Method and arrangement of automatically actuating a vehicle wheel brake with the aim of preventing the wheel from skidding

Claim 3

The method of claim 1, and further comprising the step of: automatically releasing the wheel brake during braking of the vehicle when said instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel approaches zero and the vehicle is still in motion.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 in which: said predetermined application value is a function of the instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel that existed at the time of said automatic release of the wheel brake during braking of the vehicle; and said predetermined release value is a function of the instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel that existed at the time of said automatic application of the wheel brake during acceleration of the vehicle.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 in which: said predetermined maximum permissible variation in the speed of rotation of the wheel is approximately identical with the maximum variation in the speed of rotation of the wheel which can be achieved during braking on an icy surface.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 in which: said predetermined application value is based upon the instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel that existed at the time of said automatic release of the wheel brake during braking of the vehicle, to which is added a percentage reduction; and said predetermined release value is based upon the instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel that existed at the time of said automatic application of the wheel brake during acceleration of the vehicle, to which is added a percentage increment.

Claim 9

The method of claim 6, and further comprising the step of: automatically releasing the wheel brake during braking of the vehicle when said instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel approaches zero and the vehicle is still in motion.

Claim 10

The method of claim 6 in which: said predetermined application value is a function of the instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel that existed at the time of said automatic release of the wheel brake during braking of the vehicle.

Claim 11

The method of claim 6 in which: said predetermined application value is based upon the instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel that existed at the time of said automatic release of the wheel brake during braking of the vehicle, to which is added a percentage reduction.

Claim 14

The method of claim 10 in which: said predetermined release value is a function of the instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel that existed at the time of said automatic application of the wheel brake during acceleration of the vehicle.

Claim 15

The method of claim 10 in which: said predetermined release value is based upon the instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel that existed at the time of said automatic application of the wheel brake during acceleration of the vehicle, to which is added a percentage increment.

Claim 16

Apparatus for automatically actuating a wheel brake of a vehicle during both a braking condition and an acceleration condition of the vehicle to prevent the wheel from skidding, comprising: sensing means for sensing an instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel; calculating means for calculating an instantaneous absolute speed variation of the wheel based upon said sensed instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel; processing means, responsive to said sensing means and said calculation means, for generating a brake release signal and a brake application signal; said processing means, during braking condition of the vehicle, generating said brake release signal when said instantaneous absolute speed variation is greater than a predetermined maximum permissible value, and generating said brake application signal after generation of a brake release signal exclusively upon occurrence of the first to occur of the following conditions (a) and (b): (a) when said instantaneous speed of rotation has increased to a predetermined application value, and (b) once a first predetermined period has elapsed since generation of said brake release signal, said first predetermined period being reckoned from generation of said brake release signal and being calculated as a percentage increment of time to be added to the time period between a previous brake release signal and brake application signal; said processing means, during the acceleration condition of the vehicle, generating a brake application signal when said instantaneous absolute speed variation is greater than said predetermined maximum permissible value, and generating a brake release signal after generation of a brake application signal exclusively upon occurrence of the first to occur of the following conditions (c) and (d): (c) when said instantaneous speed of rotation has decreased to a predetermined release value, and (d) once a second predetermined period has elapsed since generation of said brake application signal, said second predetermined period being reckoned from generation of said brake application signal and being calculated as a percentage increment of time to be added to the time period between a previous brake application signal and brake release signal; means responsive to said brake application signal for applying the wheel brake; and means responsive to said brake release signal for releasing the wheel brake.

Claim 17

Apparatus for automatically actuating a wheel brake of a vehicle during both a braking condition and an acceleration condition of the vehicle to prevent the wheel from skidding, comprising: sensing means for sensing an instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel; calculating means for calculating an instantaneous absolute speed variation of the wheel based upon said sensed instantaneous speed of rotation of the wheel; processing means, responsive to said sensing means and said calculation means, for generating a brake release signal and a brake application signal; said processing means, during braking condition of the vehicle, generating said brake release signal when said instantaneous absolute speed variation is greater than a predetermined maximum permissible value, and generating said brake application signal after generation of a brake release signal exclusively upon occurrence of the first to occur of the following conditions (a) and (b): (a) when said instantaneous speed of rotation has increased to a predetermined application value, and (b) once a first predetermined period has elapsed since generation of said brake release signal, said first predetermined period being reckoned from generation of said brake release signal and being calculated as a percentage increment of time to be added to the time period between a previous brake release signal and brake application signal; said processing means, during the acceleration condition of the vehicle, generating a brake application signal when said instantaneous absolute speed variation is greater than said predetermined maximum permissible value, and generating a brake release signal after generation of a brake application signal exclusively upon occurrence of the first to occur of the following conditions (c) and (d): (c) when said instantaneous speed of rotation has decreased to a predetermined release value, and (d) once a second predetermined period has elapsed since generation of said brake application signal, said second predetermined period being reckoned from generation of said brake application signal and being calculated as a percentage increment of time to be added to the time period between a previous brake application signal and brake release signal; means responsive to said brake application signal for applying the wheel brake; and means responsive to said brake release signal for releasing the wheel brake.