Gravity based brake stroke sensor methods and systems
AssigneeStemco Co., Ltd.
InventorsJames C. Steph, Mark J. Kranz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and systems for measuring a brake stroke of an air brake assembly utilize a sensor, such as an accelerometer, mountable on a movable component, such as a brake cam shaft, of the air brake assembly that is external of the brake chamber of the air brake assembly for detecting an acceleration of the movable component during a braking event. The sensor generates an output signal that depends on a magnitude of the detected acceleration, which is sent to a microcontroller coupled to the sensor. The microcontroller translates the sensor output signal to a value corresponding to a displacement of the movable component of the brake assembly during the braking event and calculates a brake stroke distance based on said value.
Claims14
A system for measuring a brake stroke of an air brake assembly, comprising:
- a sensor mountable on a movable component of the air brake assembly external of a brake chamber of the air brake assembly for detecting an acceleration of the movable component during a braking event and for generating an output signal that depends on a magnitude of the detected acceleration;
- and
- a microcontroller coupled to the sensor on which is encoded program code consisting at least in part of instructions for translating the sensor output signal to a value corresponding to a displacement of the movable component of the brake assembly during the braking event and for calculating a brake stroke distance based on said value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.