Method and device for real time estimation of the applied pressure and of noisiness in a brake element, in particular a brake pad
First Claim
1. A method for the real time estimation of the applied pressure and noisiness in a brake element, the method comprising the steps of:
- i) providing the brake element comprising a friction material block and a metallic support element for the friction material block;
ii) providing at least one piezoceramic sensor between a friction material block and a metallic support element of the brake element, the at least one piezoceramic sensor being connected to an electric circuit and being completely arranged between the friction material block and the metallic support element;
iii) with the brake element in use, picking up from said at least one piezoceramic sensor, by means of said electric circuit, a respective electric voltage signal (ST) generated by the at least one piezoceramic sensor in response to the application of a mechanical stress on the at least one piezoceramic sensor;
iv) processing in real time the electric voltage signal (ST) by taking equal length of time samples of said electric voltage signal; and
v) processing in real time each said equal length of time samples of said electric voltage signal by applying an algorithm selected from at least one of the group consisting of;
sequence of integrations of the voltage values present in the sample, each integration being carried out in an interval of time in the order of milliseconds;
FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) of the voltages in the sample;
or integral of the voltages in the sample generated by the at least one piezoceramic sensor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A brake element is sensorized by at least one piezoceramic sensor arranged between a metallic support element and a block of friction material of a brake element, the sensor being completely embedded within the block. An electrical voltage signal generated by at least one piezoceramic sensor, without the need for a power supply, is picked up by an electrical circuit integrated into the metallic support element. The electrical voltage signal is processed in the form of equal length of samples per unit of time of the detected signal by successively processing in real time each sample of equal length of time sample of the signal by applying an algorithm. The algorithm is selected from at least one of a sequence of integrations of voltage values in the sample carried out in an interval of time in the order of milliseconds; FFT voltage data sample; and integral of the voltage data sample.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for the real time estimation of the applied pressure and noisiness in a brake element, the method comprising the steps of:
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i) providing the brake element comprising a friction material block and a metallic support element for the friction material block; ii) providing at least one piezoceramic sensor between a friction material block and a metallic support element of the brake element, the at least one piezoceramic sensor being connected to an electric circuit and being completely arranged between the friction material block and the metallic support element; iii) with the brake element in use, picking up from said at least one piezoceramic sensor, by means of said electric circuit, a respective electric voltage signal (ST) generated by the at least one piezoceramic sensor in response to the application of a mechanical stress on the at least one piezoceramic sensor; iv) processing in real time the electric voltage signal (ST) by taking equal length of time samples of said electric voltage signal; and v) processing in real time each said equal length of time samples of said electric voltage signal by applying an algorithm selected from at least one of the group consisting of;
sequence of integrations of the voltage values present in the sample, each integration being carried out in an interval of time in the order of milliseconds;
FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) of the voltages in the sample;
or integral of the voltages in the sample generated by the at least one piezoceramic sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 21)
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15. A device for the real time estimation of the applied pressure and of the noisiness in a brake element, the device comprising:
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i) at least one piezoceramic sensor arranged between a friction material block and a metallic support element of the brake element, the at least one piezoceramic sensor being connected to an electric circuit and being completely arranged between the friction material block and the metallic support element; ii) means for picking up from said at least one piezoceramic sensor and by means of said circuit, a respective electric voltage signal (ST) generated by the at least one piezoceramic sensor in response to the application on the at least one piezoceramic sensor of a mechanical stress consequent to a contact between brake element and an element to be braked; iii) first means for processing the electric voltage signal generated by said at least one piezoceramic sensor in real time so as to generate equal length of time samples of said signals; iv) second means for processing each equal length of time samples of said signals generated by means of the at least one piezoceramic sensor in real time by applying an algorithm to the equal length of time samples of said signals chosen from at least one of the group consisting of;
sequence of integrations of the voltage values present in the equal length of time samples of said signals each carried out in an interval of time in the order of milliseconds;
FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) of the equal length of time samples of said signals;
or integral of the equal length of time samples of said signals generated by each piezoceramic sensor. - View Dependent Claims (16, 18)
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19. A method for the real time estimation of the applied pressure and noisiness in a brake element, the method comprising the steps of:
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i) providing the brake element comprising a friction material block and a metallic support element for the friction material block; ii) providing a plurality of first piezoceramic sensors and at least one second piezoceramic sensor between a friction material block and a metallic support element of the brake element on a first surface of the metallic support element, the plurality of first piezoceramic sensors being arranged spaced apart from one another so as to occupy in discrete manner the entire first surface of the metallic support element, and the at least one second piezoceramic sensor being also arranged on the first surface, spaced apart from the plurality of first piezoceramic sensors, the first and second piezoceramic sensors being connected to an electric circuit and being completely arranged between the friction material block and the metallic support element; iii) with the brake element in use, picking up from each first and second piezoceramic sensor, by means of said electric circuit, a respective electric voltage signal (ST) generated by each piezoceramic sensor in response to the application of a mechanical stress on the piezoceramic sensor; iv) processing in real time the electric voltage signal (ST) by taking equal length of time samples of said electric voltage signal separately for each piezoceramic sensor; and v) processing in real time each said equal length of time samples of said electric voltage signal by applying an algorithm selected from at least one of the group consisting of;
sequence of integrations of the voltage values present in the sample, each integration being carried out in an interval of time in the order of milliseconds;
FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) of the voltages in the sample;
or integral of the voltages in the sample generated by each piezoceramic sensor.
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20. A device for the real time estimation of the applied pressure and of the noisiness in a brake element, the device comprising:
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i) a plurality of first piezoceramic sensors and at least one second piezoceramic sensor arranged between a friction material block and a metallic support element of the brake element, wherein the plurality of first piezoceramic sensors and at least one second piezoceramic sensor are arranged on a first surface of the metallic support element, said plurality of first piezoceramic sensors being arranged spaced apart from one another so as to occupy in discrete manner the entire first surface of the metallic support element covered by the friction material block, and the at least one second piezoceramic sensor being arranged spaced apart from the plurality of first piezoceramic sensors, each of the first and second piezoceramic sensors being connected to an electric circuit and being completely arranged between the friction material block and the metallic support element; ii) means for picking up from said each of the first and second piezoceramic sensors and by means of said electric circuit, a respective electric voltage signal (ST) generated by each piezoceramic sensor in response to the application on each piezoceramic sensor of a mechanical stress consequent to a contact between a brake element and an element to be braked; iii) first means for processing the electric voltage signal generated by each piezoceramic sensor in real time so as to generate equal length of time samples of said signals; iv) second means for processing each equal length of time samples of said signals generated by means of each piezoceramic sensor in real time by applying an algorithm to the equal length of time samples of said signals chosen from at least one of the group consisting of;
sequence of integrations of the voltage values present in the equal length of time samples of said signals each carried out in an interval of time in the order of milliseconds;
FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) of the equal length of time samples of said signals;
or integral of the equal length of time samples of said signals generated by each piezoceramic sensor.
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Specification