Patent ID: 7315240

Claim:
A tire inflation pressure sensing apparatus comprising: a transmitter provided on a wheel of a vehicle, said transmitter including a pressure sensor configured to sense an inflation pressure of a tire mounted on the wheel and generate a pressure signal that indicates the sensed inflation pressure of the tire, said transmitter having a first operation mode, in which said transmitter transmits the pressure signal generated by said pressure sensor, and a second operation mode; a receiver provided on a body of the vehicle, said receiver working to receive the pressure signal transmitted from said transmitter and determine the inflation pressure of the tire based on the pressure signal; and a command signal receiver operatively connected to said transmitter, said command signal receiver working to sequentially receive a first and a second command signal that respectively indicate a first and a second instruction for said transmitter, said command signal receiver having a variable receiver sensitivity that is set by said transmitter to one of a higher value and a lower value, wherein, in response to receipt of the first command signal by said command signal receiver, said transmitter enters into the second operation mode and sets the receiver sensitivity of said command signal receiver to the higher value according to the first instruction indicated by the first command signal, and after setting of the receiver sensitively of said command signal receiver to the higher value, said command signal receiver receives the second command signal so that said transmitter performs a predetermined task according to the second instruction indicated by said second command signal.