Patent ID: 7515040

Claim:
A wheel identifying apparatus comprising: a first and a second transceiver which are respectively located on a first and a second wheel of a vehicle, each of the transceivers working to receive a trigger signal and transmit a response signal in response to receipt of the trigger signal; a triggering device working to transmit the trigger signal, the triggering device being located on a body of the vehicle at different distances from the transceivers, so that strengths of the trigger signal at the transceivers are different from each other; a receiver working to receive the response signals transmitted by the transceivers; and a wheel identifier operatively connected to the receiver, the wheel identifier working to identify, for each of the response signals received by the receiver, the wheel on which the transceiver having transmitted the response signal is located, wherein, upon receipt of the trigger signal transmitted by the triggering device, each of the transceivers determines the strength of the trigger signal thereat and transmits the response signal which conveys signal strength information indicative of the determined strength of the trigger signal, and the wheel identifier identifies, for each of the response signals received by the receiver, the wheel on which the transceiver having transmitted the response signal is located based on the signal strength information conveyed by the response signal.