TPM Sensor Fill Assistance With Dynamic Pressure Sampling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tire fill stations often lack reliable tire pressure gauges, leading to user uncertainty and potential overfilling due to delayed or unreliable tire pressure measurements, especially in environments where noise-based signaling systems are disruptive and user verification is limited.
Innovation Solution
A system where a tire pressure monitoring (TPM) sensor and a user device establish a direct wireless connection for a tire fill assistance session, increasing the tire pressure sampling rate before inflation, providing accurate data to avoid overfilling, and incorporating features like adjustable transmission rates based on vehicle motion and user activity, along with ambient conditions for enhanced accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the tire pressure sampling rate is increased during tire fill assistance, then measurement precision is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic sampling rate adjustment where the TPM sensor operates at a low sampling rate during normal conditions to conserve battery power, and automatically switches to a high sampling rate when a tire fill assistance event is detected. This dynamic transition allows the system to achieve high measurement precision exactly when needed while minimizing energy consumption during normal operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary detection of tire fill events by monitoring for inflation conditions before initiating high-rate sampling. When a fill event is anticipated, the system proactively increases the sampling rate in advance, ensuring measurement precision is ready when the user needs it while avoiding continuous high-power operation.
2Measurement precision
If continuous high-rate tire pressure sampling is implemented, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically transitions between low-rate and high-rate sampling modes based on detected tire fill events. During normal operation, low-rate sampling conserves energy while the system remains vigilant for fill conditions. When a fill event is detected, the system immediately switches to high-rate sampling, providing rapid response and precise measurement exactly when needed.
3Ease of operation
If noise-based signaling systems are used to indicate tire pressure status, then ease of operation is improved, but object-affected harmful factors increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a wireless communication intermediary (smartphone application) that receives tire pressure data from the TPM sensor and presents it to the user through a visual interface. This intermediary eliminates the need for noise-based signaling systems while providing clear, disruption-free status indication through the user's personal device.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces acoustic signaling mechanisms with electronic wireless communication and visual display. Instead of using horns or alarms that create environmental noise, the tire pressure status is communicated through a smartphone application that displays information silently and clearly to the user.
4Ease of operation
If tire fill assistance relies on vehicle control system communication, then ease of operation is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the tire fill assistance functionality from the vehicle control system and implements it as an independent system using the TPM sensor's built-in resources (processor, memory, wireless transceiver). This extraction simplifies the overall system architecture by eliminating complex inter-system communication requirements while maintaining automated assistance capabilities through the sensor's own processing power.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, apparatuses, computer program products, systems for tire fill assistance session control are disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a method includes identifying, by a tire fill assistance controller, a user selection indicating a tire for electronic tire fill assistance; establishing, by the tire fill assistance controller in dependence upon the user selection, a wireless connection to a tire pressure monitoring (TPM) sensor associated with the tire; configuring, by the tire fill assistance controller, a tire pressure sampling rate of the TPM sensor for a tire fill assistance session; receiving, by the tire fill assistance controller, a plurality of tire pressure readings from the TPM sensor during the tire fill assistance session; and providing, by the tire fill assistance controller to a user, tire fill guidance based on the plurality of tire pressure readings.