Abstract
A brake system and wear monitoring for use in motor vehicles includes a transponder, wherein the transponder is configured and positioned in the brake system such that the transponder is deactivated by an engagement geometry of the brake system when a preselected wear state of the brake system is reached.
Claims
1.-15. (canceled)
16. A brake system for use in motor vehicles, comprising: a transponder, configured and positioned in the brake system so that the transponder is deactivated by an engagement geometry of the brake system when a predeterminable wear state of the brake system is reached, wherein the transponder is secured to a stationary part of the brake system, and wherein in the event of a relative movement of a moving part relative to the stationary part, the moving part deactivates the transponder.
17. The brake system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the transponder includes a passive RFID chip.
18. The brake system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the transponder is cohesively secured to the brake system.
19. The brake system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the stationary part of the brake system includes at least one of a brake carrier and a housing.
20. The brake system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the transponder is cohesively secured to the brake system.
21. The brake system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the stationary part of the brake system includes at least one of a brake carrier and a housing.
22. A wear monitoring system, comprising: a transponder; and a reader; wherein the transponder is fitted to the brake system such that the transponder becomes inoperative as soon as a lining element assigned to the transponder reaches the wear limit; wherein the reader activates the transponder with electromagnetic radiation and determines a state of the transponder and conditions the transponder for a receiver; wherein the transponder is secured to a stationary part of the brake system; and wherein in the event of a relative movement of a moving part relative to the stationary part, the moving part deactivates the transponder.
23. The wear monitoring system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the reader is installed outside of a vehicle and is configured to determine the state of one transponder or of a multiplicity of transponders as the vehicle travels past the transponder.
24. The wear monitoring system as claimed in claim 23, wherein the one transponder is one of a plurality of transponders.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] Further advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying figures. It goes without saying here that individual features disclosed in only one of the embodiments shown can in each case also find application in further embodiments shown in other figures, provided that this is not prohibited or has been explicitly excluded on account of technical circumstances. In this case, FIGS. 1-10 respectively show embodiments of brake systems with transponders arranged thereon. FIG. 11 schematically shows one preferred embodiment of a system for wear monitoring.
[0025] FIG. 1 shows a transponder 2 secured to a lining element of a disk brake. In this case, the lining element, which is composed of the brake lining itself and also the lining carrier, is identified in particular as a first moving part 3A. The illustration shows here that when a specific residual thickness d of the brake lining is reached, the transponder 2 is abraded by the brake disk and thereby deactivated.
[0026] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment in which the transponder 2 is secured to the stationary part 5 of a brake system and is destroyed and thus deactivated when a specific relative movement of the moving part 3 of the brake system is reached. The stationary part 5 is preferably a housing of an actuation installation for a disk brake, said housing being connected to the brake carrier. The moving part 3 is preferably a brake lining element, which is pressed toward the left in the figure against the brake disk illustrated on the left in the figure. As soon as the brake lining has experienced a certain wear and the lining carrier thus has to be displaced further toward the left in order to bring the lining into contact with the brake disk, the transponder 2 is contacted and finally destroyed by the engagement geometry provided on the top side of the moving part 3.
[0027] FIG. 3 shows a preferred embodiment in which the transponder 2 is secured on a moving part 3A designed as a rivet. What is not shown here is that a second moving part 3B, preferably the brake drum, abrades and thus deactivates the transponder when a specific wear is reached.
[0028] The embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 apart from the feature that the transponder is not arranged on the rivet of the brake shoe, but rather in the front region of the brake lining. As also in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the transponder 2 here is abraded and destroyed by a second moving part 3B, preferably the brake drum, if the lining element functioning as the first moving part 3A has experienced a specific wear.
[0029] FIG. 5 shows the preferred embodiment of the brake system according to the invention in which the transponder 2 is suspended between two brake shoes of a drum brake. Preferably, a predetermined breaking location is provided in the region of the transponder 2 and ensures that the transponder is torn apart and thus deactivated in the event of a specific spacing of the two brake shoes from one another. The brake shoes are defined as first moving part 3A and second moving part 3B.
[0030] FIG. 6 shows a preferred embodiment of the brake system in which the transponder 2 is secured on the first moving part 3A configured as an S-cam of the drum brake. When a specific wear is reached, the transponder 2 in this case is contacted and destroyed by the second moving part 3B. Advantageously, in this case, two transponders 2 can be provided on the S-cam, wherein a respective transponder 2 is assigned to one of the brake shoes.
[0031] FIG. 7 shows a further preferred embodiment in which the transponder 2 is arranged on the shaft of an S-cam and is rotated together with said shaft about the dash-dotted line. In this case, an engagement geometry is arranged on the housing of the brake system, which should be regarded as a stationary part 5, which engagement geometry destroys the transponder or shields it from electromagnetic radiation when a specific rotational position of the shaft of the S-cam is reached, said shaft being configured as a moving part 3.
[0032] FIG. 8 discloses a further preferred embodiment in which the transponder 2 is arranged in a brake disk, which should be regarded as a first moving part 3A. Since the transponder 2 has a specific thermal loading capacity, it can be used both for indicating the wear of the brake disk and for indicating temperature spikes. In this regard, if the temperature has exceeded a specific limit value and it must thus be feared that there may be material damage in the material of the brake disk, the transponder can be deactivated by the thermal overload, this being communicated to the user of the brake system by the absence of a response signal from this transponder. In this embodiment, the lining element comprising the brake lining and the lining carrier should be regarded as a second moving part 3B.
[0033] FIG. 9 shows a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the transponder 2 is secured to a stationary part 5 in the chassis system of the motor vehicle. As a moving part 3 within the meaning of the present invention, use is made of the actuation lever for the S-cam, which contacts the transponder 2 when a specific deflection position (arrow) is reached, and destroys the transponder 2 when said deflection position is overshot. In this embodiment, the transponder 2 can be used both for indicating the brake shoe wear and for indicating the function of the adjusting device on the S-cam. If the adjusting device is not functioning, then as the wear of the brake shoes increases, the deflection movements of the actuation lever become larger and larger, with the result that finally a maximum deflection is reached, accompanied by destruction of the transponder 2. If the transponder 2 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 is thus deactivated, then this should be interpreted by a user as an indication of exhaustion of the adjustment range of the adjusting device owing to excessively high wear of the linings or as an indication of a fault in the adjusting device.
[0034] FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of a brake system according to the invention which is very similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7. Once again the transponder 2 is arranged and secured on the actuation shaft for an S-cam functioning as a moving part 3. When a specific rotational angle position of the shaft of the S-cam is reached, the transponder 2 is contacted and destroyed by an actuation geometry provided on the stationary part 5. In this embodiment, it is appropriate once again for a predetermined breaking location to be provided in the transponder in order to prevent the transponder 2 from simply just being scraped off the shaft and still remaining functional in the region of the housing of the brake actuation system.
[0035] FIG. 11 discloses a wear monitoring system, comprising a transponder 2 and a reader 4, wherein the reader 4 is designed to monitor a plurality of transponders 2 which are preferably configured according to one of the embodiments described above and arranged in the respective brake system. Preferably, as shown in FIG. 11, the reader 4 is arranged in the region of the ground for example at the entrance to a pool of motor vehicles, particularly preferably commercial vehicles.
REFERENCE SIGNS
[0036] 2—Transponder [0037] 3—Moving part [0038] 3A—First moving part [0039] 3B—Second moving part [0040] 4—Reader [0041] 5—Stationary part [0042] d—Residual thickness
