US6271748B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Tyre condition monitoring system
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1995-08-31
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Granted: 2001-08-07
•
Expires: 2015-08-31
Abstract
Abstract A tyre condition monitoring system comprises a wheel transmitter unit for each wheel of a vehicle. The transmitter unit is mountable in the wheel and has sensors for sensing pressure and temperature in and rotation of the wheel. Signals from the sensors are processed by a processor to produce data which is transmitted via a radio frequency transmitter. The data is transmitted with the data representing a unit identity code. Transmitted data is received by a receiver unit where it is analyzed to determine the condition of the tyre. The receiver unit includes a user operable input for setting threshold limits for the temperature and/or pressure such that if a threshold is passed an alarm is sounded. Each wheel transmitter unit includes a power supply and is arranged so that power is only applied during the sensing and transmission of data. Intervals between transmissions of data can be varied depending on whether rotation of the wheel has been sensed.
Inventors
- 👤 Andrew John Derbyshire
- 👤 Jeremy Francis Siddons
- 👤 John Kitto Richards
- 👤 Edward Charles Gibson
- 👤 Sean Patrick Davies
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 03:21
CPC Classifications
B; B60; B60C; B60C23/00; B60C23/02; B60C23/04; B60C23/0408; B60C23/0401; B60C23/0422; B60C23/0433; B60C23/0447; B60C23/0454; B60C23/0455; B60C23/0457; B60C23/0459; B60C23/0462; H; H04; H04L; H04L7/00; H04L7/04; H04L7/06
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
114 words
A tyre condition monitoring system, comprising: at least one wheel transceiver unit mountable in a wheel of a vehicle; and a central transceiver unit for transmitting commands to the at least one wheel transceiver unit and receiving tyre condition data transmitted in reply to said commands from said wheel transceiver unit, wherein the transmission of each command is preceded by a preamble and wherein the preamble comprises a plurality of preamble periods in which time information is transmitted relating to the time until the command will be transmitted and the wheel transceiver unit is arranged to respond to said time information by powering down depending on the time remaining until transmission of the command.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
114 words
A tyre condition monitoring system, comprising: at least one wheel transceiver unit mountable in a wheel of a vehicle; and a central transceiver unit for transmitting commands to the at least one wheel transceiver unit and receiving tyre condition data transmitted in reply to said commands from said wheel transceiver unit, wherein the transmission of each command is preceded by a preamble and wherein the preamble comprises a plurality of preamble periods in which time information is transmitted relating to the time until the command will be transmitted and the wheel transceiver unit is arranged to respond to said time information by powering down depending on the time remaining until transmission of the command.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
30 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the central transceiver unit comprises a processor for determining commands to be transmitted and for processing received data.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
36 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the processor is arranged to monitor the received data for changes in the tyre condition and to vary the commands transmitted in dependence thereon.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
60 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the central transceiver unit comprises means for determining when the vehicle is in use and is operable in a first mode when the vehicle is in use to transmit commands frequently and in a second mode when the vehicle is not in use to transmit commands less frequently.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the time information is transmitted in the form of a digital signal having a frequency related to the remaining time.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
26 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the central transceiver unit is operable to transmit data to the wheel transceiver unit.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
36 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the data from the central transceiver unit comprises identity data uniquely identifying the wheel transceiver unit which is transmittable during installation of the system.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
28 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the commands transmittable from the central transceiver unit comprise a command to transmit the identity data.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
32 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the commands transmittable from the central transceiver unit comprise a command to the wheel transceiver unit to store calibration data.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
33 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the commands transmittable from the central transceiver unit comprise a command to transmit data pertaining to the condition of the tyre.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
28 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the commands transmittable from the central transceiver unit comprise a command to transmit stored calibration data.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
42 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 , comprising a plurality of wheel transceiver units and wherein the central transceiver unit is operable to transmit commands individually to each wheel transceiver unit or globally to all wheel transceiver units.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
78 words
A transceiver circuit, comprising: an oscillator circuit for providing a reference frequency signal, a modulating circuit for modulating a data signal representing data to be transmitted with the reference signal and outputting the modulated signal for transmission, a receiver circuit for receiving a modulated data signal which receiver circuit is arranged to receive also signals from the modulating circuit derived from the reference signal, and a demodulating circuit for demodulating the received signal to extract the data therefrom.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
78 words
A transceiver circuit, comprising: an oscillator circuit for providing a reference frequency signal, a modulating circuit for modulating a data signal representing data to be transmitted with the reference signal and outputting the modulated signal for transmission, a receiver circuit for receiving a modulated data signal which receiver circuit is arranged to receive also signals from the modulating circuit derived from the reference signal, and a demodulating circuit for demodulating the received signal to extract the data therefrom.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
19 words
A transceiver circuit as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the oscillator circuit comprises a surface acoustic wave resonator.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
18 words
A transceiver circuit as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the modulator circuit comprises a voltage controlled oscillator.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
34 words
A transceiver circuit as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the voltage controlled oscillator is arranged to provide a signal which is applied as an in-phase and a quadrature signal to the receiver circuit.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
21 words
A transceiver circuit as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the oscillator circuit comprises a frequency synthesizer driven by a crystal.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
37 words
A transceiver circuit as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the modulator circuit comprises a voltage controlled oscillator, and a mixer connected to the voltage controlled oscillator and to receive a signal representing data to be transmitted.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
26 words
A transceiver circuit as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the signal representing data to be transmitted is generated by a frequency shift keying modulator circuit.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
18 words
A transceiver circuit as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the receiver circuit comprises a low noise amplifier.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
25 words
A transceiver circuit as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the receiver circuit comprises a mixer connected to receive the signals from the modulating circuit.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
31 words
A transceiver circuit as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the receiver circuit comprises a low pass filter and threshold detector for conditioning received signals for input to the demodulating circuit.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
98 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the wheel transceiver unit comprises a transceiver circuit, said transceiver circuit including, an oscillator circuit for providing a reference frequency signal, a modulating circuit for modulating a data signal representing data to be transmitted with the reference signal and outputting the modulated signal for transmission, a receiver circuit for receiving a modulated data signal which receiver circuit is arranged to receive also signals from the modulating circuit derived from the reference signal, and a demodulating circuit for demodulating the received signal to extract the data therefrom.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
98 words
A tyre condition monitoring system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the central transceiver unit comprises a transceiver circuit, said transceiver circuit including, an oscillator circuit for providing a reference frequency signal, a modulating circuit for modulating a data signal representing data to be transmitted with the reference signal and outputting the modulated signal for transmission, a receiver circuit for receiving a modulated data signal which receiver circuit is arranged to receive also signals from the modulating circuit derived from the reference signal, and a demodulating circuit for demodulating the received signal to extract the data therefrom.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-08-06 | 2005-02-05 | 2005-08-07 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-08-06 | 2009-02-05 | 2009-08-07 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-08-06 | 2013-02-05 | 2013-08-07 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |