Absorption dynamometer torque measuring device and calibration method

Abstract

The invention is an in-line torque meter for use with an absorption dynamometer in which the twist of a rotating shaft that transmits torque from an engine to an air dynamometer is measured by a single sensor on the adjacent stationary structure. The torque shaft is supported at the dynamometer end by a splined attachment to the shaft of the dynamometer and at the engine end in a pair of preloaded angular contact ball bearings. Torque from the engine causes the shaft to twist. Attached to and rotating with the shaft are two sleeves with projecting teeth, one sleeve attached at each end of the torque shaft. The projecting teeth are interleaved and are located so that both sets of teeth can be sensed by an adjacent single sensor. When the shaft is twisted by the applied torque, the teeth on the two sleeves are angularly displaced with respect to each other. This angular displacement is measured as a phase shift in the signal generated by the sensor. The phase shift being directly proportional to the applied torque. The torque sensor is moveable past the teeth when the torque shaft is stationary. The movement of the torque sensor generates a signal representative of the torque or twist in the torque shaft. If a predetermined torque is induced into the torque, then the movement of the torque sensor produces a signal representative of the torque induced in the torque shaft, thereby allowing a zero speed calibration check.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.