US 4,047,765 A · Hydraulic power transmission and braking system for vehicles

Abstract

A hydraulic braking system is provided for automatically apportioning braking of the wheels of a vehicle in accordance with the load on respective wheels. A plurality of brake control assemblies each dedicated to one of the wheels of the vehicle are coupled to produce braking of the corresponding wheel upon activation of the brake pedal. The degree of actuation of each brake control assembly is controlled by an element which senses load differences between all wheels on the vehicle (including load differences between wheels on either side of the vehicle and between front and rear wheels), and adjusts the degree of actuation of the corresponding brake control assembly accordingly. In an illustrative embodiment each brake control assembly includes a brake control cylinder having a piston movably disposed therein. The pistons are coupled to the brake pedal so as to be maximally advanced into the brake control cylinder when a maximum brake force is applied. The load sensing device is a pendulum which is mounted for displacement along the length and width of the vehicle from a predefined normal position. The pendulum is coupled to each of the pistons so that, in its normal position, all pistons are equally displaced within their corresponding cylinders so that, when a force is applied to the brake pedal, all wheels receive an equal braking force. In operation, when the wheels of the vehicle have unequal loads, such as on turns, the pendulum is displaced from its normal position and causes the various pistons to be displaced by different amounts in their corresponding cylinders. Thus, when a force is applied to the brake pedal, the braking force is apportioned unequally among the wheels and in proportion to the load on each wheel.

Claims12

Dependent claims

Brake control apparatus for automatically apportioning braking of the wheels of a vehicle in accordance with the load on respective wheels, comprising:

a brake pedal controllable by a vehicle operator;
a plurality of brake control cylinder assemblies, each brake control cylinder assembly corresponding to a wheel of said vehicle and being actuable to produce braking of the corresponding wheel;
mechanical means linking said brake pedal to each of said brake control cylinder assemblies for actuating said brake control cylinder assemblies equally in response to said brake pedal;
a pendulum;
means mounting said pendulum for displacement along the length and width of said vehicle from a predefined normal position and mechanical means connecting said pendulum to said actuating means, said connecting means including means responsive to lengthwise displacement of said pendulum for producing differences in actuation between brake cylinder assemblies corresponding to wheels at different locations along the length of the vehicle, and means responsive to widthwise displacement of said pendulum for providing differences in actuation between brake cylinder assemblies corresponding to wheels at different locations along the width of the vehicle for increasing the actuation of at least one of said brake cylinder assemblies while decreasing the actuation of at least another of said brake cylinder assemblies.

2 more elements

Apparatus for automatically apportioning braking force to at least two vehicle wheels in accordance with the load on the respective wheels comprising:

a brake control housing;
at least two brake control cylinders formed in said housing;
at least two brake control pistons, each piston riding within a respective brake control cylinder and adapted to be associated with a respective wheel;
a brake member operable by the vehicle occupant;
an actuation member extending into said housing connectable to said brake member, said actuation member being adapted for movement upon operation of said brake member;
means coupling said actuation member to each of said brake control pistons for moving said pistons a predetermined amount within said cylinders upon being actuated by said actuation member;
and
means coupled to said moving means for sensing the load on the respective wheels and for adjusting said predetermined amount of movement of respective ones of said pistons within said cylinders as a function of said sensed loads, said sensing and adjusting means being constructed and arranged to sense load differences between wheels on either side of said vehicle as well as between front and rear wheels and to adjust the movement of the corresponding piston accordingly.

5 more elements

Apparatus for automatically apportioning brake force to at least two vehicle wheels in accordance with the load on the respective wheels comprising:

a brake control housing;
at least two pairs of first and second brake control pistons, each pair of pistons riding within a respective pair of brake control cylinders formed in said housing, each piston pair adapted to be associated with a respective wheel,
an actuation member extending into said housing connectable to a brake member operable by the vehicle occupant, said actuation member being adapted for movement upon operation of said brake member;
means coupling said actuation member to each of said pairs of brake control pistons, said coupling means including means for selectively locating either of said first or second pistons of each respective pair of pistons into operative engagement with its respective cylinder while simultaneously locating the other of said first and second pistons of each respective pair of pistons into inoperative engagement with its respective cylinder and means for moving said operatively engaged pistons a predetermined amount within said cylinders upon being actuated by said actuation member;
and
means coupled to said moving means for sensing the load on the respective wheels and for adjusting said predetermined amount of movement of respective ones of said operatively engaged pistons within said cylinders as a function of said sensed loads.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Hydraulic power transmission and braking system for vehicles

Life of this patent

Hydraulic power transmission and braking system for vehicles

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims12