Claims
- 4EM1. A method for determining inflation pressures of tires and locations thereof on wheels of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:
providing a wireless inflation pressure measuring device for each wheel of a vehicle, each of the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices transmits a radio frequency signal containing inflation pressure information; and providing a inflation pressure monitor having a radio frequency receiver adapted for receiving the radio frequency signals from each of the inflation pressure measuring devices with a directional signal location antenna device, wherein a transmission point for each of the radio frequency signals may be determined and thereby define the locations of the wheels on the vehicle.
- 4EM2. The method of claim 4EM1, wherein the inflation pressure monitor alarms upon detecting a low inflation pressure and indicates the location of the wheel having the low inflation pressure.
- 4EM3. The method of claim 4EM1, further comprising the step of encrypting the inflation pressure information.
- 4EM4. The method of claim 4EM1, further comprising the steps of:
providing a temperature sensor coupled to the wireless inflation pressure measuring device; and measuring tire temperature with the temperature sensor, wherein the radio frequency signal further comprises tire temperature information.
- 4EM5. The method of claim 4EM4, further comprising the step of calculating a corrected tire pressure for each tire of the vehicle based upon the respective tire temperature and pressure.
- 4EM6. The method of claim 4EM1, further comprising the step of generating an alert signal when a tire pressure is at a desired pressure.
- 4EM7. The method of claim 4EM1, further comprising the step of generating an alert signal when a tire pressure exceeds a maximum pressure.
- 7EM1. A method for measuring inflation pressures of tires on wheels of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:
providing a wireless inflation pressure measuring device for each wheel of a vehicle, wherein the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices provide inflation pressure information and a identifier for each of the vehicle wheels; and providing a inflation pressure monitor that is adapted to read the tire inflation pressure information and the identifier from each of the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices, wherein the inflation pressure monitor has a learning mode whereby wheel locations are correlated with the identifiers for subsequent indication of tire inflation pressure of each wheel and the location thereof.
- 7EM2. The method of 7EM1, wherein the wireless inflation pressure measuring device is a pressure sensor, radio frequency transmitter and antenna.
- 7EM3. The method of 7EM1, wherein the wireless inflation pressure measuring device is a pressure sensor and radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and the inflation pressure monitor includes a RFID tag reader.
- 7EM4. The method of claim 7EM1, further comprising the step of encrypting the inflation pressure information.
- 7EM5. The method of claim 7EM1, further comprising the step of generating an alert signal when a tire pressure is at a desired pressure.
- 7EM6. The method of claim 7EM1, further comprising the step of generating an alert signal when a tire pressure exceeds a maximum pressure.
- 8EM1. A method for measuring inflation pressures of tires on wheels of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:
providing a wireless inflation pressure measuring device for each wheel of a vehicle, wherein the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices provide tire inflation pressure information and a identifier for each of the vehicle tires; and providing a inflation pressure monitor that is adapted to read the inflation pressure information and the identifier from each of the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices, wherein each of the identifiers is marked on the respective wheels so as to correlate wheel locations with the identifiers for later indication of inflation pressure of each tire and location thereof.
- 8EM2. The method of 8EM1, wherein the wireless inflation pressure measuring device is a pressure sensor, radio frequency transmitter and antenna.
- 8EM3. The method of 8EM1, wherein the wireless inflation pressure measuring device is a pressure sensor and radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and the inflation pressure monitor is coupled to a RFID tag reader.
- 8EM4. The method of claim 8EM1, further comprising the step of encrypting the inflation pressure information and the identifier.
- 8EM5. The method of claim 8EM1, further comprising the step of generating an alert signal when a tire pressure is at a desired pressure.
- 8EM6. The method of claim 8EM1, further comprising the step of generating an alert signal when a tire pressure exceeds a maximum pressure.
- 4EA1. An apparatus for determining inflation pressures of tires and locations thereof on wheels of a vehicle, comprising:
a wireless inflation pressure measuring device for each wheel of a vehicle, wherein each of the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices transmits a radio frequency signal comprising inflation pressure information of a tire mounted on a respective one of the wheels; and an inflation pressure monitor having a radio frequency receiver adapted for receiving the radio frequency signals from each of the inflation pressure measuring devices with a directional signal location antenna device, wherein a transmission point for each of the radio frequency signals may be determined and thereby define the locations of the wheels on the vehicle.
- 4EA2. The apparatus of claim 4EA1, wherein the inflation pressure monitor alarms upon detecting a low inflation pressure and indicates the location of the wheel having the low inflation pressure.
- 4EA3. The apparatus of claim 4EA1, further comprising an encryption circuit for encrypting the tire inflation pressure information.
- 4EA4. The apparatus of claim 4EA1, further comprising an alert signal when a tire pressure is at a desired pressure.
- 4EA5. The apparatus of claim 4EA1, further comprising an alert signal when a tire pressure exceeds a maximum pressure.
- 7EA1. An apparatus for measuring inflation pressures of tires on wheels of a vehicle, comprising:
a wireless inflation pressure measuring device for each wheel of a vehicle, wherein the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices provide tire inflation pressure information and a identifier for each tire on the vehicle wheels; and a tire inflation pressure monitor that is adapted to read the tire inflation pressure information and the identifier from each of the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices, wherein the inflation pressure monitor has a learning mode in which to correlate wheel locations with the identifiers for later indication of inflation pressure of the tire and its corresponding location on a wheel of the vehicle.
- 7EA2. The apparatus of 7EA1, wherein the wireless tire inflation pressure measuring device is a pressure sensor, radio frequency transmitter and antenna.
- 7EA3. The apparatus of 7EA1, wherein the wireless tire inflation pressure measuring device is a pressure sensor and radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and the inflation pressure monitor includes a RFID tag reader.
- 7EA4. The apparatus of claim 7EA1, further comprising an encryption circuit for encrypting the tire inflation pressure information and identifier.
- 7EA5. The apparatus of claim 7EA1, further comprising an alert signal when a tire pressure is at a desired pressure.
- 7EA6. The apparatus of claim 7EA1, further comprising an alert signal when a tire pressure exceeds a maximum pressure.
- 8EA1. An apparatus for measuring inflation pressures of tires on wheels of a vehicle, comprising:
a wireless inflation pressure measuring device for each tire of a vehicle, wherein the wireless inflation pressure measuring devices provide tire inflation pressure information and a identifier for each tire on the wheels of the vehicle; and an inflation pressure monitor that is adapted to read the tire inflation pressure information and the identifier from each of the wireless tire inflation pressure measuring devices, wherein each of the identifiers is marked on the respective wheels so as to correlate wheel locations with the identifiers for later indication of inflation pressure and location of each tire.
- 8EA2. The apparatus of 8EA1, wherein the wireless tire inflation pressure measuring device is a pressure sensor, radio frequency transmitter and antenna.
- 8EA3. The apparatus of 8EA1, wherein the wireless tire inflation pressure measuring device is a pressure sensor and radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and the inflation pressure monitor is coupled to a RFID tag reader.
- 8EA4. The apparatus of claim 8EA1, further comprising an encryption circuit for encrypting the tire inflation pressure information and identifier.
- 8EA5. The apparatus of claim 8EA1, further comprising an alert signal when a tire pressure is at a desired pressure.
- 8EA6. The apparatus of claim 8EA1, further comprising an alert signal when a tire pressure exceeds a maximum pressure.
RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS
[0001] This patent application is related to commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “Tire Inflation Pressure Monitoring and Location Determining Method and Apparatus” by Jan van Niekerk, Roger St. Amand, Joseph A. Uradnik and Paul N. Katz; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “Radio Frequency Identification Tag Tire Inflation Pressure Monitoring and Location Determining Method and Apparatus” by Jan van Niekerk, Roger St. Amand, Joseph A. Uradnik and Paul N. Katz; both applications hereby being incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.