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US 10,479,334 B2Granted
Method to automatically adjust a trailer brake controller
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsThaddeus Hill, Joe Alexander Bousamra, Lawrence Robert Rhein
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle brake system includes a brake control device, a vehicle acceleration sensor, and a trailer brake controller. The trailer brake controller outputs an initial trailer brake torque demand based on an input received from the brake control device and adjusts the initial trailer brake torque demand to converge a signal from the vehicle acceleration sensor to an expected negative acceleration value correlated with the input from the brake control device.
Claims20
A vehicle brake system, comprising:
- a vehicle brake pedal;
- a position sensor coupled with the vehicle brake pedal, measuring a position of the vehicle brake pedal within a range of movement thereof, and outputting a signal corresponding with the position of the vehicle brake pedal;
- a vehicle acceleration sensor outputting a vehicle acceleration signal;
- and
- a trailer brake controller:
- connected with the position sensor and the vehicle acceleration sensor;
- outputting an initial trailer brake torque demand signal readable by an external electronic brake unit correlated with the signal from the position sensor;
- determining an expected negative acceleration value correlated with the signal from the position sensor using one of a predetermined formula or a table;
- receiving a vehicle acceleration signal from the acceleration sensor;
- and
- adjusting the initial trailer brake torque demand signal to converge the vehicle acceleration signal to the expected negative acceleration value.
8 more elements
A vehicle, comprising:
- a vehicle brake pedal;
- a position sensor coupled with the vehicle brake pedal, measuring a position of the vehicle brake pedal within a range of movement thereof, and outputting a signal corresponding with the position of the vehicle brake pedal;
- a vehicle acceleration sensor outputting a vehicle acceleration signal;
- an external communication coupling;
- and
- a trailer brake controller:
- connected with the position sensor and the vehicle acceleration sensor;
- receiving the signal from the position sensor and deriving an initial trailer brake torque demand signal correlated with the signal from the position sensor, the initial trailer brake torque demand signal being readable by an external electronic brake unit;
- outputting the initial trailer brake torque demand signal to the communication coupling;
- determining an expected negative acceleration value correlated with the signal from the position sensor using one of a predetermined formula or a table;
- and
- adjusting the initial trailer brake torque demand signal to converge a signal from the acceleration sensor to the expected negative acceleration value.
9 more elements
A trailer brake control method, comprising:
- receiving a position signal from a position sensor indicating a position of a vehicle brake pedal and deriving an initial trailer brake torque demand signal correlated with the position signal;
- outputting the initial trailer brake torque demand signal to a trailer brake module;
- determining an expected negative acceleration value for the vehicle correlated with the position signal from the position sensor using one of a predetermined formula or a table;
- receiving a vehicle acceleration signal from a vehicle acceleration sensor;
- and
- adjusting the initial trailer brake torque demand signal to converge the vehicle acceleration signal to the expected negative acceleration value.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.