Patent ID: 7886613

Claim:
A method for detecting the strain applied to a transmission chain, the transmission chain including opposed pairs of inner link plates, opposed pairs of outer link plates overlapping the inner link plates, and transverse pins that pass through aligned apertures in the overlapping inner and outer link plates, the method comprising: positioning a strain gauge on an inwardly-facing surface of a first of the outer link plates; spacing the inwardly-facing surface of the first outer link plate from an outwardly-facing surface of a first of the inner link plates facing the first outer link plate; connecting the strain gauge into a bridge network and an electric circuit; and using an output of the electric circuit to determine the strain applied to the chain; wherein spacing the inwardly-facing surface of the first outer link plate from the outwardly-facing surface of the first inner link plate includes inserting a bushing through the aligned apertures in the opposed pairs of inner link plates, the bushing protruding from the outwardly-facing surface of the first inner link plate.