Rotary power transmission joint with an integrated wireless sensor

An assembly for acquiring operational data from a vehicle including an engine and a driveshaft comprising;

• a joint for transmitting rotational movement from the engine to the driveshaft,
• said joint including an input shaft having a generally cylindrical shape for being interconnected with the engine and an output shaft for being interconnected with the driveshaft and a joining component for interconnecting said input shaft and said output shaft and providing for pivotable movement between said input and output shafts,
• a sensor assembly being interconnected with said joint for acquiring the operational data of the vehicle,
• a transceiver base unit being in wireless communication with said sensor assembly for receiving said operation data from said sensor assembly and for sending instructions to said sensor assembly for changing the preferred mode of operation of at least one of said sensor assembly and the vehicle,
• said sensor assembly including a circuit board interconnected with said joint and electrically connected with said sensor assembly,
• said circuit board including a remote transceiver for receiving the data from the transceiver base unit,
• a battery being rechargeable interconnected with said joint and electrically connected with said sensor assembly for providing electric power to said sensor assembly,
• said circuit board including a microprocessor electrically connected with said sensor assembly and said transceiver base unit for receiving and interpreting said operational data and for directing said electric power from said battery to said sensor assembly,
• said circuit board including at least one accelerometer for measuring the rotational speed of said joint to determine the horsepower of said driveshaft and for measuring vibrations of said driveshaft,
• said joint extending along an axis of rotation,
• said joint having a body rotating about said axis of rotation,
• said circuit board having a face that extends perpendicular to said axis or rotation,
• said accelerometer being a pair of accelerometers each being positioned adjacent to said axis on opposing sides of said axis in alignment with one another and equally spaced from said axis,
• said sensor assembly further including at least one temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of said joint,
• said sensor assembly further including at least one pressure sensor for measuring the fluid pressure adjacent to said joint,
• said sensor assembly further including at least one strain gauge for detecting the strain on said joint,
• said sensor assembly further includes a global positioning system sensor for collecting the speed of the vehicle;
• and
• an energy harvesting assembly interconnected with said joint and electrically connected with said battery and said sensor assembly for harvesting energy from said joint to provide electric power to said sensor assembly and said battery for charging said battery.

An assembly for acquiring operational data from a vehicle including an engine and a rotating component interconnected with the engine for transmitting power from the engine comprising;

• a sensor assembly for being interconnected with the rotating component for sensing the operational data of the vehicle,
• said sensor assembly including a microprocessor for receiving and interpreting said operational data,
• said sensor assembly further including at least one accelerometer for measuring the rotational speed of the rotating component to determine the horsepower being transmitted through the rotating component and for measuring vibrations of the rotating component,
• said sensor assembly further including at least one temperature sensor for being interconnected with the rotating component for measuring the temperature of the rotating component,
• said sensor assembly further including at least one pressure sensor for being interconnected with the rotating component for measuring the pressure of the air adjacent to said rotating component,
• said sensor assembly further including at least one strain gauge for being interconnected with the rotating component for detecting the strain on the rotating component,
• an energy harvesting assembly for being interconnected with the rotating component and electrically connected with said sensor assembly for harvesting energy from the rotating component to provide electric power to said sensor assembly.