Spare tire detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017253243-A1
Application number	US-201615058661-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 2, 2016
Priority date	Mar 2, 2016
Publication date	Sep 7, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A pressure of a spare tire of a vehicle is determined. Whether the spare tire is installed is determined based at least in part on the pressure. A vehicle subsystem is actuated based at least in part on whether the spare tire is installed.

First claim

1 . A system, comprising a computer including a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions executable by the computer to:
determine a pressure of a spare tire of a vehicle; determine whether the spare tire is installed based at least in part on the pressure; and actuate a vehicle subsystem based at least in part on whether the spare tire is installed.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine a first pressure reading of the spare tire upon initial activation of the vehicle.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine a second pressure reading of the spare tire at a predetermined period of time after initial activation of the vehicle and to actuate the vehicle subsystem if the second pressure reading is greater than the first pressure reading.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle subsystem is at least one of a propulsion, a brake, a steering, a speed limiter, and a navigation subsystem.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to actuate the speed limiter to limit a vehicle speed to a speed threshold when the determined pressure of the spare tire is below a pressure threshold.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to identify a repair destination when the pressure is below a pressure threshold and to actuate the vehicle propulsion and the steering to move the vehicle to the repair destination.

7 . The, system of claim 6 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine operating parameters based at least in part on the pressure of the spare tire and to send a notification to the repair destination with the operating parameters.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine whether the tire is present and to actuate the vehicle subsystem upon determining that the spare tire is not present.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine whether the spare tire is present in a spare tire housing and to actuate the vehicle subsystem upon determining that the spare tire is not present in the spare tire housing.

10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to detect a serial number of a pressure sensor installed in the spare tire to determine whether the spare tire is present.

11 . A method, comprising:
determining a pressure of a spare tire of a vehicle; determining whether the spare tire is installed based at least in part on the pressure; and actuating a vehicle subsystem based at least in part on whether the spare tire is installed.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining a first pressure reading of the spare tire upon initial activation of the vehicle.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising determining a second pressure reading of the spare tire at a predetermined period of time after initial activation of the vehicle and actuating the vehicle subsystem if the second pressure reading is greater than the first pressure reading.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle subsystem is at least one of a propulsion., a brake, a steering, a speed limiter, and a navigation subsystem.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising actuating the speed limiter limit a vehicle speed to a speed threshold when the determined pressure of the spare tire is below a pressure threshold.

16 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising identifying a repair destination when the pressure is below a pressure threshold and actuating the vehicle propulsion and the steering to move the vehicle to the repair destination.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising determining operating parameters based at least in part on the pressure of the spare tire and to send a notification to the repair destination with the operating parameters.

18 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining whether the tire is present and to actuate the vehicle subsystem upon determining that the spare tire is not present.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the instructions further include instructions to determine whether the spare tire is present in a spare tire housing and to actuate the vehicle subsystem upon determining that the spare tire is not present in the spare tire housing.

20 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising detecting a serial number of a pressure sensor installed in the spare tire to determine whether the spare tire is present.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Dudar Aed M
• Tseng Fling Finn
• Ghannam Mahmoud Yousef

Classifications

• G01C21/3415

  Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents · CPC title

• G07C5/008

  communicating information to a remotely located station (transmission systems for measured values G08C) · CPC title

• B60W40/12

  related to parameters of the vehicle itself {, e.g. tyre models} · CPC title

• B60W50/038

  Limiting the input power, torque or speed · CPC title

• B60C23/02 Primary

  Signalling devices actuated by tyre pressure {(hand-held tyre pressure gauges G01L17/00)} · CPC title