WO2017042264A1 - Ensemble essieu de véhicule - Google Patents

Ensemble essieu de véhicule Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2017042264A1
WO2017042264A1 PCT/EP2016/071167 EP2016071167W WO2017042264A1 WO 2017042264 A1 WO2017042264 A1 WO 2017042264A1 EP 2016071167 W EP2016071167 W EP 2016071167W WO 2017042264 A1 WO2017042264 A1 WO 2017042264A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
planar portion
axle assembly
axle
sensor
gap
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2016/071167
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Thomas Muller
Original Assignee
Agco International Gmbh
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Agco International Gmbh filed Critical Agco International Gmbh
Publication of WO2017042264A1 publication Critical patent/WO2017042264A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01B—MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS
    • G01B7/00—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electric or magnetic techniques
    • G01B7/14—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electric or magnetic techniques for measuring distance or clearance between spaced objects or spaced apertures
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60B—VEHICLE WHEELS; CASTORS; AXLES FOR WHEELS OR CASTORS; INCREASING WHEEL ADHESION
    • B60B35/00—Axle units; Parts thereof ; Arrangements for lubrication of axles
    • B60B35/12—Torque-transmitting axles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60B—VEHICLE WHEELS; CASTORS; AXLES FOR WHEELS OR CASTORS; INCREASING WHEEL ADHESION
    • B60B35/00—Axle units; Parts thereof ; Arrangements for lubrication of axles
    • B60B35/12—Torque-transmitting axles
    • B60B35/121—Power-transmission from drive shaft to hub
    • B60B35/122—Power-transmission from drive shaft to hub using gearings
    • B60B35/125—Power-transmission from drive shaft to hub using gearings of the planetary type

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a vehicle axle assembly having means for facilitating measuring of relative movement in the components thereof and especially, although not exclusively, a rear axle of an agricultural vehicle such as a tractor.
  • modern agricultural vehicles such as farm tractors include computerised control systems linked to performance sensors distributed across the vehicle.
  • modern tractors may be equipped with tyre pressure control systems or efficiency control systems as described in applicant's United States patents US9,078,391 and US9,095,089.
  • tyre pressure control systems or efficiency control systems as described in applicant's United States patents US9,078,391 and US9,095,089.
  • these systems require a precise knowledge of the wheel load of each wheel or axle to enable, for example, the adjustment of tyre pressures without exceeding the tyre capability, or the generation of an optimised load distribution profile to provide guidance to the operator on ballasting of the tractor.
  • axle bearings which are equipped with load sensing means. These means require changes in the axle installation and are costly. Furthermore, optional usage is not generally an economic option due to the impact of the changes on the complete axle design and the resulting costs.
  • United States patent US 4,173,259 describes a load sensing device which senses deformation of the rear drive housing of a tractor to control the draft load by raising or lowering of an implement.
  • the sensing may be electrical or mechanical and the signal produced by the strain on the rear drive is amplified and used to control a hydraulic control valve to a hydraulic weight distribution system. None of the above systems, however, address directly the issue of active or predictive monitoring of the mechanical components of an axle assembly to identify when a fault condition may occur.
  • an object of the invention to provide an improved axle assembly which mitigates at least some of the above problems and which may additionally be used in the determination of vehicle axle loading.
  • a vehicle axle assembly comprising an axle shaft in the form of an elongate body extending along an axis of rotation, and an axle housing partially surrounding and rotatably supporting the axle shaft, wherein a first planar portion extends from the axle shaft perpendicular to the axis of rotation and a second planar portion extends from the axle housing adjacent and substantially parallel to the first planar portion, and at least one sensor arrangement having a first sensor part on the first planar portion and a second sensor part on the second planar portion, with the at least one sensor arrangement being configured to generate a signal indicative of a measured gap between the first and second planar portions.
  • the signal indicative of a measured gap need not indicate an absolute value for the gap width, but may instead comprise e.g. a measure of signal strength to a sensor on the wheel performing a different function such as transmitting data from an on-wheel tyre pressure sensor.
  • the vehicle axle assembly further comprises a data processor coupled with the at least one sensor arrangement and with data storage holding a value representative of an expected gap between the first and second planar portions, the data processor being arranged to generate an alert if the measured gap and expected gap differ by more than a predetermined extent.
  • the data processor and/or data storage may be stand-alone devices or may be part of a vehicle management system of a vehicle including the axle assembly.
  • the alert generation indicates to a user that the gap has changed which may be representative of serious problems such as wear of the axle assembly or bearings within the housing, such as to allow the axle shaft to move inwards or outwards relative to the housing.
  • An axle assembly including such a monitoring means as described in the preceding paragraph suitably further comprises one or more temperature sensors coupled with the data processor, with the data processor being arranged to adjust the expected gap value by reference to a sensed temperature.
  • variations in ambient temperature together with differing thermal expansion characteristics for the materials of axle shaft and housing may cause gap variations which are not due to component wear and which should not be signalled as alarm conditions.
  • the value representative of an expected gap may be one that is loaded to data storage as a factory setting, or may be loaded to data storage by the data processor from a previously measured gap, optionally with storage of a history of gap measurements or representative values to support predictive maintenance scheduling.
  • two or more sensor arrangements are utilised, with each having a first sensor part on the first planar portion and a second sensor part on the second planar portion.
  • the sensor parts of the two or more sensor arrangements are regularly spaced on a predetermined radius about the axis of rotation of the axle shaft. With multiple sensors disposed around the axle, bending of the axle (and hence axle loading inducing the bending) may be determined as will be described hereinafter.
  • the sensor arrangement(s) are in form of discs (stator, rotor) aligned on the axis of rotation and which can provide signals from the whole circumference thereof.
  • the present invention further comprises a vehicle, and preferably a farm tractor, including such an axle assembly.
  • Figure 1 is a representation of a tractor
  • FIG. 2 shows a section through a part of a rear axle assembly with additional components represented schematically.
  • a tractor 10 is shown having a cab 12 and an engine compartment 14.
  • a chassis 16 which is partly visible connects front wheel mounting 18 and rear axle assembly 20.
  • the front wheel mounting 18 is equipped with an independent wheel suspension as described in applicants granted patent EP 1 627 762 with upper and lower transverse links mounting steered wheel hubs to the chassis and with vertical movement of each hub being damped by a respective hydraulic cylinder.
  • the load of the front axle can be determined by measuring the pressure in the hydraulic cylinders of the suspension.
  • Figure 2 shows a sectional view through a part of the rear axle assembly 20 which includes an axle shaft 22 in the form of an elongate body extending along an axis of rotation R.
  • the shaft 22 has an end flange 24 in the form of a first planar portion extending from the shaft perpendicular to the axis of rotation: the flange 24 provides the attachment point for a wheel carried by the axle.
  • An axle housing 26 partially surrounds the axle shaft 22, expanding to a trumpet housing (to the right of the figure) which in turn is connected to a centre differential (not shown) of the rear axle assembly.
  • the axle housing 26 rotatably supports the axle shaft 22 by means of taper roller bearings 28, 30.
  • a second flange or planar portion 32 extends outwardly from the housing to lie adjacent and substantially parallel to the first planar portion 24.
  • a first sensor arrangement 34 has a first sensor part 34a on (or preferably inset into) the first planar portion 24 and a second sensor part 34b on (inset into) the second planar portion 32.
  • the sensor parts 34a, 34b are the same radial distance from the axis of rotation R such that they pass in close proximity once in each revolution of the axle shaft 22.
  • Different types of sensor arrangement may be used, such as a permanent magnet for the first part 34a and induction loop for the second part 34b, with the sensor arrangement being configured to generate a signal indicative of a measured gap G between the first and second planar portions 24, 32 when the sensor parts are aligned.
  • a data processor 36 is coupled with the sensor arrangement 34 and with data storage 38.
  • the processor 36 and store 38 may be stand-alone units, or may comprise functions of a general engine management system for the tractor 10.
  • the store 38 holds a value representative of an expected gap between the first 24 and second 32 planar portions, with the data processor 36 being arranged to generate an alert if the measured gap G and expected gap E differ by more than a predetermined extent.
  • the expected gap E may be a factory set value, in which case an initially generated alert on start-up may be indicative of incorrect fitting of the axle shaft 22 or bearings 28, 30 or subsequently may be indicative of wear of these components.
  • the expected gap E value may be captured as a measured gap G value and subsequently held in store 38.
  • further sensor arrangements are suitably provided spaced around the axis of rotation R to enable the capture of multiple measurements Gi , G 2 etc. for the gap between the first 24 and second 32 planar portions.
  • the processor 36 determines from the variations an angle between the normally parallel (in unloaded conditions) first 24 and second 32 planar portions. This angle is a result of axle shaft 22 bending as axle load increases.
  • Data store 38 holds a look-up table 42 from which the data processor 36 obtains a value for axle loading based on the extent of axle shaft bending as represented by the angle between the first 24 and second 32 planar portions.
  • the data processor 36 may apply a predetermined linear function to derive the loading based on the axle shaft bending.
  • a vehicle axle assembly including an axle shaft 22 extending along an axis of rotation R, and an axle housing 26 partially surrounding and rotatably supporting the axle shaft.
  • a first planar portion or flange 24 extends radially from the axle shaft 22 perpendicular to the axis of rotation, and a second planar portion or flange 32 extends radially from the axle housing 26 adjacent and substantially parallel to the first planar portion or flange 24.
  • first sensor part 34a on the first planar portion 24 and a second sensor part 34b on the second planar portion 32, to generate a signal indicative of a gap between the first and second planar portions and indicate wear issues in the event of variations.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un ensemble essieu de véhicule comprenant un arbre d'essieu (22) s'étendant le long d'un axe de rotation (R) et un carter d'essieu (26) entourant partiellement et supportant en rotation l'arbre d'essieu. Une première partie plane (24) s'étend radialement à partir de l'arbre d'essieu (22) perpendiculairement à l'axe de rotation et une seconde partie plane (32) s'étend radialement à partir du carter d'essieu (26) adjacent et sensiblement parallèle à la première partie plane (24). Un agencement de capteur (34) présente une première partie de capteur (34a) sur la première partie plane (24) et une seconde partie de capteur (34b) sur la seconde partie plane (32) pour générer un signal indicatif d'un espace entre les première et seconde parties planes et indiquer des problèmes d'usure en cas de variations.
PCT/EP2016/071167 2015-09-10 2016-09-08 Ensemble essieu de véhicule WO2017042264A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBGB1516035.1A GB201516035D0 (en) 2015-09-10 2015-09-10 Vehicle axle wheel
GB1516035.1 2015-09-10

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2017042264A1 true WO2017042264A1 (fr) 2017-03-16

Family

ID=54362963

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/EP2016/071167 WO2017042264A1 (fr) 2015-09-10 2016-09-08 Ensemble essieu de véhicule

Country Status (2)

Country Link
GB (1) GB201516035D0 (fr)
WO (1) WO2017042264A1 (fr)

Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4173259A (en) 1977-12-29 1979-11-06 Allis-Chalmers Corporation Rear drive assembly with load sensing
US20020196989A1 (en) * 1999-07-12 2002-12-26 Nsk Ltd. Rolling bearing unit for supporting wheel
JP2003336652A (ja) * 2002-05-17 2003-11-28 Koyo Seiko Co Ltd センサ付きハブユニット
EP1627762A2 (fr) 2004-08-17 2006-02-22 AGCO GmbH Tracteur agricole
EP1666860A1 (fr) * 2003-08-29 2006-06-07 Jtekt Corporation Ensemble moyeu dote d'un capteur
JP2006258572A (ja) * 2005-03-16 2006-09-28 Jtekt Corp 変位センサ付きハブユニット
US20070065060A1 (en) * 2003-07-04 2007-03-22 Ntn Corporation Wheel support bearing assembly with built-in load sensor
EP1988376A2 (fr) * 2007-05-01 2008-11-05 JTEKT Corporation Dispositif de roulement à rouleaux avec capteur
WO2014000932A1 (fr) * 2012-06-26 2014-01-03 Agco International Gmbh Système de commande de mesure de charge par essieu
US9078391B2 (en) 2011-07-22 2015-07-14 Agco International Gmbh Tractor control system
US9095089B2 (en) 2011-07-22 2015-08-04 Agco International Gmbh Tractor control/display systems

Patent Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4173259A (en) 1977-12-29 1979-11-06 Allis-Chalmers Corporation Rear drive assembly with load sensing
US20020196989A1 (en) * 1999-07-12 2002-12-26 Nsk Ltd. Rolling bearing unit for supporting wheel
JP2003336652A (ja) * 2002-05-17 2003-11-28 Koyo Seiko Co Ltd センサ付きハブユニット
US20070065060A1 (en) * 2003-07-04 2007-03-22 Ntn Corporation Wheel support bearing assembly with built-in load sensor
EP1666860A1 (fr) * 2003-08-29 2006-06-07 Jtekt Corporation Ensemble moyeu dote d'un capteur
EP1627762A2 (fr) 2004-08-17 2006-02-22 AGCO GmbH Tracteur agricole
JP2006258572A (ja) * 2005-03-16 2006-09-28 Jtekt Corp 変位センサ付きハブユニット
EP1988376A2 (fr) * 2007-05-01 2008-11-05 JTEKT Corporation Dispositif de roulement à rouleaux avec capteur
US9078391B2 (en) 2011-07-22 2015-07-14 Agco International Gmbh Tractor control system
US9095089B2 (en) 2011-07-22 2015-08-04 Agco International Gmbh Tractor control/display systems
WO2014000932A1 (fr) * 2012-06-26 2014-01-03 Agco International Gmbh Système de commande de mesure de charge par essieu

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB201516035D0 (en) 2015-10-28

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