Trailer Sway Demonstrator
AssigneeU-Haul International, Inc.
InventorsSteve Taub, James D. Fait, Marco Garcia, Javier Nolasco, Edwin Dale Beck, III, Luis Paul Vendrell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for simulating a vehicle traveling on a road and towing a trailer, wherein the apparatus includes a scale model towing vehicle and trailer combination positioned on a moving belt of a treadmill. The apparatus has a speed control and a remote control steering mechanism to demonstrate how the vehicle/trailer towing combination will react to vehicle operator inputs under varying conditions, including variations in weight distribution of the trailer load.
Claims9
An apparatus for simulating a vehicle traveling on a road and towing a trailer, the apparatus comprising in combination:
- a motorized belt including a surface movable at a variable speed in a longitudinal direction;
- a support frame for supporting the motorized belt;
- a model towing vehicle positioned on the belt movable surface and including a steering assembly adapted to steer the model towing vehicle and a servo motor adapted to control the steering assembly in response to a servo control signal, wherein the model towing vehicle is coupled to the support frame via a coupling arm so that the model towing vehicle can move laterally on the motorized belt when the motorized belt is in motion in the longitudinal direction;
- a model trailer adapted for coupling to the rear end of the model towing vehicle and including removable weights for simulating weight distribution in a life size trailer;
- and
- a steering control assembly including a servo driver configured to provide the servo control signal in response to operation of the steering control mechanism;
- whereby when the motorized belt moves in the longitudinal direction, an operator can operate the steering control mechanism to steer the model towing vehicle laterally with respect to the motorized belt.
An apparatus for simulating a vehicle traveling on a road and towing a trailer, the apparatus comprising in combination:
- a motorized belt including a surface movable at a variable speed in a longitudinal direction;
- a support frame for supporting the motorized belt;
- a model towing vehicle positioned on the belt movable surface, wherein the model towing vehicle is coupled to the support frame via a coupling arm so that the model towing vehicle can move laterally on the motorized belt when the motorized belt is in motion in the longitudinal direction;
- a model trailer adapted for coupling to the rear end of the model towing vehicle and including removable weights for simulating weight distribution in a life size trailer;
- and
- a remote control steering control assembly adapted to allow a user to steer the model towing vehicle when the motorized belt is in motion in the longitudinal direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.