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US 6,802,208 B2Granted
Vehicle wheel bearing and method for controlling a vehicle
AssigneeDelphi Technologies, Inc.
InventorsSteven M. Chinitz, Melissa A. Conezio, Robert M. Brown
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle wheel bearing includes a non-rotatable section, a rotatable section, and at least one sensor. The rotatable section is rotatably attached to the non-rotatable section. The at-least-one sensor has an output used for determining at least one component of a force applied to the rotatable section. A method for controlling a vehicle includes attaching at least one sensor to at least one of the non-rotatable and rotatable sections of the vehicle wheel bearing. At least one component of the force applied to the rotatable section is determined from the output of the at-least-one sensor, and the vehicle is controlled based at least in part on the determined at-least-one component.
Claims20
A vehicle wheel bearing comprising:
- a) a vehicle-wheel-bearing non-rotatable section;
- b) a vehicle-wheel-bearing rotatable section rotatably attached to the non-rotatable section, wherein at least one of the non-rotatable and rotatable sections includes at east a portion of an inboard bearing seal, wherein at least one of the non-rotatable and rotatable sections includes at least a portion of an outboard bearing seal, and wherein the outboard bearing seal is spaced apart from the inboard bearing seal;
- c) rolling elements disposed between the non-rotatable and rotatable section;
- and
- d) at least one sensor disposed between the inboard and outboard beam seals and having an output used for determining at least one component of a force applied to the rotatable section, wherein the determined at-least-one component is an input to a vehicle control system, and wherein the at-least-one sensor includes a stress-based load sensor, a distance-measuring sensor, and/or a rolling-element-passage-sensing sensor.
2 more elements
A vehicle wheel bearing comprising:
- a) a vehicle-wheel-bearing non-rotatable section;
- b) a vehicle-wheel-bearing rotatable section rotatably attached to the non-rotatable section, wherein at least one of the non-rotatable and rotatable sections includes at least a portion of an inboard bearing seal, wherein at least one of the non-rotatable and rotatable sections includes at least a portion of an outboard bearing seal, and wherein the outboard bearing seal is spaced apart from the inboard bearing seal;
- and
- c) at least one sensor disposed between the inboard and outboard bearing seals and having an output used for determining at least one component of a force applied to the rotatable section, wherein the determined at-least-one component is an input to a vehicle control system, wherein the rotatable section includes a first race, wherein the non-rotatable section includes a second race, wherein the first and second races define a raceway, wherein the vehicle wheel bearing also includes rolling elements disposed in the raceway, and wherein the at-least-one sensor senses the passage of the rolling elements around the raceway past the at-least-one sensor.
1 more element
A vehicle wheel bearing comprising:
- a) a vehicle-wheel-bearing non-rotatable section;
- b) a vehicle-wheel-bearing rotatable section rotatably attached to the non-rotatable section, wherein at least one of the non-rotatable and rotatable sections includes least a portion of an inboard bearing seal, wherein at least one of the non-rotatable and rotatable sections includes at least a portion of an outboard bearing seal, and wherein the outboard bearing seal is spaced apart from the inboard bearing seal;
- and
- c) at least one sensor disposed between the inboard and outboard bearing seals and having an output used for determining at least one component of a force applied to the rotatable section, wherein the determined at-least-one component is an input to a vehicle control system, wherein the at-least-one sensor measures the distance between the non-rotatable and rotatable sections.
1 more element
A vehicle wheel bearing comprising:
- a) a vehicle-wheel-bearing non-rotatable section;
- b) a vehicle-wheel-bearing rotatable section rotatably attached to the non-rotatable section;
- and
- c) at least one sensor attached to at least one of the non-rotatable and rotatable sections and having an output used for determining at least one component of a force applied to the rotatable section, wherein the rotatable section includes a first race, wherein the non-rotatable section includes a second race, wherein the first and second races define a raceway, wherein the vehicle wheel bearing also includes rolling elements disposed in the raceway, and wherein the at-least-one sensor senses the passage of the rolling elements around the raceway past the at-least-one sensor.
1 more element
A vehicle wheel bearing comprising:
- a) a vehicle-wheel-bearing non-rotatable section;
- b) a vehicle-wheel-bearing rotatable section rotatably attached to the non-rotatable section;
- and
- c) at least one sensor attached to at least one of the non-rotatable and rotatable sections and having an output used for determining at least one component of a force applied to the rotatable section, wherein the at-least-one sensor measures the distance between the non-rotatable and rotatable sections.
1 more element
A vehicle wheel bearing comprising:
- a) a vehicle-wheel-bearing non-rotatable section;
- b) a vehicle-wheel-bearing rotatable section rotatably attached to the non-rotatable section;
- and
- c) at least one sensor attached to at least one of the non-rotatable and rotatable sections and having an output used for determining at least one component of a force applied to the rotatable section, wherein the at-least-one sensor measures temperature, wherein the determined at-least-one component is an input to a vehicle control system, and wherein the output of the at-least-one sensor is used without any non-temperature sensor output for determining the at-least-one component of the force.
1 more element
A method for controlling a vehicle having a wheel bearing including a non-rotatable section, including a rotatable section rotatably attached to the non-rotatable section, and including rolling elements disposed between the non-rotatable and rotatable sections, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
- a) attaching at least one sensor to at least one of the non-rotatable and rotatable sections, wherein the at-least-one sensor measures at least one of the passage of the rolling elements and the distance between the non-rotatable and rotatable sections, and wherein the at-least-one sensor has an output;
- b) determining at least one component of a force applied to the rotatable section from the output of the attached at-least-one sensor of step a);
- and
- c) controlling the vehicle based at least in part on the determined at-least-one component of step b).
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.