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IPGATE AG · IP Portfolio B · B2
| Inventors | Heinz Leiber, Dr. Anton van Zanten |
| Priority | April 2015 |
| Portfolio | IP Portfolio B · B2 |
| Innovations | 5 independent inventions |
| Jurisdictions | US granted, CN granted, CN1 (divisional) granted; DE, DE1, DE2 pending |
Patent family E142 describes the SMBS — a diagnostic procedure that turns electrohydraulic brake systems into self-monitoring systems. After each braking operation, seals and solenoid valves are automatically checked in software alone, without additional hardware, at pressures of typically 5 to 25 bar.
The SMBS performs diagnosis in three complementary modes that differ in test frequency, pressure level, and test depth. Together they form a multi-stage fault detection cascade — the probability of an undetected safety-relevant fault drops to 10⁻⁸ to 10⁻¹⁰ per year, a prerequisite for fail-operational braking systems in autonomous driving at SAE levels 3 to 5.
The SMBS concepts were first validated publicly at the VDI Knowledge Forum on October 25, 2017 (Leiber, Köglsperger, Hecker: "X-Boost and IBS-Gen3 – Diagnostic Concepts for Fail-Operational Brake Systems") and were rated as groundbreaking by industry experts. The basic principles are now an integral part of modern one-box braking systems, confirmed by IPGATE licensees including a leading European Tier 1 supplier with significant market share in integrated braking systems.
A conventional pre-drive check (PDC) detects such faults in principle, but puts additional pressure cycles on the components and in extreme cases doubles the stress cycles on the seals. For a brake system with approximately 200,000 actuations per year and up to 15 valves per system, this is a significant disadvantage in terms of service life. For fail-operational brake systems — mandatory from SAE Level 3 (HAD) onwards — seamless diagnosis of all safety-relevant components without additional stress is of crucial importance.
The combination of the three diagnostic stages with different test depths and test frequencies — BED (highest frequency / lowest depth) through PSD (lowest frequency / greatest depth) — creates a cascading fault detection architecture. With approximately 200,000 braking operations per year, the BED achieves an average fault detection time of less than one minute.
Five independent inventions across four DE applications and two PCT filings (US, CN), covering all three diagnostic modes and the seal/valve hardware enabling them.
Invention Overview
| Invention | Cat. | Description | Keyword |
|---|---|---|---|
| E142US | BED/CSD/PSD | SMBS basic method: automatic diagnosis of seal and valve functions after braking at low residual pressure. Covers all three diagnostic modes and four test types (A–D). Broadest English-language protection. | SMBS basic method |
| E142CN | BED/CSD/PSD | Chinese equivalent: diagnostic methodology identical to US/DE — automatic leakage and valve diagnosis after braking using low residual pressure across all three diagnostic modes. | SMBS basic method (CN) |
| E142DE | BED/CSD/PSD | Master DE application with the broadest SMBS protection scope: all diagnostic modes, all test types, all delivery device variants. Basis for divisional applications DE1 and DE2. | SMBS master (DE) |
| E142CN1 | BED | On-drive self-diagnosis at v > 0: threshold-based leakage detection during the final phase of braking. CN-specific divisional targeting the highest-frequency diagnostic mode. | BED threshold diagnosis |
| E142DE2 (A) | BED | BED specification: diagnosis at brake end with defined operating parameters — holding pressure (~5 bar), duration (~0.2 s), speed condition v > 0. | BED holding pressure |
| E142DE1 | CSD/PSD | Auxiliary piston seal architecture with dedicated leak flow channel. Structural hardware protection enabling Test B (auxiliary piston circuit diagnosis via defined pressure loss path). | Auxiliary piston leak channel |
| E142DE2 (A6) | BED/CSD/PSD | Higher-level self-monitoring program: systematic test sequence T1–T4 orchestrating the complete SMBS diagnostic cycle — scheduling all three modes and four test types in a defined execution order. | SMBS test sequence T1–T4 |
Family Overview
| File No. | Country | Status | Type | Application No. | Filed | Grant No. | Granted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E142CN | CN | Granted | Patent | 201610404808.5 | Jun. 8, 2016 | CN107472232B | Sep. 14, 2021 |
| E142US | US | Granted | Patent | 15/133,459 | Apr. 20, 2016 | US10,059,321 B2 | Aug. 28, 2018 |
| E142CN1 | CN | Granted | Patent (divisional) | 202110973583.6 | Jun. 8, 2016 | CN113771822B | Mar. 8, 2024 |
| E142DE | DE | Pending | Patent | 102015106089.2 | Apr. 21, 2015 | — | — |
| E142DE1 | DE | Pending | Patent (divisional) | — | — | — | — |
| E142DE2 | DE | Pending | Patent (divisional) | — | — | — | — |
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