US 6,631,796 B2 · Vehicle parking brake system, and method of controlling the same

Abstract

A vehicle parking brake system having an AUTO selector for selectively establishing an automatic mode and a manual mode, parking brake units, and an electronic control unit operable in the automatic mode to automatically activate the parking brake units to apply a parking brake to vehicle rear left and right wheels (RW1, RW2) when the vehicle is in a parked state, and to automatically de-activate the parking brake units to remove the parking brake from the vehicle wheel, and in the manual mode to selectively apply and remove the parking brake to and from the vehicle wheels according to operations of a MANUAL MODE control switch. Where the MANUAL MODE control switch is operated in the automatic mode, data indicative of the operation of the control switch is kept stored in a memory until the memory is cleared when predetermined operating state of the vehicle is detected, so that the control of the parking brake units in the automatic mode is restricted to control the parking rake units according to the operations of the MANUAL MODE control switch in the manual mode.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A parking brake system for a vehicle, comprising:

a parking-brake-force control mechanism driven by an electrically operated actuator and which is operable to selectively apply and remove a parking brake force to and from a wheel of the vehicle;
an automatic-mode selector, manually operable by an operator of the vehicle, to select an automatic mode in which the parking brake force is automatically applied and removed to and from the wheel;
a manual-mode control member, manually operable by the operator, to selectively apply and remove the parking brake force to and from the wheel;
a first vehicle-state detector that detects a first operating state of the vehicle;
a second vehicle-state detector that detects a predetermined second operating state of the vehicle;
and
a controller that controls the parking-brake-force control mechanism in the automatic mode according to the first operating state of the vehicle to control automatic application and removal of the parking brake force detected by the first vehicle-state detector, controls the parking-brake-force control mechanism in response to an operation of the manual-mode control member to control manual application and removal of the parking brake force even while the automatic application of the braking force is applied, and restricts the automatic control of the parking-brake-force control mechanism in the automatic mode until detection of the predetermined second operating state of the vehicle by the second vehicle-state detector.

4 more elements

A method of controlling a parking brake system for a vehicle, the parking brake system comprising:

(a) a parking-brake-force control mechanism driven by an electrically operated actuator and which is operable to selectively apply and remove a parking brake force to and from a wheel of the vehicle;
(b) an automatic-mode selector, manually operable by an operator of the vehicle, to select an automatic mode in which the parking brake force is automatically applied and removed to and from the wheel;
(c) a manual-mode control member, manually operable by the operator, to selectively apply and remove the parking brake force to and from the wheel;
and (d) a controller that controls the parking-brake-force control mechanism according to a first operating state of the vehicle to control automatic application and removal of the parking brake force, and controls the parking-brake-force control mechanism, to control manual application and removal of the parking brake force even while the automatic application of the braking force is applied, the method comprising the steps of:
recording an operation of the manual-mode control member;
erasing the record of the operation of the manual-mode control member upon detection of a predetermined second operating state of the vehicle;
and
restricting an automatic control of the parking-brake-force control mechanism by the controller as long as the operation of the manual-mode control member is recorded.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Vehicle parking brake system, and method of controlling the same

Life of this patent

Vehicle parking brake system, and method of controlling the same

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims24