Method and apparatus for equalizing vehicle brake wear
AssigneeEaton Corporation
InventorMichael T. Breen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Brake wear between braking sites of a vehicle is equalized by measuring work performed at the braking sites, comparing the amount of work performed at each braking site with an average calculated for all braking sites, and increasing braking demand at any braking site performing less than the average amount of work.
Claims9
An apparatus for equalizing brake wear between braking sites of a vehicle, the vehicle having a brake treadle and a plurality of braking sites, each braking site having a plurality of braked wheels of known brake radius disposed on at least one axle, the apparatus comprising:
- brake treadle sensing means for determining brake treadle displacement and for generating a driver demand signal representative of the brake treadle displacement;
- torque calculating means for each of the plurality of braking sites for calculating, as a function of the brake treadle displacement represented by the driver demand signal and of the brake radius, torque applied to the at least one axle at each of the plurality of braking sites and for generating a torque-per-site signal representative of the torque applied to the at least one axle;
- work calculating means for each of the plurality of braking sites for calculating, as a function of braking site torque represented by the torque-per-site signal, of wheel velocity and of time, the amount of work performed at each of the plurality of braking sites and for generating a work-per-site signal representative thereof;
- work comparing means for each of the plurality of braking sites for comparing the work-per-site signal with a reference work signal and for generating an error signal representative of any difference therebetween;
- and
- controlling means for each of the plurality of braking sites for modifying the driver demand signal to increase the work done by a braking site if the amount of work performed at that site is less than the amount of work represented by the reference work signal.
A method for equalizing brake wear between braking sites of a vehicle, the vehicle having a brake treadle and a plurality of braking sites, each braking site having a plurality of braked wheels of known brake radius disposed on at least one axle, the method comprising the steps of:
- sensing brake treadle displacement;
- generating a driver demand signal representative of the brake treadle displacement;
- calculating, for each of the plurality of braking sites and as a function of the brake treadle displacement represented by the driver demand signal and of the brake radius, torque applied to the at least one axle at each of the plurality of braking sites;
- generating a torque-per-site signal representative of the torque applied to the at least one axle;
- calculating, for each of the plurality of braking sites and as a function of braking site torque represented by the torque-per-site signal, of wheel velocity and of time, the amount of work performed at each of the plurality of braking sites;
- generating a work-per-site signal representative of the work performed at each of the plurality of braking sites;
- comparing, for each of the plurality of braking sites, the work-per-site signal with a reference work signal;
- generating an error signal representative of any difference between the work-per-site signal and the reference work signal;
- and
- modifying the driver demand signal communicated to each of the plurality of braking sites to increase the work done by a braking site if the amount of work performed at that site is less than the amount of work represented by the reference work signal.
A system for equalizing brake wear between braking sites of a vehicle, the vehicle having a brake treadle and a plurality of braking sites, each braking site having a plurality of braked wheels of known brake radius disposed on at least one axle, the method comprising the steps of:
- means for sensing brake treadle displacement;
- means for generating a driver demand signal representative of the brake treadle displacement;
- means for calculating, for each of the plurality of braking sites and as a function of the brake treadle displacement represented by the driver demand signal and of the brake radius, torque applied to the at least one axle at each of the plurality of braking sites;
- means for generating a torque-per-site signal representative of the torque applied to the at least one axle;
- means for calculating, for each of the plurality of braking sites and as a function of braking site torque represented by the torque-per-site signal, of wheel velocity and of time, the amount of work performed at each of the plurality of braking sites;
- means for generating a work-per-site signal representative of the work performed at each of the plurality of braking sites;
- means for comparing, for each of the plurality of braking sites, the work-per-site signal with a reference work signal;
- means for generating an error signal representative of any difference between the work-per-site signal and the reference work signal;
- and
- means for modifying the driver demand signal communicated to each of the plurality of braking sites to increase the work done by a braking site if the amount of work performed at that site is less than the amount of work represented by the reference work signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.