January 31, 2008
Development of “Load Sensor Integrated Hub Bearing”
contributing to enhanced ESC (Electronic Stability Control)
NTN Corporation (hereafter NTN) has developed a “Load sensor integrated hub bearing” that enhances vehicle safety control by the integration of a sensor into the hub bearing to detect the running stability of the vehicle.
In recent years, ESC (Electronic Stability Control) has attracted attention as an active safety technology in accident prevention and improved vehicle safety performance. However, since a conventional sensor is fitted on the car body and is affected by the suspension, detection of the contact condition between road surface and tire is delayed. It is said that the response time with a conventional sensor is 0.15 ~ 0.2 seconds, which is equivalent to moving a distance of 3.3m (vehicle speed of 60km/hr). Improvement of this response performance is required in order to prevent a car accident before it happens.
In response to this, NTN made it possible to meet this requirement by fitting a detection sensor (strain element) to the outer ring of the wheel bearing that detects strain generating on the outer ring during vehicle cornering and detects the cornering force acting between the road surface and tires without influence of suspension. In addition, a temperature sensor is also integrated in this sensor for temperature calibration of the strain element. This improves the detection accuracy of the sensor because it is not affected by temperature.
This sensor is capable of detecting cornering force*1 with high accuracy from 0 km/hr.
NTN will propose this integrated hub bearing to the global market as a recommended product for enhanced vehicle control and safety.
| (*1) | Cornering force: Lateral direction force generating on the contact surface of tire with road during vehicle's turning. |
[ Features ]
| Enhanced vehicle control is possible by integrating a strain element sensor into a hub bearing | |||
| a. | Cornering force that is important factor in vehicle skidding, is detectable by the sensor fitted on each wheel | ||
| b. | Real time detection performance of cornering force is improved | ||
| c. | Detection of cornering force from vehicle speed of 0 km/hr is possible | ||
| d. | Load detection range: -4kN ~ 10kN | ||
| e. | Detection accuracy: ±3%FS (full scale), equivalent to 0.6G vehicle turning | ||
[ Application ]
Hub bearings for passenger cars
[ Product Photo ]
(Product appearance)
(Sensor)
