Apparatus and method for advanced anti-skid brake and traction controls

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9796364-B2
Application number	US-41385609-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 30, 2009
Priority date	Mar 30, 2009
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

A disk brake system includes a magnetically encoded disk brake rotor having at least one magnetized section encoded therein and a disk brake caliper comprising a plurality of disk brake pads attached thereto, the disk brake pads positioned adjacently to the disk brake rotor and configured to frictionally engage the disk brake rotor upon operation of the disk brake caliper. The disk brake system further comprises a sensor assembly mounted proximately to the disk brake rotor and comprising at least one magnetic field sensor configured to detect the at least one magnetic field, and a controller configured to receive signals from the at least one magnetic field sensor. The controller is further configured to enable selective operation of the disk brake caliper based on the signals received from the at least one magnetic field sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A disk brake system comprising:
a magnetically encoded disk brake rotor having at least one magnetized section encoded therein, wherein the at least one magnetized section comprises a pair of oppositely polarized regions positioned adjacently to each other and forming a magnetic domain boundary therebetween;
a disk brake caliper comprising a plurality of disk brake pads attached thereto, the disk brake pads positioned adjacently to the disk brake rotor and configured to frictionally engage the disk brake rotor upon operation of the disk brake caliper;
a sensor assembly mounted proximately to the disk brake rotor and comprising at least one magnetic field sensor configured to detect the magnetic domain boundary;
a controller configured to receive signals from the at least one magnetic field sensor, wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine a brake rotor torque based on a change of the magnetic domain boundary; and
enable selective operation of the disk brake caliper based on the brake rotor torque.

2. The disk brake system of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to determine the brake rotor torque based on a change of magnetic flux at the magnetic domain boundary.

3. The disk brake system of claim 1 wherein the sensor assembly comprises at least one magnetic field sensor configured to detect a wheel speed and a wheel direction.

4. The disk brake system of claim 1 wherein the disk brake rotor is sectionally magnetically encoded.

5. The disk brake system of claim 4 wherein the disk brake rotor is sectionally magnetically encoded in at least four encoding regions.

6. The disk brake system of claim 1 wherein a magnetic domain boundary is formed between the pair of oppositely polarized regions.

7. The disk brake system of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to:
determine if the disk brake rotor is rotating at a rate higher than a predetermined threshold; and
if so, temporarily engage the disk brake caliper with the disk brake rotor.

8. The disk brake system of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to:
determine if the disk brake rotor rotating at a rate lower than a predetermined threshold; and
if so, temporarily disengage the disk brake caliper from the disk brake rotor.

9. The disk brake system of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to determine brake power based on received signals from the at least one magnetic field sensor.

10. The disk brake system of claim 9 wherein the controller is configured to project a temperature rise of the disk brake rotor based on the determined brake power, and wherein the controller is further configured to provide a warning regarding possible brake performance degradation or failure based on the projected temperature rise.

11. The disk brake system of claim 1 wherein the at least one magnetic field sensor is one of a Hall Effect sensor, a giant magneto-resistive (GMR) sensor, a fluxgate sensor, and a magnetoimpedence sensor.

12. The disk brake system of claim 1 further comprising:
a first magnetic field sensor located a first distance away from the disk brake rotor such that detection of a signal intensity at the magnetic domain boundary by the first magnetic field sensor is dependent upon a temperature of the disk brake rotor;
a second magnetic field sensor located a second distance away from the disk brake rotor such that detection of a signal intensity at the magnetic domain boundary by the second magnetic field sensor is independent of a temperature of the disk brake rotor; and
wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive a signal from the first magnetic field sensor;
receive a signal from the second magnetic field sensor; and
determine a temperature of the disk brake rotor by calculating a signal intensity difference between the signals from the first and second magnetic field sensors.

13. A method of controlling a braking system in a vehicle, the method comprising:
detecting a plurality of first magnetic field regions magnetically encoded in a brake rotor using at least one magnetic field sensor,
detecting second magnetic field region magnetically encoded in the brake rotor using at least another magnetic field sensor, wherein the second magnetic field region comprises a pair of oppositely polarized regions encoded in the brake rotor adjacently to each other such that a magnetic domain boundary is formed therebetween;
determining a wheel speed and a wheel direction based on the plurality of detected first magnetic field regions;
determining a brake rotor torque based on a change of the magnetic domain boundary; and
controlling an engagement of a brake caliper with the brake rotor based on the brake rotor torque, wheel speed, and wheel direction.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising detecting a wheel lockup based on the brake rotor torque, wheel speed, and wheel direction; and
wherein controlling the engagement comprises momentarily releasing engagement of the brake caliper with the brake rotor based on the detected wheel lockup.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising detecting a wheel slippage based on the brake rotor torque, wheel speed, and wheel direction; and
wherein controlling the engagement comprises momentarily engaging the brake caliper with the brake rotor based on the detected wheel slippage.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein determining the brake rotor torque comprises determining the brake rotor torque based on a magnetic flux change at the magnetic domain boundary.

17. The method of claim 13 further comprising determining a temperature of the brake rotor based on the at least one detected magnetic field.

18. A method of manufacturing a disk brake assembly for a vehicle, the method comprising:
magnetically encoding a disk brake rotor using at least one conductor electrically connected to at least one electrode, wherein the at least one electrode is attached to a surface of the disk brake rotor;
mounting a plurality of magnetic field sensors in proximity to the disk brake rotor such that the magnetic field sensors detect at least one magnetic field emanating from the magnetically encoded disk brake rotor; and
inserting the disk brake rotor into a disk brake caliper such that the disk brake caliper can be selectively engaged with the disk brake rotor.

19. The method of manufacturing of claim 18 wherein magnetically encoding the disk brake rotor comprises sectionally magnetically encoding the disk brake rotor using a plurality of conductors attached in proximity to various regions of the surface of the disk brake rotor.

20. The method of manufacturing of claim 18 wherein mounting the plurality of magnetic field sensors comprises mounting the plurality of magnetic field sensors to a single sensor assembly located in close proximity to the disk brake caliper.

21. The method of manufacturing of claim 18 further comprising:
mounting the at least one conductor adjacently to the surface in a first orientation; and
wherein mounting the plurality of magnetic field sensors comprises a second orientation perpendicular to the first orientation.

Assignees

• King Robert Dean
• El-Refaie Ayman M
• Sihler Christof Martin
• Gen Electric

Inventors

• King Robert Dean
• El-Refaie Ayman M
• Sihler Christof Martin

Classifications

• F16D2066/003

  Position, angle or speed · CPC title

• Y10T29/49826

  Assembling or joining · CPC title

• F16D2066/005

  Force, torque, stress or strain · CPC title

• B60T8/329

  Systems characterised by their speed sensor arrangements · CPC title

• G01P3/487

  delivered by rotating magnets · CPC title