Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Thomas Brandmeier

Dirk Zittlau

Achim Przymusinski

Markus Gilch

Ralf Schernewski

Hans Rauner

Ulrich Deml

Guenter Doemes

A device for determining a start of injection in a direct-injection internal combustion engine has a magnetoelastic pressure sensor disposed in an injection line leading to an injection valve which detects pressure changes in the injection line owing to an injection process of the injection valve by utilizing the magnetoelastic effect. The device also has an evaluation device that determines a dead time between an initiation of the injection process and the start of injection with the aid of the measurement signal of this magnetoelastic pressure sensor.

Device and method for determining the start of injection in a direct-injection internal combustion engine

The brake system of a motor vehicle has a wheel-brake actuator for each wheel brake. The wheel-brake actuator, which is controlled by the brake pedal via electric lines, presses the brake linings against the brake disk. A force sensor senses the circumferential force produced by the brake torque. The output signal of the sensor is taken into account as the current value by the control of the wheel-brake actuator when setting the contact force between the brake linings and the brake disk.

Brake system for a motor vehicle

An apparatus and a method detect the current thickness and thus the wear of a brake lining of a motor-vehicle brake system, which has a wheel-brake actuator at each wheel that actuates the wheel brake and is individually electrically controlled. The wheel-brake actuator contains a hydraulic piston which is moved by an electric motor and is provided with a sensor that detects the brake pressure or brake force as well as with a further sensor that detects the travel of the hydraulic piston. The thickness of the brake lining is determined from signals of the two sensors. To that end, a measurement is made of the travel performed by the hydraulic piston until a predetermined brake pressure is reached.

Apparatus and method for detecting the thickness of a brake lining

A capacitive force sensor is introduced between an actuator and motor vehicle brake shoe and is composed of a closed, metallic hollow cylinder that accepts a plate capacitor. One or more end faces of the hollow cylinder act as force-absorbing membranes and transmit elastic deformations onto the plate capacitor, a measured signal being generated as a result. The force sensor can be utilized in a range of measurement of up to, for example, 2.5 tons, a temperature range from -40 through 350.degree. C. and also exhibits extremely high measuring precision.

Force sensor

A brake system for a motor vehicle with four wheels has four electrically controlled wheel brake devices. Each of the wheel brake devices has a control part and an actuator, with which the various wheel brakes are activated independently of one another in response to actuations of the brake pedal by the driver. The brake system has two separate electrical control units, each for a respective two of the four wheel brake devices. Both of the separate control units receive control signals separately from a brake force simulator, and they each have their own energy supply circuit. An additional central control unit controls additional functions of the system (ABS, traction control, etc.) at each of the four wheel brake devices which serve safety or comfort purposes of the motor vehicle.

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Wuppertal, Germany

Thomas Brandmeier