Method and device for determining acceleration and/or deceleration of a moving object

A device for determining the acceleration or deceleration of an object comprising:

• a speed sensor means for determining the speed of the object and producing a sensor signal in a form of train of pulses of a period indicative of the determined speed of the object;
• a counter means for measuring the total period of a predetermined number of sensor signal pulses and latching the measured period value in response to the last of the predetermined number of sensor signal pulses, said counter means including a clock signal generator for generating a train of clock signal pulses having a fixed period indicative of a unit of time for measurement of the period of the predetermined number of sensor signal pulses;
• a memory means for storing the latched period values, said memory means renewing at least one of the stored values according to a selected shifting mode determined on the basis of the result of an immediately preceding cycle of device operation;
• an arithmetic means for processing the stored values in said memory means and for determining any acceleration or deceleration of the object on the basis of any difference between the stored values in said memory means, said arithmetic means producing a command for increasing the number of pulses of the sensor signal over which the sensor signal period is measured when the difference between the stored values is less than a predetermined value;
• and
• a controller means responsive to said command to determine the number of pulses of the sensor signal over which the period is measured for a successive cycle of operation, said controller means further determining a shifting mode of the stored values in said memory section of the memory means based on the determined number of pulses, said controller means producing a latch signal for causing said counter means to latch the period value and a shift control signal for controlling the shifting operation of said memory means.

A device for determining the acceleration or deceleration of an object comprising:

• a speed sensor for determining the speed of the object and producing a sensor signal in a form of pulse having a period corresponding to the determined speed of the object;
• a clock signal generator producing a train of pulses having a fixed perod;
• a counter means for counting the clock signal pulses and latching the counted value after a predetermined number of sensor signals are received;
• a memory means having three memory sections for storing the latched counter value, , each memory section being operable to shift its stored value according to a predetermined shifting mode;
• an arithmetic means for processing the stored values in said memory means and determining the acceleration or deceleration of the object based on any difference between the stored values in said memory means, said arithmetic means producing a command for increasing the number of pulses of the sensor signal over which the clock pulses are counted when the difference between the stored value is less than a predetermined value;
• a controller means responsive to said command to determine the number of pulses of the sensor signal over which the clock pulses are to be counted for a subsequent cycle of operation, said controller means further determining the shifting mode of the stored value in said memory section of the memory means based on the determined number of pulses, said controller means producing a latch signal for causing said counter means to latch the counter value and a shift control signal for controlling the shifting operation of said memory means;
• and
• a unit for outputting a signal corresponding to the acceleration or deceleration.

A device for determining the acceleration or deceleration of an object comprising:

• a speed sensor means for determining the speed of the object and producing a sensor signal in the form of a train of pulses having a pulse period indicative of the determined speed of the object;
• a counter means for measuring the duration of a predetermined number of sensor signal pulses and latching a measured counter value in response to the last of the predetermined number of sensor signal pulses, said counter means including a clock signal generator for generating a clock pulse signal having a period indicative of a unit time for measurement of the duration of the predetermined number of sensor signal pulses;
• a memory means for storing the latched counter value, said memory means including first, second and third memory sections, said first memory section storing a first latched counter value, said second memory means storing a second latched counter value immediately following said first latched counter value, and said third memory section storing a third latched counter value, said first, second and third memory sections being operative to shift the stored values thereof according to a selected one of a plurality of predetermined shifting modes;
• an arithmetic means for processing the stored values in said memory means and determining the acceleration or deceleration of the object based on any difference between the stored values in said memory means, said arithmetic means producing a command for increasing the number of pulses of the sensor signal of which the duration is to be measured when the difference between the stored values is less than a predetermined value;
• a controller means responsive to said command to determine the number of pulses of the sensor signal of which the duration is to be measured during a subsequent arithmetic operation, said controller means further determining the shifting mode of the stored values in said memory sections of the memory means based on the determined number of pulses, said controller means producing a latch signal for causing said counter means to latch the counter value and a shift control signal for controlling the shifting operation of said memory means;
• and
• an unit for outputting a signal indicative of any acceleration or deceleration.

A device for determining the acceleration or deceleration of an object comprising:

• a speed sensor means for determining the speed of the object and producing a sensor signal in the form of pulse signals having a frequency indicative of the determined speed of the object;
• a counter means for sequential measurement of the duration of a predetermined number of pulses of the sensor signal pulse and latching the measured counter value in response to the last of the predetermined number of sensor signal pulses said counter means including a clock signal generator for generating clock pulses, the period of which corresponds to a unit of time of measurement, said counter means outputting a latched counter value for each cycle of device operation;
• a memory means for receiving the output of said counter means and storing the latched counter value, said memory means including first, second and third memory sections, each of said memory sections shiftably storing one of said latched counter values in a given order and effecting a shifting operation in accordance with a predetermined shifting mode selected from among a plurality of given modes corresponding to the number of pulses of the sensor signal of which the duration is to be measured;
• an arithmetic circuit for comparing the stored values from adjacent memory sections to determine any difference therebetween and thereby determine the acceleration or deceleration of the object based on the determined difference, said arithmetic circuit producing a command for increasing the number of pulses of the sensor signal to be measured when absolute value of said difference between the stored values is less than a given value, said arithmetic circuit including an output means for outputting a signal indicative of the acceleration or deceleration of the object;
• and
• a controller means fresponsive to said command to determine the number of pulses of the sensor signal of which the duration is to be measured during a subsequent cycle of device operation, said controller means further determining the shifting mode for controlling the shifting operation of said memory sections based on the number of pulses to be counted, said controller means being operable to count the number of sensor signal pulses inputted thereto and produce a latching signal in response to counting a value corresponding to the determined number of pulses.

A device for determining the acceleration or deceleration of an object comprising:

• a controller means for receiving a sensor signal produced by a speed sensor, said signal having a period indicative of the speed of the object, and counting a predetermined number of pulses of the sensor signal, said controller means being operable to increase the number of pulses to be counted in a present cycle of device operation based on any change in sensor signal period determined during a previous cycle of device operation and to produce both a latching signal when the counted value becomes equal to the predetermined number, and a shifting mode signal corresponding to the number of pulses to be counted;
• a counter means for sequentially measuring the duration of the predetermined number of pulses of the sensor signal and latching the measured counter value responsive to said latching signal said counter means including a clock signal generator for sequentially generating clock pulses having a constant period corresponding to a unit of time of measurement, said counter means outputting the latched counter value at the beginning of each cycle of device operation;
• a memory means for receiving the output from said counter means and storing the latched counter value, said memory means including first, second and third memory sections, each of said memory sections shiftably storing one of said latched counter values in a given order, said memory means shifting newly latched counter values and the contents of said memory sections in a predetermined shifting mode selected from among a plurality of shifting modes in accordance with the number of pulses of the sensor signal of which the duration is to be measured;
• and
• an arithmetic circuit for comparing the contents of adjacent memory sections to determine any difference therebetween and to determine the acceleration or deceleration of the object based on the determined difference, said arithmetic means producing a command for increasing the number of pulses of the sensor signal of which the duration is to be measured between stored values is less than a given value, said arithmetic circuit including an output means for outputting the resulting acceleration or deceleration of the object.

A device for determining acceleration or deceleration of a rotating wheel of an automotive vehicle comprising:

• a controller means for receiving a sensor signal, which is produced by a speed sensor, said sensor signal having a period indicative of the rotational speed of the vehicle wheel, said controller means further counting inputted pulses from the sensor signal and operable to increase the number of pulses to be counted based on any change in sensor signal period determined during a previous cycle of device operation and producing a latching signal when the number of pulses counted becomes equal to a predetermined number and producing a shifting mode signal according to the number of pulses to be counted;
• a counter means for sequentially measuring the duration of the predetermined number of pulses of the sensor signal and latching the measured counter value in response to said latching signal, said counter means including a clock signal generator generating clock pulses of a constant period corresponding to a unit of time measurement, said counter means outputting one latched counter value at the beginning of each cycle of device operation;
• a memory means for receiving outputs from said counter means and storing the latched counter values, said memory means replacing at least one of the previously stored values with a newly received counter value during each cycle of device operation;
• and
• an arithmetic circuit for comparing a pair of stored values in said memory means in order to determine any difference therebetween and thereby determine the acceleration or deceleration of the wheel based on the determined difference, said arithmetic means producing a command for increasing the number of pulses of the sensor signal of which the duration is to be measured when the absolute value of said difference between the stored value is less than a given value, said arithmetic circuit including an output means for outputting the determined acceleration or deceleration of the wheel.

A device for determining the acceleration or deceleration of a rotating wheel of an automotive vehicle comprising:

• a controller means for receiving a sensor signal produced by a speed sensor, said signal having a period indicative of the rotational speed of the vehicle wheel, said controller means being operable to count the inputted pulses from the sensor signal and to increment the number of pulses to be counted based on any change in sensor signal period determined from a previous cycle of device operation and to produce a latching signal when the counted value becomes equal to a predetermined number of pulses, and a shifting mode signal according to the number of pulses to be measured;
• a counter means for sequentially measuring the duration of the predetermined number of pulses of the sensor signal and latching the measured counter value in response to said latching signal, said counter means including a clock signal generator for generating clock pulses having a constant period corresponding to a unit of time for measurement, said counter means outputting a latched counter value at the beginning of each cycle of device operation;
• a memory means for receiving the output from said counter means and storing the latched counter values, said memory means replacing at least one of the stored values with a newly received counter output according to a selected shifting mode determined on the basis of a shifting mode signal from an immediately preceding cycle of device operation;
• and
• an arithmetic circuit for comparing a pair of stored counter values to determine any difference therebetween and to thereby determine the acceleration or deceleration of the wheel based on the determined difference, said arithmetic means being operable to produce a command for increasing the number of pulses of the sensor signal of which the duration is to be measured when the absolute value of said difference between counter values is less than a given value, said arithmetic circuit including an output means for outputting a signal indicative of the acceleration or deceleration of the wheel.

A device for determining the acceleration or deceleration of a rotating wheel of an automotive vehicle including a wheel rotation speed sensor for determining wheel rotation speed and generating a sensor signal having a period proportional to the determined rotational speed of the vehicle wheel, a clock signal generator for generating a clock signal of a fixed period indicative of a unit time of measurement, and arithmetic means for receiving said sensor signal and comparing determined durations of successive groups of sensor signal pulses to determine any change in sensor signal period and to thereby determine the acceleration or deceleration of the wheel based on the determined sensor signal period change said arithmatic means being operable to output a resultant acceleration or deceleration value,

• the improvement comprising:
• a memory means having memory sections for shiftably storing the measured sensor signal pulse group durations and shifting the contents thereof during each cycle of device operation;
• and
• a controller means for determining the presence of any difference between sensor signal periods and for determining the number of pulses per pulse group over which the duration is measured based on any determined change of period between a preceding cycle of device operation and a current cycle, said controller means being operable to increment the number of pulses per group when the change in the sensor signal period is less than a predetermined value, and to control the shifting operation of the memory section in the memory means.

A device for determining the acceleration or deceleration of a rotating wheel of an automotive vehicle, said device including a wheel rotation speed sensor for determining wheel rotation speed and generating a sensor signal having a pulse period proportional to the determined rotation speed of the vehicle wheel, a clock signal generator for generating a clock signal having a fixed period indicative of a unit of time of measurement, an arithmetic means for receiving said sensor signal and for comparing durations of successive groups of pulses of said sensor signal to determine any change in sensor signal period and to thereby determine any acceleration or deceleration of the wheel rotation speed and to output a resultant acceleration or deceleration value,

• the improvement comprising:
• a memory means for storing pulse group duration values, said memory means including first, second and third memory sections, said first memory section storing a first pulse group duration value, said second memory means storing a second pulse group duration value, said second pulse group sequentially following said first pulse group, and said third memory section storing a third pulse group duration value, said third group sequentially following said second group, said first, second and third memory sections being operable to shift their respective content values according to a predetermined shifting mode;
• a controller means for determining the presence of any change in sensor signal period and for determining a number of pulses per pulse group based on any determined change from a preceding cycle of device operation, said controller device being operable to increment the number of pulses per group when the change in the sensor signal period is less than a predetermined value and to control shifting operation of the memory section in the memory means.

A method for determining the acceleration or deceleration of a moving object comprising the steps of:

• measuring the current speed of the moving object and producing a first signal having a period corresponding to the determined speed of the object by reference to a clock signal having a constant period which is representative of a unit of time of measurement;
• comparing the duration of successive groups of pulses of the sensor signal in order to determine any difference between the durations thereof;
• determining the acceleration or deceleration of the object based on any determined difference between the durations;
• and
• discriminating whether the determined difference between the durations exceeds a predetermined value and generating a command for incrementing, at a given rate, the number of pulses of the sensor signal per pulse group of which the duration is subsequently to be measured if the determined difference is less than the predetermined value.

The device for determining the acceleration of a moving object comprising:

• (a) a speed sensor for outputting a speed sensor signal in the form of a train of pulses, each having an instantaneous period related to the instantaneous speed of the object;
• (b) means responsive to the speed sensor signal for timing the duration of a group of a selectable number of sensor signal pulses;
• (c) means responsive to said timing means for calculating any difference between the durations of two successive sensor signal pulse groups and calculating the acceleration rate of the object on the basis of said difference and said selectable number of pulses per group;
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• (d) control means responsive to said calculating means for selecting the number of sensor signal pulses per pulse group in accordance with said calculated difference.