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US 2016/0257355 A1Published application
Controlling weight allocation between truck axles
AssigneeInternational Truck Intellectual Property Company, LLC
InventorsGrzegorz Siuchta, James Jerome Korson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a truck vehicle, a controller controls a mechanism to apportion the sum total of weight borne by a tandem axle between a drive axle and a tag axle.
Claims20
A truck vehicle comprising:
- a chassis comprising a chassis frame;
- steerable right and left front wheels suspended from the chassis frame;
- a tandem axle suspended from the chassis frame rearward of the front wheels and comprising a drive axle having drive wheels and a tag axle having non-drive wheels;
- a mechanism for apportioning the sum total of weight borne by the tandem axle between the drive axle and the tag axle;
- and
- a controller for controlling the mechanism to apportion a desired percentage of the sum total of weight borne by the tandem axle to one of the axles while forcing ride height of the tandem axle to conform to a desired ride height.
3 more elements
A truck vehicle comprising:
- a chassis comprising a chassis frame;
- steerable right and left front wheels suspended from the chassis frame;
- a tandem axle comprising a drive axle and a tag axle suspended from the chassis frame rearward of the front wheels;
- a mechanism for apportioning the sum total of weight borne by the tandem axle between the drive axle and the tag axle;
- and
- a controller for controlling the mechanism as a function of at least one variable parameter related to vehicle operation to cause a percentage of the sum total of weight borne by the tandem axle to be apportioned to the drive axle within a range between a minimum percentage load and a maximum percentage load, a percentage of the sum total of weight borne by the tandem axle to the tag axle to be apportioned within a range between the minimum percentage load and the maximum percentage load with the sum of the apportioned percentages always equaling 100%.
3 more elements
A method for controlling a mechanism to apportion the sum total of weight borne by a tandem axle of a vehicle between a drive axle and a tag axle of the tandem axle, the method comprising,
- controlling the mechanism as a function of at least one variable parameter related to operation of the vehicle to cause a percentage of the sum total of weight borne by the tandem axle to be apportioned to the drive axle within a range between a minimum percentage load and a maximum percentage load, and a percentage of the sum total of weight borne by the tandem axle to the tag axle to be apportioned within a range between the minimum percentage load and the maximum percentage load, with the sum of the apportioned percentages always equaling 100%.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.