Method for assigning tyre-sensor modules to a trailer vehicle of an associated utility vehicle combination

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11173757-B2
Application number	US-202016855009-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 22, 2020
Priority date	Nov 1, 2016
Publication date	Nov 16, 2021
Grant date	Nov 16, 2021

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for associating tire sensor modules (6.i) with a trailer vehicle (3), having at least the following steps:capturing data messages (S1) from tire sensor modules (6.i, 106.i, 206.i) in a monitoring region (8);associating the captured data messages (S1) with a tire sensor module (6.i, 106.i, 206.i);ascertaining a number of captured data messages (S1) for each detected tire sensor module;rating the captured data messages (S1) to establish whether the tire sensor modules (6.i, 106.i, 206.i) received in total up to then belong to the driver's own trailer vehicle (3) or to the adjacent trailer vehicle (103, 203);accepting the tire sensor modules (6.i) detected in the rating as affiliated to the driver's own trailer vehicle (3).According to the invention, each tire sensor module (6.i, 106.i, 206.i) detects a wheel position associated with the respective tire sensor module (6.i, 106.i, 206.i) and a trailer axle configuration, so that for an accepted tire sensor module (6.i) the wheel position and the trailer axle configuration can be taken as a basis for making a positional association on the driver's own trailer vehicle (3).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for associating tire sensor modules with a trailer vehicle of a commercial-vehicle/trailer combination, the method comprising:
establishing that a tire sensor module is affiliated to a trailer vehicle based on one or more captured data messages (S 1 ) by a control unit;
detecting a wheel position for the tire sensor module;
outputting a tire state for the detected wheel position of the trailer vehicle; and
receiving the one or more captured data messages (S 1 ) and ascertaining a number of captured data messages for the tire sensor module.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tire state comprises one or more of pressure, temperature and stress.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein establishing that the tire sensor module is affiliated to the trailer vehicle is based on the ascertained number of captured data messages.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising coding the wheel position into the one or more captured data messages by the sensor module prior to transmitting the one or more captured data messages.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more captured data messages include an identification to indicate content being transmitted.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more captured data messages include a trailer designation.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the value for the wheel position corresponds to a coordinate pair (K 1 , K 2 ) in a coordinate system.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wheel position and a trailer axle configuration are distributed over multiple data messages (S 1 ) depending on a volume of data.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein accepted tire modules are checked for plausibility, and wherein this involves checking whether one or more of the following conditions apply:
each tire sensor module associated with the driver's own trailer vehicle uses the data message (S 1 ) to also actually transmit a trailer axle configuration;
each tire sensor module associated with the driver's own trailer vehicle transmits the same trailer axle configuration;
a number of modules for tire sensor modules associated with the driver's own trailer vehicle is less than or equal to the number of tire sensor modules to be expected according to the trailer axle configuration;
each tire sensor module associated with the driver's own trailer vehicle uses the data message (S 1 ) to also actually transmit a wheel position;
each tire sensor module associated with the driver's own trailer vehicle transmits a different wheel position; or,
all wheel positions to be expected according to the trailer axle configuration are transmitted by the tire sensor modules.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
if individual tire sensor modules associated with the driver's own trailer vehicle transmit no trailer axle configuration and/or different trailer axle configurations using the data message (S 1 ),
then a trailer axle configuration is assumed to be reliable and is adopted for the driver's own trailer vehicle if at least a maximum number of modules for tire sensor modules transmit the same trailer axle configuration, wherein the maximum number of modules corresponds to a proportion of the number of modules, for example half the number of modules, and the positional association of all tire sensor modules is erased and an optional error message is output, if fewer than the maximum number of modules for tire sensor modules transmit the same trailer axle configuration.

11. A system for associating tire sensor modules with a trailer vehicle, the system comprising:
a receiving module configured to receive a plurality of data messages from a tire sensor module of a trailer vehicle; and
a control unit of a towing vehicle configured to determine an amount of the plurality of data messages and establish that the tire sensor module is affiliated to the trailer vehicle based on the amount.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the receiving module is arranged at a rear of the towing vehicle.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the towing vehicle is a truck and the trailer vehicle is a tow-axle trailer.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control unit is further configured to determine an axle position based on the plurality of data messages.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the control unit is configured to determine a tire state based on the plurality of data messages.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the receiving module is configured to receive a second plurality of data messages from a second sensor module.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the tire sensor module is configured to output a sensor identification and wheel position as part of the plurality of data messages.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the tire sensor module is configured to code a trailer designation B into the plurality of data messages.

Assignees

• Continental Reifen Deutschland Gmbh

Inventors

• Cyllik Adrian
• Hanna Jörg
• Scher Andreas

Classifications

• B60C23/0416 Primary

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

• B60C23/009

  having wheels on a trailer · CPC title