Vehicle brake monitoring system

A vehicle brake condition monitoring system, comprising:

• a plurality of brake actuators mounted on a body of a vehicle, each of said brake actuators having a push rod actuatable to apply a brake;
• sensors associated with each of said brake actuators to monitor movement of said push rods, and sense a problem condition based upon excessive movement of said push rod;
• a control box mounted on a vehicle receiving a signal from said sensors of each of said brake actuators said control box having signal wires from each of said brake actuators attached at a particular location, such that said control box can identify which brake actuator is sending a particular signal. and said control box being operable in response to said signals to determine which of said brake actuator signals are indicative of a problem condition, said control also being operable to send an output signal indicative of which of said brake actuator signals are evidencing problem conditions:
• a display in a cab of said vehicle, and an output leading from said control to said display;
• and
• wherein said control monitors at least one brake condition other than movement of said push rod, said other condition including said control being provided with a counter, and a length of brake actuation time being monitored by said control, the brake actuation time is utilized to provide an indication of expected brake temperature, which is in turn utilized to control the decision of whether a particular amount of push rod movement is indicative of a brake actuator needing adjustment.

A vehicle brake condition monitoring system, comprising:

• a plurality of brake actuators mounted on a body of a vehicle, each of said brake actuators having a push rod actuatable to apply a brake;
• sensors associated with each of said brake actuators to monitor movement of said push rods, and sense a problem condition based upon excessive movement of said push rod:
• a control box mounted on a vehicle receiving a signal from said sensors of each of said brake actuators, said control box having signal wires from each of said brake actuators attached at a particular location, such that said control box can identify which brake actuator is sending a particular signal, and said control box being operable in response to said signals to determine which of said brake actuator signals are indicative of a problem condition, said control also being operable to send an output signal indicative of which of said brake actuator signals are evidencing problem conditions;
• a display in a cab of said vehicle, and an output leading from said control to said display;
• and
• wherein said control monitor at least one brake condition other than movement of said push rods, said other condition including said control being provided with a counter, and a length of brake actuation time being monitored by said control, said other condition includes providing a memory of the number of actuations of a portion of the system associated with each brake actuator.

A vehicle brake condition monitoring system, comprising:

• a plurality of brake actuators mounted on a body of a vehicle, each of said brake actuators having a push rod actuatable to apply a brake;
• sensors associated with each of said brake actuators to monitor movement of said push rods, and sense a problem condition based upon excessive movement of said push rod;
• a control box mounted on a vehicle receiving a signal from said sensors of each of said brake actuators, said control box having signal wires from each of said brake actuators attached at a particular location, such that said control box can identify which brake actuator is sending a particular signal, and said control box being operable in response to said signals to determine which of said brake actuator signals are indicative of a problem condition, said control also being operable to send an output signal indicative of which of said brake actuator signals are evidencing problem conditions;
• a display in a cab of said vehicle, and an output leading from said control to said display;
• and
• wherein said other condition including said control being provided with a counter, and a length of brake actuation time being monitored by said control, said other condition is a comparison by said control of the signals from each of said brake actuators to provide an indication of whether one of said signals is not evidencing a brake actuation when the other signals are.

A vehicle brake condition monitoring system, comprising:

• a plurality of brake actuators mounted on a body of a vehicle, each of said brake actuators having a push rod actuatable to apply a brake;
• sensors associated with each of said brake actuators to monitor movement of said push rods, and sense a problem condition based upon excessive movement of said push rod;
• a control box mounted on a vehicle receiving a signal from said sensors of each of said brake actuators, said control box having signal wires from each of said brake actuators attached at a particular location, such that said control box can identify which brake actuator is sending a particular signal, and said control box being operable in response to said signals to determine which of said brake actuator signals are indicative of a problem condition, said control also being operable to send an output signal indicative of which of said brake actuator signals are evidencing problem conditions;
• a display in a cab of said vehicle, and an output leading from said control to said display;
• and
• wherein said display also provides an indication of whether a parking brake has been released.

A vehicle brake condition monitoring system, comprising:

• a plurality of brake actuators mounted on a body of a vehicle, each of said brake actuators having a push rod actuatable to apply a brake;
• sensors associated with each of said brake actuators to monitor movement of said push rods, and sense a problem condition based upon excessive movement of said push rod;
• a control box mounted on a vehicle receiving a signal from said sensors of each of said brake actuators, said control box having signal wires from each of said brake actuators attached at a particular location, such that said control box can identify which brake actuator is sending a particular signal, and said control box being operable in response to said signals to determine which of said brake actuator signals are indicative of a problem condition, said control also being operable to send an output signal indicative of which of said brake actuator signals are evidencing problem conditions;
• a display in a cab of said vehicle. and an output leading from said control to said display;
• wherein said sensor is incorporated into a stone shield, said stone shield being received about said push rod in each of said brake actuators, said brake actuators including a housing with an opening, said push rod moving through said opening, said stone shield extending radially inwardly from a radially innermost portion of said opening;
• and
• said stone shield incorporates a slot at one position to facilitate removal of said stone shield from said housing without complete disassembly of said brake actuator.

A vehicle brake condition monitoring system comprising:

• a plurality of brake actuators mounted on a body of a vehicle, each of said brake actuators having a push rod actuatable to apply a brake, sensors mounted within each of said brake actuators to monitor movement of said push rods and sense a problem condition based upon excessive movement of said push rod;
• a control receiving a signal from said sensor of each of said brake actuators, said control being operable to determine which said brake actuator signals are indicative of a problem condition, said control also being operable to send an output signal indicative of which of said brake actuators are evidencing problem conditions;
• a display in a cab of said vehicle, a single signal wire leading from said control to said display;
• wherein said control utilizes a microprocessor and said signals from each of said brake actuators being distinct, such that said control can identify which of said brake actuators is providing a particular signal;
• and
• said control monitoring at least one brake condition other than excessive movement of said push rod from said signals, said other condition being whether the parking brake has been fully released.

A system for monitoring the condition of a brake actuator comprising;

• at least one brake actuator including a push rod for actuation of a brake, and sensors for monitoring the condition of the brake actuator and its components, said sensors being capable of monitoring the movement of said push rod associated with said brake actuators, and providing a signal indicative of excessive movement of said push rod;
• a control for monitoring signals from said brake actuator, said control being operable to provide a signal to a display when said push rod exhibits excessive movement as sensed by said sensor, and wherein said control is also capable of monitoring at least one other condition of said brake actuator in addition to excessive push rod movement based upon said signals:
• and
• said other condition being whether the parking brake has been fully released.

A brake actuator comprising:

• a housing including an opening at one end, said housing including a diaphragm dividing said housing into at least two chambers;
• a push rod received in one of said chambers and in contact with said diaphragm and said push rod extending through said opening;
• a stone shield surrounding said push rod, and received within said opening, said stone shield extending radially inwardly from a radially innermost portion of said opening;
• and
• a sleeve surrounding said push rod, said sleeve including a plurality of magnets, a plurality of magnetic sensors received within said stone shield to sense movement of said magnets.

A method of monitoring the condition of the brakes on a vehicle comprising:

• a. providing sensors within the brake actuators associated with the vehicle;
• b. providing a control for receiving a brake actuator signal from each of said sensors, and providing a single output signal from said control to a display mounted in the cab of the vehicle, said output signal distinguishing between said brake actuator signals from each of said brake actuators;
• c. monitoring movement of a push rod within each of said brake actuators, and providing said brake actuator signal indicative of excessive movement of any one of said push rods to said control, said control providing said output signal to said display indicative of which brake actuators are experiencing excessive push rod movement, said control sending said output signal to said display;
• and
• d. said control also monitoring another condition of the brake actuator based upon said signals, said other condition being whether the parking brake has been fully released.

A vehicle brake condition monitoring system comprising:

• a plurality of brake actuators mounted on a body of a vehicle, each of said brake actuators having a push rod actuatable to apply a brake;
• sensors associated with each of said brake actuators to monitor movement of said push rods and sense a problem condition based upon excessive movement of said push rod;
• a control receiving a signal from said sensors of each of said brake actuators, said signal having a unique value for each of said brake actuators, said control being operable in response to said signals to determine which of said brake actuator signals are indicative of a problem condition, said control also being operable to send an output signal indicative of which of said brake actuator signals are evidencing problem conditions;
• a display in a cab of said vehicle, an output leading from said control to said display, said control also being mounting in the cab of said vehicle;
• and
• resistors associated with each of said brake actuators, said resistors changing the value of the signal from said brake actuator such that the signal from each said brake actuator is unique, and the signals from each of said brake actuators being connected to a pair of common signal feed lines leading from the body of said vehicle forwardly to said cab and into said control, the signal passing through said common feed lines being indicative of which of said brake actuators are evidencing a problem condition due to the unique resistors associated with each of said brake actuators.