Loading patent…
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsRoger Arnold Trombley, Thomas Edward Pilutti, Christopher Nave, John Shutko
Estimating the term…
A vehicle has a wireless receiver located a predetermined distance from a trailer mount. A wireless transmitter on the trailer is located at an end of the trailer opposite the end that attaches to a trailer mount on the vehicle and communicates with the wireless receiver on the vehicle. A controller on the vehicle monitors the power returns of the signal transmitted between the transmitter and the receiver. A hitch angle monitoring system monitors hitch angle over time. The controller monitors power returns of a signal transmitted from the transmitter to the receiver and estimates a distance between the transmitter and the receiver as a function of a path loss propagation of the transmitted signal. The trailer length is equal to the distance estimated by the controller at times when the hitch angle is zero minus the predetermined distance.
A system for calculating a length of a trailer having a transmitter disposed thereon coupled to a vehicle having a trailer mount and a receiver disposed on the vehicle a first distance from the trailer mount, comprising:
A method executed by a controller on a vehicle for calculating a length of a trailer coupled to the vehicle, comprising:
A trailer length calculation system for a vehicle having a trailer mount and a receiver disposed thereon a first distance from the trailer mount, the vehicle being coupled to a trailer having a transmitter, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.