Patent ID: 8319623

Claim:
A brake monitoring system for a vehicle having multiple axles and a plurality of brake actuators and an engine control module, each brake actuator being associated with one of the axles, comprising: a plurality of sensors, each sensor being mounted in each actuator for sensing in real-time a parameter of the respective actuator and for generating a respective first signal; a plurality of brake lining wear sensors, each brake lining wear sensors being contained within each brake lining and for detecting a brake wear parameter of the respective actuator and generating a respective second signal; a chassis communications module coupled to the sensors and the brake lining wear sensors via a wire harness and for receiving the first and second signals and for storing the first and second signals, the chassis communications module for detecting a fault condition of one of the brakes as a function of the first and/or second signals and for recording the fault condition, the fault condition being one of a brake monitor warning and a brake lining warning, the chassis communications module having a plurality of warning lights, each warning light corresponding to one of fault conditions, the chassis communications module for actuating a respective one of the warning lights in response to detecting the respective warning condition; and, a diagnostic device coupled to the chassis communications control module via a datalink for receiving the first and second signals and the fault conditions stored in the chassis communications control module and storing the first and second signals and the fault conditions on the diagnostic device, wherein the fault condition is indicative of a dragging brake condition, and the chassis control module for sending a signal to the engine control module to throttle back the vehicle, or limit the speed of the vehicle and/or the RPM of the engine in response to detecting the dragging brake condition.