Multi-axle vehicle sideslip tester
First Claim
1. A sideslip tester for detecting sideslip in a vehicle having a steering axle and at least one pair of tandem axles separate from said steering axle, said sideslip tester comprising:
- at least one measurement plate, movable laterally with respect to the direction of travel of a vehicle under test, as a tire of said vehicle passes over said measurement plate, said at least one measurement plate being moved laterally from a center position as a result of lateral forces acting upon said tire;
at least one lateral movement sensor operatively connected to said measurement plate to sense the amount of lateral movement of the measurement plate as said vehicle tire passes over said plate, said lateral movement sensor providing an output corresponding to the amount of lateral movement measured;
means for determining when at least one pair of tandem axles is passed over said measuring plate; and
means for determining a scrub angle of at least one pair of tandem axles.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A sideslip tester detects sideslip and scrub in a vehicle having a steering axle and one or more pairs of tandem axles. The sideslip tester has a runway having a measurement plate which is moved laterally with respect to its longitudinal axis as a tire of the vehicle passes over the measurement plate as a result of lateral forces acting upon the tire. A lateral movement sensor operatively connected to the measurement plate determines the amount of lateral movement of the measurement plate as the vehicle tire passes over the plate and provides an output corresponding to the amount of lateral movement measured. The sideslip tester can determine when it is presented with tandem axles. When it is presented with tandem axles, the sideslip tester will determine the scrub angle of the tandem axles to determine if they are parallel.
15 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A sideslip tester for detecting sideslip in a vehicle having a steering axle and at least one pair of tandem axles separate from said steering axle, said sideslip tester comprising:
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at least one measurement plate, movable laterally with respect to the direction of travel of a vehicle under test, as a tire of said vehicle passes over said measurement plate, said at least one measurement plate being moved laterally from a center position as a result of lateral forces acting upon said tire; at least one lateral movement sensor operatively connected to said measurement plate to sense the amount of lateral movement of the measurement plate as said vehicle tire passes over said plate, said lateral movement sensor providing an output corresponding to the amount of lateral movement measured; means for determining when at least one pair of tandem axles is passed over said measuring plate; and means for determining a scrub angle of at least one pair of tandem axles. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A sideslip tester for detecting sideslip in a vehicle having a steering axle and at least one pair of tandem axles, said sideslip tester comprising:
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at least one measurement plate, movable laterally with respect to the direction of travel of a vehicle under test, as a tire of said vehicle passes over said measurement plate, said at least one measurement plate being moved laterally as a result of lateral forces acting upon said tire; at least one lateral movement sensor operatively connected to said measurement plate to sense the amount of lateral movement of the measurement plate as said vehicle tire passes over said plate, said lateral movement sensor providing an output corresponding to the amount of lateral movement measured; means for determining a scrub angle of any pair of tandem axles. a first switch on a first side of said measuring plate, a second switch on a second side of said measuring plate, and a control unit operatively connected to said first and second switches and responsive to the actuation thereof for detecting the passage of a tandem axle pair over the measuring plate; said control means being operatively connected to said lateral movement sensor, said control means including means responsive to the output of said lateral movement sensor for each axle of said tandem axle pair to determine said scrub angle and means for determining the difference between the sideslip measurement for each axle of said tandem axle pair to determine said scrub angle.
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16. A sideslip tester for determining the sideslip of a vehicle having a steering axle and at least one pair of tandem axles separate from said steering axle, said sideslip tester comprising:
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at least one measurement plate movable laterally with respect to the direction of travel of a vehicle under test as a tire of said vehicle passes over said measurement plate, said measurement plate being moved laterally as a result of lateral forces acting upon said tire; at least one lateral movement sensor operatively connected to said measurement plate to sense the amount of lateral movement of the measurement plate as said vehicle tire passes over said plate, said lateral movement sensor providing an output corresponding to the amount of lateral movement measured; means for determining when tires of said at least one pair of tandem axles are passing over said measurement plate. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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19. A sideslip tester for determining the sideslip of a vehicle having a steering axle and at least one pair of tandem axles, said sideslip tester comprising:
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at least one measurement plate movable laterally with respect to the direction of travel of a vehicle under test as a tire of said vehicle passes over said measurement plate, said measurement plate being moved laterally as a result of lateral forces acting upon said tire; at least one lateral movement sensor operatively connected to said measurement plate to sense the amount of lateral movement of the measurement plate as said vehicle tire passes over said plate, said lateral movement sensor providing an output corresponding to the amount of lateral movement measured; means for determining when tires of tandem axles are passing over said measurement plate;
said determining means including a first switch positioned on one side of said measuring plate, a second switch positioned on a second side of said measuring plate, and a control device;
said switches being operatively connected to said control device and said control device being responsive to the actuation of said switches to determine the passage of a tandem axle pair over said measuring plate;
said switches being spaced apart a distance equal to the distance between tandem axles of a multi-axle vehicle, said switches being actuated nearly simultaneously when a tandem axle pair rolls over said measurement plate. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification