Electrical braking device for vehicle trailers and method for operation thereof
AssigneeAl-Kokober AG
InventorsRobert Köhler, Kurt Kober
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for electric braking of a vehicle trailer and a device for vehicle trailers is provided. The vehicle trailer has a rigid hitch or drawbar arrangement (7) and is braked by the overrun forces generated as a result of braking of the tractor vehicle (2). The brake device (1) has a force measuring arrangement which can be mounted at the rigid hitch arrangement (7) and statically records the compression and tension forces acting axially on the hitch arrangement (7) using tensometer strips (24, 25) to determine the wheel brake force needed for braking via a controller that correspondingly actuates the electrical wheel brakes.
Claims20
An electric brake device for vehicle trailers with a trailer travel direction and with a rigid hitch arrangement with a rigid member section extending in a rigid member section axial direction to a trailer coupling, the rigid member section axial direction being generally in the trailer travel direction, the device comprising:
- a brake means having a power supply unit that can be connected to a towing vehicle;
- a sensing means designed as a deformation-sensing device, mounted at the rigid hitch arrangement on the rigid member section for detecting deformation in the rigid member section and for determining the axial direction tensile and compressive forces acting in the rigid member section of the hitch arrangement in the rigid member section axial direction along the rigid section without movement of the hitch arrangement relative to the trailer coupling;
- and
- a control for determining the braking force needed based on the detected axial direction tensile and compressive forces and braking the trailer with the braking forces needed with the braking means.
A process for actuating an electric brake device of a vehicle trailer, which is equipped with a rigid hitch arrangement and a trailer coupling, wherein the brake device has a power supply unit, which can be connected to a towing vehicle, said electric wheel brakes and a sensing means as well as a control for determining and introducing the necessary braking forces, the process comprising the steps of:
- providing the rigid hitch arrangement with a rigid member extending to the trailer coupling in a travel force transmission direction that is along the rigid member between said rigid connection with the trailer coupling and the wheels;
- providing wire strain gauges mounted at the rigid member;
- and
- sensing deformation at the vehicle trailer during the braking of the towing vehicle at the rigid member of the rigid hitch arrangement to determine axial tensile and compressive forces acting in the rigid member of the hitch arrangement in the travel force transmission direction, without movement of the hitch arrangement relative to the trailer coupling based on the force transmission direction compressions or strains in the rigid member by means of said wire strain gauges;
- using a control to determine the braking force needed based on the detected axial tensile and compressive forces;
- and
- braking the trailer with the braking device based on the determined braking forces needed.
A vehicle trailer brake system, comprising:
- a trailer with a trailer coupling, a rigid member section extending between a rigid connection with the trailer coupling and wheels connected to the rigid member section and having a rigid member axial direction along a path of said rigid member between said rigid connection with the trailer coupling and the wheels;
- electric wheel brakes acting on the wheels for braking the trailer, the brakes having a power supply unit with means for connection to a power source of a towing vehicle;
- a deformation-sensing device mounted at the rigid member section to determine the rigid member axial direction tensile and compressive forces acting in the rigid member section in the rigid member axial direction, without movement of the rigid member section relative to the trailer coupling;
- and
- a control for determining a braking force needed based on the detected axial tensile and compressive forces sensed and braking the trailer with the braking forces needed with the electric wheel brakes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.