System for measuring carrying weight of vehicle

• US 5,391,843 A
• Filed: 11/09/1992
• Issued: 02/21/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Komatsu Seisakusho (Komatsu Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Komatsu Seisakusho (Komatsu Ltd.)
• Inventors: Nagai, Takao, Sato, Hideo
• Primary Examiner(s): MILLER JR, GEORGE
• Application Number:
  US07/946,487
• Time in Patent Office: 834 Days
• Field of Search: 177/136, 177/137, 177/141, 177/146, 177/25.15, 172/146, 172/25.14
• US Class Current: 177/141
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/10 having fluid weight-sensitive devices

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to accurately measure a carrying weight of a vehicle on the basis of a force applied to suspension cylinders and allow an operator to accurately recognize the weight. A first force applied to a front wheel suspension cylinder of a vehicle carrying a load can be obtained on the basis of detection values of pressure sensors (2a, 3a, 2b, 3b), and a second force applied to a rear wheel suspension cylinder can be obtained on the basis of detection values of pressure sensors (2c, 3c, 2d, 3d). An inclination O of the vehicle in the longitudinal direction is detected by an inclinometer (8), and the first and the second force are corrected in accordance with this inclination O. Further, the first and the second force are corrected in accordance with the magnitudes of the first and the second force to thereby obtain the weights of the vehicles on the front wheel side and the rear wheel side. Then, the weight of a vacant vehicle is subtracted from the sum of the weight of the front wheel side and the weight on the rear wheel side, to thereby obtain the carrying weight. The carrying weight thus obtained is displayed on a display (24) screen in units varying in accordance with the change-over made by a switch (21).

Claims

1. A system for measuring carrying weight of a vehicle wherein a first force acting on front-wheel suspension cylinders of the vehicle in a loaded state and a second force acting on rear-wheel suspension cylinders of the vehicle in the loaded state are detected to determine weight of the vehicle in the loaded state based on the detected first and second forces, and carrying weight of the vehicle is determined by subtracting weight of the vehicle in a vacant state from the weight of the vehicle in the loaded state, the system comprising:

correction value calculating means for determining a correlation between the first force and weight of the vehicle on the front wheel side on the basis of data on a front wheel suspension including mounting angles of the front-wheel suspension cylinders to the vehicle and for calculating a first correction value for determining the weight of the vehicle on the front wheel side from the first force, and for determining a correlation between the second force and weight of the vehicle on the rear wheel side on the basis of data on a rear wheel suspension including mounting angles of the rear-wheel suspension cylinders to the vehicle and for calculating a second correction value for determining the weight of the vehicle on the rear wheel side from the second force;

correction value memory means for storing the first correction value calculated by the correction value calculating means in accordance with a magnitude of the first force and for storing the second correction value calculated by the correction value calculating means in accordance with a magnitude of the second force;

front/rear wheel weight calculating means for reading from the correction value memory means the first correction value corresponding to the detected value of the first force and the second correction value corresponding to the detected value of the second force, and correcting the first and second forces with the read first and second correction values so as to calculate the weight of the vehicle on the front wheel side and the weight of the vehicle on the rear wheel side;

weight memory means for storing the weight of the vehicle in the vacant state; and

means for obtaining a sum of the weight of the vehicle on the front wheel side and the weight of the vehicle on the rear wheel side calculated by the front/rear wheel weight calculating means as weight of the vehicle in the loaded state and subtracting the weight of the vehicle in the vacant state stored in the weight memory means from the weight of the vehicle in the loaded state so as to determine the carrying weight of the vehicle.

2. A system for measuring carrying weight of a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system including inclination angle detecting means for detecting an inclination angle of the vehicle in a front-and-rear direction, and wherein the detected first and second forces are corrected on the basis of the value detected by the inclination angle detecting means.

3. A system for measuring carrying weight of a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is installed in the vehicle and includes selecting means for selecting a unit of weight and display means for displaying the carrying weight of the vehicle in the unit selected by the selecting means.

4. A system for measuring carrying weight of a vehicle which comprises:

front and rear wheel suspension means for respectively supporting front and rear wheel sides of the vehicle, the front and rear suspension means respectively including front and rear suspension cylinders mounted at an angle between the front and rear wheel sides of the vehicle and front and rear wheels of the vehicle;

force detecting means for detecting a first force action on the front-wheel suspension cylinders of the vehicle in a loaded state and a second force acting on the rear-wheel suspension cylinders of the vehicle in the loaded state;

correction value calculating means for determining a correlation between the first force and weight of the vehicle on the front wheel side on the basis of data including mounting angles of the front-wheel suspension cylinders to the vehicle and for calculating a first correction value for determining a weight of the vehicle on the front wheel side from the first force, and for determining a correlation between the second force and weight of the vehicle on the rear wheel side on the basis of data including mounting angles of the rear-wheel suspension cylinders to the vehicle and for calculating a second correction value for determining a weight of the vehicle on the rear wheel side from the second force;

correction value memory means for storing the first correction value calculated by the correction value calculating means in accordance with a magnitude of the first force and for storing the second correction value calculated by the correction value calculating means in accordance with a magnitude of the second force;

front/rear wheel weight calculating means for reading from the correction value memory means the first correction value corresponding to the detected value of the first force and the second correction value corresponding to the detected value of the second force, and correcting the first and second forces with the read first and second correction values so as to calculate the weight of the vehicle on the front wheel side and the weight of the vehicle on the rear wheel side;

weight memory means for storing the weight of the vehicle in a vacant state; and

means for obtaining a sum of the weight of the vehicle on the front wheel side and the weight of the vehicle on the rear wheel side calculated by the front/rear wheel weight calculating means as weight of the vehicle in the loaded state and subtracting the weight of the vehicle in the vacant state stored in the weight memory means from the weight of the vehicle in the loaded state so as to determine the carrying weight of the vehicle.

5. A system for measuring carrying weight of a vehicle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the system including inclination angle detecting means for detecting an inclination angle of the vehicle In a front-and-rear direction, and wherein the detected first and second forces are corrected on the basis of the value detected by the inclination angle detecting means.

6. A system for measuring carrying weight of a vehicle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the system is installed in the vehicle and includes selecting means for selecting a unit of weight and display means for displaying the carrying weight of the vehicle in the unit selected by the selecting means.