KR101418516B1 - A Tire Management System and A Vehicle comprising the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A tire management system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a plurality of tire management modules for transmitting tire information including a unique identifier indicating an identification of the vehicle and a vehicle type code indicating a type of the vehicle; And a control unit for receiving the plurality of pieces of tire information transmitted by the plurality of tire management modules and calculating the number of times each piece of tire information is received based on the unique identifier for a predetermined time.

Description

A tire management system and a vehicle including the same,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tire management system and a vehicle including the tire management system, and more particularly, to a tire management system and a vehicle including the tire management system that determine whether a tire has a problem in running the vehicle.

The tire management system can grasp various kinds of information of the tire and allow the user to confirm various information for the normal operation of the tire. For example, the tire management system senses the pressure and / or temperature of the tire and sends it to the driver's seat so that the driver can check the pressure of the tire in real time.

If the pressure of a car tire is too high or too low, there is a possibility that the tire may burst or the vehicle may slip easily, leading to a major accident. In addition, the fuel consumption increases, fuel economy deteriorates, tire life is shortened, and ride comfort and braking power are reduced.

In order to prevent defects in such tires, a safety device mounted on the vehicle is a tire pressure sensing system. The tire pressure sensing system measures the pressure and / or temperature inside the tire and sends this information wirelessly. There is a problem in that it is not possible to determine from which tire pressure sensor the pressure and / or temperature information of the tire received wirelessly when the wheel, the tire, or the like is first mounted, replaced, or changed in position.

Tires have various elements to work properly. Tire management systems are aimed at sensing and managing a wide range of factors required for tires to operate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a tire management system for grasping the normal operation of a tire and an automobile including the tire management system.

The problems of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other problems not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tire management system comprising: a plurality of tire management modules for transmitting tire information including a unique identifier indicating an identification of the vehicle and a type code of a vehicle; And a control unit for receiving the plurality of pieces of tire information transmitted by the plurality of tire management modules and calculating the number of times each piece of tire information is received based on the unique identifier for a predetermined time.

The details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings.

The tire management system of the present invention has one or more of the following effects.

The tire management system of the present invention can determine whether or not the elements for normal operation of the tire are properly met to help the vehicle to run safely.

The effects of the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.

1 is a view of a vehicle including a tire management module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a tire management module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram illustrating a tire management system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention and the manner of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. To fully disclose the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

The suffix "module" and "part" for constituent elements used in the following description are given or mixed in consideration of ease of specification, and do not have their own meaning or role.

At this point, it will be appreciated that the combinations of blocks and flowchart illustrations in the process flow diagrams may be performed by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded into a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, so that those instructions, which are executed through a processor of a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, Thereby creating means for performing functions. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer usable or computer readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to implement the functionality in a particular manner so that the computer usable or computer readable memory The instructions stored in the block diagram (s) are also capable of producing manufacturing items containing instruction means for performing the functions described in the flowchart block (s). Computer program instructions may also be stored on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment so that a series of operating steps may be performed on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a computer- It is also possible for the instructions to perform the processing equipment to provide steps for executing the functions described in the flowchart block (s).

In addition, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that includes one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical function (s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions mentioned in the blocks may occur out of order. For example, two blocks shown in succession may actually be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be performed in reverse order according to the corresponding function.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, which illustrate a tire management module, a tire management system including the tire management module, and a vehicle including the tire management module according to embodiments of the present invention.

1 is a view illustrating a vehicle including a tire management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The automobile including the tire management system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention detects the pressure and / or temperature of the tire 20 and detects tire information including tire pressure information and / or temperature value and other information A wheel rotation sensing module 130 for sensing the rotation information of the wheel 10 and a tire management module 120 for wirelessly receiving the tire information transmitted from the tire management module 120. [ A control unit 140 that receives rotation information of the wheel 10 from the wheel rotation detection module 130 and receives tire information from the tire information transmission and reception module 150 and performs various control functions, .

The tire management system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of tire management modules 120 and a plurality of tire management modules 120 for transmitting tire information including a unique identifier indicating a status of the vehicle and a type code of a vehicle, And a control unit (140) that receives the transmitted plurality of tire information and calculates the number of times each piece of tire information is received based on the unique identifier for a predetermined time

Generally, a plurality of wheels 10 of the vehicle are provided. In this embodiment, the wheel 10 includes an FR wheel 10FR provided on the front right side of the vehicle body 1, an FL wheel 10FL provided on the front left side, an RR wheel 10RR provided on the rear right side, And an RL wheel 10RL provided in the vehicle. Depending on the embodiment, the wheels 10 may be provided in various numbers.

The tire 20 is mounted on the outer periphery of the wheel 10 of the vehicle and may be formed of a rubber material, but is not limited thereto. The tire 20 can be mounted on the rim of the wheel 10. A plurality of tires 20 are provided and in this embodiment the tire 20 comprises an FR tire 20FR provided on the front right side of the vehicle body 1, an FL tire 20FL provided on the front left side, And includes an RR tire 20RR and a rear left RL tire 20RL. The FR tire 20FR is included in the FR wheel 10FR and the FL tire 20FL is included in the FL wheel 10FL and the RR tire 20RR is included in the RR wheel 10RR and the RL tire 20RL, Is included in the RL wheel 10RL.

The tire management module 120 senses the pressure and / or the temperature of the tire 20 to determine the degree of the air pressure of the tire 20. The tire management module 120 can detect the pressure of the tire 20 or other information that can determine the degree of the pressure or the temperature of the tire 20. In this embodiment, To detect the pressure and temperature.

The tire management module 120 may be installed at various positions of the wheel 10, such as the rim of the wheel 10 or the side of the tire 20. A plurality of tire management modules 120 are provided and in this embodiment the tire management module 120 includes an FR tire management module 120FR provided on the front right side of the vehicle body 1, Module 120FL, an RR tire management module 120RR provided on the rear right side, and an RL tire management module 120RL provided on the rear left side.

In the present embodiment, the FR tire management module 120FR senses the pressure and temperature of the FR tire 20FR, the FL tire management module 120FL senses the pressure and temperature of the FL tire 20FL, The module 120RR senses the pressure and temperature of the RR tire 20RR and the RL tire management module 120RL senses the pressure and temperature of the RL tire 20RL.

In this embodiment, teeth are formed on the disk 30 of the wheel 10 rotating together with the tire 20, and the wheel rotation detection module 130 senses the passage of the teeth of the disk 30, As the rotation information. The wheel rotation detection module 130 provides a signal for detecting when the teeth of the disk 30 pass, and the wheel rotation detection module 130 generates a pulse when the teeth pass by and when they pass through the toothless portion do. In the present embodiment, the number of pulses generated by the wheel rotation detection module 130 is the rotation information of the wheel 10. Various sensors such as an optical sensor, an induction sensor, or a Hall effect sensor that can detect the passage of the teeth can be used as the sensor of the wheel rotation detection module 130.

The teeth of the disk 30 have a predetermined number of teeth. The number of teeth may be changed according to the type of the vehicle or the wheel 10 so that the number of pulses generated by the wheel rotation sensing module 130 can be changed when the wheel 10 rotates one rotation. In this embodiment, 48 teeth of the disk 30 are formed. Accordingly, the wheel rotation detection module 130 generates 96 pulses when the wheel 10 rotates one turn.

The wheel rotation detection module 130 detects the number of teeth that have passed from an arbitrary point in time and outputs the number of pulses. If the number of pulses generated by the wheel rotation sensing module 130 when the wheel 10 is rotated one rotation is N_pul, the number of pulses output by the wheel rotation sensing module 130 N_sh is as follows.

Number of pulses N_sh = N_pul * (P / 360 degrees)

For example, when the wheel 10 is rotated by 45 degrees, the wheel rotation detection module 130 outputs 12 pulses.

The wheel rotation sensing module 130 may be separately provided for the tire pressure sensing system 100, but is preferably part of an anti-lock brake system (ABS) of a vehicle in general.

In the case of the embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of tire management modules 120 can transmit information of each wheel 10 to the control unit 140. [ Each of the plurality of wheel rotation detection modules 130 is connected to the control unit 140 in a wired manner. Each of the plurality of wheel rotation detection modules 130 may be connected to the control unit 140 via a controller area network (CAN) bus.

The tire information transmission / reception module 150 can wirelessly receive the tire information transmitted by the tire management module 120. The tire information transmission / reception module 150 may be provided in the vehicle body 1 and may receive the respective tire information from the plurality of tire information transmission / reception modules 150. The tire information transmission / reception module 150 may be connected to the control unit 140 in a wired manner and may transmit the received tire information to the control unit 140. The tire information transmission / reception module 150 may be included in the control unit 140 according to the embodiment.

The control unit 140 receives the information of each wheel 10 from the plurality of wheel rotation detection modules 130. [ The control unit 140 may integrate and store the information of the wheel 10 transmitted from an arbitrary point in time.

The control unit 140 may be separately provided for the tire pressure sensing system 100 but may be an electronic control unit (ECU) for controlling the state of an engine, an automatic transmission, an ABS, or the like of a vehicle .

The control unit 140 may determine which of the plurality of tire management modules 120 the tire information transmitted from the tire information transmission / reception module 150 is transmitted from the plurality of tire management modules 120, and store the information. The control unit 140 can determine which of the FR tire 20, the FL tire 20, the RR tire 20, and the RL tire 20 is the tire information.

The types and processing methods of the signals exchanged between the tire management module 120 and the control unit 140 may include various embodiments and are not limited to any one signal processing method in the embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a tire management module of a tire management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the tire management module 120 may communicate with the tire information transmission / reception module 250 (FIG. 3).

The pressure sensing sensor 121 senses the pressure and / or temperature of the tire 20. The pressure sensing sensor 121 measures the pressure and / or temperature of the tire 20 in various manners to measure the air pressure of the tire 20. The pressure value and / or the temperature value of the tire 20 measured by the pressure sensor 121 is transmitted to the module control unit 123 and converted into an analog signal from a digital signal.

The module battery 125 supplies power to the module control unit 123, the pressure detection sensor 121, the distance detection sensor 122, and the module communication unit 124. Since the tire management module 120 can not be connected to the electric device of the vehicle by wire, the module battery 125 is the power source of the tire management module 120 because the battery itself is required. The module battery 125 senses its own voltage and transmits the sensed voltage value to the module control unit 123. The voltage value of the module battery 125 is included in the tire information and transmitted to the control unit (not shown), thereby allowing the control unit 140 to predict the life of the module battery 125. [

The module communication unit 124 can wirelessly transmit the tire information to the tire information transmission / reception module 250 (Fig. 3). The module communication unit 124 outputs tire information processed by the module control unit 123 as a coded radio frequency (RF) signal.

The module control unit 123 receives the pressure value and / or the temperature value of the tire 20 sensed by the pressure sensing sensor 121 and processes the received tire pressure information and tire information. The module control unit 123 converts an analog signal corresponding to a pressure value and / or a temperature value of the tire 20 output from the pressure sensing sensor 121 into a digital signal. The module control unit 123 processes the pressure value and / or the temperature value into tire information so that the module communication unit 124 can transmit the tire information.

The tire management module 120 may transmit tire information on the pressure or temperature of the tire. The module communication unit 124 can transmit the tire information as a wireless signal.

The phase angle sensor 122 senses the phase angle of the wheel 10. The phase angle sensor 122 senses the phase angle of the tire 20 of the wheel 10 or senses the phase angle of the rim of the wheel 10 or detects the phase angle of the tire 10 of the tire pressure sensing module 120 The phase angle can be detected. The phase angle sensor 122 may provide phase angle information indicative of a change in the phase angle of the wheel.

The phase angle sensor 122 preferably calculates the correct phase angle from the reference point during the rotation of the wheel 10, but it is also possible to measure the phase angle displacement during the set time during the rotation of the wheel 10 according to the embodiment, A signal can be output when a specific phase angle is reached when the motor 10 rotates.

The phase angle sensor 122 can output an electrical signal in response to a change in gravity, an electrical signal in response to a change in acceleration, or a signal in response to a ground impact. Various sensors such as a piezoelectric sensor, an acceleration sensor, or an impact sensor may be used as the phase angle sensor 122 according to a signal output method.

In this embodiment, the phase angle sensor 122 is an acceleration sensor that is installed in the gravity direction and outputs an electrical signal in accordance with a change in gravity. The phase angle sensor 122 outputs a continuously varying signal similar to a sinusoidal curve as the wheel 10 rotates

The tire management module 120 may further include a timer 126 that can grasp the flow of time. The module control unit 123 can calculate the speed of the vehicle based on the time taken by the tire 126 and the change in the phase angle of the wheel detected by the phase angle sensor 122. [

The tire management module 120 can transmit the tire information including the unique identifier indicating its own identity and the vehicle type code indicating the type of the vehicle. The tire management module 120 may transmit tire information including phase angle information.

3 is a block diagram illustrating a tire management system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a tire management system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a tire management module (not shown) for transmitting tire information on tire pressure or temperature, a memory 220 for storing data, And a control unit 210 for performing a control operation.

The control unit 210 may execute or perform various software programs and / or sets of instructions stored in the memory 220 to perform various functions for the tire management system and to process the data. The control unit 10 may process the signal based on the information stored in the memory 20. [

For example, the control unit 210 may display the data stored in the memory 220 with the output device 240, or may execute the program stored in the memory 220. [ The control unit 210 may calculate the time in conjunction with the timer (not shown) to perform the program, but is not limited thereto.

The memory 220 may include a high speed random access memory. The memory 220 may also include non-volatile memory, such as, but not limited to, one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state memory devices.

For example, the memory 220 may include, but is not limited to, Electronically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory (EEP-ROM). The EEP-ROM can be written and erased by the control unit 210 during the operation of the control unit 210. [ The EEP-ROM may be a storage device in which the information stored therein is not erased even when the power supply of the control unit 210 is turned off and the power supply is stopped.

The memory 220 may store various programs or data in cooperation with the control unit 210. The program stored in the memory 220 may be executed by the control unit 210. [

The control unit 210 may receive tire information from a tire management module (not shown). When the control unit 210 receives the tire information, the control unit 210 may display the pressure or temperature of the tire and the like on the output device 240. The tire information may include a temperature value of the tire, the identification code, or a voltage value of the pressure sensing battery.

The output device 240 may include a speaker for outputting sound or a display device for emitting light to provide a visual indication. The output device 240 may be a light emitting polymer display (LPD), a liquid crystal display, a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, a flexible display a flexible display, and a 3D display. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

The output device 240 can display various kinds of information. When the control unit receives the tire information, the output device 240 can display the tire information in real time by reflecting the tire information.

The tire information transmission / reception module 250 can wirelessly communicate with a tire pressure sensing module (not shown). The tire information transmission and reception module 250 may be configured to transmit and receive radio signals such as Bluetooth, Radio Frequency Identification, IrDA, Ultra Wideband, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, However, the present invention is not limited to this.

The tire information transmission / reception module 250 can receive tire information from a tire management module (not shown).

Wherein the control unit matches the phase angle information with a plurality of rotation information output from the plurality of wheel rotation detection modules.

The control unit 210 can ignore the tire information if the phase angle information included in the tire information does not match any of the plurality of rotation information.

The control unit 210 can ignore the tire information if the vehicle type and the vehicle type code included in the tire information do not match.

The control unit 210 may provide the order information that summarizes the plurality of pieces of tire information in descending order according to the number of times each of the pieces of tire information is received.

The control unit 210 can identify the source of the plurality of tire information received from the plurality of tire management modules provided in the vehicle based on the order information.

The control unit can calculate the difference between the number of times of reception of the tire information having the fourth highest number of received tire information and the number of times of receiving the tire information having the most frequently received number of times based on the order information.

The control unit 210 ends the calculation of the number of times when the difference between the number of times of receiving the tire information having the fourth highest number of times and the number of times of receiving the tire information having the number of times of receiving the fifth number is larger than a predetermined number can do.

The control unit recognizes that only the first to fourth pieces of tire information are received from the tire management module included in the vehicle in the order of the number of times of reception in a case where the difference in the number of times of reception does not differ by more than the preset number of times .

The present invention is not necessarily limited to these embodiments, as all the constituent elements constituting the embodiment of the present invention have been described as being combined or combined in one operation. Within the scope of the present invention, depending on the embodiment, all of the components may operate selectively in combination with one or more.

All of the components may be implemented as one independent hardware, but a part or all of the components may be selectively combined to provide a computer having a program module that performs some or all of the functions combined in one or a plurality of hardware May be implemented as a program.

A plurality of codes and code segments constituting a computer program may be easily deduced by those skilled in the art. Such a computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, readable and executed by a computer, thereby realizing an embodiment of the present invention. As the storage medium of the computer program, a magnetic recording medium, an optical recording medium, a carrier wave medium, or the like may be included.

It is to be understood that the terms "comprises", "comprising", or "having" as used in the foregoing description mean that the constituent element can be implanted unless specifically stated to the contrary, But should be construed as further including other elements.

All terms, including technical and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, unless otherwise defined.

Commonly used terms, such as predefined terms, should be interpreted to be consistent with the contextual meanings of the related art, and are not to be construed as ideal or overly formal, unless expressly defined to the contrary.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention.

The embodiments of the present invention are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention but to limit the scope of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas falling within the scope of the same shall be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

100: tire pressure sensing system
10: Wheel
20: Tire
30: Disk
120: Tire Pressure Sensing Module
130: Wheel rotation detection module
140: control unit
150: Tire information transmitting / receiving module

Claims (10)

A plurality of tire management modules for transmitting tire information including a unique identifier indicative of its own identity and a vehicle type code indicative of the type of vehicle; And
And a control unit for receiving the plurality of pieces of tire information transmitted by the plurality of tire management modules and calculating the number of times each of the pieces of tire information is received based on the unique identifier for a predetermined period of time, . The method according to claim 1,
A plurality of wheel rotation sensing modules for exchanging signals with the control unit and outputting wheel rotation information; And
And a phase angle sensor for providing the tire management module with phase angle information indicative of a change in the phase angle of the wheel. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the tire management module includes the phase angle information in the tire information,
Wherein the control unit matches the phase angle information with a plurality of rotation information output from the plurality of wheel rotation detection modules. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the control unit ignores the tire information when the phase angle information included in the tire information does not match any of the plurality of rotation information. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the control unit ignores the tire information if the vehicle and the vehicle type code included in the tire information do not match. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the control unit provides order information in which the plurality of pieces of tire information are arranged in descending order according to the received number of times. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the control unit identifies a source of the plurality of tire information received from the plurality of tire management modules provided in the vehicle based on the order information. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the control unit, based on the order information,
Only the first to fourth tire information is recognized as being received from the tire management module provided in the present vehicle,
Calculates a difference between the number of times of receiving the tire information that is the fourth most received and the number of times of receiving the tire information that is the fifth most received. 9. The method of claim 8,
When the difference between the number of times of reception of the tire information having the fourth largest number of times of reception and the number of times of reception of the tire information having the fifth number of times of reception is different from the predetermined number of times or more, Terminating Tire Management Module. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the control unit, based on the order information,
When the difference in the number of reception times does not differ by more than a predetermined number of times for a certain period of time, only the first to fourth tire information in the order of the number of reception times is recognized as being received from the tire management module Management module.

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