Patent ID: 8498785
Filing Date: 2013-07-30
Classification: B60C

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for determining a position of a tire on a vehicle comprising: a tire-based sensing unit, each tire on the vehicle having an associated tire-based sensing unit, each tire-based sensing unit including, a first sensor mounted for rotation with the tire and for generating a first sensor signal indicative of such rotation; a second sensor mounted for rotation with the tire and for generating a second sensor signal indicative of such rotation; a transmitter for transmitting a signal indicative of a phase relationship between the first and second sensor signals; axle position sensor for determining each tire-based sensing unit position relative to a front and rear axle of the vehicle and providing an axle position signal for each tire-based sensing unit; and a controller for monitoring the transmitted phase signals of each tire-based sensing unit and the determined axle position signals, said controller including, means for comparing the tire-based sensing unit phase relationships for possible tire locations considering the determined axle positions of the tire-based sensing units, means for determining a confidence value by weighting the compared phase relationships, means for comparing the phase difference of each tire-based sensing unit relative to the phase difference of other tire-based sensing units for each possible vehicle tire location, and means for associating each tire-based sensing unit with a vehicle location in response to the confidence values.