CN103085612B - Tire low pressure alarming device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a tire low pressure alarm device and method. A tire low pressure warning device according to an aspect of the present invention is characterized by comprising: a plurality of pressure sensors respectively mounted on the respective tires of the plurality of tires and measuring the pressure of each of the plurality of tires respectively, And send a signal corresponding to the above pressure; ECU, the ECU compares the strength of the above signal (RF Power, RSSI) with a preset reference to identify whether the pressure corresponding to the above signal is the pressure of the front tire or the rear tire If the pressure is the pressure of the above-mentioned front tires, it is compared with the first reference pressure, and if it is the pressure of the above-mentioned rear tires, it is compared with the second reference pressure to determine whether the tire corresponding to the above-mentioned signal is in a low pressure state; and the display unit , the display unit issues a warning that the front tire or the rear tire is in a low pressure state according to the control of the ECU based on the judgment result.

Description

Tire low pressure warning device and method

technical field

The present invention relates to TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System: Tire Pressure Monitoring System), and more specifically, relates to a tire low pressure alarm device and method capable of using TPMS to alarm the generation of low pressure in tires.

Background technique

Recently, a tire pressure monitoring system (hereinafter, referred to as "TPMS") is applied to automobiles as an essential system.

In the existing TPMS, since at least one of the plurality of tires generates low pressure, an alarm is issued for the generation of low pressure. Therefore, in order to identify the tire where the low pressure occurs among the plurality of tires, it is necessary to confirm all the tires one by one.

What's more, in recent years, automobiles have been OEM not only in Korea, but also overseas including the United States and Europe. In Europe, different pressure standards are required for front and rear tires depending on the type of vehicle. , so countermeasures are still needed.

Therefore, in the past, a method of distinguishing the position of the TPMS sensor sending the signal by adding an LFi (Low Frequency Initiator) module has been used, but there is a problem that the price of this method has increased significantly due to the use of the LFi module.

Contents of the invention

The present invention has been made against the technical background as described above, and an object thereof is to provide a tire low pressure warning device and method capable of differently applying a reference pressure for judging tire low pressure to front and rear tires respectively.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a tire low pressure warning device and method capable of distinguishing whether a tire in a low pressure state is a front tire or a rear tire by using the intensity of a signal corresponding to tire pressure.

A tire low pressure warning device according to an aspect of the present invention is characterized by comprising: a plurality of pressure sensors mounted on each of the plurality of tires, respectively measuring the pressure of each of the plurality of tires, and Send a signal corresponding to the above pressure; the ECU compares the strength of the above signal (RF Power, RSSI) with a preset reference to identify whether the pressure corresponding to the above signal is the pressure of the front tire or the pressure of the rear tire , if it is the pressure of the above-mentioned front tire, then compare it with the first reference pressure, if it is the pressure of the above-mentioned rear tire, then compare it with the second reference pressure to determine whether the tire corresponding to the above-mentioned signal is in a low pressure state; and the display unit, The display unit issues a warning that the front tire or the rear tire is in a low pressure state in accordance with the control of the ECU based on the judgment result.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to an ECU (Electronic Control Unit: electronic control unit) tire low pressure warning method, which is characterized in that it includes: receiving and installing the pressure sensor from each pressure sensor mounted on each tire of a plurality of tires. The step of the signal corresponding to the above-mentioned tire pressure; comparing the strength of the above-mentioned signal (RF Power, RSSI) with a preset reference to identify whether the pressure corresponding to the above-mentioned signal is the pressure of the front tire or the pressure of the rear tire Step: If the pressure corresponding to the above-mentioned signal is the pressure of the above-mentioned front tire, then confirm whether it is below the first reference pressure, and if the pressure corresponding to the above-mentioned signal is the pressure of the above-mentioned rear tire, then confirm whether it is below the second reference pressure, a step of judging whether the front tire or the rear tire is under pressure;

According to the present invention, the low pressure of the front tire and the rear tire can be differentiated and alerted by using the strength of signals sent from a plurality of pressure sensors, thereby improving the convenience of tire replacement.

In addition, the present invention can be easily applied by adding a logic gate/circuit for judging signal strength to the existing TPMS module, so compared with the existing TPMS using the LFi module, the cost can be greatly reduced.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a low tire pressure warning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a display unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a tire low pressure warning method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(Description of Reference Signs)

110: pressure sensor; 120: ECU; 130: display unit.

Detailed ways

The advantages and features of the present invention, as well as the means for realizing them, can be clarified by referring to the embodiments described in detail below together with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, and can also be implemented in various forms that are different from each other. This embodiment is only to fully disclose the present invention, and to fully inform those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. The scope of the present invention is provided, and the present invention is defined only by the scope of the claims. On the other hand, the terms used in this specification are for describing various examples and do not limit the present invention. In this specification, a singular form also includes a plural form unless it is specifically mentioned in the text. The use of "comprises" and/or "comprising" in the specification does not exclude the existence or addition of more than one other structural elements, steps, actions and/or elements mentioned. Structural elements, steps, actions and/or elements of .

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a low tire pressure warning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a low tire pressure warning device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of pressure sensors 110 , an ECU 120 , and a display unit 130 .

The plurality of pressure sensors 110 are attached to each of the plurality of tires, measure the pressure of each of the plurality of tires, and transmit signals corresponding to the measured pressures.

ECU 120 includes measurement units such as circuits and logic gates that measure signal strength.

When receiving a signal corresponding to the pressure from at least one of the plurality of pressure sensors 110, the ECU 120 checks the strength of the signal (RF Power, RSSI) using the measurement unit, and recognizes whether the pressure corresponding to the signal is the pressure of the front tire or the rear tire. pressure.

For example, when the measuring unit is located closer to the front tire than the rear tire, if the strength of the signal is greater than or equal to the first standard, the ECU 120 recognizes that the pressure corresponding to the signal is the pressure of the front tire. If it is smaller than the first reference, the ECU 120 recognizes that the pressure corresponding to the signal is the rear tire.

Conversely, when the measuring unit is located closer to the rear tire than the front tire, if the strength of the signal is greater than or equal to the first standard, the ECU 120 recognizes that the pressure corresponding to the signal is the rear tire. As a reference, the ECU 120 recognizes that the pressure corresponding to the signal is the front tire.

ECU 120 compares the pressure corresponding to each signal with a reference pressure, and if the pressure corresponding to each signal is lower than the reference pressure, it determines that the tire corresponding to the signal is in a low pressure state.

At this time, the ECU 120 compares the pressure of the front tires with the first reference pressure, and compares the pressure of the rear tires with the second reference pressure to determine whether the front and rear tires are under low pressure. The reference pressures including the first and second reference pressures may be the appropriate pressures of the front tires and rear tires determined through experiments, or may be determined for different types of vehicles.

When the ECU 120 determines that the front tires or the rear tires are in a low pressure state, the display unit 130 warns that the front tires or the rear tires are in a low pressure state.

The display unit 130 gives a differentiated warning of the low pressure state of the front tires or the rear tires according to the control of the ECU 120 . At this time, as shown in FIG. 2 , the display unit 130 may warn that the tire is in a low pressure state through a warning light, characters, icons, or the like.

Hereinafter, the tire low pressure warning method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3 . FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a tire low pressure warning method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 , ECU 120 receives a signal corresponding to the pressure of each tire from each pressure sensor 110 mounted on each tire ( S310 ).

Then, the ECU 120 measures the strength of the signal with a measurement unit such as a circuit or a logic gate, and compares it with a preset reference to identify whether the pressure corresponding to the signal is the pressure of the front tire or the rear tire (S330).

For example, if the strength of the signal is greater than the first standard, the ECU 120 recognizes that the pressure corresponding to the signal is the pressure of the front tire, and if it is smaller than the first standard, the ECU 120 recognizes that the pressure corresponding to the signal is the pressure of the rear tire. identify.

If it is the pressure of the front tires, the ECU 120 compares it with the first reference pressure, and if it is the pressure of the rear tires, it compares it with the second reference pressure to determine whether the front tires or the rear tires are under low pressure (S350). Here, the reference pressure may be the appropriate pressure of the front tires and rear tires determined by experiments, and may be different depending on the type of vehicle.

When the ECU 120 determines that the front tires or the rear tires are in the low pressure state, it issues an alarm for the low pressure state of the front tires or the rear tires ( S370 ).

In this way, the present invention can distinguish the low pressure of front tires and rear tires by using the strength of signals sent from a plurality of pressure sensors, and has the effect of improving the convenience of tire replacement.

In addition, since the present invention can be easily applied by adding a logic gate/circuit for judging signal strength to the existing TPMS module, it can greatly reduce the cost compared with the existing TPMS using the LFi module.

Above, the structure of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but this is only an example, and those skilled in the art of the present invention can make various modifications and changes within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. It is obvious.

That is, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the tire low pressure warning device 10 only performs differentiated alarms on the front and rear tires has been exemplified, but as shown in the lower graph of FIG. There may be some differences between the left and right tires and the rear left and right tires according to the different positions of the ECU120, so the ECU120 can distinguish the front left and right tires from the rear left and right tires according to the strength of the signal, and apply the corresponding reference pressure to judge the low pressure state of the tires. It is obvious.

Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but should be determined by the scope described in the claims.

Claims (4)

1. A tire low pressure warning device, characterized in that it comprises: a plurality of pressure sensors, these pressure sensors are respectively assembled on each tire of the plurality of tires, respectively measure the pressure of each tire of the plurality of tires, and send a signal corresponding to the pressure; ECU, the ECU compares the strength of the signal with a preset reference to identify whether the pressure corresponding to the signal is the pressure of the front tire or the pressure of the rear tire, and if it is the pressure of the front tire, it will be compared with the first A reference pressure is compared, if it is the pressure of the rear tire, it is compared with a second reference pressure to determine whether the tire corresponding to the signal is in a low pressure state; and A display unit that issues an alarm that the front tire or the rear tire is in a low pressure state according to the control of the ECU based on the judgment result; The ECU is adapted to the first reference pressure and the second reference pressure determined through experiments according to different vehicle types; When the ECU is located closer to the front tires than the rear tires, if the strength of the signal is equal to or greater than a first reference, the ECU makes a pressure corresponding to the signal for the front tires. identification of the pressure, if the intensity of the signal is less than the first reference, then identification of the pressure corresponding to the signal as the pressure of the rear tire, When the ECU is located closer to the rear tires than the front tires, if the strength of the signal is greater than or equal to a first reference, the ECU determines the pressure corresponding to the signal as the pressure of the rear tires. Identifying the pressure, if the intensity of the signal is less than the first reference, identifying that the pressure corresponding to the signal is the pressure of the front tire. 2. The low tire pressure warning device according to claim 1, wherein the ECU includes a circuit for measuring the strength of the signal. 3. A tire low pressure warning method, the method is the tire low pressure warning method of ECU, it is characterized in that, may further comprise the steps: the step of receiving, from each pressure sensor fitted to each of the plurality of tires, a signal corresponding to the pressure of said tire fitted; comparing the strength of said signal with a predetermined reference to identify whether the pressure corresponding to said signal is the pressure of the front tire or the pressure of the rear tire; If the pressure corresponding to the signal is the pressure of the front tire, check whether it is below the first reference pressure, and if the pressure corresponding to the signal is the pressure of the rear tire, check whether it is the second reference pressure Next, the step of judging whether the front tire or the rear tire is in a low pressure state; and If it is judged to be in the low pressure state, a step of issuing an alarm that the front tire or the rear tire is in a low pressure state; The steps of identification include: When the ECU is located closer to the front tires than the rear tires, if the strength of the signal is equal to or greater than a first reference, the ECU makes a pressure corresponding to the signal for the front tires. identification of the pressure of said signal, if the strength of said signal is less than said first reference, making the step of identification that the pressure corresponding to said signal is the pressure of said rear tire; and When the ECU is located closer to the rear tires than the front tires, if the strength of the signal is greater than or equal to a first reference, the ECU determines the pressure corresponding to the signal as the pressure of the rear tires. pressure identification, if the intensity of said signal is less than said first reference, the step of identifying that the pressure corresponding to said signal is the pressure of said front tire; The step of judging includes the step of applying the first reference pressure and the second reference pressure determined through experiments according to different types of vehicles. 4. The tire low pressure warning method according to claim 3, characterized in that the step of identifying includes the step of measuring the strength of the signal by using a circuit.