Methods and devices for estimating residual torque between the braked and braking elements of a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11740145-B2
Application number	US-202217751439-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 23, 2022
Priority date	May 25, 2021
Publication date	Aug 29, 2023
Grant date	Aug 29, 2023

Abstract

Methods and devices for estimating a residual torque between the braked (e.g., brake disk or drum) and braking elements (e.g., support plate or friction block) of a vehicle based on acquired and reference temperatures, where the reference temperature can be calculated using an N-dimensional calculation model with an N-dimensional vector of input variables, and where said N-dimensional calculation model can be an analytical or experimental characterization of the thermal behavior of the brake.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for estimating a residual torque in a brake of a vehicle, the method comprising:
acquiring a temperature of a braking element of the brake;
determining that the brake is not activated at an acquisition time of the acquiring of the temperature;
calculating a reference temperature using an N-dimensional calculation model with an N-dimensional vector of input variables; and
estimating residual torque based on at least the calculated reference temperature,
wherein the N-dimensional vector of input variables includes at least the acquired temperature of the braking element, and
wherein the N-dimensional calculation model comprises an analytical or experimental characterization of thermal behavior of the brake.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the estimating comprises comparing the acquired temperature to the calculated reference temperature.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the N-dimensional vector of input variables further comprises at least a speed of the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the N-dimensional vector of input variables further comprises at least an ambient temperature.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the N-dimensional vector of variables further comprises at least a time delay between a time of the temperature acquisition and a last time in which the brake was activated.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the braking element comprises a braking disc, a block of friction material, and a support plate supporting the block of friction material, wherein the temperature of the braking element is acquired by at least one temperature sensor configured and positioned to detect the temperature of the support plate.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said acquiring the temperature of the braking element comprises sampling according to temporal acquisition logic based on a sampling frequency for at least one preset time interval.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said acquiring the temperature of the braking element comprises continuously sampling for at least one preset time interval starting at a time determined by an event.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining that the brake is not activated at the acquisition time of the acquiring of the temperature comprises using at least one of vehicle speed, temperature of the braking element, temporal variation of the temperature of the braking element, or brake pedal status.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the estimating of the residual torque is additionally based on a change in brake temperature over time.

11. A system for estimating residual braking torque of a braking element of a vehicle brake, the system comprising:
a braking element comprising a block of friction material and a support plate supporting the block of friction;
at least one temperature sensor configured and positioned to detect the temperature of the braking element;
a computing device comprising connected to the temperature sensor, the computing device programmed to:
acquire a temperature associated with the braking element from the temperature sensor;
determine that the brake is not activated at an acquisition time at which the temperature is acquired;
calculate a reference temperature using an N-dimensional calculation model with an N-dimensional vector of input variables, wherein the calculation is based on at least the acquired temperature of the braking element as an input to said N-dimensional calculation model; and
estimate a residual torque based on at least the calculated reference temperature.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the estimation of the residual torque is based on a comparison of the acquired temperature to the calculated reference temperature.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the N-dimensional calculation model represents an analytical or experimental characterization of a thermal behavior of the brake.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the temperature sensor is a contact temperature sensor integrated into the support plate.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the temperature sensor is a non-contact temperature sensor.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the temperature sensor is configured and positioned to detect a surface or internal temperature of the support plate.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the computing device is programmed to acquire the temperature associated with the braking element by sampling according to temporal acquisition logic based on a sampling frequency for at least one preset time interval.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the computing device is programmed to acquire the temperature of the braking element by continuously sampling for at least one preset time interval starting at a time determined by an event.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the computing device is programmed to determine that the brake is not activated at the acquisition time using at least one of vehicle speed, temperature of the braking element, temporal variation of the temperature of the braking element, or brake pedal status.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the computing device is programmed to estimate the residual torque by comparing the acquired temperature to the calculated reference temperature and based on a change in brake temperature over time.

Assignees

• Itt Italia Srl

Inventors

• Macchi Pietro Roberto
• Vignolo Umberto
• Terranova Marco
• Serra Stefano

Classifications

• F16D2066/006

  without direct measurement of the quantity monitored, e.g. wear or temperature calculated form force and duration of braking · CPC title

• F16D2066/005

  Force, torque, stress or strain · CPC title

• F16D2066/001

  Temperature · CPC title

• F16D66/00

  Arrangements for monitoring working conditions, e.g. wear, temperature · CPC title

• B60T17/22

  Devices for monitoring or checking brake systems; Signal devices · CPC title