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US 7,009,491 B2Granted
Dual purpose vehicle key fob for training tire pressure sensors
AssigneeDelphi Technologies, Inc.
InventorsHector H. Rodriguez, Robert A. Newman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dual purpose key fob has manipulable keys for, in a normal mode, locking and unlocking a vehicle and keys for opening a vehicle trunk and activating a panic alarm and, in a training mode, for sending code signals to tire pressure sensors to tell the sensors what tire they are in, e.g., after wheel rotation, so that the sensors subsequently can transmit the proper location signals to the vehicle's ECM along with the pressure signals.
Claims20
A key fob for a vehicle, comprising:
- a housing holding a processor and a transmitter;
- and plural user-manipulable keys disposed on the housing and sending signals to the processor at least when manipulated, at least some keys being dual-purpose keys, the signals from the dual-purpose keys representing respective tire locations when the key fob is in a first mode, the signals from at least some of the dual-purpose keys representing respective vehicle access commands when the key fob is in a second mode.
A tire training and vehicle command system, comprising:
- a key fob transmitting vehicle control signals at least in a first mode and tire location codes at least in a second mode:
- and
- plural dual keys on the key fob and at least one processor supported by the key fob and receiving signals from the keys, wherein the signals from the dual-purpose keys represent a respective tire location when the key fob is in a first mode, and the signals from at least some of the dual-purpose keys represent respective vehicle access commands when the key fob is in a second mode.
A tire training system, comprising:
- a lightweight hand held key fob housing;
- command input means on the housing for inputting command signals;
- processor means for receiving the command signals and determining whether the command signals are tire training command signals or vehicle control command signals, the processor means generating codes based thereon;
- and
- transmitter means, connected to the processor means for transmitting the codes received from the processor means;
- wherein the signals from the dual-purpose keys represent a respective tire location when the key fob is in a first mode, and the signals from at least some of the dual-purpose keys represent respective vehicle access commands when the key fob is in a second mode.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.