초록 ▼

Linear brake pedal travel measurements are provided using a diagnostic unit with at least two linear measurement devices. The at least two linear measurement devices are offset in at least a vertical direction from a face of the brake pedal lever, and therefore directly measure non-linear pedal trav

Linear brake pedal travel measurements are provided using a diagnostic unit with at least two linear measurement devices. The at least two linear measurement devices are offset in at least a vertical direction from a face of the brake pedal lever, and therefore directly measure non-linear pedal travel values. Thus, in certain embodiments, the system is further configured to convert the non-linear pedal travel measurements received from each of the at least two linear measurement devices to a linear brake pedal travel value corresponding to an operated position of the brake pedal lever. The resulting linear brake pedal travel information may then be used to evaluate brake pedal performance or measure customer brake feeling in an objective and reproducible way.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A system for measurement and evaluation of brake pedal performance for a vehicle comprising: a diagnostic unit having a processor coupled to a memory; andat least two linear measurement devices in electrical communication with the diagnostic unit, wherein the at least two linear measurement devic

1. A system for measurement and evaluation of brake pedal performance for a vehicle comprising: a diagnostic unit having a processor coupled to a memory; andat least two linear measurement devices in electrical communication with the diagnostic unit, wherein the at least two linear measurement devices are offset in at least a vertical direction from a face of the brake pedal lever,wherein the at least two linear measurement devices are each configured to provide, in response to an operation of the brake pedal lever from an initial position to a first operated position, a signal corresponding to a non-linear pedal travel measurement of the brake pedal lever resulting from said operation, andwherein the processor is configured to convert the non-linear pedal travel measurements received from each of the at least two linear measurement devices to a linear brake pedal travel value corresponding to the first operated position. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two linear measurement devices comprises three linear measurement devices, and wherein the three linear measurement devices are offset in both a horizontal and the vertical direction from the face of the brake pedal lever. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two linear measurement devices comprise at least two string potentiometers, wherein each potentiometer is coupled to a brake pedal lever of the vehicle using a corresponding string extending from each of the respective potentiometers to a common point of termination in a vicinity of the brake pedal lever. 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the at least two string potentiometers are configured to engage the brake pedal lever at the common point of termination using a connector. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the at least two linear measurement devices are further configured to provide, in response to operation of the brake pedal lever from the initial position to a plurality of operated position, signals corresponding to a plurality of non-linear pedal travel measurements of the brake pedal lever at each of the plurality of operated positions. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to convert the plurality of non-linear pedal travel measurements received from the at least two linear measurement devices to a plurality of linear brake pedal travel values corresponding to the plurality of operated positions. 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the diagnostic unit is further configured to: receive, for each of the plurality of operated positions, at least one of a plurality of vehicle decelerations values, a plurality of driver-applied brake pedal forces and a plurality of brake line pressures; anddisplay a plot of the plurality of linear brake pedal travel values against the received at least one of the plurality of vehicle decelerations, the plurality of driver-applied brake pedal forces and the plurality of brake line pressures. 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises two linear measurement devices, and wherein the processor is further configured to convert the non-linear pedal travel measurements received from each of the two linear measurement devices to the linear brake pedal travel value corresponding to the first operated position by determining a two-dimensional pivot point and a pedal radius for the brake pedal lever. 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises three linear measurement devices, and wherein the processor is further configured to convert the non-linear pedal travel measurements received from each of the three linear measurement devices to the linear brake pedal travel value corresponding to the first operated position by determining a three-dimensional pivot point and a radius for the brake pedal lever. 10. A method for measurement and evaluation of brake pedal performance for a vehicle comprising: mounting at least two linear measurement devices inside a vehicle, wherein the at least two linear measurement devices are in electrical communication with a diagnostic unit;arranging the at least two linear measurement devices in an offset orientation with respect to at least a vertical direction from a face of the brake pedal lever;providing, by each of the at least two linear measurement devices to the diagnostic unit, a signal corresponding to a non-linear pedal travel measurement of the brake pedal lever resulting from an operation of the brake pedal lever from an initial position to a first operated position; andconverting, by the diagnostic unit, the non-linear pedal travel measurements received from each of the at least two linear measurement devices to a linear brake pedal travel value corresponding to the first operated position. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least two linear measurement devices comprises three linear measurement devices, and wherein the three linear measurement devices are offset in both a horizontal and the vertical direction from the face of the brake pedal lever. 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least two linear measurement devices comprise at least two string potentiometers, and wherein the method further comprises coupling the brake pedal lever to each of the at least two string potentiometers using a corresponding string extending from each of the respective potentiometers to a common point of termination in a vicinity of the brake pedal lever. 13. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing, by each of the at least two linear measurement devices to the diagnostic unit, signals corresponding to a plurality of non-linear pedal travel measurements of the brake pedal lever corresponding to each of a plurality of operated positions. 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising converting, by the diagnostic unit, the plurality of non-linear pedal travel measurements received from the at least two linear measurement devices to a plurality of linear brake pedal travel values corresponding to the plurality of operated positions. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving, by the diagnostic unit and for each of the plurality of operated positions, at least one of a plurality of vehicle decelerations values, a plurality of driver-applied brake pedal forces and a plurality of brake line pressures; anddisplaying, by the diagnostic unit, a plot of the plurality of linear brake pedal travel values against the received at least one of the plurality of vehicle decelerations, the plurality of driver-applied brake pedal forces and the plurality of brake line pressures. 16. The method of claim 10, wherein mounting comprises mounting two linear measurement devices to the vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises converting, by the diagnostic unit, the non-linear pedal travel measurements received from the two linear measurement devices to the linear brake pedal travel value corresponding to the first operated position by determining a two-dimensional pivot point and a pedal radius for the brake pedal lever. 17. The method of claim 10, wherein mounting comprises mounting three linear measurement devices to the vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises converting the non-linear pedal travel measurements received from each of the three linear measurement devices to the linear brake pedal travel value corresponding to the first operated position by determining a three-dimensional pivot point and a radius for the brake pedal lever. 18. A system for measurement and evaluation of brake pedal performance for a vehicle comprising: a diagnostic unit having a processor coupled to a memory; andat least two string potentiometers in electrical communication with the diagnostic unit, wherein each potentiometer is coupled to a brake pedal lever of the vehicle using a corresponding string extending from each of the respective potentiometers to a common point of termination in a vicinity of the brake pedal lever, wherein the at least two string potentiometers are offset in at least a vertical direction from a face of the brake pedal lever,wherein the at least two string potentiometers are each configured to provide, in response to an operation of the brake pedal lever from an initial position to a first operated position, a signal corresponding to a non-linear pedal travel measurement of the brake pedal lever resulting from said operation, andwherein the processor is configured to convert the non-linear pedal travel measurements received from each of the at least two string potentiometers to a linear brake pedal travel value corresponding to the first operated position. 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the at least two string potentiometers comprises three string potentiometers, and wherein the three string potentiometers are offset in both a horizontal and the vertical direction from the face of the brake pedal lever. 20. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two string potentiometers are configured to engage the brake pedal lever at the common point of termination using a connector.