LOAD DETECTION DEVICE

Abstract

Disclosed is a load detection device and method using the same. In one example, the device includes a height-level measuring unit configured to determine a height level of a vehicle and to generate at least one height-level signal that characterizes the height level. A position-measuring unit is configured to determine the position of the vehicle relative to the mid-point of the earth and to generate at least one position signal that characterizes the vehicle position. An evaluation unit is coupled to the height-level measuring unit and to the position-measuring unit. The evaluation unit is configured to determine a mass of a load of the vehicle, taking into account the height-level signal(s) and the position signal(s). The device can be used to determine the mass of the load, which may include a number of persons.

Claims

1-14. (canceled)

15. A load detection device for a vehicle, the device comprising: a height-level measuring unit (3) configured to detect a height level of a vehicle (1) and further configured to generate at least one height-level signal (SH) that characterizes the height level of the vehicle; an evaluation unit (11) coupled to the height-level measuring unit (3), the evaluation unit configured to determine a mass of a load (23) of the vehicle (1) taking into account the at least one height-level signal (SH); and a position-measuring unit (8) coupled to the evaluation unit, the position-measuring unit configured to determine a position of the vehicle (1) relative to a mid-point of the earth and configured to generate at least one position signal (SL) that characterizes the position of the vehicle, wherein the evaluation unit (11) is further configured to determine a mass of the load by taking into account the at least one position signal (SL).

16. The device according to claim 15, wherein the position of the vehicle (1) relative to the mid-point of the earth is given by the position of a vehicle plane that extends through a longitudinal axis (x) of the vehicle and a transverse axis (y) of the vehicle relative to the mid-point of the earth.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the position-measuring unit (8) comprises one or more acceleration sensors (9, 10).

18. The device according to claim 17, wherein the height-level measuring unit (3) comprises one or more height-level sensors (4, 5, 6, 7).

19. The device according to claim 18, wherein the vehicle (1) has a plurality of vehicle wheels (14, 15, 16, 17) and each of the one or more height-level sensors is associated with a respective vehicle wheel.

20. The device according to claim 19, wherein the vehicle load (3) consists of one or more persons and a number of people can be determined from the mass of the load by means of the evaluation unit (11).

21. The device according to claim 20, further comprising: a location unit (24) by means of which a location of the vehicle (1) can be determined; a storage unit (28) in which map information representing a street map is stored; and an association unit (27) by means of which the number of people and the location of the vehicle can be linked to the street map.

22. The device according to claim 15, wherein the height-level measuring unit (3) comprises one or more height-level sensors (4, 5, 6, 7).

23. The device according to claim 22, wherein the load (23) consists of one or more persons and wherein the evaluation unit (11) is configured to determine a number of people from the mass of the load.

24. The device according to claim 23, further comprising: a location unit (24) by means of which a location of the vehicle (1) can be determined; a storage unit (28) in which map information representing a street map is stored; and an association unit (27) by means of which the number of people and the location of the vehicle can be linked to the street map.

25. A method for detecting a load of a vehicle, the method comprising: determining, by a height-level measuring unit (3), a height level of a vehicle (1); generating, by the height-level measuring unit, at least one height-level signal (SH) that characterizes the height level; detecting, by a position-measuring unit (8), a position of the vehicle (1) relative to a mid-point of the earth; and generating, by the position-measuring unit (8), at least one position signal (SL) that characterizes the position of the vehicle; and determining a mass of a load (23) of the vehicle (1) by taking into account the at least one height-level signal (SH) and taking into account the at least one position signal (SL).

26. The method according to claim 25, comprising providing the position of the vehicle (1) relative to the mid-point of the earth by reference to a position of a vehicle plane that extends through a longitudinal axis (x) of the vehicle and a transverse axis (y) of the vehicle relative to the mid-point of the earth.

27. The method according to claim 25, wherein the position-measuring unit (8) comprises one or more acceleration sensors (9, 10) and detecting the position of the vehicle is performed at least in part with the one or more acceleration sensors (9, 10).

28. The method according to claim 25, wherein the height-level measuring unit (3) comprises one or more height-level sensors (4, 5, 6, 7), and determining the height of the vehicle is performed using the one or more height-level sensors (4, 5, 6, 7).

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the vehicle (1) comprises a plurality of vehicle wheels (14, 15, 16, 17) and each of the height-level sensors is associated with a respective vehicle wheel.

30. The method according to claim 25, wherein the load (23) consists of one or more persons and the method comprises determining a number of people based on the mass of the load (23).

31. The method according to claim 30, further comprising: preparing information representing a street map; and linking the number of people and the location of the vehicle (1) to the street map.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] Below, the invention is explained with reference to a preferred embodiment, having regard to the drawings, which show:

[0041] FIG. 1: A schematic front view of a vehicle with a load detecting device according to an embodiment,

[0042] FIG. 2: A schematic side view of the vehicle,

[0043] FIG. 3: A schematic view, seen from above, of the vehicle after a loading process, and

[0044] FIG. 4: A schematic view of the load detection device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] FIGS. 1 to 3 show different schematic views of a vehicle 1 with a load detection device 2 according to an embodiment, wherein the load detection device 2, which can also be seen in FIG. 4, comprises a height-level measuring unit 3 with a plurality of height-level sensors 4, 5, 6 and 7, a position-measuring unit 8 with a plurality of acceleration sensors 9 and 10, and an evaluation unit 11 with a central computing unit 12. The vehicle 1 has a vehicle body 13 and four vehicle wheels 14, 15, 16 and 17, which are connected to the vehicle body 13 by way of wheel suspensions 18. In addition, the vehicle wheels 14, 15, 16, and 17 are supported on the vehicle body 13 by a vehicle spring 19 in each case. The vehicle 1 has two vehicle axles 20 and 21, wherein the vehicle wheels 14 and 15 are associated with a first one 20 of the vehicle axles and the vehicle wheels 16 and 17 are associated with a second one 21 of the vehicle axles. Each of the vehicle wheels 14, 15, 16 and 17 is associated with one of the height-level sensors 4, 5, 6 and 7 respectively, wherein the height-level sensor 4 is associated with the vehicle wheel 14, the height-level sensor 5 with the vehicle wheel 15, the height-level sensor 6 with the vehicle wheel 16 and the height-level sensor 7 with the vehicle wheel 17. By means of the height-level sensors the distance between the vehicle wheel associated with it and the vehicle body 13 can be determined, so that each of the height-level sensors 4, 5, 6 and 7 connected to the evaluation unit 11 produces a height-level signal SH that characterizes the respective height level and sends that signal to the evaluation unit 11.

[0046] The vehicle 1 stands with its vehicle wheels 14, 15, 16 and 17 on a ground surface 22. Furthermore, in FIGS. 1 to 3 the longitudinal direction x of the vehicle, the transverse direction y of the vehicle and the vertical direction z of the vehicle are indicated by arrows. Here, the longitudinal direction x of the vehicle represents the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, the transverse direction y of the vehicle represents the transverse axis of the vehicle and the vertical direction z of the vehicle represents its vertical axis.

[0047] FIG. 1 shows a schematic front view of the vehicle 1, in which the first vehicle axle 20 with the vehicle wheels 14 and 15 can be seen. By means of the height-level sensor 4 the distance h1 of the vehicle wheel 14 from the vehicle body 13, specifically in the vertical direction z, can be detected. Likewise, by means of the height-level sensor 5 the distance h2 of the vehicle wheel 15 from the vehicle body 13, specifically in the vertical direction z of the vehicle, can be detected. Correspondingly, by means of the height-level sensor 6 the distance of the vehicle wheel 16 from the vehicle body 13, and by means of the height-level sensor 7 the distance of the vehicle wheel 17 from the vehicle body 13, specifically in the vertical direction z of the vehicle, can be detected.

[0048] FIG. 2 shows a schematic side view of the vehicle 1, such that the inclination of the ground surface 22 relative to the horizontal E0 can be seen.

[0049] FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the vehicle 1 as seen from above, the vehicle in this case carrying a load 23. If the vehicle 1 were standing on a horizontal ground surface, the mass of the load 23 could be determined on the basis of the height level signal SH provided by the height-level measuring unit 3. However, the inclination of the ground surface 22 results in deflections of the vehicle wheels which are different from those on a horizontal ground surface, so that a determination of the mass of the load 23 on the basis of the height-level signal alone would be inaccurate.

[0050] The acceleration sensors 9 and 10 are in particular identically built but are orientated in different spatial directions, such that the acceleration sensor 9 is orientated in the longitudinal direction x of the vehicle and the acceleration sensor 10 in the transverse direction y of the vehicle. By means of the acceleration sensors 9 and 10 the position of the vehicle relative to the mid-point of the earth can be detected. Moreover, by means of the acceleration sensors 9 and 10 position signals SL which characterize that position can be provided. The position-measuring unit 8 is connected to the evaluation unit 11 so that the position signals SL are made available to the evaluation unit 11. By means of the evaluation unit 11, the mass of the load 23 can therefore be determined on the basis of the height-level signals SH and the position signals SL, and a mass signal SM that characterizes the mass can be generated. If the vehicle is a passenger transporting vehicle, then by virtue of the evaluation unit the number of persons can also be calculated and a persons signal SP that characterizes that number can be produced.

[0051] Preferably, the evaluation unit 11 comprises analog-digital converters by means of which the height-level signals SH and the position signals SL are digitalized, so that they can then be processed in digital form by the computer unit 12 which is in particular a digital computer unit. The position of the vehicle 1 is or will be represented in particular by a plane extending through the longitudinal direction x of the vehicle and the transverse direction y of the vehicle, which plane is in particular also called the x-y plane.

[0052] In FIG. 3 a location unit 24 connected to the evaluation unit 11 can be seen, by means of which the location of the vehicle 1 can be detected and a location signal SO that characterizes the location of the vehicle can be produced and sent to the evaluation unit 11. Furthermore, there is also a transmitter unit 25 connected to the evaluation unit 11, by means of which the mass signal SM and/or the persons signal SP and the location signal SO can be transmitted to a receiver unit 26 shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4 the receiver unit 26 is connected to an association unit 27, which is connected to a storage unit 28 in which map information representing a street map is stored. By means of the association unit 27 the mass of the load and/or the number of passengers and the location of the vehicle 1 can be linked to the street map.

INDEXES

[0053] 1 Vehicle [0054] 2 Load detection device [0055] 3 Height-level measuring unit [0056] 4 Height-level sensor [0057] 5 Height-level sensor [0058] 6 Height-level sensor [0059] 7 Height-level sensor [0060] 8 Position-measuring unit [0061] 9 Acceleration sensor [0062] 10 Acceleration sensor [0063] 11 Evaluation unit [0064] 12 Central computing unit [0065] 13 Vehicle body [0066] 14 Vehicle wheel [0067] 15 Vehicle wheel [0068] 16 Vehicle wheel [0069] 17 Vehicle wheel [0070] 18 Wheel suspension [0071] 19 Wheel spring [0072] 20 Vehicle axle [0073] 21 Vehicle axle [0074] 22 Ground surface [0075] 23 Load [0076] 24 Location unit [0077] 25 Transmitter unit [0078] 26 Receiver unit [0079] 27 Association unit [0080] 28 Storage unit [0081] E0 Horizontal [0082] h1 Distance [0083] h2 Distance [0084] SH Height-level signal [0085] AL Position signal [0086] SM Mass signal [0087] SO Location signal [0088] SP Persons signal [0089] x Longitudinal direction of the vehicle [0090] y Transverse direction of the vehicle [0091] z Vertical direction of the vehicle