Vehicle chassis level sensor
AssigneeBourns, Inc.
InventorDavid Shinozaki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A damper assembly for a vehicle having a chassis and a control arm moveably coupled to the chassis includes a first spring seat configured to be fixed to the chassis, a second spring seat configured to be supported by the control arm, a coil spring extending between the first spring seat and the second spring seat, and a sensor module supported by the first spring seat or the second spring seat. The sensor module is operable to determine a state of compression of the coil spring.
Claims20
A damper assembly for a vehicle, the vehicle having a chassis and a control arm moveably coupled to the chassis, the damper assembly comprising:
- a first spring seat configured to be fixed to the chassis;
- a second spring seat configured to be supported by the control arm;
- a coil spring extending between the first spring seat and the second spring seat;
- and
- a sensor module supported by the first spring seat or the second spring seat, the sensor module being operable to determine a state of compression of the coil spring;
- wherein the sensor module includes a Hall effect sensor and a permanent magnet, and
- wherein the permanent magnet interacts with a coil of the coil spring.
A suspension system for a vehicle, the suspension system comprising:
- a first control arm configured to be pivotally coupled to a chassis of the vehicle;
- a second control arm configured to be pivotally coupled to the chassis of the vehicle;
- a first wheel hub supported by the first control arm;
- a second wheel hub supported by the second control arm;
- and
- a damper assembly including
- a first spring seat configured to be fixed to the chassis of the vehicle,
- a second spring seat supported by the control arm,
- a coil spring extending between the first spring seat and the second spring seat, and
- a sensor module supported by the first spring seat or the second spring seat, the sensor module being operable to determine a state of compression of the coil spring;
- wherein the sensor module measures a gap between a first coil of the coil spring and the sensor module.
A sensing system that measures compression of a vehicle coil spring, the sensing system comprising:
- a housing configured to be coupled to an end of the coil spring;
- a permanent magnet supported by the housing, the permanent magnet having a magnetic field that interacts with a coil of the coil spring;
- and
- a magnetic sensor supported by the housing, the magnetic sensor being operable to sense the magnetic field from the permanent magnet;
- wherein the magnetic field at the magnetic sensor changes when the compression of the coil spring changes.
A damper assembly for a vehicle, the vehicle having a chassis and a control arm moveably coupled to the chassis, the damper assembly comprising:
- a first spring seat configured to be fixed to the chassis;
- a second spring seat configured to be supported by the control arm;
- a coil spring extending between the first spring seat and the second spring seat;
- and
- a sensor module supported by the first spring seat or the second spring seat, the sensor module being operable to determine a state of compression of the coil spring;
- wherein the sensor module measures a gap between a first coil of the coil spring and the sensor module.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.