Vehicle load monitoring system
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring the load added to a draft vehicle, including at least one load cell extending between the load carrying portion and the ground engaging portion of the vehicle, said load cell including passive hydraulic means for generating an hydraulic pressure corresponding to the load applied to said load carrying portion, said hydraulic means including an hydraulic cylinder having opposed chambers at either side of a translatable piston, said piston and said cylinder being secured to respective ground engaging and load carrying portions of said vehicle, one of said chambers being compressed by a load applied to load carrying portion, a closed hydraulic loop connecting said chambers, first valve means for selectively blocking said closed loop, second valve means connected to said one chamber, pressure transducer means connected to said second valve means for generating an analog signal representing the hydraulic pressure in said one chamber when said one chamber is compressed, said first valve means is actuated to block said closed loop, and said second valve means is selectively opened, means for converting said analog signal to a digital signal, and means for displaying said digital signal.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for monitoring the load carried by a vehicle includes a plurality of load cells, each extending between the load bed and the unsprung portion of the vehicle suspension. Each load cell includes an hydraulic cylinder which generates an hydraulic force corresponding to the load applied thereto. A pressure transducer is connected to the hydraulic cylinder, and the outputs of the transducers are summed and fed to an auto zeroing system. The output of this system is connected to an A/D converter, and thence to a visual display. The A/D converter output is also fed to a digital comparator which is connected to a BCD switch set to an overload level. If the load exceeds the BCD input, an overload alarm is sounded.
-
Citations
10 Claims
- 1. A system for monitoring the load added to a draft vehicle, including at least one load cell extending between the load carrying portion and the ground engaging portion of the vehicle, said load cell including passive hydraulic means for generating an hydraulic pressure corresponding to the load applied to said load carrying portion, said hydraulic means including an hydraulic cylinder having opposed chambers at either side of a translatable piston, said piston and said cylinder being secured to respective ground engaging and load carrying portions of said vehicle, one of said chambers being compressed by a load applied to load carrying portion, a closed hydraulic loop connecting said chambers, first valve means for selectively blocking said closed loop, second valve means connected to said one chamber, pressure transducer means connected to said second valve means for generating an analog signal representing the hydraulic pressure in said one chamber when said one chamber is compressed, said first valve means is actuated to block said closed loop, and said second valve means is selectively opened, means for converting said analog signal to a digital signal, and means for displaying said digital signal.
Specification