Algorithm for early detection of wheel misalignment using on-vehicle instrumentation
First Claim
1. A method for determining wheel misalignment for wheels of a vehicle, said method comprising:
- measuring the position of a hand-wheel of the vehicle;
sampling the measured hand-wheel position at a predetermined sampling time;
accumulating the sampled hand-wheel positions during a predetermined sampling period;
comparing the accumulated hand-wheel positions with previously accumulated hand-wheel positions from previous sampling periods; and
determining whether there is a wheel misalignment based on the comparison.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for determining vehicle wheel misalignment. The method includes accumulating the hand-wheel position using a hand-wheel sensor over a predetermined sampling period, and then comparing the accumulated hand-wheel position to previously accumulated hand-wheel positions to provide an indication of wheel misalignment. Because a vehicle will typically be driven so that the right turns will substantially equal the left turns over a sufficiently large sampling period, the accumulated hand-wheel position should average out to be about zero, unless there is a wheel misalignment which would cause the vehicle operator to continuously turn the hand-wheel in one direction when driving straight. Therefore, if the accumulated hand-wheel position exhibits a consistent algebraic deviation and shows a progressive increase over multiple sampling periods, the confidence of wheel misalignment will increase.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for determining wheel misalignment for wheels of a vehicle, said method comprising:
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measuring the position of a hand-wheel of the vehicle; sampling the measured hand-wheel position at a predetermined sampling time; accumulating the sampled hand-wheel positions during a predetermined sampling period; comparing the accumulated hand-wheel positions with previously accumulated hand-wheel positions from previous sampling periods; and determining whether there is a wheel misalignment based on the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for determining whether a vehicle'"'"'s wheels are misaligned, said system comprising:
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a hand-wheel angle sensor for measuring the position of a vehicle hand-wheel and providing hand-wheel measurement signals; a controller for determining if the wheels are misaligned based on the hand-wheel measurement signals, said controller sampling the hand-wheel measurement signal at a predetermined sampling time and accumulating the sampled hand-wheel measurements signals over a predetermined sampling period to provide a current accumulated hand-wheel position, said controller comparing the current accumulated hand-wheel position with previously accumulated hand-wheel positions from previous sampling periods, and said controller determining whether there is a wheel misalignment based on the comparison, said controller providing an output signal if it determines there is a wheel misalignment; and an indicator device responsive to the output signal for providing a signal indicating wheel misalignment. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system for determining whether a vehicle'"'"'s wheels are misaligned, said system comprising:
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a sensor for measuring the angle of the vehicle'"'"'s wheels and providing wheel angle signals; a controller for determining if the wheels are misaligned based on the wheel angle signals, said controller accumulating the wheel angle signals over a predetermined sampling period to provide a current accumulated wheel angle, said controller comparing the current accumulated wheel angle with previously accumulated wheel angles from previous sampling periods, and said controller determining whether there is a wheel misalignment based on the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification