Method and apparatus for evaluating an axle condition on a moving vehicle
First Claim
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1. An axle condition evaluation system, comprising:
- a first sensor unit disposed on a first associated lateral side of a vehicle inspection lane;
a second sensor unit disposed on a second associated lateral side of said vehicle inspection lane, said second lateral side opposite said first associated lateral side;
wherein said first sensor unit is configured to acquire a first plurality of distance measurements along more than two measurement axes in a first set of measurement axes to a surface of a first rolling wheel assembly on an end of an axle adjacent to a first associated lateral side of a moving vehicle passing through said inspection lane in a generally straight line, but neither along nor parallel to, a longitudinal midline of the inspection lane;
wherein said second sensor unit is configured to acquire a second plurality of distance measurements along more than two measurement axes in a second set of measurement axes to a surface of a second rolling wheel assembly on an end of said axle adjacent to a second associated lateral side of said moving vehicle;
wherein each of said first and second sensor units is operatively coupled to convey said first and second pluralities of distance measurements to a processing system configured with software instructions to determine, from said acquired distance measurements, a total toe of said axle without determining representations of individual toe for said first and second rolling wheel assemblies.
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Abstract
A vehicle measurement station utilizing one or more displacement sensors disposed on each opposite side of an inspection region of a vehicle inspection lane to acquire displacement measurement data along associated measurement axes. At least a portion of the displacement measurement data is associated with the outermost wheel assemblies on an axle of a moving vehicle passing through the inspection region, and utilized to determine one or more vehicle characteristics, such as an axle total toe condition.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. An axle condition evaluation system, comprising:
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a first sensor unit disposed on a first associated lateral side of a vehicle inspection lane; a second sensor unit disposed on a second associated lateral side of said vehicle inspection lane, said second lateral side opposite said first associated lateral side; wherein said first sensor unit is configured to acquire a first plurality of distance measurements along more than two measurement axes in a first set of measurement axes to a surface of a first rolling wheel assembly on an end of an axle adjacent to a first associated lateral side of a moving vehicle passing through said inspection lane in a generally straight line, but neither along nor parallel to, a longitudinal midline of the inspection lane; wherein said second sensor unit is configured to acquire a second plurality of distance measurements along more than two measurement axes in a second set of measurement axes to a surface of a second rolling wheel assembly on an end of said axle adjacent to a second associated lateral side of said moving vehicle; wherein each of said first and second sensor units is operatively coupled to convey said first and second pluralities of distance measurements to a processing system configured with software instructions to determine, from said acquired distance measurements, a total toe of said axle without determining representations of individual toe for said first and second rolling wheel assemblies. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for assessing a condition of an axle of a moving vehicle, said axle having a left outermost wheel on a left side of a centerline of the vehicle, and a right outermost wheel on a right side of the centerline, opposite from said left side, comprising:
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for the right outermost wheel assembly on an axle, contactlessly determining while the vehicle is moving, a first distance (RD1) along each of a plurality of right side fixed measurement axes between associated right side fixed points not on the vehicle and associated first right side locations on a feature of the right outermost wheel assembly outer surface; for said right outermost wheel assembly on said axle, contactlessly determining while the vehicle is moving, a second distance (RD2) along each of said plurality of right side fixed measurement axes between said associated right side fixed points and associated second right side locations on the feature of the right outermost wheel assembly outer surface; for the left outermost wheel assembly on an axle, contactlessly determining, while the vehicle is moving, a first distance (LD1) along each of a plurality of left side fixed measurement axes between associated left side fixed points not on the vehicle and associated first left side locations on a feature of the left outermost wheel assembly outer surface; for said left outermost wheel assembly on said axle, contactlessly determining, while the vehicle is moving, a second distance (LD2) along each of said plurality of left side fixed measurement axes between said associated left side fixed points and associated second left side locations on the feature of the left outermost wheel assembly outer surface; and for each pair of left and right side fixed measurement axes disposed at a common vertical height, generating an output of a total toe value for said axle from said determined distances (RD1, RD2, LD1, and LD2), without determining an individual toe value for either outermost wheel assembly on said axle. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for assessing an axle total toe of a moving vehicle, the system comprising:
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a left side stationary apparatus and a right side stationary apparatus between which said vehicle passes while moving in a direction of travel; said left side stationary apparatus configured to generate for each of a plurality of left side measurement axes, a first output signal indicative of an associated distance (LD1) to an associated first point on the outer surface of a left-side outermost wheel assembly on an axle of said moving vehicle, and subsequently, for each of said plurality of left side measurement axes, a second output signal indicative of an associated distance (LD2) to an associated second point on the outer surface of said left-side outermost wheel assembly; said right side stationary apparatus configured to generate for each of a plurality of right side measurement axes a first output signal indicative of an associated distance (RD1) to an associated first point on the outer surface of a right-side outermost wheel assembly on said axle, and subsequently, for each of said plurality of right side measurement axes, a second output signal indicative of an associated distance (RD2) to an associated second point on the outer surface of said right-side outermost wheel assemblies; and a control system configured to receive the output signals from the left and right side stationary apparatus and to determine from said received output signals, a total toe for said axle based on said distances (LD1, RD1) to said pair of first points and said distances (LD2, RD2) to said pair of second points associated with said measurement axes. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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Specification