JP2013023127A - Tire state monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate a registration of a tire position to a tire state monitoring device.SOLUTION: In order to specify a position of each of the tires 11a-11d mounted on a vehicle 10, each of tire sensors 20a to 20d incorporates an acceleration sensor. Since on-vehicle equipment 30 of the tire state monitoring device communicates wirelessly with these tires, the on-vehicle equipment 30 simultaneously instructs a request for starting registration of positions of tire sensors to all tire sensors 20a to 20d, respectively, in order to perform a communication with each of the tire sensors, thereafter each of the tire sensors transmits the request for registration of its position to the on-vehicle equipment 30 upon detection of vibration by means of the incorporated acceleration sensor in accordance with the procedure and the on-vehicle equipment 30 specifies a position of each of the tire sensors.

Description

  The present invention mainly relates to an apparatus for monitoring the state of a tire mounted on a vehicle.

  Institutionalization of a tire pressure measurement system (TPMS) that measures car tire pressure information is progressing in each country. This measures the tire pressure and temperature with a sensor installed in the valve section, etc., and sends the information wirelessly to the receiver on the vehicle to warn the driver when the pressure or temperature becomes abnormal. This system is said to be highly effective in preventing accidents such as tire bursts.

  Since there are usually at least 4 tires and 10 or more in large vehicles, it is necessary to identify which tire information is based on information sent from the tire sensor. Various methods have been proposed for this.

  For example, there is a method of associating tire position information with tire state information by providing an individual vehicle-mounted antenna in the vicinity of each tire sensor and preventing signals from other sensors from leaking.

Japanese Patent No. 3952993

  However, in the conventional method described above, it is necessary to install an in-vehicle antenna for each sensor arranged in each tire, and the transmission characteristics of each sensor so that signals from sensors arranged in other tires are not leaked. The troublesome work of adjusting is generated. Furthermore, in the case of double tires for large vehicles, the distance between the sensors arranged on the inner and outer tires is short, so even if the vehicle-mounted antennas are individually arranged, the transmission signal of the other sensor leaks. There is a high possibility of indentation. For this reason, in a large vehicle, it becomes difficult to associate and grasp the tire position and tire state information.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a tire condition monitoring apparatus that can overcome the above-described problems through a simple tire position registration method.

  In order to solve the above problems, a tire condition monitoring device of the present invention includes a tire sensor that is mounted on a tire and measures the tire condition, and an in-vehicle device that receives tire condition information related to the tire condition transmitted from the tire sensor. The tire condition monitoring device includes a tire position information provided by the vehicle-mounted device to identify a tire position where the tire sensor is mounted and a tire sensor ID information held by the tire sensor in association with each other. It has a location registration mode. The tire position registration mode includes a first step of transmitting a position registration start signal from the vehicle-mounted device to the tire sensor, a second step of applying a state change from the outside to the tire in a predetermined order, and a tire mounted on the tire. After the sensor detects a change in state, the third step of transmitting tire sensor ID information held by the tire sensor to the in-vehicle device, and the in-vehicle device associates the tire sensor ID information received by the in-vehicle device with the tire position information. And a fourth step of storing.

  According to the tire condition monitoring device of the present invention, in the tire position registration work performed in various environments, for example, in the manufacturing process of the vehicle, the general maintenance factory and the general maintenance scene of the user, without using special equipment, It is possible to work easily without taking time and effort. Therefore, the position of the tire can be registered very easily even for the inner and outer sides of the double tire of the truck and the rear wheel tire having a plurality of shafts. In particular, in a commercial truck or the like, a business operator often has a plurality of vehicles, and frequently changes tires such as tire rotation at the time of inspection of the plurality of vehicles and replacement with winter tires. At this time, it is possible to reduce the troublesome task of registering the position of the tire sensor that is felt by a business operator or the like.

  In addition, tire replacement may be performed urgently, and tire replacement is not necessarily performed in a place where equipment necessary for registering the position of the tire sensor is available. Even in such a case, if the tire condition monitoring device of the present invention is used, a dedicated device necessary for registering the position of the tire sensor is not necessary, so that it is possible to cope with an emergency tire change.

  In addition, there is no need for troublesome tasks such as installing a large number of antennas, devising the mounting position, adjusting sensitivity, etc., and tire conditions that can be grasped by associating tire position and tire condition information with simple work A monitoring device can be provided.

  In addition, since the tire condition monitoring device of the present invention can freely set the number of tires whose condition can be monitored, it is possible to register the position of a spare tire and to easily add it to an existing vehicle. is there.

Configuration diagram of tire condition monitoring device of the present invention Configuration diagram of tire sensor of the present invention The figure which shows the position registration sequence of the tire condition monitoring apparatus of this invention The figure which shows the position registration end sequence of the tire condition monitoring apparatus of this invention The figure which shows the tire condition measurement sequence of the tire condition monitoring apparatus of this invention The figure which shows the tire position information example at the time of applying the tire condition monitoring apparatus of this invention to a trailer vehicle The figure which shows the tire designation | designated signal transmission sequence of the tire condition monitoring apparatus of this invention

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the tire condition monitoring device of the present invention is applied to a vehicle equipped with four tires.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the tire condition monitoring apparatus according to the present invention includes an in-vehicle device 30 attached to a vehicle 10 and tire sensors 20 (20a to 20d) attached to the tires 11 (11a to 11d). Here, the vehicle-mounted device 30 does not necessarily need to be fixedly mounted on the vehicle, and includes a case where it is portable. Since the tire rotates, the vehicle-mounted device 30 transmits information using each tire sensor 20 and wireless communication means.

  Due to the problem of the life of the power source of the tire sensor 20, the characteristics of wireless transmission, and the problems of the laws and regulations of each country, the general tire condition monitoring apparatus often uses two frequency bands. In order to make it easy to understand in the description of the tire condition monitoring apparatus shown in FIG. 1, an example using these two frequencies will be described. However, the present invention does not depend on the frequency or wireless system of wireless transmission. It is not limited to this.

  A frequency called an LF (Low Frequency) wave using a frequency band in the order of kHz is generally used for wireless transmission from the in-vehicle device 30 to the tire sensor 20 in FIG. 1, and is transmitted from the in-vehicle device transmission antenna 31. Next, a frequency called an RF (Radio Frequency) wave using a frequency band of MHz order is generally used for wireless transmission from each tire sensor 20 to the in-vehicle device 30, and each tire is received by the in-vehicle device receiving antenna 32. A signal from the sensor 20 is received.

  In FIG. 2, the block diagram of the tire sensors 20a-20d of FIG. 1 is shown. In FIG. 2, the tire sensor 20 receives a transmission antenna 21 that transmits an RF wave to the vehicle-mounted device 30, a transmission unit 22 that outputs a modulated transmission wave to the transmission antenna 21, and an LF wave transmitted by the vehicle-mounted device 30. The receiving antenna 23 includes a receiving unit 24 that receives the received signal and demodulates the input signal. Both the transmission unit 22 and the reception unit 24 are connected to the control unit 25, and generation of a transmission signal to the in-vehicle device 30 and analysis of a reception signal from the in-vehicle device 30 are performed by the control unit 25. Furthermore, the tire sensor 20 includes an acceleration sensor 27 for measuring the state of the tire 11 as well as the control unit 25. The tire sensor 20 is connected to the control unit 25 and has a storage unit 26 that holds information indicating the tire state measured by the acceleration sensor 27. In FIG. 2, the tire sensor 20 has only the acceleration sensor 27 for monitoring the tire condition. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the tire sensor (for example, the tire air pressure, The tire sensor may be provided with a sensor that measures temperature and the like. For example, it is good also as a structure provided with at least 1 sensor in the air pressure sensor, the temperature sensor, and the angular velocity sensor in combination with the acceleration sensor.

  The acceleration sensor 27 included in the tire sensor 20 is for the purpose of detecting the acceleration of the tire 11. For example, when the tire sensor 20 is attached to a valve (not shown for convenience) of the tire 11, the acceleration sensor 27 may be any sensor that can detect at least the acceleration received by the valve. In the case of a structure in which the tire sensor 20 is mounted on a wheel portion (not shown for convenience), any structure may be used as long as the acceleration received by the tire wheel can be detected.

  In the tire condition monitoring apparatus shown in FIG. 1, tire position information (for example, the right front wheel 20a, the right rear wheel 20b, the left rear wheel 20c, and the left front wheel 20d) of the tire sensor 20 mounted on each tire, If the vehicle-mounted device 30 can grasp the tire state in association with each other, the vehicle-mounted device 30 can accurately notify the driver of which position of the tire is abnormal. For this reason, it is desirable to register in the vehicle-mounted device 30 to which tire of the vehicle the tire sensor 20 is attached (this registration is hereinafter referred to as “tire position registration”). The need for tire position registration is increased in large vehicles with many tires, and it is desirable that the tire positions can be clearly registered on the outside and inside of the double tire.

  The tire condition monitoring device of the present invention has a tire position registration mode in which tire position registration can be easily performed, and the tire position registration mode includes the following steps.

  The first step of the tire position registration mode is to transmit a position registration start signal from the in-vehicle device 30 to each of the tire sensors 20a to 20d. The position registration start signal is a signal that prompts the tire sensors 20a to 20d to shift to the tire position registration mode.

  When the subject of tire position registration wants to perform tire position registration, for example, the in-vehicle device 30 requests the start of tire position registration. This request instruction may use a user interface such as a switch provided in the in-vehicle device 30, or may be instructed through the in-vehicle LAN if the in-vehicle device 30 is connected to the in-vehicle LAN. It doesn't matter.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the in-vehicle device 30 recognizes the request for starting the position registration from the tire position registration subject, the in-vehicle device transmitting antenna 31 transmits a position registration start signal to all the tire sensors 20a to 20d by radio signals. Send all at once. At this time, this signal does not include information for identifying the transmission destination, and each of the tire sensors 20a to 20d that receives the signal receives this instruction at the same timing except for an error in reception timing due to the radio propagation distance.

  Each tire sensor 20a to 20d prepares the acceleration sensor 27 so that the acceleration sensor 27 can detect an impact when the tire position registration start instruction is recognized.

  The tire condition monitoring device of the present invention may have a function of registering in advance the number of tires that the vehicle has, that is, the number of tires to be monitored by the tire condition monitoring device. This number may include spare tires and the like. Here, the number of tires to be monitored by the vehicle is registered in advance in order to easily detect whether all tires have completed the tire position registration at the end of the tire position registration mode described later.

  Moreover, the tire condition monitoring apparatus of the present invention may have a function that can set offset time information in advance. As will be described later, the offset time information is used for deriving the timing at which each tire sensor 20 transmits the state information of each tire 11 to the vehicle-mounted device 30. Thereby, it can prevent that the information which shows the tire state from each tire sensor is transmitted to the vehicle equipment 30 at the same timing.

  Next, in the second step of the tire position registration mode, a state change is given to the tire 11 from the outside in a predetermined order. Here, the “predetermined order” is an order determined in advance by the tire condition monitoring device, and the subject of the tire position registration is externally connected to the tire 11 according to the predetermined “predetermined order”. The state change will be given. The “predetermined order” is stored in the in-vehicle device storage unit 34 of the in-vehicle device 30. And it may be described in the work instruction document etc. which the subject of tire position registration is easy to understand.

  One specific example of the “predetermined order” will be described with reference to FIG. When the vehicle 10 shown in FIG. 1 is a four-wheeled right-hand drive vehicle, for example, the clockwise order 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d starting from the tire position in the vicinity of the driver's seat is referred to as “predetermined order”. Also good. The “predetermined order” may be determined in advance in consideration of the work efficiency of the subject of tire position registration.

  In the second step, the “state change” given to the tire 11 from the outside in a “predetermined order” corresponds to a factor by which an acceleration sensor such as vibration that changes the state of the tire 11 can detect the state change. As a specific example, it indicates that the subject of tire position registration applies an impact to the tire 11 in accordance with a predetermined procedure described in a work instruction or the like. Here, the predetermined procedure may be the order of the tires that give an impact, or the number of impacts and the length of the impact given to each tire may be changed.

  As another example, in the production process of the vehicle 10, a method of vibrating a pallet-shaped diaphragm in contact with the tire 11 of the vehicle 10 according to a predetermined procedure may be considered. This allows the vibration sensor of the tire to recognize the vibration pallet in order and automatically register the position of the tire, making it possible to initialize the tire position efficiently and produce the factory. There is no loss of sex. In addition, there are multiple adjacent lines for position registration, and even if multiple registration operations are performed so close that the wireless signal can receive the signal of the adjacent vehicle, interference will occur if the vibration timing of the vibration pallet is shifted for each line. Location registration can be performed without causing the above problem.

  Next, the third step of the tire position registration mode is a position including tire sensor ID information held by the tire sensor 20 after the tire sensor 20 mounted on the tire 11 detects a state change given from the outside. A registration request is transmitted to the in-vehicle device 30.

  The acceleration sensor 27 provided in the tire sensor 20 detects a state change (shock as a specific example) given to the tire 11 from the outside by a tire position registration subject or the like, and then controls the occurrence of this state change. 25.

  Then, the control unit 25 sends a position registration request including tire sensor ID information, which is a unique identification code registered in advance in the tire sensor 20 and held in the storage unit 26, via the transmission unit 22 and the transmission antenna 21. It transmits to the vehicle equipment 30. The tire sensor ID information is a code for individually identifying the tire sensor 20, and a unique number is registered in the storage unit 26 in advance by the position registration subject or the manufacturer of the tire sensor 20. It is.

  In the present invention, since it is not necessary for the position registration subject to read out the value of the tire sensor ID information itself, it is necessary to know the value, and the tire sensor ID information is read out from the tire sensor 20 using special equipment or the like. There is no need.

  Next, in the fourth step of the tire position registration mode, the in-vehicle device 30 receives the tire sensor ID information received by the in-vehicle device 30 based on the state change obtained as a result of following the “predetermined procedure”, and the in-vehicle device 30. Is stored in association with tire position information previously assigned to identify the tire position.

  Here, the “tire position information” is information given in advance by the in-vehicle device 30 to identify the tire position of the vehicle. For example, the first and second numbers are sequentially assigned to the tires 11a to 11d. Those assigned as No. 3, No. 4, and those assigned as A, B, C, and D in order. Since the tire sensor ID information is received by the in-vehicle device 30 through a “predetermined procedure”, for example, the tire sensor ID information is registered in the in-vehicle device storage unit 34 in association with the tire position information given in order. In the above example, the tire position information is determined in advance in a predetermined order. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The tire on the right side of the front wheel is simply “1” and the tire on the left side of the front wheel is “2”. Information such as a number may be given to the position.

  For example, when a state change (impact) is given from the outside in the order of the tires 11a to 11d in FIG. 1, the transmission sequence of the position registration request from each tire sensor 20 is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the state change given to each tire 11a-11d from the outside is shown as state change 1-5.

  As shown in FIG. 3, each time the in-vehicle device 30 receives a position registration request from each tire sensor 20, the in-vehicle device storage unit 34 associates the tire sensor ID information included in the position registration request with the tire position information. Store. Furthermore, every time the vehicle-mounted device 30 receives a position registration request, the vehicle-mounted device 30 transmits a position registration response including at least tire sensor ID information and tire position information to the tire sensor 20 via the vehicle-mounted device transmission antenna 31. In addition, even if the tire condition monitoring device has a configuration in which when the in-vehicle device 30 can receive a position registration request from a predetermined tire sensor 20, a notification is made to the subject of tire position registration by voice or the like. good. Thereby, the subject of tire registration can grasp whether or not a state change such as an impact may be applied to the next tire 11 in a predetermined order, and the in-vehicle device 30 can receive a position registration request from the tire sensor 20. In the case where there is not, it is possible to prompt the subject to perform an operation for changing the state of the same tire such as an impact once again.

  If you want to send a position registration request by changing the number of impacts applied instead of the order of impact, for example, one impact is the front right tire, two consecutive impacts are the right rear tire, and three consecutive impacts are the left The rear tire has four consecutive impacts, such as the right front tire, and the in-vehicle device 30 indicates in advance a work instruction that associates the tire position with the number of impacts. The number of consecutive impacts obtained by the tire sensor 20 and the tire sensor By transmitting the ID information included in the position registration request from the tire sensor 20 to the vehicle-mounted device 30, the vehicle-mounted device 30 is not in the order in which the position registration requests are transmitted, but the number of impacts and tire position information included in the position registration request. Are stored in the in-vehicle device storage unit 34.

  When the offset time information is registered in the in-vehicle device 30 in advance, the in-vehicle device 30 transmits a position registration response including the offset time information together with the tire sensor ID information and the tire position information to the tire sensor 20. You may do it. Each tire sensor 20 can derive the timing for transmitting the tire condition information to the in-vehicle device 30 based on the tire position information, and the tire condition information from the plurality of tire sensors 20 is transmitted to the in-vehicle device 30 at the same timing. Can be prevented. Furthermore, if vehicle-mounted device ID information for identifying the vehicle-mounted device 30 from other vehicle-mounted devices is given to the vehicle-mounted device 30, even if a position registration response including the vehicle-mounted device ID information is transmitted to the tire sensor 20. good. Thereby, in the case of a tire condition monitoring device using a plurality of vehicle-mounted devices, the tire sensor 20 is paired when performing tire position registration based on the vehicle-mounted device ID information included in the position registration response. It becomes possible to respond only to the signal from 30, and it is possible to prevent the tire sensor 20 from malfunctioning due to a signal from another in-vehicle device.

  All the tire sensors 20 receive this position registration response, but the tire sensors 20 that have not transmitted the position registration request immediately before discard the received position registration response. Furthermore, when the tire sensor ID information included in the received position registration response matches the tire sensor ID information of the tire sensor 20, the tire sensor 20 receives this signal as a response to the transmitted position registration request. The tire sensor 20 stores tire position information included in the received position registration response in the storage unit 26. At this time, if the position registration response includes offset time information and in-vehicle device ID information, these information may be taken out and stored in the storage unit 26 in the same manner.

  In accordance with a “predetermined procedure” determined in advance, the tire sensors 20a to 20d of the tires 11a to 11d are subjected to a state change from the outside, and as shown in FIG. 3, tire sensor ID information, tire position information, and Can be registered in the in-vehicle device 30 and each tire sensor 20 can acquire its own tire position information.

  In addition, you may provide the structure which notifies the completion | finish of the tire position registration mode to the tire condition monitoring apparatus of this invention. Thereby, even when the tire condition monitoring apparatus does not recognize the number of tires of the vehicle in advance, it is possible to prompt the tire condition monitoring apparatus to end the tire position registration mode. An example is shown using FIG.

  In FIG. 3, when the tire position registration subject completes the position registration of all the tire sensors (after completing the task of applying a state change such as impact from the outside to all the tires in a predetermined procedure), the registration completion is carried on the vehicle. In order to notify the machine 30, a state change such as an impact is applied from the outside to any of the already registered tires (11a to 11d). The in-vehicle device 30 can recognize again that a position registration request is transmitted from the same tire sensor 20 by checking the tire sensor ID information stored in the in-vehicle device storage unit 34. If a position registration request is made again from the same tire sensor 20, the in-vehicle device 30 recognizes that the signal means that the tire position registration mode ends (position registration end request). The end of the tire position registration mode can be recognized by the tire condition monitoring device without preparing a new circuit or sensor. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, a location registration end request can be instructed via the user interface provided in the in-vehicle device 30 or the in-vehicle LAN.

  When the tire sensor 20 is instructed to end the position registration, if the number of tires of the vehicle is set in advance in the tire condition monitoring device, it is compared with the number of tire sensors 20 that have registered the tire position. It is possible to notify the tire position registration failure to 30. A warning can be similarly notified also when the tire position registration more than the number of registered tires is performed.

  The in-vehicle device 30 transmits a position registration end response to all the tire sensors 20 when receiving a position registration request from all the tire sensors through a predetermined procedure. Each tire sensor 20 may recognize that the tire position registration mode has been completed by receiving this position registration end response, and perform operations such as stopping the function of the acceleration sensor 27 in the sense of reducing power consumption. . Further, when the in-vehicle device 30 receives a position registration end request as shown in FIG. 4, an instruction to end position registration may be transmitted to all tire sensors 20 after receiving the request.

  In the in-vehicle device 30, when a long-time timer is started and the tire position registration mode is continued for a certain time or longer (for example, when the in-vehicle device 30 cannot receive a position registration end request for a long time). Further, it may be determined that the end work of the tire position registration mode is forgotten and the position registration end is automatically transmitted to all tire sensors.

  When the tire sensor 20 receives the position registration completion, the tire sensor 20 is connected to the control unit 25 to monitor the tire condition (for example, a pneumatic sensor, a temperature sensor, an acceleration sensor 27, etc.) Temperature, acceleration, and the like can be transmitted to the in-vehicle device 30. A mode in which the state of the tire is detected and transmitted to the in-vehicle device 30 is referred to as a “tire monitoring mode”. Hereinafter, the tire monitoring mode possessed by the tire condition monitoring device will be specifically described.

  In the tire monitoring mode, the in-vehicle device 30 transmits the tire condition information transmission request to the tire sensor 20, and the tire sensor 20 that has received the tire condition information transmission request receives the tire condition information including the measured tire condition. The second step of transmitting to the machine 30 and the vehicle-mounted machine 30 that has received the tire condition information derives the tire position based on the reception timing of the tire condition information, so that the position of each tire 11a to 11d and the tire condition information And a third step of recognizing them in correspondence. In addition, when tire state information is abnormal, the vehicle equipment 30 may be provided with the function to issue a warning.

  In the second step of the tire monitoring mode, tire sensor ID information may be included in the tire condition information. Accordingly, in the third step of the tire monitoring mode, the in-vehicle device 30 can associate the position of each tire with the tire condition information based on the tire sensor ID information included in the received tire condition information.

  This operation will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the in-vehicle device 30 recognizes the measurement time of the tire condition at a timing as necessary, for example, at regular intervals, and transmits a tire condition information transmission request to all the tire sensors 20. This request is not for a specific tire but sent all at once. Each tire sensor 20 that has received the tire condition information transmission request calculates the transmission timing of the tire condition information based on the value of the tire position information stored in the storage unit 26 itself. Specifically, a delay time (a to d in FIG. 5) from the timing at which the tire condition information transmission request is received until the tire condition information is transmitted is calculated based on the value of the tire position information. For example, when the tire position information is “1”, the delay time is 1 second, and when the tire position information is “2”, the delay time is 2 seconds. The delay time may be derived by multiplying by a constant time. After receiving the tire condition information transmission request, after the delay time derived based on the tire position information has elapsed, the in-vehicle apparatus transmits the tire condition information including at least the tire condition (for example, temperature, air pressure, etc.) and tire sensor ID information. 30. Furthermore, you may include vehicle equipment ID information in tire state information. Accordingly, when an in-vehicle device other than the in-vehicle device 30 paired in the tire position registration mode receives the tire state information of the tire sensor 20, the tire state monitoring device can be prevented from erroneously recognizing the tire state.

  Furthermore, when the tire sensor 20 has acquired the offset time information from the position registration response information, the offset time information may be used in the calculation of the delay time. Specifically, the delay time may be derived by adding offset time information to a value obtained using tire position information. Thereby, the user of the tire condition monitoring device can easily adjust the delay time by presetting the offset time information.

  The delay times a to d in FIG. 5 indicate the relationship of the delay times of the tire condition information. In order for the in-vehicle device 30 to reliably receive and process the tire condition information, the tire conditions are received from the tire sensors 20a to 20d. It is possible to reliably shift the timing at which information is transmitted.

  The time interval at which each of the tire sensors 20a to 20d transmits the tire condition information is a value that is equal to or greater than the total time of the transmission time of the tire condition information and the time at which the in-vehicle device 30 that has received the tire condition information processes it. It is well set in view of the processing performance of the in-vehicle device 30.

  In general, the tire position information takes a value of 1 to N (N is the number of tires), and the total time of the transmission time of the tire state information and the time for the in-vehicle device 30 to process it has a margin time. If the total time is 100 milliseconds, the delay time may be calculated by the equation: delay time = 100 milliseconds × (N−1) + offset time.

  Here, the offset time is used. In the case of a large trailer vehicle as shown in FIG. 6, it is composed of a tractor 40 to be pulled and a trailer 41 to be pulled, and this combination frequently changes. And the combination of the number of wheels which each has increases very much, and when it sees from the tractor 40 side, the number of wheels of the trailer 41 is not constant. In view of this, a configuration is conceivable in which an in-vehicle device for monitoring the tire condition is mounted on each of the tractor 40 and the trailer 41, the tire condition is separately monitored, and only the monitored tire condition is displayed on the cab. The tractor 40 may travel alone, and the trailer 41 may be inspected alone. Therefore, a tire condition monitoring system is installed separately for the tractor 40 and the trailer 41 in this way, and a system for exchanging information between the two tire condition monitoring devices is realized, so that the tire condition monitoring with high work efficiency is achieved. A system can be realized.

  When the vehicle equipment 30 is mounted on each of the tractor 40 and the trailer 41, the tire position information provided by the vehicle equipment 30 of each of the tractor and the trailer has the same value (1 to 6 in the example of FIG. 6). It is assumed that In such a case, there is a possibility that the transmission times of the tire state information overlap between the tractor 40 side and the trailer 41 side. In order to avoid this, by setting the offset time of the in-vehicle device 30 of the trailer 41, it is possible to prevent the transmission times of the tractor 40 and the trailer 41 from overlapping each other.

  On the other hand, the tire condition monitoring device is mounted only on the tractor 40 side, the information on the tire sensor is relayed on the trailer 41 side, and the information is exchanged with the tire condition monitoring device on the tractor 40 side (for convenience, It is also possible to adopt a system equipped with only (not shown). Thereby, the system which can monitor the tire state by the side of the trailer 41 at low cost is realizable.

  In the present invention, the timing at which each tire sensor 20 measures the tire condition using various sensors that detect the tire condition is not limited, but each tire sensor 20 receives each tire condition information transmission request at the timing at which each tire sensor 20 receives the tire condition information transmission request. It is good also as a structure which measures the state of a tire. Thereby, the latest tire state information can be measured for all tires at the same timing.

  When receiving the tire condition information from each tire sensor 20, the in-vehicle device 30 reads the tire sensor ID information included in the information, and stores the tire ID information and the tire position information stored in the in-vehicle device storage unit 34 at the time of tire position registration. Based on the relationship, it is determined at which position the tire state information is the tire state information.

  Thus, the vehicle equipment 30 can collect tire state information for each tire without interference. And since the tire condition monitoring device of the present invention can sequentially transmit the tire condition of each tire to a driver or the like, if the tire condition is abnormal (for example, if the temperature is detected by the tire sensor as the tire condition) If the temperature is in the abnormal temperature range), it is possible to recognize which tire is abnormal and how abnormal.

  Further, when the vehicle conditioner ID information is included in the tire condition information, the tire condition information transmitted from the tire sensor 20 is a signal from the tire sensor 20 whose tire position is registered in the vehicle conditioner 30. Therefore, even if the vehicle is adjacent to another vehicle, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of interference. In addition, after tire replacement, even if you forget to register the tire position, it can be determined that the tire condition information has not been collected correctly, so it is possible to notify the driver, etc., of a warning prompting the tire position registration, It is possible to provide a highly safe system.

  Thus, if the tire position registration mode of the present invention is used, tire position information, which is a calculation parameter value of the transmission timing of tire state information, can be acquired on the tire sensor 20 side at the time of tire position registration. Even on the program of the tire sensor 20, data transmission can be performed without the transmission timing from each tire sensor 20 colliding.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the vehicle-mounted device 30 transmits tire condition information transmission requests to all the tire sensors 20 at the same time, for example, at regular intervals. It is also possible to specify specific tire sensor ID information and acquire tire state information only from the specific tire sensor 20. That is, the tire sensor 20 that has received the tire condition information transmission request compares it with the tire sensor ID value stored in the storage unit 26, and only the tire sensor 20 with the matching value transmits the tire condition information to the in-vehicle device 30. To send to. Similarly, tire state information can be acquired only from a specific tire sensor 20 by transmitting tire position information to be designated in a tire state information transmission request. That is, the tire sensor 20 that has received the tire condition information transmission request compares it with the tire position information stored in the storage unit 26, and only the tire sensor 20 with the matching value transmits the tire condition information to the in-vehicle device 30. To send.

  Since the tire sensor 20 is installed in the tire 11, the operation environment is severe. In general, the radio wave transmitted from the tire sensor 20 is operated by a battery mounted on the tire sensor 20. For this reason, it is necessary to periodically perform a failure check and a battery presence check from the outside. Therefore, in the tire condition monitoring device of the present invention, if the tire condition information is not received from the tire sensor 20 after the in-vehicle device 30 transmits the tire condition information transmission request, the tire sensor 20 recognizes that there is some failure or malfunction. The tire sensor ID information and the tire position information of the tire sensor 20 that does not transmit the tire condition information can be used to notify a driver or the like which tire sensor of the tire is likely to fail.

(Embodiment 2)
Embodiment 2 according to the present invention will be described below. In addition, description of the site | part which overlaps with the structure of Embodiment 1 by the structure of Embodiment 2 is omitted.

  The tire condition monitoring device according to the second embodiment of the present invention is mounted on the tire 11, the tire sensor 20 that measures the tire condition, and the vehicle-mounted device 30 that receives the tire condition information related to the tire condition transmitted from the tire sensor 20. And have. And the tire condition monitoring apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 WHEREIN: The tire position information which the vehicle equipment 30 provides in order to identify the tire position with which the tire sensor 20 is mounted | worn, the tire sensor ID information which the tire sensor 20 has, Tire position registration mode for storing the information in association with each other.

  The tire position registration mode includes a first step of transmitting a position registration start signal from the vehicle-mounted device 30 to the tire sensor 20, a second step of transmitting a tire designation signal for designating the tire 11 to be subjected to a state change next, and The third step of applying a state change to the tire 11 designated by the tire designation signal from the outside, and the tire sensor 20 mounted on the tire 11 designated by the tire designation signal, after detecting the state change, A fourth step of transmitting a position registration request including tire sensor ID information held by the vehicle-mounted device 30, and the vehicle-mounted device 30 includes the tire sensor ID information received by the vehicle-mounted device 30 and the tire position corresponding to the tire designation signal And a fifth step of storing the information in association with each other.

  A major difference from the tire condition monitoring apparatus of the first embodiment is that a tire designation signal that designates the tire 11 to which a condition change is to be applied next is transmitted. In FIG. 3, the step in which the in-vehicle device 30 transmits a position registration start signal to each of the tire sensors 20a to 20d is the same as that of the tire condition monitoring device of the first embodiment. The difference is that a tire designation signal for designating whether or not to change the state is transmitted (not shown in FIG. 3). As the tire designation signal, an audio signal, an electric signal, etc. are assumed. In short, a subject to which a state change such as an impact is applied to the tire (for example, a subject of tire position registration or a pallet-shaped diaphragm in a factory production line). On the other hand, any tire can be designated as long as it can indicate the next state change. As a specific example, a factory production facility may transmit a tire designation signal as an electrical signal to a pallet-shaped diaphragm, or the in-vehicle device 30 may send a tire designation signal to the subject of tire position registration by buzzer or voice. (Voice transmission is also a form of “transmission”), and an existing car navigation device may transmit a tire designation signal to the subject of tire position registration using a voice output function. A tire designation signal may be transmitted to a mobile phone using a Bluetooth profile or the like.

  The subject of the tire position registration can change the state of the tire 11 designated by the tire designation signal, so that the in-vehicle device 30 can receive a position registration request from the predetermined tire sensor 20. The transmission sequence of the position registration request of the tire condition monitoring apparatus according to the second embodiment is as shown in FIG.

  When receiving the position registration request from each tire sensor 20, the in-vehicle device 30 registers the transmitted tire designation signal and the tire sensor ID information included in the position registration request in the in-vehicle device storage unit 34 in association with the tire position information.

  The operation after the on-vehicle device 30 receives the position registration request and transmits the position registration response to the tire sensor 20 as the response is the same as the method described in the first embodiment.

(Embodiment 3)
A third embodiment according to the invention will be described below. In addition, description of the site | part which overlaps with the structure of Embodiment 1 by the structure of Embodiment 3 is omitted.

  The tire condition monitoring apparatus according to the third embodiment includes a tire sensor 20 that is attached to the tire 11 and measures the tire condition, and an in-vehicle device 30 that receives tire condition information related to the tire condition transmitted from the tire sensor 20. doing. The tire condition monitoring apparatus according to the third embodiment associates the tire position information provided by the vehicle-mounted device 30 to identify the tire position where the tire sensor 20 is mounted, and the tire that requested the position registration. A tire position registration mode for storing is provided. In the tire position registration mode, a first step of transmitting a position registration start signal from the in-vehicle device 30 to the tire sensor 20, a second step of giving a state change to the tire 11 from the outside in a predetermined procedure, and mounting on the tire 11 After the tire sensor 20 that has been detected detects a change in state, a third step of transmitting a position registration request for acquiring tire sensor ID information to the vehicle-mounted device 30 and the vehicle-mounted device 30 received the position registration request. Then, the tire position information is transmitted to the tire sensor 20, and the tire having transmitted the position registration request and the tire position information provided are associated with each other and stored.

  A major difference between the tire condition monitoring apparatus according to the third embodiment and the tire condition monitoring apparatus according to the first embodiment is that tire sensor ID information is not registered in advance in the storage unit 26 of the tire sensor 20. Since it is not necessary to register tire sensor ID information in the tire sensor 20 in advance, the manufacturer of the tire sensor 20 can reduce the manufacturing cost of the tire sensor 20. Even if such an inexpensive tire sensor 20 is used, the tire condition monitoring apparatus according to the third embodiment can effectively perform tire position registration. Or if it is the tire condition monitoring apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3, even if it does not have identification information itself called tire sensor ID information, a tire condition monitoring is attained.

  In FIG. 3, the same operation is performed in the same procedure as in the first embodiment until each tire sensor 20 detects a change in state with the acceleration sensor 27.

  Thereafter, when the acceleration sensor 27 detects a change in the tire state, it notifies the control unit 25, and the control unit 25 uses the transmission unit 22 and the transmission antenna 21 to indicate no tire sensor ID information or no ID information registration. The position registration request with the signal inserted is transmitted to the in-vehicle device 30.

  For example, FIG. 3 shows a position registration request transmission sequence in the case where the state change given to the tire sensor 20 is given to the tires 11a to 11d in a predetermined order. Each time the in-vehicle device 30 receives a position registration request from each tire sensor 20, the in-vehicle device 30 checks the tire sensor ID information included in the position registration request, but the value or the identification that the value does not exist or is not registered. Recognize with a flag. And the vehicle equipment 30 will transmit the position registration response containing the tire position information to provide to the tire sensor 20, if the position registration request | requirement which does not have such tire sensor ID information is received. At this time, the in-vehicle device 30 stores the position registration request in the in-vehicle device storage unit 34 in association with the assigned tire position information. At this time, in order to give the tire sensor different tire sensor ID information for each tire generated by the vehicle-mounted device 30 itself, a position registration response including the tire sensor ID information to be given and the tire position information is transmitted to the tire sensor 20. May be. At this time, the in-vehicle device 30 stores the assigned tire sensor ID information in the in-vehicle device storage unit 34 in association with the tire position information. At this time, as described in the first embodiment, if the offset time or the in-vehicle device ID is given, it can also be included in the location registration response. Here, the tire sensor ID information provided by the vehicle-mounted device 30 itself is preferably information such as the vehicle-mounted device ID so that it can be easily distinguished from the tires of many vehicles even when the tire is removed from the vehicle. When the in-vehicle device ID is not assigned, the in-vehicle device 30 may generate and assign a random value.

  All the tire sensors 20 receive this position registration response transmitted by the vehicle-mounted device 30, but only the tire sensor 20 that has already transmitted the position registration request and is waiting for the response receives the position registration response as the position registration request. When the tire position information included in the position registration response and the assigned tire sensor ID information are included in the response, they are also taken out and stored in the storage unit 26 of the tire sensor.

  As shown in FIG. 3, by repeating this operation for each of the tire sensors 20a to 20d of the tires 11a to 11d according to a predetermined order determined in advance, all the tire position information and tires given to each tire sensor 20 When sensor ID information is included, the information can be registered in the vehicle-mounted device 30. And each tire sensor 20 can also acquire the information when the provided tire position information and tire sensor ID information are included. It is assumed that the subject of tire position registration recognizes this predetermined order in advance from the instruction manual of the tire condition monitoring device.

  Also in the case of the present embodiment, when the position registration request is transmitted by changing the number of times of impact application, not the order of impact application, the same method as described in the first embodiment may be used. The registration request may be transmitted including the number of continuous impacts obtained by the tire sensor.

  The position registration end process after the position registration of all tire sensors is completed and the tire condition monitoring method are executed by the same method as the method described in the first embodiment.

  As a result, even when each tire sensor 20 does not have tire sensor ID information, tire position registration and tire condition monitoring are performed without delay by the method of the present invention.

  Also in the form described in the third embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the tire 11 to be subjected to the next state change may be designated by transmitting a tire designation signal. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably change the state of the tire 11 in a predetermined order, and to prevent the tire state monitoring device from erroneously recognizing the tire position.

  The tire condition monitoring device according to the present invention does not use special equipment in tire position registration work performed in various environments, for example, vehicle manufacturing processes, general maintenance factories or general maintenance scenes of users, and also requires more labor. It is possible to work easily without spending time. Therefore, the position of the tire can be registered very easily even for the inner and outer sides of the double tire of the truck and the rear wheel tire having a plurality of shafts.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle 11 (11a-11d) Tire 20 (20a-20d) Tire sensor 21 Transmission antenna 22 Transmission part 23 Reception antenna 24 Reception part 25 Control part 26 Memory | storage part 27 Acceleration sensor 30 In-vehicle apparatus 31 In-vehicle apparatus transmission antenna 32 In-vehicle apparatus reception Antenna 34 In-vehicle device storage unit 40 Tractor 41 Trailer

Claims (13)

A tire sensor mounted on the tire and measuring the tire condition;
In a tire condition monitoring device having an in-vehicle device that receives tire condition information related to the tire condition transmitted from the tire sensor,
The tire condition monitoring device associates and stores tire position information provided by the in-vehicle device and tire sensor ID information possessed by the tire sensor in order to identify a tire position where the tire sensor is mounted. It has a registration mode,
The tire position registration mode is:
A first step of transmitting a position registration start signal from the in-vehicle device to the tire sensor;
A second step of applying a state change from the outside to the tire in a predetermined procedure;
A third step of transmitting a position registration request including the tire sensor ID information held by the tire sensor to the in-vehicle device after the tire sensor mounted on the tire detects the state change;
The vehicle-mounted device includes a fourth step of transmitting the tire position information to the tire sensor after receiving the position registration request, and storing the tire sensor ID information and the tire position information in association with each other. Condition monitoring device. A tire sensor mounted on the tire and measuring the tire condition;
In a tire condition monitoring device having an in-vehicle device that receives tire condition information related to the tire condition transmitted from the tire sensor,
The tire condition monitoring device associates and stores tire position information provided by the in-vehicle device and tire sensor ID information possessed by the tire sensor in order to identify a tire position where the tire sensor is mounted. It has a registration mode,
The tire position registration mode is:
A first step of transmitting a position registration start signal from the in-vehicle device to the tire sensor;
A second step of transmitting a tire designation signal for designating a tire to which a state change is to be applied;
A third step of giving a state change to the tire designated by the tire designation signal from the outside;
The tire sensor mounted on the tire designated by the tire designation signal transmits a position registration request including the tire sensor ID information held by the tire sensor to the in-vehicle device after detecting the state change. And a fourth step
The vehicle-mounted device includes a fifth step of transmitting the tire position information to the tire sensor after receiving the position registration request, and storing the tire sensor ID information and the tire position information in association with each other. Condition monitoring device. A tire sensor mounted on the tire and measuring the tire condition;
In a tire condition monitoring device having an in-vehicle device that receives tire condition information related to the tire condition transmitted from the tire sensor,
The tire condition monitoring device includes a tire position registration mode for storing tire position information that the in-vehicle device gives to a tire sensor in order to identify a tire position where the tire sensor is mounted,
The tire position registration mode is:
A first step of transmitting a position registration start signal from the in-vehicle device to the tire sensor;
A second step of applying a state change from the outside to the tire in a predetermined procedure;
A third step of transmitting a position registration request for acquiring the tire position information to the in-vehicle device after the tire sensor mounted on the tire detects the state change;
After receiving the position registration request, the in-vehicle device transmits the tire position information to the tire sensor, and stores the tire that has transmitted the position registration request in association with the tire position information. A tire condition monitoring device. A tire sensor mounted on the tire and measuring the tire condition;
In a tire condition monitoring device having an in-vehicle device that receives tire condition information related to the tire condition transmitted from the tire sensor,
The tire condition monitoring device includes a tire position registration mode for storing tire position information that the in-vehicle device gives to a tire sensor in order to identify a tire position where the tire sensor is mounted,
The tire position registration mode is:
A first step of transmitting a position registration start signal from the in-vehicle device to the tire sensor;
A second step of transmitting a tire designation signal for designating a tire that gives a state change;
A third step of giving a state change to the tire designated by the tire designation signal from the outside;
The tire sensor attached to the tire designated by the tire designation signal transmits a position registration request for acquiring the tire position information to the in-vehicle device after detecting the state change. When,
After receiving the position registration request, the in-vehicle device transmits the tire position information to the tire sensor, and stores the tire that has transmitted the position registration request and the tire position information in association with each other. A tire condition monitoring device. The tire condition monitoring device has a tire monitoring mode,
The tire monitoring mode is
A first step in which the in-vehicle device transmits a tire condition information transmission request to the tire sensor;
The tire sensor that has received the tire condition information transmission request transmits a tire condition information including the measured tire condition and the tire sensor ID information to the in-vehicle device;
A third step in which the vehicle-mounted device that has received the tire condition information recognizes the position of each tire and the tire condition information in association with each other based on the tire sensor ID information included in the received tire condition information;
The tire condition monitoring device according to claim 1, comprising: The tire condition monitoring device has a tire monitoring mode,
The tire monitoring mode is
A first step in which the in-vehicle device transmits a tire condition information transmission request to the tire sensor;
The tire sensor that has received the tire condition information transmission request transmits the tire condition information to the in-vehicle device at a transmission timing derived based on the tire position information that is held;
A third step in which the in-vehicle device that has received the tire condition information derives the position of the tire based on the timing at which the tire condition information is received, and recognizes the tire condition information in association with the tire condition information;
The tire condition monitoring device according to claim 3, comprising: The tire condition monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the number of tires equipped in a vehicle can be set in advance. The tire condition monitoring device according to claim 5 and 6, wherein offset time information can be set in advance. The tire condition monitoring device according to claim 5, wherein when the tire sensor receives the tire condition information transmission request, the tire sensor transmits the tire condition information at a transmission timing derived based on the tire position information held. The location registration response includes offset time information,
The tire sensor holds the offset time information,
The tire condition monitoring device according to claim 6 and 9, wherein the tire sensor derives the transmission timing based on the offset time information and the tire position information. The tire condition information transmission request includes the tire sensor ID information,
The tire sensor that has received the tire condition information transmission request transmits the tire condition information to the in-vehicle device when the tire sensor ID information included in the signal matches its own tire sensor ID information. The tire condition monitoring device described in 1. The tire condition information transmission request includes the tire position information,
The tire sensor that has received the tire condition information transmission request transmits the tire condition information to the in-vehicle device when the tire position information included in the signal matches its own tire position information. Item 7. The tire condition monitoring device according to Item 6. After the in-vehicle device transmits the tire condition information transmission request, when a response from the tire sensor cannot be received,
The tire condition monitoring device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the in-vehicle device determines that the tire sensor has failed and gives a warning.

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