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US 11,572,925 B2Granted
Brake slack adjuster having sensing piston with orifice and systems, components, and methods thereof
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsPengfei Ma, Puning Wei, Aleksander Gust
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A slack adjuster assembly and systems, components, and methods can comprise a sensing piston assembly that includes a housing, a piston slidably provided in the housing, and a biasing member provided in the housing. The biasing member can be configured to bias the piston away from an end wall of the housing. The piston can have an end wall opposite the end wall of the housing, where the end wall of the piston can have at least one orifice that extends from a first side of the end wall of the piston to a second side of the end wall of the piston.
Claims20
A braking system for a vehicle comprising:
- a hydraulic fluid source adapted to control supply of hydraulic fluid responsive to a braking input;
- and
- a slack adjuster having an inlet port to receive the hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic fluid source and an outlet port to selectively pass the hydraulic fluid to control braking of a wheel of the vehicle, the slack adjuster including:
- an enclosure defining an internal chamber,
- a floating piston assembly in the internal chamber between the inlet port and the outlet port, and
- a sensing piston assembly in the internal chamber between the inlet port and the outlet port,
- wherein the sensing piston assembly is operable as a fluid replenishing valve and includes a housing, at least one spring provided in the housing, and a piston slidably provided in the housing and operatively interfacing with the at least one spring,
- wherein the piston has an end wall opposite an end wall of the housing, the end wall of the piston having at least one opening such that the hydraulic fluid is able to be provided on both sides of the piston,
- wherein the end wall of the housing extends continuously in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the enclosure from a first side of the housing to a second side of the housing opposite the first side in a side cross-sectional view of the slack adjuster, and
- wherein the end wall of the piston of the sensing piston assembly that has the at least one opening is at all times closer to the outlet port than the end wall of the housing of the sensing piston assembly is to the outlet port.
7 more elements
A method comprising:
- providing a slack adjuster assembly having an inlet port to receive brake fluid from a brake fluid source and an outlet port to selectively pass the brake fluid to control braking of a wheel of a vehicle;
- and
- providing the brake fluid within the slack adjuster assembly,
- wherein the slack adjuster assembly includes:
- an enclosure defining an internal chamber,
- a floating piston assembly in the internal chamber between the inlet port and the outlet port, and
- a sensing piston assembly in the internal chamber between the inlet port and the outlet port,
- wherein the sensing piston assembly includes a housing, at least one spring provided in the housing, and a piston slidably provided in the housing and biased by the at least one spring,
- wherein the piston has an end wall that intersects a longitudinal axis of the slack adjuster assembly, the end wall of the piston having an orifice,
- wherein said providing the brake fluid provides the brake fluid to both sides of the end wall of the piston, including inside the housing between an end wall of the housing and the piston,
- wherein said providing the brake fluid causes the piston of the sensing piston assembly to move to and/or from the position blocking a central passageway of the floating piston assembly that is located at the longitudinal axis of the slack adjuster assembly, and
- wherein the end wall having the orifice contacts a wall of a piston of the floating piston assembly when the piston of the sensing piston assembly blocks the central passageway and is spaced apart from the wall of the piston of the floating piston assembly when the piston of the sensing piston assembly has been moved from the position blocking the central passageway of the floating piston assembly.
9 more elements
A slack adjuster assembly comprising:
- a floating piston assembly having a first end and a second end opposite the first end;
- and
- a sensing piston assembly including:
- a housing,
- a piston slidably provided in the housing, and
- a biasing member provided in the housing, the biasing member being configured to bias the piston away from an end wall of the housing,
- wherein the piston has an end wall opposite the end wall of the housing, the end wall of the piston having at least one orifice that extends from a first side of the end wall of the piston to a second side of the end wall of the piston,
- wherein the sensing piston assembly is provided on and/or in the floating piston assembly,
- wherein the sensing piston assembly has a first end and a second end opposite the first end,
- wherein the first end of the sensing piston assembly is on a first end side of the floating piston assembly and the second end of the sensing piston assembly is on a second end side of the floating piston assembly, and
- wherein the end wall of the piston having the at least one orifice is at the second end of the sensing piston assembly.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.