Roadway grip tester and method
First Claim
1. In a method for measuring road surface friction of a road surface using a vehicle that moves across the road surface wherein (1) an auxiliary independent wheel assembly is towed behind said vehicle and is in contact with the road surface, an auxiliary wheel of said wheel assembly is freely rotatable by movement of said vehicle and being one or more of toed in or toed out with respect to a direction of travel of said vehicle so as to create an isolated axial force on said auxiliary wheel:
- (2) the axial force on said auxiliary wheel is measured while said vehicle moves across said road surface; and
said measured axial force is correlated with the road surface friction;
the improvement which comprises the steps of;
(A) the independent wheel assembly is load isolated from the weight of said towing vehicle; and
(B) the independent wheel assembly is loaded by placing ballast thereon.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for measuring-road surface friction of a road surface uses a vehicle that moves across the road surface wherein (1) an auxiliary independent wheel assembly is towed behind the vehicle and is in contact with the road surface, an auxiliary wheel of the wheel assembly is freely rotatable by movement of the vehicle and is one or more of toed in or toed out with respect to a direction of travel of the vehicle so as to create an isolated axial force on the auxiliary wheel: (2) the axial force on the auxiliary wheel is measured while the vehicle moves across the road surface, and the measured axial force is correlated with the road surface friction. The independent wheel assembly is load isolated from the weight of the towing vehicle and the independent wheel assembly is loaded by placing ballast thereon.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. In a method for measuring road surface friction of a road surface using a vehicle that moves across the road surface wherein (1) an auxiliary independent wheel assembly is towed behind said vehicle and is in contact with the road surface, an auxiliary wheel of said wheel assembly is freely rotatable by movement of said vehicle and being one or more of toed in or toed out with respect to a direction of travel of said vehicle so as to create an isolated axial force on said auxiliary wheel:
- (2) the axial force on said auxiliary wheel is measured while said vehicle moves across said road surface; and
said measured axial force is correlated with the road surface friction;
the improvement which comprises the steps of;(A) the independent wheel assembly is load isolated from the weight of said towing vehicle; and (B) the independent wheel assembly is loaded by placing ballast thereon. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
- (2) the axial force on said auxiliary wheel is measured while said vehicle moves across said road surface; and
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17. In a device for measuring road surface friction of a road surface using a vehicle that moves across the road surface, including (1) an auxiliary freely rotatable independent wheel interposed between said vehicle and the road surface, and being one or more of toed in or toed out with respect to a direction of travel of said vehicle so as to create an axial force on said auxiliary wheel;
- (2) an axial force sensor mounted with respect to said auxiliary wheel so as to measure the axial force exerted on said auxiliary wheel while said vehicle moves across said road surface;
(3) a converter for correlating the measured axial force with the road surface friction, the improvement which comprises;(A) the independent wheel assembly being load isolated from the weight of said towing vehicle; and (B) the independent wheel assembly being loaded by placing ballast thereon. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
- (2) an axial force sensor mounted with respect to said auxiliary wheel so as to measure the axial force exerted on said auxiliary wheel while said vehicle moves across said road surface;
Specification