Tire and suspension warning and monitoring system
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring shock absorber performance of a shock absorber attached to a vehicle wheel, the method comprising the steps of:
- sensing at least one acceleration of the wheel to provide acceleration signals;
collecting a predetermined number of acceleration signal samples;
transforming and normalizing the collected samples within a first predetermined frequency range;
summing the transformed and normalized samples within a second predetermined frequency range;
comparing the summed samples with a previously stored baseline value; and
outputting a signal of the comparison result, the comparison result being indicative of the monitored shock absorber performance.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A tire and suspension monitoring and warning system consisting of a set of multi-function sensors that monitor and warn of a failure mode. The system monitors and warns for tire imbalance, tire tread wear, and shock absorbers for a tire attached to a vehicle. The monitoring and warning system includes one axial, radial, and lateral acceleration measurement of the wheel to provide acceleration signal sample power. For tire imbalance, signal sample power in the second harmonic of the tire rotational frequency is compared to that of the first harmonic. For tire tread wear, average signal sample power within a second frequency range is compared to a previously stored baseline value. For shock absorber performance, a sum of all frequency components in a second predetermined frequency range is compared to a baseline value.
60 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring shock absorber performance of a shock absorber attached to a vehicle wheel, the method comprising the steps of:
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sensing at least one acceleration of the wheel to provide acceleration signals; collecting a predetermined number of acceleration signal samples; transforming and normalizing the collected samples within a first predetermined frequency range; summing the transformed and normalized samples within a second predetermined frequency range; comparing the summed samples with a previously stored baseline value; and outputting a signal of the comparison result, the comparison result being indicative of the monitored shock absorber performance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus for monitoring shock absorber performance of a shock absorber attached to a vehicle wheel, the apparatus comprising:
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a sensor for sensing at least one acceleration of the wheel and for providing acceleration signals corresponding thereto; a collector for collecting a predetermined number of acceleration signals samples; a transformer and normalizer for transforming and normalizing the samples within a first predetermined frequency range; a summer for summing the transformed and normalized samples within a second predetermined frequency range; a comparator for comparing the summed samples with a previously stored baseline value; and an output circuit for outputting a signal of the comparison result of the comparator, the comparison result being indicative of the monitored shock absorber performance. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of monitoring shock absorber performance comprising:
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sensing and analyzing changes to matched-filtered vibrations of a tire/wheel assembly; determining shock absorber performance based on said sensing and analyzing; and providing an indication of a non-functional shock absorber based on said determining.
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21. An apparatus for monitoring shock absorber performance comprising:
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a sensor to sense vibrations of a tire/wheel assembly; a processing device to match filter the sensed vibrations and analyze changes to the matched-filtered vibrations and to determine shock absorber performance based on the sensed changes; and a display for providing an indication in response to the determined performance.
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Specification