Method and apparatus for estimating vehicle braking system effectiveness
First Claim
1. Apparatus for estimating the effectiveness of a braking system in a wheeled vehicle including an engine, a brake treadle, and fluid-actuated brakes having normally operable and automatically operable braking modes, the apparatus comprising:
- means for determining engine torque and generating a torque signal representative thereof;
means for determining vehicle acceleration and deceleration and generating respective acceleration and deceleration signals representative thereof;
means for determining brake treadle pressure during vehicle deceleration in the normally operable braking mode and generating a brake pressure signal representative thereof; and
calculating means for calculating, from data represented by the torque signal and the acceleration signal, vehicle load and for calculating, from data represented by the brake pressure signal and the deceleration signal, braking system effectiveness by comparing the determined deceleration with a deceleration predicted for the calculated vehicle load and the determined brake treadle pressure, the calculating means generating an effective brake signal if the determined deceleration is within a predetermined range of the predicted deceleration and generating an ineffective brake signal if the determined deceleration is not within the range.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Vehicle engine torque, acceleration, deceleration and brake treadle pressure are determined. Vehicle load is calculated from the engine torque and acceleration; and braking system effectiveness is calculated by comparing the determined deceleration with a deceleration predicted for the calculated vehicle load and the determined brake treadle pressure. Values representative of braking system effectiveness are accumulated and evaluated to more accurately determine when braking system service is required than is possible by merely scheduling service according to the amount of elapsed time or the number of miles driven since prior service was performed.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. Apparatus for estimating the effectiveness of a braking system in a wheeled vehicle including an engine, a brake treadle, and fluid-actuated brakes having normally operable and automatically operable braking modes, the apparatus comprising:
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means for determining engine torque and generating a torque signal representative thereof; means for determining vehicle acceleration and deceleration and generating respective acceleration and deceleration signals representative thereof; means for determining brake treadle pressure during vehicle deceleration in the normally operable braking mode and generating a brake pressure signal representative thereof; and calculating means for calculating, from data represented by the torque signal and the acceleration signal, vehicle load and for calculating, from data represented by the brake pressure signal and the deceleration signal, braking system effectiveness by comparing the determined deceleration with a deceleration predicted for the calculated vehicle load and the determined brake treadle pressure, the calculating means generating an effective brake signal if the determined deceleration is within a predetermined range of the predicted deceleration and generating an ineffective brake signal if the determined deceleration is not within the range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for estimating the effectiveness of a braking system in a vehicle having an engine and a brake treadle, the method comprising the steps of:
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accelerating the vehicle; determining engine torque during vehicle acceleration; determining the vehicle acceleration; calculating vehicle load from the engine torque and the vehicle acceleration; applying pressure to the brake treadle to decelerate the vehicle; determining brake treadle pressure; determining vehicle deceleration; and calculating braking system effectiveness by comparing the determined deceleration with a deceleration predicted for the calculated vehicle load and the determined brake treadle pressure. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for estimating the effectiveness of a braking system in a vehicle having an engine and a brake treadle and having an engine control unit and an automatic braking system control unit, the system comprising:
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means for determining engine torque during vehicle acceleration; means for determining vehicle acceleration; means for determining brake treadle pressure; means for determining vehicle deceleration; and means for calculating vehicle load from the engine torque and the vehicle acceleration and for calculating the effectiveness of the braking system by comparing the determined deceleration with a deceleration predicted for the calculated vehicle load and the determined brake treadle pressure. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification