On-board scale with remote sensor processing
First Claim
1. An on-board weighing apparatus for a vehicle having at least one weight-supporting suspension group, comprising:
- at least one sensor being mountable on the vehicle and associated in a one-to-one relationship to the at least one suspension group, each of the at least one sensor being operative to generate a signal related to a weight supported on its respective suspension group;
at least one remote sensor processing unit mountable on the vehicle and associated in a one-to-one relationship to the at least one sensor, each of the remote sensor processing unit being operative to store signal-to-weight conversion parameters related to its respective sensor, the signal-to-weight conversion parameters characterizing a conversion of the weight related signal to a weight of the vehicle at the respective suspension group associated with the at least one sensor;
a host processing unit mounted on the vehicle and in communication with the at least one remote sensor processing unit, the host processing unit being operative to receive the signal generated by each of the at least one sensor, to read the signal-to-weight conversion parameters from each of the at least one remote sensor processing unit, and to generate weight data for each of the at least one suspension group as a function of the signal-to-weight conversion parameters and the signal from its respective sensor and remote sensor processing unit; and
a display for providing a visual indication of the weight data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An on-board weighing system employs a master unit, and one or more remote units to which weight sensors are connected. Calibration information for each weight sensor is stored in the remote unit to which it is connected. Analog weight related signals generated by the weight sensors also are converted by the remote units to digital sensor values. The remote units are connectable by a communications network with the master unit such that the master unit can read the digital sensor value and calibration information of each weight sensor for processing to yield vehicle weight. The on-board weighing system facilitates trailer swapping by automatically recording and tracking calibration information for the weight sensors in the remote units which together are mounted on the trailers that are swapped.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An on-board weighing apparatus for a vehicle having at least one weight-supporting suspension group, comprising:
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at least one sensor being mountable on the vehicle and associated in a one-to-one relationship to the at least one suspension group, each of the at least one sensor being operative to generate a signal related to a weight supported on its respective suspension group; at least one remote sensor processing unit mountable on the vehicle and associated in a one-to-one relationship to the at least one sensor, each of the remote sensor processing unit being operative to store signal-to-weight conversion parameters related to its respective sensor, the signal-to-weight conversion parameters characterizing a conversion of the weight related signal to a weight of the vehicle at the respective suspension group associated with the at least one sensor; a host processing unit mounted on the vehicle and in communication with the at least one remote sensor processing unit, the host processing unit being operative to receive the signal generated by each of the at least one sensor, to read the signal-to-weight conversion parameters from each of the at least one remote sensor processing unit, and to generate weight data for each of the at least one suspension group as a function of the signal-to-weight conversion parameters and the signal from its respective sensor and remote sensor processing unit; and a display for providing a visual indication of the weight data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of measuring vehicle weight, comprising:
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generating a signal related to a vehicle weight with a weight transducer; storing signal-to-weight conversion parameters for the weight transducer in a remote sensor processing unit connected to the weight transducer, the signal-to-weight conversion parameters characterizing a conversion of the generated signal to the vehicle weight; converting the signal with the remote sensor processing unit to form a digital sensor value; interconnecting the remote sensor processing unit and a master processing unit in a communications network; transmitting the signal-to-weight conversion parameters and digital sensor value from the remote sensor processing unit to the master processing unit; processing the signal-to-weight conversion parameters and digital sensor value with the master processing unit to determine the vehicle weight; and visually indicating the vehicle weight. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. An on-board vehicle scale for vehicles having interchangeable trailers, comprising:
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a master processor mountable on a vehicle; a weight transducer mountable on a trailer for generating a signal related to a weight supported on a suspension group of the trailer; a remote sensor processor mountable on the trailer and connected to the weight transducer for receiving the signal; a non-volatile memory in the remote sensor processor for storing signal-to-weight conversion parameters characterizing a conversion from the signal generated by the weight transducer to a weight of the vehicle at the suspension group; a communications network for interconnecting the master processor and the remote sensor processor; and the master processor being operative to read the signal-to-weight conversion parameters and the signal from the remote sensor processor, and to process the signal using the signal-to-weight conversion parameters to determine the weight. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification