Patent ID: 6951137

Claim:
An instrumented pin member, comprising: a pin member body disposed about a pin member axis, the pin member body comprising a shank including a shank perimeter lying in a plane orthogonal to the pin member axis and a bending portion; a sensing device positioned at the pin member body within the bending portion for sensing a bending strain in the bending portion exclusive of a net axial strain, and for outputting a sensor measurement signal representative of the bending strain, the sensing device comprising: first and second x axis sensor elements configured for measuring the bending strain along an x axis, each of the first and second x axis sensor elements comprising a tangential sensor for sensing strain in a direction tangential to the shank perimeter; and first and second y axis sensor elements configured for measuring the bending strain along a y axis; and a sensor measurement signal output device for outputting the sensor measurement signal from the sensing device.