver according to the delay time, wherein the delay time t is calculated by a formula of t=k*p, k is a natural number, p is the corresponding to signal strength.

7. A tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) receiver, comprising:
at least one processor; and
a memory that is communicatively connected to the at least one processor, wherein
the memory stores an instruction executable by the at least one processor, the instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, enabling the at least one processor to control the first exciter to send the first excitation signal, and controlling the second exciter to send the second excitation signal, wherein a time when the first excitation signal is sent is different from a time when the second excitation signal is sent; respectively receive response signals that are generated according to the first excitation signal or the second excitation signal by all the tire pressure sensors, wherein the response signals comprise signal strength information, the signal strength information being used for representing signal strength of receiving the first excitation signal or the second excitation signal; perform positioning on front and rear wheels according to times when the response signals are received, to identify response signals sent by tire pressure sensors of the front and rear wheels; and perform positioning on left and right wheels according to the signal strength information, to identify response signals sent by tire pressure sensors of the left and right wheels;
wherein, each of the response signals is transmitted by a tire pressure sensor according to a delay time, the delay time is determined according to a corresponding signal strength, the delay time t is calculated by a formula of t=k*p, k is a natural number, p is the corresponding to signal strength.

Assignees

• Autel Intelligent Tech Corp Ltd

Inventors

• Zeng Feng
• Luo Yongliang

Classifications

• B60C23/0457

  self triggered by timer · CPC title

• B60C23/0416 Primary

  allocating a corresponding wheel position on vehicle, e.g. front/left or rear/right · CPC title

• B60C23/0462

  Structure of transmission protocol · CPC title

• G01S13/751

  wherein the responder or reflector radiates a coded signal · CPC title

• B60C23/0442

  the transmitted signal comprises further information, e.g. instruction codes, sensor characteristics or identification data · CPC title