Misalignment sensor
First Claim
1. A steering axle wheel assembly for a vehicle comprising:
- a connecting system for connecting two wheels;
said connecting system including an elongated tie rod extending between two wheels;
a rotatable knuckle system connecting each wheel to a respective end of said tie rod;
said rotatable knuckle system including a kingpin defining an axis, and a knuckle which may rotate about said axis; and
said connecting system being equipped with a system for sensing wheel misalignment including a sensing device in the rotatable knuckle system which reflects an angle of rotation of said knuckle about said kingpin axis.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a disclosed embodiment, a steering axle wheel assembly for a vehicle is provided with a system for actively sensing and alerting a vehicle user of wheel misalignment. The wheel assembly includes an elongated tie rod extending between two wheels and a rotatable knuckle system connecting each wheel to a respective end of the tie rod. A steer angle, that is, the angle of a wheel with respect to an axle, is monitored. When the steer angle is significant, result in a tensile or compressive force is provided on the tie rod. This force on the tie rod is small when the steer angle is small. The tie rod is provided with a system to measure the force. An alerting system is provided which alerts a vehicle user when significant tensile or compressive force on the tie rod is measured, and the steer angle is small. Thus, a vehicle user is actively alerted of wheel misalignment.
-
Citations
7 Claims
-
1. A steering axle wheel assembly for a vehicle comprising:
-
a connecting system for connecting two wheels;
said connecting system including an elongated tie rod extending between two wheels;
a rotatable knuckle system connecting each wheel to a respective end of said tie rod;
said rotatable knuckle system including a kingpin defining an axis, and a knuckle which may rotate about said axis; and
said connecting system being equipped with a system for sensing wheel misalignment including a sensing device in the rotatable knuckle system which reflects an angle of rotation of said knuckle about said kingpin axis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A steering axle wheel assembly for a vehicle comprising:
-
a connecting system for connecting two wheels, said connecting system including an elongated tie rod extending between two wheels;
a rotatable knuckle system connecting each wheel to a respective end of said tie rod;
said rotatable knuckle system including a kingpin defining an axis, and a knuckle which may rotate about said axis, a system for sensing wheel misalignment including a sensing device in the rotatable knuckle system which measures an angle of rotation of said knuckle about said kingpin axis;
said tie rod being equipped with a system to measure tensile or compressive force in response to said sensing device in the rotatable knuckle system and a control for determining if the magnitude of said measured force exceeds a predetermined amount when the magnitude of said measured angle is below a limit, and then indicating wheel misalignment. - View Dependent Claims (6)
-
-
7. A method for actively sensing wheel misalignment of a vehicle comprising the steps:
-
sensing and measuring the magnitude of an angle of rotation of a rotatable knuckle system about a kingpin, measuring a force on a tie rod and activating an alerting system which alerts a vehicle user of wheel misalignment if the magnitude of said force is above a limit when said magnitude of the measured angle of rotation is below a limit.
-
Specification