Method and apparatus for measuring the rollover resistance and compliance characteristics of a vehicle
First Claim
1. An apparatus for measuring attributes of a vehicle during a certain inertial event, said vehicle having a plurality of tires and a suspension assembly, said apparatus comprising:
- a test platform on which said vehicle is placed and which is selectively and rotatably positionable in an angular position based upon said certain inertial event;
a plurality of load sensors which are each disposed under a unique one of said plurality of tires and which provide data regarding loads exerted by said plurality of tires;
a plurality of actuators which are attached to said suspension assembly and which are adapted to selectively hold said suspension assembly in certain position; and
a compensation assembly which is attached to said test platform and to said vehicle, said compensation assembly being effective to selectively provide a force to said vehicle that compensates for a loss of gravitational force that is experienced by said vehicle when said test platform resides in said angular position, thereby cooperating with said test platform to accurately replicate forces that were imparted upon said vehicle during said certain inertial event and allowing said attributes to be measured.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus 10 for measuring and/or analyzing the rollover resistance and dynamic compliance characteristics of a vehicle 12. Apparatus 10 includes a controller 14, a selectively rotatable test bed assembly 16, several load sensors 18 which are disposed upon test bed assembly 16, suspension jacks or actuators 20, a gravity compensation assembly 22, and various vehicle sensors 24. Controller 14 is communicatively coupled to test bed assembly 16, sensors 18, actuators 20, gravity compensation assembly 22, and vehicle sensors 24. Controller 14 generates signals to test bed assembly 16, actuators 20, and assembly 22, effective to cause test bed assembly 16, actuators 20 and assembly 22 to replicate certain inertial conditions or events. Controller 14 further receives signals from sensors 18 and 24, and processes and utilizes the received signals to analyze and/or measure the resistance of vehicle 12 to rollover and dynamic compliance characteristics of vehicle 12 during the replicated inertial conditions or events.
43 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus for measuring attributes of a vehicle during a certain inertial event, said vehicle having a plurality of tires and a suspension assembly, said apparatus comprising:
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a test platform on which said vehicle is placed and which is selectively and rotatably positionable in an angular position based upon said certain inertial event;
a plurality of load sensors which are each disposed under a unique one of said plurality of tires and which provide data regarding loads exerted by said plurality of tires;
a plurality of actuators which are attached to said suspension assembly and which are adapted to selectively hold said suspension assembly in certain position; and
a compensation assembly which is attached to said test platform and to said vehicle, said compensation assembly being effective to selectively provide a force to said vehicle that compensates for a loss of gravitational force that is experienced by said vehicle when said test platform resides in said angular position, thereby cooperating with said test platform to accurately replicate forces that were imparted upon said vehicle during said certain inertial event and allowing said attributes to be measured. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
a plurality of vehicle attribute sensors which are operatively disposed on said vehicle and which are effective to measure said attributes of said vehicle when said test platform is in said angular position.
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6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said test platform comprises a generally circular portion on which said vehicle is placed, said circular portion being selectively rotatable relative to said test platform.
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7. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said compensation assembly comprises a hydraulic cylinder.
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8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said vehicle has a center of gravity and wherein said compensation assembly is coupled to said vehicle directly below said center of gravity.
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9. A system for measuring attributes of a vehicle having a suspension assembly, said system comprising:
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a test bed assembly on which said vehicle is placed and which is selectively and rotatably positionable in a plurality of angular positions;
a plurality of actuators which are attached to said suspension assembly and which are adapted to selectively hold said suspension assembly in a plurality of states;
a compensation assembly which is attached to said test bed assembly and to said vehicle, said compensation assembly being effective to selectively provide forces to said vehicle that compensate for a loss of gravitational force that is experienced by said vehicle when said test bed assembly resides in any of said angular positions; and
a controller which is communicatively coupled to said test bed assembly, to said plurality of actuators, and to said compensation assembly, said controller being effective to receive data regarding a certain inertial event experienced by said vehicle, and based upon said received data, to cause said test bed assembly to move to a selected angular position, to cause said plurality of actuators to hold said suspension assembly in a selected state, and to cause said compensation assembly to provide a selected force to said vehicle, thereby accurately replicating said certain inertial event on said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
at least one sensor which is adapted to selectively measure a vehicle attribute.
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11. The system of claim 10 wherein said vehicle further includes a plurality of wheels and wherein said at least one sensor comprises a plurality of load sensors which are each disposed under a unique one of said plurality of wheels and which provide data regarding loads exerted by said plurality of wheels.
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12. A method for measuring certain attributes of a vehicle, said vehicle having a suspension assembly, said method comprising the steps of:
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causing said vehicle to experience an inertial event;
measuring lateral forces on said vehicle when said vehicle experiences said inertial event;
monitoring a position of said suspension assembly when said vehicle experiences said inertial event;
holding said suspension assembly in said position;
placing said vehicle on a test fixture having a longitudinal axis;
rotating said test fixture about said longitudinal axis to a certain angular position effective to replicate said measured lateral forces;
imparting a vertical force on said vehicle effective to compensate for a loss of gravitational force that is experienced by said vehicle when said test fixture resides in said angular position; and
measuring and analyzing said certain attributes of said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
locating a center of gravity of said vehicle; and
wherein said vertical force is imparted to said vehicle directly under said center of gravity.
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16. The method of claim 15 wherein said vertical force is imparted by use of a hydraulic cylinder.
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17. The method of claim 16 wherein said hydraulic cylinder is selectively movable relative to said test fixture, thereby allowing said hydraulic cylinder to track movement of said center of gravity.
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18. The method of claim 13 wherein said certain attributes further comprise compliance attributes of said vehicle.
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19. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of:
rotating said vehicle relative to said test fixture.
Specification