Patent ID: 6719376
Filing Date: 2004-04-13
Classification: B60T,Y10S

Abstract:
A process for braking a vehicle having at least first and second brakes, comprising:supplying energy to said first and second brakes so as to actuate them, said energy being distributed between said first and second brakes in accordance with response energies characteristic of said first and second brakes, wherein a momentary value of the response energy of at least one of said first and said second brakes is determined in at least one brake actuation and wherein the distribution of said energy between said first and second brakes is based on said momentary value, and wherein the momentary value of the response energy of said at least one brake is determined as follows: (a) measuring the existing vehicle deceleration of said vehicle to determine a value of ground-vehicle deceleration, (b) supplying a braking test energy to said brake to be tested, (d) measuring the deceleration of said vehicle after said braking test energy in step (b) has been supplied to the brake to be tested to determine a value of vehicle test deceleration, (e) if said value of vehicle test deceleration is greater than said value of ground-vehicle deceleration by more than a predetermined tolerance value, repeating steps (a) to (d) with a reduced braking test energy until the difference between the value of vehicle test deceleration and the value of ground-vehicle deceleration is decreased to no more than the predetermined tolerance value, or (f) if said value of vehicle test deceleration is equal to or less than said value of ground-vehicle deceleration, repeating steps (a) to (d) with a higher braking test energy until the value of vehicle test deceleration exceeds the value of ground-vehicle deceleration by a value which is less than or equal to said predetermined tolerance value.