JP2016088162A - Wheel position detection device and tire air pressure monitoring system having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect that a wheel which is attached with a transmitter is mounted to which position of a vehicle without installing a trigger machine.SOLUTION: A wheel position detection device comprises an acceleration sensor 22 which can detect vibration at a transmitter 2 attached to each wheel. Then, after a start of a registration mode, vibration is sequentially imparted to each wheel in a prescribed order, and the ID information of a frame having vibration data in which the vibration becomes large is sequentially associated with the corresponding wheel, and registered. By this constitution, it can be detected that a wheel which is attached with the transmitter 2 is mounted to which position of a vehicle without installing a trigger machine.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a wheel position detection device having an automatic location function for automatically registering at which position of a vehicle a target wheel is mounted. In particular, the present invention is applied to a direct tire pressure monitoring system. Is preferred.

  Conventionally, there is a direct type as one of tire pressure monitoring systems (hereinafter referred to as TPMS: Tire Pressure Monitoring System). In this type of TPMS, a transmitter equipped with a sensor such as a pressure sensor is directly attached to a wheel side to which a tire is attached. In addition, an antenna and a receiver are provided on the vehicle side. When the detection result of the sensor is transmitted from the transmitter, the detection signal is received by the receiver via the antenna, and the tire air pressure is detected. Done.

  In such a direct TPMS, it is necessary to be able to determine whether the transmitted data is that of the own vehicle and which wheel the transmitter is attached to. For this reason, individual ID information (identification information) for discriminating whether the vehicle is a host vehicle or another vehicle and discriminating a wheel to which the transmitter is attached is individually given in the data transmitted by the transmitter. . And each time the tire is replaced with a studless tire, the ID information of each transmitter is registered in the receiver in association with the position of each wheel so that the wheel to which the transmitter is attached can be identified. Yes.

  This registration work is performed manually. For example, after the receiver is switched to the registration mode, the air pressure of the target wheel is rapidly reduced using a tool, and data including ID information is forcibly transmitted from the transmitter. This is done by performing such operations on all wheels. However, there is a problem that the registration work is complicated.

  On the other hand, in order to eliminate complicated registration work, a TPMS having an auto-location function that can automatically register ID information of a wheel to which a transmitter is attached has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). In this TPMS, when a trigger machine composed of a coil antenna for transmission is installed for each transmitter corresponding to each transmitter on the vehicle body side, when an LF band trigger signal is transmitted from the trigger machine to the transmitter, As a response to this, data including ID information is transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver. Thereby, the ID information of each transmitter is automatically registered in the receiver in association with the position of each wheel.

Japanese Patent No. 3952993

  However, since the trigger unit is required in addition to the transmitter and receiver as the basic configuration for realizing the auto-location function, the system configuration becomes complicated and the cost increases as the number of parts increases. There is.

  In view of the above points, the present invention includes a wheel position detection device capable of detecting at which position of a vehicle a wheel to which a transmitter is attached is mounted without providing a trigger device, and the same. The purpose is to provide a new TPMS.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 1, the transmitter (2) includes a vibration detector (22) that outputs a detection signal corresponding to the vibration of each of the four wheels (5a to 5d). The second control unit (33) provided in the receiver (3) determines that the wheel position detection registration mode start operation has been performed, and starts a registration mode start process for shifting to the registration mode. Means (S100, S105), and after the transition to the registration mode, the intention to start the registration operation was made by the user for each wheel to be registered, with the four wheels sequentially registered as one wheel. When the registration operation determination means (S125, S160) for determining the registration operation and the intention to start the registration operation are displayed, vibration is applied to the wheel to be registered, and when the vibration is applied and the vibration Given The identification number of the transmitter attached to the wheel to be registered is compared with the vibration data included in the frame transmitted from the transmitter when there is not, and the ID information included in the frame where the magnitude of vibration is changing And registration means (S150) for registering as a feature.

  Thus, the transmitter attached to each wheel is provided with a vibration detection unit that can detect vibration. Then, after starting the registration mode, each wheel is vibrated in a predetermined order, and the ID information of the frame having the vibration data in which the vibration has increased is registered in association with the corresponding wheel in order. Thereby, it is possible to detect at which position of the vehicle the wheel to which the transmitter is attached is mounted without providing a trigger machine.

  In the second aspect of the invention, the second control unit (33) provided in the receiver (3) determines that the registration operation for the wheel position detection has been started, and shifts to the registration mode. Registration processing by the user for each wheel to be registered, with the start processing means (S200, S205) for executing the registration mode start processing and the four wheels being registered one by one in order after shifting to the registration mode. This is transmitted from the registration operation determining means (S225, S260) for determining that the intention to start has been made, and from the transmitter provided on the wheel that performs registration when the intention to start the registration operation is displayed. Attenuates the transmission radio wave of the frame before it is transmitted to the receiver, and compares the RSSI value of the frame transmitted from the transmitter when the attenuation is performed and when the attenuation is not performed. R And registration means (S250) for registering ID information included in a frame whose SI value is changing as an identification number of a transmitter attached to a wheel to be registered. Yes.

  In this manner, the transmission radio wave from the transmitter attached to each wheel is attenuated, and the RSSI value when the frame is received by the receiver is changed. And the ID information of the frame whose RSSI value has changed is registered in association with the corresponding wheel in order. Thereby, the same effect as that of claim 1 can be obtained.

  In addition, the code | symbol in the bracket | parenthesis of each said means shows an example of a corresponding relationship with the specific means as described in embodiment mentioned later.

It is the figure which showed the whole structure of TPMS to which the wheel position detection apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention was applied. (A) is a block configuration of the transmitter 2, and (b) is a diagram illustrating a block configuration of the receiver 3. It is the flowchart which showed the detail of the wheel position detection process concerning 1st Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the detail of the wheel position detection process concerning 2nd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, parts that are the same or equivalent to each other will be described with the same reference numerals.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, TPMS to which the wheel position detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described. First, the overall configuration of the TPMS will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, the upward direction on the paper corresponds to the front of the vehicle 1, and the downward direction on the paper corresponds to the rear of the vehicle 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the TPMS is attached to a vehicle 1 and includes a transmitter 2, a receiver 3, and a display 4. In the present embodiment, a wheel position detection device is constituted by the transmitter 2 and the receiver 3 among them.

  The transmitter 2 is attached to each of the four wheels 5a to 5d in the vehicle 1 and detects the air pressure of the tire attached to each of the wheels 5a to 5d, and the detection signal data indicating the detection result is included in the frame. Is stored and transmitted. The receiver 3 is attached to the vehicle 1 side (the vehicle body 6 side). The receiver 3 receives a frame transmitted from the transmitter 2 and performs various processes based on detection signal data stored therein. The tire pressure is obtained by performing calculations and the like. 2A and 2B show block configurations of the transmitter 2 and the receiver 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the transmitter 2 includes a sensing unit 21, an acceleration sensor 22, a microcomputer 23, a transmission circuit 24, and a transmission antenna 25. The transmitter 2 operates by receiving power supply from a battery (not shown).

  The sensing unit 21 is a part that obtains information for tire pressure detection, and is configured to include, for example, a diaphragm type pressure sensor 21a and a temperature sensor 21b, depending on a detection signal corresponding to the tire pressure and a temperature in the tire. The detected signal is output. The acceleration sensor 22 is used for detecting vibrations of the wheels 5a to 5d to which the transmitter 2 is attached. Although the rotation detection of the wheels 5a to 5d and the vehicle speed detection can also be performed by the acceleration sensor 22, a case where it is used for vibration detection will be described here.

  The microcomputer 23 corresponds to a first control unit, and is configured by a known device including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O, and the like, and executes predetermined processing according to a program stored in the ROM or the like. In the ROM, individual ID information including ID information unique to the transmitter for identifying each transmitter 2 and ID information unique to the vehicle for identifying the host vehicle is stored.

  Specifically, the microcomputer 23 receives a detection signal related to tire air pressure from the sensing unit 21, processes the signal and processes it as necessary, and creates data indicating the detection result (hereinafter referred to as air pressure data). To do. Further, the microcomputer 23 receives the detection signal of the acceleration sensor 22, processes the signal and processes it as necessary, and creates data indicating the magnitude of vibration (hereinafter referred to as vibration data). The microcomputer 23 stores the air pressure data and the vibration data together with the ID information of each transmitter 2 in a frame to be transmitted, and then sends the frame to the transmission circuit 24. The process of sending a signal to the transmission circuit 24 is executed at predetermined intervals according to the program. Further, it can be transmitted when the magnitude of vibration detected by the acceleration sensor 22 is larger than a predetermined value.

  The transmission circuit 24 functions as an output unit that transmits a frame transmitted from the microcomputer 23 to the receiver 3 through the transmission / reception antenna 25. Although radio waves for RF transmission are used as radio waves for frame transmission, other radio waves such as those used in Bluetooth (registered trademark) can also be used.

  The transmission / reception antenna 25 is an antenna that transmits a frame transmitted from the transmission circuit 24 to the receiver 3 side as an RF radio wave.

  The transmitter 2 configured in this way is attached to an air injection valve in each of the wheels 5a to 5d, for example, and is arranged so that the sensing unit 21 is exposed inside the tire. Thereby, the tire air pressure and vibration of the wheels 5a to 5d to which the transmitters 2 are attached are detected, and frames are transmitted through the transmission / reception antenna 25 at predetermined intervals (for example, every minute). The frame is also transmitted from the transmitter 2 when a predetermined signal is detected by the acceleration sensor 22.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2B, the receiver 3 is configured to include a receiving antenna 31, a receiving circuit 32, and a microcomputer 33.

  The receiving antenna 31 is an antenna that receives a frame transmitted from the transmitter 2. The reception antenna 31 is a single common antenna that collectively receives frames transmitted from the plurality of transmitters 2, and is fixed to the vehicle body 6 as a built-in antenna of the receiver 3.

  The receiving circuit 32 functions as an input unit that receives a frame transmitted from each transmitter 2 by the receiving antenna 31 and sends it to the microcomputer 33.

  The microcomputer 33 corresponds to a second control unit, and is constituted by a well-known microcomputer having a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, and the like, and according to a program stored in the ROM or the like, wheel position detection processing and tire pressure are performed. Execute monitoring processing.

  Specifically, the microcomputer 33 uses a door opening / closing sensor (not shown) of the driver's seat to indicate the opening / closing state of the driver's seat door as an identification signal for determining the start of the wheel position registration mode and the switching of the registered wheel. A signal is input. Wheel position detection processing is performed using this door open signal.

  Here, the door opening signal of the door opening / closing sensor of the driver's seat is used as an identification signal for determining the start of the wheel position registration mode and the switching of the registered wheel, but other signals may be used. For example, these identification signals may be generated by the operation of the display 4 described later.

  Further, the microcomputer 33 obtains the tire air pressure by performing various signal processing and computations based on the air pressure data stored in the received frame, and based on the ID information stored in the frame, it calculates the wheel 5a. Specify which tire pressure is ˜5d. And the electric signal according to the calculated | required tire pressure is output to the indicator 4. FIG. For example, the microcomputer 33 compares the obtained tire air pressure with a predetermined threshold value Th, and outputs a signal to that effect to the display 4 when detecting that the tire air pressure has decreased. Thereby, the indicator 4 is informed that the tire pressure of any of the four wheels 5a to 5d has decreased.

  In addition, when the user performs an operation for starting the registration mode, the microcomputer 33 recognizes the operation, detects the wheel position based on the vibration data stored in the received frame, and determines the position of each wheel and the transmitter. 2 ID information is associated and registered. Thereby, even when tire replacement or the like is performed, it is possible to specify which of the four wheels 5a to 5d the detected air pressure is.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the display 4 is arranged at a place where the driver can visually recognize, and is configured by an alarm lamp installed in an instrument panel in the vehicle 1, for example. For example, when a signal indicating that the tire air pressure has decreased is sent from the microcomputer 33 in the receiver 3, the display device 4 notifies the driver of the decrease in tire air pressure by displaying that effect.

  As described above, the TPMS to which the wheel position detection device in the present embodiment is applied is configured.

  Next, the operation of the TPMS of this embodiment will be described. Hereinafter, although the operation of the TPMS will be described, the description will be divided into wheel position detection and tire air pressure detection performed by the TPMS.

  First, wheel position detection will be described. At the time of wheel position detection, wheel position detection processing is executed in accordance with a program stored in the microcomputer 33. Specifically, the wheel position detection processing is executed in the receiver 3 after, for example, an ignition switch (hereinafter referred to as IG) (not shown) is switched from OFF to ON and the microcomputer 33 is turned on. The When the microcomputer 33 receives the identification signal indicating the start of the wheel position registration mode, the wheel position detection is started based on the identification signal. Further, the microcomputer 33 sequentially registers the ID information of the transmitter 2 in association with the position of the wheel while switching the wheel to be registered each time an identification signal indicating that the wheel to be registered is switched is received. The wheel position to which each transmitter 2 is attached is specified. Specifically, the microcomputer 33 executes a wheel position detection process shown in FIG.

  First, when the IG is turned on and the microcomputer 33 is turned on, it is determined in step 100 whether or not an identification signal indicating that wheel position detection is started is input. In the case of this embodiment, the driver's seat door is opened twice within a predetermined time (for example, several seconds such as 5 seconds) after the IG is turned on, that is, the driver's seat door is opened from the closed state, and then closed again. Opening of the wheel position is the starting operation of the wheel position registration mode. For this reason, when it is recognized that the driver's seat door has been opened twice during a predetermined period after the IG is turned on based on the door opening signal of the driver's door opening / closing sensor, an affirmative determination is made in step 100 and the recognition is made. If not, a negative determination is made.

  Next, in step 105, registration mode start processing is performed. That is, it shifts to the registration mode and enters a preparation state for registering the ID information of each wheel in order.

  Then, it progresses to step 110 and it is determined whether the driver's seat door was closed. If an affirmative determination is made here, it is determined that there has been an intention to start the registration operation by the user. The operation of closing the driver's seat door is adopted as an example of an operation performed as an intention to start the registration operation by the user, but may be replaced with another operation. If an affirmative determination is made in step 110, the process proceeds to step 115. After confirming the number of wheels whose ID information is already registered, the process proceeds to step 120, and the acceleration included in the frame transmitted for each ID is determined. Check the initial value. At this time, for example, it is possible to make the user recognize the number of wheels currently registered by listening to the number of wheels whose ID information is already registered and the horn. If a negative determination is made in step 110, this step is repeated until the driver's seat door is closed.

  Then, it progresses to step 125 and it is determined whether the driver's seat door was opened. If an affirmative determination is made here, it is determined that there is an intention to start the registration operation for the first wheel by the user, and the ID information registration operation for the first wheel is performed.

  Here, in the case of this embodiment, when performing ID registration, the acceleration sensor 22 attached to the transmitter 2 of each wheel according to the order so that ID information of each wheel is registered in a predetermined order. Give vibration to the. In the present embodiment, the order of registration of ID information is the order of the right front wheel FR, the left front wheel FL, the right rear wheel RR, and the left rear wheel RL, and the acceleration sensor 22 is vibrated in that order. Thereby, the magnitude of vibration detected by the acceleration sensor 22 changes in that order. Using this, the ID information of each wheel is registered in order.

  Specifically, first, when the user gives an impact to the right front wheel FR to be registered, a large vibration is detected by the acceleration 22 of the transmitter 2 attached to the right front wheel FR. 2 indicates that a large vibration is detected in the vibration data stored in the frame transmitted from 2. Accordingly, in step 130, the frame is received and the magnitude of vibration indicated by the vibration data stored in the received frame is confirmed. Furthermore, in step 135, it is determined whether or not an operation indicating that the user has completed the application of the impact to the first wheel, in this case, an operation of closing the driver's seat door, is performed, and this step is performed until an affirmative determination is made. repeat.

  If an affirmative determination is made in step 135, the process proceeds to step 140, frame reception is performed again, and the magnitude of vibration indicated by the vibration data stored in each frame in the absence of vibration is confirmed. It is determined whether or not there is a change in the magnitude of vibration. That is, the vibration magnitudes confirmed in steps 130 and 140 are compared between frames having the same ID information, and if the vibration magnitude difference exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the vibration magnitude changes. It is determined that there was.

  In this case, since the shock is applied to the right front wheel FR, the magnitude of vibration detected by the acceleration sensor 22 of the transmitter 2 attached to the right front wheel FR is changed. Therefore, the process proceeds to step 150, where the wheel position information is registered if the ID information of the frame storing the vibration data whose magnitude of vibration has changed this time is that of the right front wheel FR. At this time, if the answering of the completion of the wheel position information registration for the first wheel is performed by, for example, listening to the horn, the user can recognize it.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 155, where it is determined whether or not the user has performed an intention operation to end the registration mode, for example, whether or not the IG switch has been turned off. If only the first wheel ID information has been registered, a negative determination will be made in step 155, so that the process proceeds to step 160, where the intention to start the registration operation for the second wheel is displayed as in step 125. It is determined whether the driver's seat door has been opened. If a positive determination is made here, the routine proceeds to step 130 again.

  Then, when the user gives an impact to the left front wheel FL to be registered next, a large vibration is detected by the acceleration 22 of the transmitter 2 attached to the left front wheel FL, and based on this, the transmitter 2 is detected. It is shown that a large vibration is detected in the vibration data stored in the frame transmitted from. Therefore, in steps 130 to 140, the same process as described above is performed as the registration of the second wheel. When it is determined in step 145 that there has been a change in the magnitude of vibration, in step 150, the wheel position information indicates that the ID information of the frame storing the vibration data in which the change has occurred is that of the left front wheel FL. Register.

  Thereafter, after the operations of steps 155 and 160 are repeated, the processing of steps 130 to 150 is repeated for the right rear wheel RR and the left rear wheel RL to be registered in order, and the ID information for all four wheels is updated. Complete registration. Then, if the user performs an intention operation to end the registration mode by turning off the IG, an affirmative determination is made in step 155, so the process proceeds to step 165 and the registration mode end processing is performed to end the wheel position detection. To do.

  In this way, the transmitters 2 of all four wheels 5a to 5d can be specified, and wheel position detection can be performed to specify which of the wheels 5a to 5d each transmitter 2 is attached to. .

  When wheel position detection is performed in this manner, frames for four wheels are received by the receiver 3 each time a frame is transmitted from each transmitter 2 at regular intervals. Based on the ID information stored in each frame, the transmitter 2 attached to the wheels 5a to 5d is identified as the frame sent from the frame, and the information on the tire pressure is used to determine the wheels 5a to 5d. It becomes possible to detect the tire pressure.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the transmitter 2 attached to each wheel includes the acceleration sensor 22 that can detect vibration. Then, after starting the registration mode, each wheel is vibrated in a predetermined order, and the ID information of the frame having the vibration data in which the vibration has increased is registered in association with the corresponding wheel in order. Thereby, it is possible to detect at which position of the vehicle the wheel to which the transmitter 2 is attached is mounted without providing a trigger machine.

  In addition, when registering ID information in this way, the user needs to make an impact on the wheel, but it is not necessary to rapidly reduce the air pressure of the target wheel using a tool. It is possible to simplify the registration work as compared with the conventional registration method.

(Second Embodiment)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, the ID information registration method is changed with respect to the first embodiment, and the others are the same as those in the first embodiment. Therefore, only different portions from the first embodiment will be described.

  In the first embodiment, the transmitter 2 includes the acceleration sensor 22 capable of detecting vibration, and the ID information is registered in the order of the wheels in which the vibration is changed by giving an impact to the wheels 5a to 5d in the registration mode. . On the other hand, in this embodiment, a change in RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) value when a frame is transmitted is examined, and ID information is registered in the order of the wheel in which the RSSI value has changed.

  Specifically, the ID information is registered by executing the wheel position detection process shown in FIG. First, also in the present embodiment, in steps 200 to 225 in FIG. 4, processing similar to that in steps 100 to 125 in FIG. 3 described in the first embodiment is performed. Then, the process proceeds to Step 230.

  Here, in the case of this embodiment, when performing ID registration, the transmitter 2 of each wheel is shielded according to the order so that the ID information of each wheel is registered in a predetermined order. The RSSI value in the receiver 2 of the frame transmitted from 2 is changed. Also in this embodiment, the order of registration of ID information is the order of the right front wheel FR, the left front wheel FL, the right rear wheel RR, and the left rear wheel RL, and the transmitters 2 are shielded in that order. Thereby, the RSSI value of the frame received by the receiver 3 changes in that order. Using this, the ID information of each wheel is registered in order.

  Here, shielding the transmitter 2 means that the transmission radio wave (RF radio wave) from the transmitter 2 is attenuated so that the signal intensity is weakened before it is transmitted to the receiver 3. About the transmitter 2, since it is arrange | positioned in the tire in wheels 5a-5d, it is difficult to cover the signal apparatus 2 itself, but the shielding member which shields an electromagnetic wave between each wheel 5a-5d and the receiver 3 By arranging, the signal intensity of the RF radio wave can be weakened.

  Specifically, first, when the user shields the transmitter 2 of the right front wheel FR to be registered, the RF radio wave used for frame transmission of the transmitter 2 attached to the right front wheel FR is attenuated and received. It is reported to machine 3. Therefore, in step 230, the RSSI value when the frame is received is confirmed. Further, in step 235, it is determined whether or not an operation indicating that the user has completed the shielding of the transmitter 1 of the first wheel, that is, an operation of closing the driver's seat door, is performed, and this operation is performed until an affirmative determination is made. Repeat steps.

  Then, if an affirmative determination is made in step 235, the process proceeds to step 240, the frame is received again, and after confirming the RSSI value when each frame is received in the state where the shielding is not performed, the process proceeds to step 245 and the RSSI value It is determined whether or not there is a change in the size of. That is, the RSSI values confirmed in steps 230 and 240 are compared between frames having the same ID information, and if the difference in RSSI values exceeds a predetermined threshold, the RSSI value increases. It is determined that there has been a change in height.

  In this case, since the transmitter 2 is shielded with respect to the right front wheel FR, there is a change in the RSSI value of the frame transmitted from the transmitter 2 attached to the right front wheel FR. Accordingly, the process proceeds to step 250, where the wheel position information is registered if the ID information of the frame whose current RSSI value has changed is that of the right front wheel FR. At this time, if the answering of the completion of the wheel position information registration for the first wheel is performed by, for example, listening to the horn, the user can recognize it.

  Thereafter, in steps 255 and 260, the same processing as in steps 155 and 160 in FIG. 3 of the first embodiment is performed. When an affirmative determination is made in step 260, the process proceeds to step 230 again.

  Then, the RF wave used for frame transmission of the transmitter 2 attached to the left front wheel FL is attenuated by the user shielding the transmitter 2 of the left front wheel FL to be registered next time. 3 Therefore, the same processing as described above is performed as registration of the second wheel in steps 230 to 240. When it is determined in step 245 that the RSSI value has changed, wheel position information is registered in step 250 if the ID information of the changed frame is that of the left front wheel FL.

  Thereafter, after repeating the operations of Steps 255 and 260, the processing of Steps 230 to 250 is repeated for the right rear wheel RR and the left rear wheel RL to be registered in order, and the ID information for all four wheels is updated. Complete registration. Then, when the user performs an intention operation to end the registration mode by turning off the IG, an affirmative determination is made in step 255. Therefore, the process proceeds to step 265 and the registration mode end processing is performed to end the wheel position detection. To do.

  In this way, the transmitters 2 of all four wheels 5a to 5d can be specified, and wheel position detection can be performed to specify which of the wheels 5a to 5d each transmitter 2 is attached to. .

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the RSSI value when the frame is received by the receiver 3 is changed by shielding the transmitter 2 attached to each wheel. And the ID information of the frame whose RSSI value has changed is registered in association with the corresponding wheel in order. Thereby, the effect similar to 1st Embodiment can be acquired.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and can be appropriately changed within the scope described in the claims.

  For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the order of wheels registered in the registration mode is the order of the right front wheel FR, the left front wheel FL, the right rear wheel RR, and the left rear wheel RL. However, other orders may be used.

  In addition, the user opens the driver's seat door twice as a registration mode start operation by the user, closes the driver's seat door as a user's intention to start the registration operation, vibrations to the transmitter 2 and before and after the transmitter 2 is shielded. An example of opening / closing the driver's seat door as a confirmation operation is given. These operations are merely examples, and other operations may be used.

  For example, when the display 4 is configured by a touch panel display in the navigation system, a switch for switching to the registration mode or a switch for instructing registration of the next wheel is displayed every time one wheel is registered. it can. By depressing these switches, it is possible to cause the user to display the intention of each operation described above through the display device 4. When the intention of each operation is displayed through the display 4 in this way, it is not necessary to operate the driver's seat door, so the processes in steps 100 to 145 and steps 200 to 245 shown in FIGS. Among these, processing related to the intention display of each operation may be omitted.

  In each of the above embodiments, in steps 120 and 220, the initial value of the magnitude of vibration and the initial value of the RSSI value are confirmed for each ID. Therefore, the results obtained in steps 120 and 220 may be used without confirming the magnitude of vibration when there is no vibration or the RSSI value when there is no shielding in steps 140 and 240.

  Moreover, in the said 1st Embodiment, although the acceleration sensor 22 was mentioned as an example as a vibration detection part with which the transmitter 2 is provided, if the detection signal according to the provided vibration is generated, other things will be given. For example, a piezoelectric element may be used. Moreover, although the case where the transmitter 2 was attached to the air injection valve in the wheel was taken as an example, it may be provided on the tread rear surface of the tire.

  The steps shown in each figure correspond to means for executing various processes. That is, the part that executes the processes of steps 100, 105, 200, and 205 executes the start processing means, and the part that executes the processes of steps 125, 160, 225, and 260 executes the registration operation determining means and the processes of steps 150 and 250. The part corresponds to registration means. Further, the part that executes the processing of steps 155, 165, 255, and 265 corresponds to the end processing means.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2 Transmitter 3 Receiver 4 Indicator 5 (5a-5d) Wheel 6 Car body 21 Sensing part 22 Acceleration sensor 23, 33 Microcomputer

Claims (5)

Applied to a vehicle (1) to which four wheels (5a-5d) with tires are attached to the vehicle body (6);
A vibration detector (22) provided on each of the four wheels and outputting a detection signal corresponding to the vibration of each of the four wheels, and a frame including vibration data indicating the magnitude of the vibration together with unique identification information A transmitter (2) having a first control unit (23) for generating a transmission circuit (24) for transmitting the frame;
A receiving circuit (32) provided on the vehicle body side for receiving a frame transmitted from the transmitter via a receiving antenna (31), and the frame based on the vibration data obtained from the received frame. Identify which of the four wheels the transmitter that has transmitted is attached, and associate the four wheels with the identification information of the transmitter provided on each of the four wheels A receiver (3) having a second control unit (33) for detecting a wheel position to be registered,
The second controller is
A start processing means (S100, S105) for determining that the start operation of the registration mode of the wheel position detection has been performed and executing a registration mode start process for shifting to the registration mode;
Registration operation determination for determining that the intention of starting the registration operation has been made by the user for each wheel to be registered, with the four wheels being sequentially registered one by one after shifting to the registration mode Means (S125, S160);
When the intention to start the registration operation is displayed, vibration is applied to the wheel to be registered, and transmitted from the transmitter when the vibration is applied and when the vibration is not applied. Registering means for comparing the vibration data contained in the frames and registering the identification information contained in the frame where the magnitude of vibration is changing as the identification number of the transmitter attached to the wheel to be registered ( S150)., A wheel position detecting device characterized by comprising:   The wheel position detection device according to claim 1, wherein the vibration detection unit is configured by an acceleration sensor (22). Applied to a vehicle (1) to which four wheels (5a-5d) with tires are attached to the vehicle body (6);
A transmitter (2) provided on each of the four wheels and having a first control section (23) for creating a frame including unique identification information, and a transmission circuit (24) for transmitting the frame;
Based on the reception circuit (32) that is provided on the vehicle body side and receives a frame transmitted from the transmitter via a reception antenna (31), and an RSSI value indicating a reception intensity when the frame is received, Identify which of the four wheels the transmitter that has transmitted the frame is attached, and identify the four wheels and the identification information of the transmitter provided on each of the four wheels. A receiver (3) having a second control unit (33) for detecting wheel positions to be registered in association with each other;
The second controller is
A start processing means (S200, S205) for determining that a registration mode start operation for detecting the wheel position has been performed and executing a registration mode start process for shifting to a registration mode;
Registration operation determination for determining that the intention of starting the registration operation has been made by the user for each wheel to be registered, with the four wheels being sequentially registered one by one after shifting to the registration mode Means (S225, S260);
When the intention to start the registration operation is displayed, the transmission radio wave of the frame transmitted from the transmitter provided on the wheel for registration is attenuated before it is transmitted to the receiver, and the attenuation is performed. The RSSI value of the frame transmitted from the transmitter is compared with when the attenuation is not performed, and the identification information included in the frame whose magnitude of the RSSI value is changed is registered. A wheel position detection device comprising: registration means (S250) for registering as an identification number of a transmitter attached to a target wheel.   After transitioning to the registration mode, after registering the four wheels and the identification information of the transmitter provided on each of the four wheels in association with each other, the registration mode ends. An end processing means (S155, S165, S255, S265) for executing a registration mode end process for ending the registration mode when it is determined that an operation has been performed is provided. 4. The wheel position detection device according to any one of 3 above. A tire pressure detecting device including the wheel position detecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The transmitter includes a sensing unit (21) that outputs a detection signal corresponding to the tire air pressure provided to each of the four wheels, and the first control unit performs signal processing on the detection signal of the sensing unit. Storing information about tire pressure in the frame, sending the frame to the receiver;
The tire pressure monitoring system, wherein the receiver is configured to detect the pressure of the tire provided on each of the four wheels from the information on the tire pressure at the second control unit. .

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