Electronic vehicle brake system with secondary braking provision
AssigneeArvinMeritor Technology, LLC
InventorDenis John McCann
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electronic brake system for a tractor-trailer vehicle includes a front electronic brake system for braking a front axle assembly and a rear electronic brake system for braking a rear axle assembly. During normal vehicle operation, front and rear air reservoirs supply air to actuate front and rear brake actuators, respectively. In response to a failure of the front electronic brake system, an electronic control unit automatically activates a trailer control valve to supply air to actuate the front brake actuator in addition to actuating the rear brake actuator from the rear air reservoir. The trailer control valve receives air supply from an independent reservoir.
Claims23
An electronic braking system for a tractor-trailer vehicle comprising:
- a front electronic brake system including a front actuator for actuating front brakes in response to a braking command;
- a rear electronic brake system including a rear actuator for actuating rear brakes in response to said braking command;
- an electronic control unit for generating a brake activation signal in response to said braking command, said brake activation signal being transmitted to said front and rear actuators;
- and
- a trailer control valve operably connected to a trailer air supply for a trailer brake system and operably coupled to said front actuator wherein air is automatically supplied from said trailer air supply to said front actuator via said trailer control valve in response to a failure of said front electronic brake system.
A method for providing secondary braking in an electronic braking system for a tractor-trailer vehicle comprising the steps of;
- (a) generating a primary front braking force for braking a front electronic brake system during normal brake operation;
- (b) generating a primary rear braking force for braking a rear electronic brake system during normal brake operation;
- (c) automatically activating a trailer control valve in response to a failure of the front electronic brake system;
- and
- (d) generating a secondary braking force by supplying air from a trailer brake air supply to a front brake actuator via the trailer control valve.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.