BRAKING SYSTEM AND VEHICLE HAVING THE BRAKING SYSTEM

Abstract

A braking system for a vehicle, having a brake pedal, a position sensor unit for determining position data regarding an actuation distance and/or a pivot angle of the brake pedal of the vehicle, a force sensor unit for determining force data regarding an operating force with which the brake pedal is operated, a control unit, and an additional control unit. The position sensor unit has a signal connection to the control unit and to the additional control unit for transmitting the position data to the control unit as well as to the additional control unit. The force sensor unit has a signal connection to the control unit and to the additional control unit for transmitting the force data to the control unit as well as to the additional control unit.

Claims

1. A braking system for a vehicle, the braking system comprising: a brake pedal; a position sensor to determine position data regarding an actuation distance and/or a pivot angle of the brake pedal of the vehicle; a force sensor to determine force data regarding an operating force with which the brake pedal is operated; a controller; and an additional controller, wherein the position sensor has a signal connection to the controller and to the additional controller to transmit the position data to the controller as well as to the additional controller, and wherein the force sensor has a signal connection to the controller and to the additional controller to transmit the force data to the controller as well as to the additional controller.

2. The braking system according to claim 1, wherein the controller and the additional controller are arranged spaced apart from one another.

3. The braking system according to claim 1, wherein the controller and the additional controller are designed to be dissimilar from one another.

4. The braking system according to claim 1, wherein the position sensor and/or the force sensor each have at least two sensor channel pairs that are arranged separately from one another, wherein one sensor channel pair in each case has a signal connection to the controller for transmitting the position data or the force data to the controller, and a different sensor channel pair has a signal connection to the additional controller for transmitting the position data or the force data to the additional controller.

5. The braking system according to claim 4, wherein the sensor channel pairs of the position sensor and/or of the force sensor are each designed to be at least partially galvanically isolated from one another.

6. The braking system according to claim 4, wherein the sensor channel pairs of the position sensor unit and/or of the force sensor unit are each integrated on a common printed circuit board.

7. The braking system according to claim 4, wherein the sensor channel pairs of the position sensor and/or of the force sensor are each integrated on different printed circuit boards that are spaced apart from one another.

8. The braking system according to claim 1, wherein the controller has a preprocessor for receiving and preprocessing the position data and the force data and a main controller having a signal connection to the preprocessor for further processing of the preprocessed position data and the preprocessed force data, and the additional controller has an additional preprocessor for receiving and preprocessing the position data and the force data and an additional main controller having a signal connection to the additional preprocessor for further processing of the preprocessed position data and the preprocessed force data.

9. The braking system according to claim 8, wherein the preprocessor and/or the additional preprocessor are each configured to perform at least one of the following processes: reading in the force data and/or position data; correcting the force data and/or position data that have been read in; applying different force data and/or different position data against each other; or comparing different force data and/or different position data with one another.

10. The braking system according to claim 8, wherein the preprocessor and the additional preprocessor are integrated in the brake pedal, and wherein the main controller and the additional main controller are installed outside of the brake pedal.

11. The braking system according to claim 1, wherein the position sensor has at least one sensor that measures inductively, and the force sensor has at least one sensor that measures non-inductively.

12. The braking system according to claim 1, wherein the controller and each sensor channel have a signal connection to the controller and are connected to a voltage source, and the additional controller and each sensor channel having a signal connection to the additional controller are connected to an additional voltage source.

13. A vehicle comprising a braking system according to claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:

[0028] FIG. 1 is a block diagram for describing a braking system according to a first embodiment of the present invention,

[0029] FIG. 2 is a vehicle with a braking system according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1,

[0030] FIG. 3 is a brake pedal in a front view for explaining the first embodiment of the present invention,

[0031] FIG. 4 is a brake pedal in a side view for explaining the first embodiment of the present invention,

[0032] FIG. 5 is a block diagram for describing a braking system according to a second embodiment of the present invention,

[0033] FIG. 6 is a brake pedal in a front view for explaining the second embodiment of the present invention, and

[0034] FIG. 7 is a block diagram for describing a braking system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram for explaining a braking system 10a for a vehicle 11 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The braking system 10a represented in FIG. 1 has a brake pedal 12 shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, a position sensor unit 13 for determining position data regarding an actuation distance and/or a pivot angle of the brake pedal 12 of the vehicle 11, a force sensor unit 14 for determining force data regarding an operating force with which the brake pedal 12 is operated, a control unit 15, and an additional control unit 16. The position sensor unit 13 has a signal connection to the control unit 15 and to the additional control unit 16 for transmitting the position data to the control unit 15 as well as to the additional control unit 16. Furthermore, the force sensor unit 14 has a signal connection to the control unit 15 and to the additional control unit 16 for transmitting the force data to the control unit 15 as well as to the additional control unit 16. In each case, the signal connection is wired through respective signal lines between the sensor units 13, 14 and the control units 15, 16.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 15 and the additional control unit 16 are arranged spaced apart from one another. Furthermore, the control unit 15 and the additional control unit 16 are designed to be dissimilar from one another. More precisely, the position sensor unit 13 has sensors that measure inductively and the force sensor unit 14 has sensors that measure non-inductively. The control unit 15 and the sensor channels 14a, 13a, 13b having a signal connection to the control unit 15 are connected to a voltage source 21. The additional control unit 16 and the sensor channels 14b, 13c, 13d having a signal connection to the additional control unit 16 are connected to an additional voltage source 22.

[0037] According to the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the position sensor unit 13 has two sensor channel pairs 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d that are arranged separately from one another. In this case, one sensor channel pair 13a, 13b has a signal connection to the control unit 15 for transmitting the position data to the control unit 15, and a different sensor channel pair 13c, 13d has a signal connection to the additional control unit 16 for transmitting the position data to the additional control unit 16. The sensor channel pairs 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d of the position sensor unit 13 are each designed to be galvanically isolated from one another. Furthermore, the sensor channel pairs 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d shown in FIG. 1 of the position sensor unit 13 are integrated on a common printed circuit board 17. The two sensor channels 14a, 14b of the force sensor unit 14 are likewise integrated on a common printed circuit board 18. FIG. 2 shows a vehicle 1 in the form of a passenger car with a braking system 10a described according to FIG. 1.

[0038] A brake pedal 12 is depicted in different views in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. The brake pedal 12 shown has a pedal arm 27 and a pedal plate 28. The pedal arm 27 is arranged such that it can pivot about a first axis of rotation 30 and a second axis of rotation 31. The position sensor unit 13 is configured and arranged for determining a torsion or a torsion value of the pedal arm 27 about the first axis of rotation 30. The force sensor unit 14 is configured and arranged for determining the force data when there is a torsion of the pedal arm 27 and/or when there is a displacement of a mechanism 32 (not shown in detail) about a second axis of rotation 31. Arranged between the pedal arm 27 and the mechanism 32 is an elastic or resilient unit 29. The elastic unit 29 arranged in the force flow delays the rotation about the second axis of rotation 31 relative to the pedal force on the pedal plate 28 with respect to the first axis of rotation 30. The force applied to the pedal plate 28 is determined from the difference of the position of the position sensor unit 13 and of the force sensor unit 14 as well as from the spring constant of the elastic unit 29.

[0039] FIG. 5 shows a block diagram for explaining a braking system 10b according to a second embodiment. In the braking system 10b illustrated in FIG. 5, the sensor channel pairs 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d of the position sensor unit 13 are integrated on different printed circuit boards 19, 20 that are spaced apart from one another. More precisely, one sensor channel pair 13a, 13b is integrated on one printed circuit board 19, and another sensor channel pair 13c, 13d is integrated on another printed circuit board 20. Each sensor channel pair 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d can be understood as one sensor. As shown in FIG. 6, the printed circuit boards 19, 20 with the sensor channel pairs 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d are arranged separately on opposite sides of the pedal arm 27 or the first axis of rotation 30.

[0040] FIG. 7 shows a block diagram for explaining a braking system 10c according to a third embodiment. In the embodiment illustrated, the control unit 15 has a preprocessor 23 for receiving and preprocessing the position data and the force data, and a main controller 24 having a signal connection to the preprocessor 23 for further processing of the preprocessed position data and the preprocessed force data. Moreover, the additional control unit 16 has an additional preprocessor 25 for receiving and preprocessing the position data and the force data and an additional main controller 26 having a signal connection to the additional preprocessor 25 for further processing of the preprocessed position data and the preprocessed force data. The preprocessor 23 and the additional preprocessor 24 are each configured to perform the following processes: reading in the force data and position data, correcting the force data and position data that have been read in, applying different force data and different position data against each other, and comparing different force data and different position data with one another.

[0041] Furthermore, the preprocessor 23 and the additional preprocessor 25 are integrated in the brake pedal 12, and the main controller 24 and the additional main controller 26 are installed outside of the brake pedal 12.

[0042] For the purpose of detecting electrical and mechanical faults in the braking system, both the pedal force and the pedal travel can be determined. The information about the pedal travel can be determined directly from the sensor channels 14a, 14b of the force sensor unit 14. In order to determine the pedal force or the operating force for operating the brake pedal 12, in contrast, first the sensor channels 14a, 14b of the force sensor unit 14 must be applied with a transfer function, which is determined based on the mechanism 32 (not specified in detail), so that the sensor channels 14a, 14b are virtually located at the first axis of rotation 30. After this, the associated signal of the force sensor unit 14 can be subtracted from the signals of the position sensor unit 13 in order to subsequently apply a stiffness of the elastic unit 29 to the result and obtain the pedal force. If a preload is present on the brake pedal 12 or on the elastic unit 29, this must additionally be taken into account. Otherwise, only pedal force changes can be determined, but not the force that is present in absolute terms.

[0043] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.