The Timken Company

Graham F McDearmon

Xiaolan Ai

Matthew G Wilmer

Doug H Smith

David R Leeper

David H Walter

Brent Mathie

A displacement, strain, and/or force sensor assembly () has a mounting structure () with an anisotropic stiffness to facilitate the measurement of displacements, strains, and/or forces along the X-axis, while minimizing errors due to undesired displacements, strains, and/or forces along the Y- and Z-axes, and rotations about the X-, Y-, and Z-axes. A pedestal () configured to respond to axial displacements along the X-axis is centrally disposed on the X-axis of the mounting structure (), and a displacement or strain sensor () is coupled to the pedestal () to provide a measure of the displacements, strains, and/or forces. Contact pads () are formed on opposite ends of the X-axis of the mounting structure, to enable the displacement and/or strain sensor assembly to be secured to an application structure.

Displacement sensor

A wheel end (A) has a housing () and a hub () provided with a spindle () that projects into the housing, and the hub rotates relative to the housing on an antifriction bearing () located between the housing and hub spindle. The housing has a tubular core () that encloses the bearing and ring mounts () spaced outwardly from the core and also webs () that connect the ring mounts to the core. A road wheel (B) is attached to the hub and rotates with the hub relative to the housing. The housing is secured to a suspension upright (C) at its ring mounts. The core deflects relative to the ring mounts, owning to forces and moments transferred through the bearing from the suspension upright to the road wheel and vice versa, and the magnitude of those forces and moments are reflected in signals derived from strain sensor modules (SM) attached to the webs of the housing.

Wheel end with load sensing capabilities

A bearing assembly which couples a road wheel to a suspension system component on an automotive vehicle includes a hub to which the wheel is attached and a housing which is attached to the suspension system component. The housing has two tapered raceways which surround raceways on cones that are fitted on the hub. Organized in two rows between the raceways of the housing and cones are tapered rollers which roll along the raceways when the wheel rotates. The rollers as they pass over the outer raceway impart minute flexures to the housing and these flexures are monitored by multiple strain sensors on the housing. The strains&#x2014;and the signals produced by the sensors&#x2014;reflect conditions at the region of contact between a tire on the road wheel and the road surface over which the tire rolls. When the bearing assembly is used in industrial applications, such as rolling mills or machine tools, the electrical signals generated by the sensors provide indications usable by electronic processors and controllers which analyze these signals to determine the loads placed upon various components within a system which incorporates the bearing assembly.

Bearing assembly with sensors for monitoring loads

A load sensing bearing assembly comprises a bearing outer race secured to an application structure by a flange assembly incorporating a plurality of anisotropic spring regions which enable a limited range of displacement and/or rotation of the bearing outer race relative to the application structure in response to applied forces or moments. A set of sensor modules disposed through the bearing outer race and flange assembly acquire measurements from which the radial forces, thrust forces, and tilting moments exerted on the bearing outer race can be determined.

Load-sensing bearing

A ring load cell configured to measure force, moment, and temperature components in an orthogonal three-axis coordinate system. The ring-load-cell structure consists of two annular flanges having a common central axis through which a shaft may be disposed. The annular flanges are interconnected by a plurality of filleted posts configured to enhance strain distribution and which are disposed parallel to the common central axis, equally spaced about the circumference of the annular flanges. A plurality of strain gauges is disposed either on the posts or on fillets, and a plurality of temperature sensors is disposed either on the posts or on the inner surfaces of the annular flanges. Signals from the strain gauges and temperature sensors are processed to provide thermally compensated strain measurements of the applied forces and moments on the ring-load-cell structure in the orthogonal three-axis coordinate system.

Multiaxis ring load cell

A bearing assembly which couples a road wheel to a suspension system component on an automotive vehicle includes a hub to which the wheel is attached and a housing which is attached to the suspension system component. The housing has two tapered raceways which surround raceways on cones that are fitted to the hub. Organized in two rows between the raceways of the housing and cones are tapered rollers which roll along the raceways when the wheel rotates. The rollers as they pass over the outer raceway impart minute flexures to the housing and these flexures are monitored by multiple strain sensors on the housing. The strains&mdash;and the signals produced by the sensors&mdash;reflect conditions at the region of contact between a tire on the road wheel and the road surface over which the tire rolls. When the bearing assembly is used in industrial applications, such as rolling mills or machine tools, the electrical signals generated by the sensors provide indications usable by electronic processors and controllers which analyze these signals to determine the loads placed upon various components within a system which incorporates the bearing assembly.

Growing community of inventors

North Canton, OH, United States of America

Graham F McDearmon